The Man from London
The Man From London (Londoni férfi) is a not-yet-released film by Hungarian director Béla Tarr. It is based on a novel by prolific Belgian writer (he wrote in French) Georges Simenon. The film’s production has been a journey in and of itself similar to a noir story, with threats to shut down the production, lack of financing, and ultimately a return to work. It is aimed to be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
Plot Synopsis, Cast & Crew
Based on a Georges Simenon novel, this film is mystery film with “deeply existential” hues. [1] It is a story about a man who witnesses a mystery, and nothing else is known at the moment. It stars Tilda Swinton opposite Czech actor Miroslav Krobot. The international ensemble cast also features British actress Leah Williams, and Hungarian actors Janos Derzsi and Istvan Lenart.[2]
According to sources, German cinematographer Fred Kelemen is now the Director of Photography,[2] though Robby Müller is still credited at IMDb.[3] This could be due to Tarr having many cinematographers, as he had with Werckmeister Harmonies.
Financial Problems
Now the production is already infamous among the fans of international cinema. It all began in February 2005, when the film’s producer Humbert Balsan committed suicide on 10 February. Tarr says he received the word of his producer’s death after already shooting two days at Corsica.[2]
This is from an already-quoted interview:
- Upon the French producer's death, French bank Coficine froze the disbursement.
- Using the project's Hungarian funds, plus extra support from Eurimages and ARTE,
- Tarr shot for nine days on the sets he had built for $2.3m (Euros 2m.)
- Tarr returned to Hungary to reorganise. He said was obliged to strike a new deal with Coficine,
- which held all rights to the film via its contract with Balsan's company, Ognon Pictures.
- Tarr has cut the project's budget, originally $5.9m (Euros 5m), by $838,494 (Euros 700,000)
- and cut the number of shooting days.[2]
For quite some time the state of production remained in uncertainty[4] until the word broke in late 2005 that Tarr had secured financing, which had now become more international than ever, and would soon resume shooting, and indeed, shooting did start, according to sources, in March.[1] [2].
Also the following letter by director Béla Tarr and producer Gábor Téni, dated February 6, 2006, sheds light to the state of production, and its countless obstacles, in the most comprehensive way.
The letter in English at filmunio.hu
Notes of Reference
- ^ a b <http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/constan2.php — A Dark Horizons Interview with Tilda Swinton
- ^ a b c d e <http://www.facets.org/Images/cache/wh_11article_20060208092323__0.html — Hungarian director Béla Tarr speaks to journalists
- ^ <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005810/ — IMDb: Robby Müller
- ^ <http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117919818?categoryid=13&cs=1 — A Variety Article, "Man" overboard in Corsica