Page 95 - FOYER_Cannes 2001

DIARY BERLIN • LOSANGELES • MILAN • FOYER • CANNES • TOKYO • LONDON PAGE93
GOINGDUTCHWITHBURT The Hermit Of Amsterdam- a romantic comedy with “a twice-upon-a-time-twist”
Acosmopolitan cast led by Hollywood veteran Burt Reynolds, Oscar-winner Julie Christie and Carmen Chaplin, grand-daugh-
ter of the great Charlie,
have just completed shooting The Hermit Of Amsterdam
in the picturesque canal city. Co-written (with Michael O’Laughlin) and directed by
award-winning Dutch film-maker Rudolf van den Berg (Cold Light Of Day, Bastille, Goodnight Vienna), and produced by globe- trotting Pierre Spengler, it’s a romantic comedy with a “twice- upon-a-time twist.”
Reynolds stars as Larry, an American ex-pat hidden away from the world and his past in an eccentric bookshop where he dispenses advice to a stream of junkies, social misfits and other exiles.
In one of her increasingly rare film roles, Christie, 60 this year, plays Narma “a woman with a second chance”, while Chaplin, daughter of Michael Chaplin, is the mysterious Aisha who suddenly walks into Larry’s life turning it “upside down.”
As well as shooting in Amsterdam there are also locations at Ouarzazate
in Morocco - previous North African host of epics ranging from Lawrence of Arabia and Jewel Of The Nile to Gladiator - and Los Angeles.
was the same with the actresses. It was particularly exciting to get Julie and it’s an intriguing role for her for which she has to change
her usual look and put on an accent.” The production
is the first from Spengler and van den Berg’s new Cadenza Films and is currently being handled for distri- bution worldwide by First Look Media.
Spengler, who said that The Hermit Of Amsterdam was likely to premiere later this year, added that Cadenza Films has a number of
other projects in the imminent pipeline. ■ QUENTIN FALK
Spengler, behind such hits as The Three/Four Musketeers and Superman trilogy, said that the proj- ect had been around for some
four years before he linked up with van den Berg in August 1999.
Said Spengler:
“I could see it had great potential, especially if we could get a big star but I also felt it needed one more go at the script. Once we had a new script, Burt Reynolds showed interest straightaway and it
Photos from top: Julie Christie and Burt Reynolds; Rudolf van den Berg directing Burt Reynolds (photo Jaap Vrenegoor)
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