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Day
4 - September 4
Before the official presentation, Sarandon waved to the crowd from one of the balconies overlooking the auditorium. Our spies tell us that Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins were standing right behind her softly singing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." In the English-speaking world there's some confusion about how to pronounce the gifted, politically active actress's surname. ("Sar and don" OR "Sar AN done"). In France - or at least here in Deauville - there's apparently some doubt as to how to SPELL her name: The tribute reel of clips from The Witches of Eastwick, Dead Man Walking, Thelma and Louise, The Client and Stepmom began with the words SUSAN SURANDUN. No matter. As Shakespeare might have put it, "A thesp by any other name would act as sweet."
Sarandon is known for her outspoken political views as well as for her sense of humour. She believes that EVERY film is political and that somebody somewhere is taking a conscious or unconscious cue from everything Hollywood sends forth into the world. She sometimes finds encouragement in places others might not immediately think to look. "There's a great film that I think is intensely political called The Nutty Professor. It not only has an intellectual black lead (Eddie Murphy as professor Sherman Klump), but you end up rooting for him by the end to STAY fat. How did they do that? The guy who's trim and cool is unappealing and you're rooting for the fat guy. I think that's every bit as political as Saving Private Ryan, which nobody singled out as a political film but it is because it shows you how to be a man in war - war being something I don't approve of, as I'm opposed to all forms of violence." Sarandon makes no bones about loving her family life with Robbins and their children and says she can only play roles that passionately interest her. "When I was younger I used to take movie roles in order to travel," she laughs. "But then I realized I could travel and NOT have to work somewhere."
(Sarandon, by the way, had only nice things to say about Pitt, whose first big break was his role as a handsome hitchhiker who gets to know Geena Davis intimately in Thelma and Louise. "I remember him as being incredibly professional and polite and talented. I've seen him recently and he's still sweet and he's great with my kids. I'm happy that somebody like that is a huge star. We just have to get him politically involved.") Sarandon has enormous faith in the Internet as a tool to raise political consciousness and get people organized in record time. "Because of the Internet, it is possible to educate people very quickly. Everybody has a video camera and they put things on the web that aren't covered by the regular media. It's a very exciting time for me. And if George Bush gets elected it will probably get even more exciting because we'll have so many more problems and people will be out in the streets." Another celebrity in Deauville this week, Motion Picture Association head Jack Valenti, also has faith in the Internet as "an extraordinary tool, a magnificent delivery system for movies and information." Valenti, who promotes the interests of Hollywood's major studios, has attended all 26 editions of the Deauville fest and hails the world's great film festivals as golden opportunities to meet with the movers and shakers and decision makers who keep global trade and artistic exchange flowing smoothly. Valenti believes people will always want to go out to the movies but thinks the moment is very close when consumers will be able to legally download features into their homes - with the emphasis on "legally." "We're raising a generation of 12-18 year olds who believe that if it's on the Internet, it's free," Valenti says. "They wouldn't assume it was okay to steal food from a store but they think it's okay to get music and movies on their computers without paying for it. They rationalize that 'Everybody does it' and that 'records cost too much'. They call it 'file sharing.' But it's still theft. There's no other word for stealing somebody's intellectual property. We've got our very best cyber-brains working on encryption systems and I'm confident that people will soon be able to download films for a reasonable price. Sniffers will instantly pluck out anything out there that isn't authorized. We are now arming ourselves to use legitimate technology to fight illegitimate technology."
And if you're wondering where Best Actress Oscar winner Sarandon stores her trophies, she told the crowd that she'd take her Deauville award (three metal beach umbrellas in a clear base) back home in order to "put this with all the other awards that mean a lot to me - which are all in our bathroom."
Wilma Radar |
"I
apologize because I made two films with Louis Malle (Pretty Baby,
Atlantic City) and I slept with Catherine Deneuve (The
Hunger), but I still can't speak French," said Susan Sarandon
today as Deauville paid special tribute to the pulpy redhead with
the enormous eyes whose intelligence has always been every bit as
sexy as her body.
Sarandon
cites 1988's Bull Durham as "the first film I was not overqualified
for." In addition to being the project on which she met her "partner
in all things" Robbins, she says it was the movie that "rejuvenated
my belief in team playing."
European
journalists couldn't get enough of Sarandon's strong views against
the death penalty. "In the U.S. right now, it's not a good time
for anyone to feel strongly about things that are not popular. The
death penalty is like being against the war - your loyalty to your
government is questioned. For some reason the country has been moving
further and further to the right. Basic civil liberties are being
eroded and people seem attracted to the idea of more control. So
in that context, coming out and saying you're against the death
penalty makes you seem like you're in favour of anarchy. George
McGovern right now would seem like a terrorist. Instead of covering
the uncivilized nature and the glaring contradictions of the death
penalty - it's costlier, it's capricious, it's arbitrary, it doesn't
deter crime - the media cover Brad Pitt's wedding. That's just the
state of affairs."
Speaking
of fighting, the competition portion of the fest kicked off today
with Sundance darling Girlfight, about a determined teenage
boxer who happens to be female but won't let either sex stand in
her way, and the star-crossed lovers pick Let It Snow. They'll
be duking it out with eight other titles at the rate of two per
day.