LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Russian International Film Festival has awarded actor Leonardo DiCaprio its Tower Award for his contribution to world cinema.
The “Gangs of New York” and “Catch Me If You Can” star said he was a fan of Sergei Eisenstein and introduced one of his favorites from the director, “Battleship Potemkin,” at the festival Sunday. “I respect Russian culture and Russian cinema, especially Eisenstein, (Andrei) Tarkovsky, and (Sergei) Paradzhanov,” the 28-year-old actor said. “I’m definitely going to catch some more movies at this festival.”
Leo also flexes his acting chops in The Basketball Diaries. He’s a good actor, but I think full of himself. And cookies too judging by a pic I saw of him on the beach on People.com recently. Someone needs to lay off the PBR.
Heck, I’m impressed he knows who Paradzhanov is. I bet you can count the Dopers who’ve actually seen one of his films on your fingers (I’ll be the thumb…)
Let’s be honest, though, selections like this are always tied to insuring that your Festival will make the front pages of the Moscow Sun Times (or whatever it’s called; is Pravda still around?). Critical cred always comes second to high-end exposure.
I just came from a 4 year tour of the Med. and every country I went to, from Croatia to Italy and Spain, had in every Discoteque a plethora of Dream Theater discs, including Russian imports of concert albums…weird.
A myth? Andrew Sarris discussed it way back in the 60s in “The American Cinema”; Gerald Mast mentioned it int “The Comic Mind,” including quotes from Bernard Davidson and J. P. Coursodin from French cinema magazines:
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Or try these quotes:
Lewis has also won eight best director awards in Europe.
True, Lewis’s reputation has fallen badly since the 60s. It looks like he is not held in the esteem he was 40 years ago. But it was not myth that French critics once considered Jerry to be a truly great filmmaker.