All good things come to those who wait. Especially if you’re a Paul Verhoeven fan. The controversial Dutch director of Showgirls and Basic Instinct was all set to bring his new film Benedetta to Cannes in 2019 until a knee operation saw him postpone his place in official competition by a year. Then the pandemic hit, Cannes 2020 was cancelled, and Benedetta was shelved for another 12 months before finally being unveiled at the world’s most famous film festival last July.
When the movie finally played, social media exploded. “The first reactions to Paul Verhoeven’s latest film BENEDETTA have just dropped out of #Cannes and all we can say is: ‘OH MY GOD!’” tweeted one attendee. This historical drama based on a true story about a nun who finds solace in the company of another woman saw critics either ecstatic or up in arms, with a story that features lashings of sex, nudity, violence, and profanity. At the press conference, Verhoeven’s film was even called blasphemous.
“I don’t understand really how you can be blasphemous about something that happened,” he raged. “Even if it is in 1625. It’s true, mostly.” This was a case of historical fact, he argued. “You cannot basically change history. It’s done. People have done that. And you can talk about if that was wrong or not. But you cannot change history. You cannot change the things that happened. And I think I base it on the things that happened. So I think the word ‘blasphemy’… for me, in this case, is stupid.”]
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Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av Total Film.
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RETURN TO OZ
WICKED Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande defy gravity as the Broadway smash reaches cinemas.
GRIN AND BEAR IT
SMILE 2 Trauma-horror sequel sees the curse latch onto a pop superstar...
BAD ROMANCE
TIMESTALKER Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...
CLOWNING GORY
TERRIFIER 3 Creator Damien Leone says Art the Clown is coming home for Christmas...
SELF EXPRESSION
LAYLA A non-binary, British-Palestinian drag queen navigates their expression of identity.
GENA ROWLANDS
I like difficult roles,' said Gena Rowlands. No kidding. A stage, TV and film actor whose career spanned more than six decades, Rowlands will be most remembered for the series of coruscating dramas she made with her first husband, actor-turned-director John Cassavetes, between 1968 and 1984.
'NOW NOTHING IS ABOUT LOOKS OR ABOUT BEING A LEADING LADY.AND IT'S VERY LIBERATING' EMILY WATSON
Since breaking hearts in Breaking the Waves, Emily Watson has delivered countless screen masterclasses, from Gosford Park and Punch-Drunk Love to Apple Tree Yard. Now, the English star goes toe-to-toe with Cilllan Murohy in Irish drama Smeal/ Things like hese and fronts 1V prequel Dune: Prophecy. Is it her second coming? It's elementary, my dear Watson...
BLODD PRESSURE
BASED ON STEPHEN KING'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOK AND WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY IT SCRIBE GARY DAUBERMAN, VAMPIRE MOVIE SALEM'S LOT FACED AN UNHOLY FIGHT TO GET TO OUR SCREENS. TOTAL FILM HUNTS DOWN DAUBERMAN AND STARS LEWIS PULLMAN AND MAKENZIE LEIGH TO LEARN ALL THAT WAS AT STAKE...
Lucky Man
He broke out in Beatles jukebox musical Yesterday and has a varied slate of juicy projects on the horizon, including a very different take on a superhero franchise. But, as the everhumble Himesh Patel tells Total Film, he puts a lot of it down to luck...
A BUE ABOVE
WORLD-BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE RIDLEY SCOTT IS ALSO THE MASTER OF THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, RESTORING HIS MISHANDLED GEMS INTO MASTERPIECES. WITH THE EXPANSIVE DIRECTOR'S CUT OF NAPOLEON NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM, TOTAL FILM SPEAKS TO THE GREAT SCOTT ABOUT BLOWING UP BONAPARTE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDITING AND WHY BIGGER IS (USUALLY) BETTER.