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PEOPLE & ARTSThursday 10 September
For Gere, playing a homeless man was a humbling experience
JAKE COYLE on the first day of shooting realized no one was pay- unfortunate fate is teased “Are we all in this together
AP Film Writer in the East Village’s Astor ing attention.” They went out slowly and without or not, is basically the ques-
NEW YORK (AP) — The last Place, where the man for- on shooting unnoticed for sentiment. His backstory tion,” says Gere. “Some-
time Richard Gere walked ever linked to “Pretty Wom- 40 minutes, and the same comes through only in how, we’ve gotten ha-
into this bar, he did it as a an” begged for change lack of recognition contin- Moverman’s patient ob- bituated to this idea that
homeless man. with a coffee cup. ued throughout the pro- servation of his movements we’re in our separate cap-
Gere plays one in “Time “As someone who would duction. “They could have around New York. sules. It’s not true.” Gere,
Out of Mind,” a movie that probably never stand on seen Richard Gere if they The movie doesn’t just a longtime New Yorker,
he shot almost entirely on a street corner that long, looked into his eyes,” says capture George’s story, first got a pass to homeless
the streets of Manhattan it was an anxiety-ridden Moverman. “Here we are though. It’s a close-up of shelters 12 years ago. He’s
— in East Village back al- worked with the Coali-
lies, among the trash cans Richard Gere poses for a portrait in promotion of his role in the upcoming film “Time Out of Mind” tion for Homeless for years
outside Grand Central Sta- and refers to his “home-
tion and inside the Houston on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015 in New York. Associated Press less friends” he’s gotten to
Street bar he’s returned to know while researching the
in order to reflect on an un- moment,” Gere recalls. putting make-believe in the soul-crushing experi- film. He took a lot of inspira-
usually spare and neo-real- “None of us really knew the middle of reality, and ence of homelessness: tion from the Cadillac Man
istic movie, one Gere has what was going to hap- reality is saying, ‘No, that’s the omnipresent assault memoir of homelessness,
wanted to make for more pen. We thought maybe reality. That’s not make- of noise, the indignities of “Land of the Lost Souls: My
than a decade. we would get five minutes believe.’ It doesn’t matter shelters, the sanity-shatter- Life on the Streets.”
“I really believe this was before crowds started to who it is.” ing invisibility. But it’s also Getting to actually experi-
one of the things I was screw up the shot, that I In “Time Out of Mind,” a wider view of urban life ence the feeling of beg-
meant to do,” says Gere, would be recognized and which opens Friday, Gere where the normal occupa- ging, if only for hours at a
sitting in a booth in the it would be over. A couple plays a vagrant named tions of people are going time, Gere says, was more
back. minutes into the shot, we George Hammond whose on all around him. like being a black hole
Inspired by the photogra- than being invisible. He
phy of Saul Leiter, direc- could feel people avoid-
tor Oren Moverman (“The ing him, going through an
Messenger, “Rampart”) “interior opera” of guilt
frequently shot Gere from that he notes, ultimately
far away, hiding the cam- “has very little to do with
era from view to capture the reality of that guy on
an unwitting city moving the street corner.”
around one of the more fa- It gave him a taste of
mous faces on the planet. “how quickly we dete-
It was an audacious ap- riorate mentally.” “He was
proach, one that, if suc- shaken by the experience
cessful, would only further because this is a man who
prove part of the mov- for 40 years is used to be-
ie’s point: Most of us are ing looked at and admired
oblivious to those suffering by most and paid atten-
around us. Gere (also a tion to and showered with
producer) and Moverman attention and love,” says
nervously gave it a test run Moverman.q
Bon Jovi shows in China canceled
for ‘unforeseen reasons’
In this June 12, 2014 file photo, Jon Bon Jovi attends the Bon Jovi didn’t immediate- shows Jon Bon Jovi singing was canceled in July fol-
ly reply to an email seeking a famous Chinese love bal- lowing a reported tweet
Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards in New York. Promoters of Bon comment. lad from the 1970s in Man- by a band member about
The Financial Times news- darin, adding to the buzz in meeting the Dalai Lama.
Jovi’s upcoming shows in Asia said they are being canceled paper reported that the China around this tour. Chi- The announcement of
shows had been called off nese fans expressed their the Bon Jovi cancellations
for “unforeseen reasons.” Associated Press because the Culture Minis- disappointment and anger came on the same day as
try had discovered that the on social media, with some the Communist Party held
BEIJING (AP) — Bon Jovi’s a statement Tuesday that band once included a pic- complaining that they had grand celebrations in the
concert tour in China next refunds will be offered for ture of the Dalai Lama in a booked airline tickets and Tibetan capital of Lhasa to
week has been abruptly shows scheduled Sept. 14 video backdrop during a time off work to see the mark 50 years since it es-
canceled because of in Shanghai and Sept. 17 concert in Taiwan in 2010, concerts. tablished Tibet as an ethnic
what promoters said were in Beijing. AEG also apolo- citing people familiar with Authorities tightened scru- autonomous region firmly
“unforeseen reasons.” gized “for the inconve- the matter. tiny over foreign musicians under Beijing’s control.
AEG Live Asia declined nience and disappoint- The ruling Communist performing in China af- China claims Tibet has al-
to give the reason for the ment that this will cause.” Party is sensitive to any ter Icelandic singer Bjork ways been part of its terri-
cancellation, but said in A representative for Jon perceived support from shouted “Tibet, Tibet” fol- tory, but many Tibetans say
foreign governments and lowing a song called “De- the Himalayan region was
celebrities for the exiled Ti- clare Independence” at a virtually independent for
betan spiritual leader, who Shanghai performance in centuries and that Beijing’s
they denounce as a sepa- 2008. A concert by U.S. pop tight control is draining
ratist. group Maroon 5 planned them of their culture and
A recently released video for Saturday in Shanghai identity.q
