Whiplash wins grande prize at Deauville film festival
- 10 years ago
“Whiplash” was the Grand Prize winner of the 40th edition of the Deauville American Film Festival.
It tells the story of a 19-year-old who dreams of becoming one of the top jazz drummers of his generation, but the competition is fierce at the Conservatory in Manhattan.
The film, which was directed by the 29-year-old filmmaker Damien Chazelle, also won the audience award.
As with every film festival the red carpet is the place to be to see stars of cinema and sometimes great music legends and this year the most acclaimed star on the carpet was The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger.
The singer co-produced Get On Up, the biopic of James Brown, the great and controversial American singer, who is played by Chadwick Boseman.
Mick Jagger said: “I think that he was like a really amazing soul singer. I mean, he lasted so long and he had a very long influence on people like me and the people that came after me. He had a big influence on hip-hop, he was the most sampled artist and he still reverberates around today.”
“I just danced as much as I could, sung as much as I could, trying to walk in his shoes, asking anybody who knew something about him, it might be a cab driver and just asked what they knew,” said Boseman.
Brian Grazer, who also produced the biopic, was given the career achievement award at the festival for his work on some of the biggest films in Hollywood.
At the press conference, Mick Jagger was asked if he was going to produce a film on The Rolling Stones.
“I am completely closed with this idea. I never want to do a biopic of the Rolling Stones. No, there are stories, scripts now, but they are all horrible.”
euronews correspondent Giovanni Magi said: “The Festival was a great opportunity to meet the stars and of course see the latest productions, review some classics and discuss the films that were deemed controversial.”
Controversial films, such as “Love is Strange” by director Ira Sachs, which tells the story of a gay couple. Controversies have erupted in the United States because despite an absence of sex scenes the film was rated “R”, banning it to minors.
“I think that nominally they took the decision because of language, because there are two curse words in the film,” said director Ira Sachs.
“I think that it is a repressive body that is in a way limiting the kind of films the people can see. This is a family film. When I get upset is when I realised people are pushed away by the rating and they don’t bring their kids, because it’s really a film for everybody,” he added.
Elsewhere, fans watched the unveiling of a beach cabin dedicated to the Irish-American actor Pierce Brosnan, who came in Deauville to present his latest film, The November Man.
It tells the story of a 19-year-old who dreams of becoming one of the top jazz drummers of his generation, but the competition is fierce at the Conservatory in Manhattan.
The film, which was directed by the 29-year-old filmmaker Damien Chazelle, also won the audience award.
As with every film festival the red carpet is the place to be to see stars of cinema and sometimes great music legends and this year the most acclaimed star on the carpet was The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger.
The singer co-produced Get On Up, the biopic of James Brown, the great and controversial American singer, who is played by Chadwick Boseman.
Mick Jagger said: “I think that he was like a really amazing soul singer. I mean, he lasted so long and he had a very long influence on people like me and the people that came after me. He had a big influence on hip-hop, he was the most sampled artist and he still reverberates around today.”
“I just danced as much as I could, sung as much as I could, trying to walk in his shoes, asking anybody who knew something about him, it might be a cab driver and just asked what they knew,” said Boseman.
Brian Grazer, who also produced the biopic, was given the career achievement award at the festival for his work on some of the biggest films in Hollywood.
At the press conference, Mick Jagger was asked if he was going to produce a film on The Rolling Stones.
“I am completely closed with this idea. I never want to do a biopic of the Rolling Stones. No, there are stories, scripts now, but they are all horrible.”
euronews correspondent Giovanni Magi said: “The Festival was a great opportunity to meet the stars and of course see the latest productions, review some classics and discuss the films that were deemed controversial.”
Controversial films, such as “Love is Strange” by director Ira Sachs, which tells the story of a gay couple. Controversies have erupted in the United States because despite an absence of sex scenes the film was rated “R”, banning it to minors.
“I think that nominally they took the decision because of language, because there are two curse words in the film,” said director Ira Sachs.
“I think that it is a repressive body that is in a way limiting the kind of films the people can see. This is a family film. When I get upset is when I realised people are pushed away by the rating and they don’t bring their kids, because it’s really a film for everybody,” he added.
Elsewhere, fans watched the unveiling of a beach cabin dedicated to the Irish-American actor Pierce Brosnan, who came in Deauville to present his latest film, The November Man.