In The Italian, by director Andrei Kravchuk, six-year-old Vanya lives in the dilapidated Russian orphanage he has always called home. The orphanage is run by the Head Master, a broken-down man who, in spite of being occasionally drunk and frequently flustered, does the best he can to care for the many children abandoned by their parents to his care. A formidable woman known to the children only as Madam arranges for the children to be adopted by foreign couples seeking international adoption -- for a considerable profit. The children more or less fend for themselves, working at odd jobs, or as thieves and prostitutes for the gang of older teens living in the basement of the orphanage. One day Madam brings to the orphanage Claudia and Roberto, an Italian couple who have come to look for a child to adopt, and Vanya is chosen to be introduced to them. They immediately fall in love with Vanya and decide to adopt him, but it takes two months for the paperwork and court date to finalize matters. The other orphans consider Vanya lucky to have been chosen for adoption, and so does Vanya -- at first.

ThinkFilm has picked up the North American rights to Candy (which is nice, because it gives them something to distribute that doesn't have "f*ck" in the title), an Australian film that had its world premiere at Berlin earlier this year. The movie stars Heath Ledger as a straight poet who happens to enjoy a spot of heroin now and again. Happily, he meets a young lady (the film's titular character, played by Abbie Cornish) who is in to the same sort of thing; the movie traces the ups and downs of their relationships with one another and the smack.

According to an early review in Variety, the performances (including that of the totally awesome Geoffrey Rush, in a supporting role) are uniformly good, but the film's screenplay is uneven, its tone varying so wildly as to be occasionally off-putting. Plus, there's reportedly a cold turkey scene that's not too much fun to watch. Basically, it's Trainspotting, except in Australia. And with a girl.

Thursday's bit and bobs:

• One imagines that giant fireballs erupt fairly regularly on the set of Mission: Impossible III. The problem, however, is when unscheduled explosions occur, and there are unprepared stuntmen in the area, and they get burned over 60% of their bodies. One such stuntman is suing, among others, Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise's very own production company, seeking "unspecified damages."
  

• New Line won the bidding war for the movie rights to Land of the Living. The Nicci French novel suddenly became a hot property in Hollywood when one James Ellroy pitched his own take on the story; New Line's nearly-million-dollar investment bought both the rights and Ellroy's agreement to write the screenplay. The summary of the story - which is about a "promiscuous woman" who is kidnapped and tortured, only to find that the police don't believe her story and leave her to figure things out on her own - is scary as hell, and it's safe to assume that Ellroy will make it even darker.

• A Soap, a Swedish/Danish film that earned a lot of buzz (not to mention a jury prize) at Berlin, has been picked up for North American distribution by Strand Releasing. The film explores the relationship between "an emotionally confused woman...[and] her young, pre-op transsexual neighbor"; it just made its American premiere at New York's New Directors/New Films Series, and is expected to make a quick turnaround, appearing in theaters this spring.
  

Coming off his well-deserved lifetime achievement Oscar and the warm, positive reaction his A Prairie Home Companion received at Berlin last month, the media buzz surrounding Robert Altman is higher than it's been in years (and years and years). It's no surprise, then, that Picturehouse chose this moment to officially launch its marketing campaign for his new film, which opens this June.

In addition to a reassuringly old-school poster, A Prairie Home Companion's new website features a trailer which, finally, give most of us our first look at the movie. As both an Altman fan and (this is really, really embarrassing to admit) a listener to the Garrison Keillor radio show on which the movie is based, I'm this movie's target audience, and the trailer had me eating out of its damn hand. While the film's ability to appeal to people unfamiliar with the radio show (meaning, probably, everyone under 60 who isn't me) is very much in question - that's what Lindsay Lohan is for - everything about the trailer struck me as perfect. The combination of Keillor's distinctive voice and the familiar faces of Altman's all-star cast create a very familiar, comforting atmosphere that is rare in American film these days. The trailer isn't trying to shock or challenge us, or even win us over - instead, it has the very unusual effect of welcoming us home, to a place where everything is just as we left it.

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote something that sappy. Such, apparently, is the power of the damn trailer, for those of us either mentally or physically over 60. Seriously. I just want to sit here and watch it all day (and then maybe take a nap, do some knitting, and watch Wheel of Fortune).

[via JoBlo]

Grbavica, the Bosnia movie that won the top prize at Berlin last month, will not be seen in the Serbian sections of Bosnia and Herzegovina for fear that it might provoke the population into unrest. The film, which explores the terrible reality of "Bosnia's post-war trauma and the lingering impact of the systematic rape of women by Serb soldiers during the 1992-95 conflict," is seen by Serbs in the country as nothing more than propaganda. It is believed that the actual number of Bosnia women raped during the war is far greater than the official estimate of 20,000.

Interestingly, the absence of the film from screens is not to due to its banning, but rather a decision by Oscar Film, Grabavica's local distributor, which chose to withhold the film. According to Oscar's president, his reasons were both political and economic: "We live in the Serb part of Bosnia and we don't want to provoke a revolt of the Serb population and, since there is no interest in the movie, we do not have the economic interest to show it." Jesus, what a reality (just in case anyone needed a reminder of just how easy things are over here).

Australian musician Nick Cave is a man who wears many creative hats. You may know of him mainly for his prolific work as a solo artist and with his groups The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Or you may know him as an actor and composer. Sight and Sound has an excellent interview with Nick Cave the screenwriter, as he and director John Hillcoat discuss The Proposition, a film directed by Hillcoat off a script written by Cave, he says, in just three short weeks.

The Proposition is an Australian Western pitting a lawman, Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), against three brothers, Arthur (Danny Huston), Charlie (Guy Pearce), and Mike (Richard Wilson). Fourteen-year-old Mike is captured by Stanley, who threatens to put him to death in seven days if Charlie doesn't return to turn in older brother Arthur. The film also stars Emily Watson as Stanley's wife.

The film is racking up fairly strong reviews on the fest circuit. I wanted to catch The Propositon at Sundance but missed it; now I'm just going to have to keep my fingers crossed that it shows up at another fest - Seattle International Film Festival, perhaps? I can only hope.

[ via Green Cine Daily ]

Despite all the buzz surrounding The Road to Guantánamo and Robert Altman's charming A Prairie Home Companion, the Golden Bear award - given to the best film at the Berlin Film Festival - went to Grbavica, a film from Bosnia. The first feature from documentarian and short film maker Jasmila Zbanic, Grbavica is about "Bosnia's post-war trauma and the lingering impact of the systematic rape of women by Serb soldiers during the 1992-95 conflict." Profoundly troubling though it undoubtedly is, the film was very well-received when it screened at the festival early this week. Unfortunately, no American distributor has yet been brave enough to acquire its rights, so this might be another one for the region-free DVD players.

Other major awards went to Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross for their direction of The Road to Guantánamo, and German pair Sandra Hüller (Requiem) and Moritz Bleibtreu (The Elementary Particles), who were named best actress and best actor, respectively. Additionally, the jury gave out Silver Bears (essentially best picture runners-up awards) to Offside, an Iranian film about women and soccer, and Danish/Swedish production A Soap, which examines "a budding romance between an emotionally confused woman and her troubled, pre-op transsexual neighbor."

According to Screen Daily, French director François Ozon finally has a British project in the works. Ozon, whose recent work includes the much-discussed Swimming Pool (which, though it centered around British characters, was set in France), is already shooting the film in London. Entitled Angel, it is centered on a social climbing woman in early 20th century London "who climbs the social ladder by becoming a famous novelist." Rather disturbingly, the film stars Romola Garai, who shot to international fame with her starring role in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, as Angel Deverell. Yikes. Around to prop her up will be Ozon regular and Berlin jury chair Charlotte Rampling (who happens to have played a novelist in Swimming Pool) and Sam Neill, as well as a couple of young Brits for whom Angel could be a big break.

Though the rights to the film are currently being shopped in Berlin, there's no word on when Ozon hopes to have it ready for release.

According to director Robert Greenwald, the sale of the distribution rights to Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price after its Berlin screening have come despite the fears of some distributors that the mega-retailer will retaliate against them by refusing to sell their other films in its stores. A Wal-Mart spokesperson, of course, poo-pooed the very idea: "To say that we'd retaliate against a distributor for carrying this film is simply preposterous." Does that make you feel better, European distributors? Interestingly, Wal-Mart stores in the US are carrying neither Greenwald's film nor its company-sponsored response, Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People C-r-a-z-y.

As a result of its well-received screening, Greenwald has arranged distribution for his film in Germany, the UK, and New Zealand and Australia, and a representative told reporters that "he expects to close on Spain, Benelux and France this week." According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film's subject matter is of great interest to much of Europe, where Wal-Mart is already massive retail force.

Openly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen, in his speech accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival, told movie fans that although his own mainstream movie career opened up after he came out of the closet, it's still very difficult for gay actors to be open about their sexuality, and even harder for lesbian actresses. McKellen spoke of Hollywoods "old fashioned attitudes", very different from the attitude in theater, where actors are "at ease with being open and honest".

McKellen makes a good point. How many openly gay or lesbian actors can you think of off the top of your head? In spite of efforts of groups like Focus in the Family to highlight the supposed homosexual agenda in Hollywood, I'll bet you can't think of more than five current A-List (heck, I'll even take B-List) actors who are both gay and out of the closet.  Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, and Montgomery Clift don't count; I'm talking actors or actresses you're likely to see in current People's 50 Most Beautiful or Sexiest Flavor of the Month Alive issues.

It must be a slow day at the Berlinale today, because the big news Yahoo has to report out of Berlin is that Natalie Portman shaved her head for V for Vendetta, and that people stared at her when she walked down the street with a  bare head. I mean, yeah, okay - tonight's screening at the Berlinale is the first screening of V for Vendetta to people who aren't film critics, and Warner Bros., no doubt, are very pumped to see how real people react to the film. But is Natalie's shaved head the most important thing about the film? They couldn't have asked questions about, say, the plot of the film? Wicked special effects? Outstanding dialogue? Something, I don't know, perhaps of substance about the film itself?

Maybe someone at Yahoo has a shaved head fetish. Yeesh.

Martha wrote earlier today about how Neil Jordan has been trying to get the film Borgia made forever, to no avail, and how the project has once again been shelved. But we have good news for all you film buffs who have been anxiously awaiting a film about the scandalous Renaissance dynasty - Los Borgia, helmed by Spanish director Antonio Hernández (who is also in production on Cervantes), has been acquired by Spanish company Filmax for worldwide rights outside Italy and Spain.

Hernández's version of the film stars Lluís Homar as  notorious pope Alexander VI, Sergio Peris-Mencheta as his ruthless son César, and María Valverde as César's sister Lucrezia, who, depending which account you believe, was either a wicked femme fatale as ruthless and cunning as her brother and father, or a pawn of both in their unquenchable lust for power.

The Berlinale is underway with lots of exciting films to hear about. Here's what's been going down in Berlin, where all the falling snow has people thinking they're still at Sundance:

Golden Bear awards: Sir Ian McKellan (pictured) was awarded an Honorary Golden Bear, the Berlinale's top prize, at a ceremony following a special screening of his 1995 film Richard III, shown in tribute to McKellan. Polish director Andrzej Wajda is also to receive an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement during the fest.

The sun went down on Sundance without festival audience fave and jury winner Quinceañera finding distribution, but it didn't take long for the film to get picked up in the opening days of the European Film Market at the Berlinale. According to indieWIRE, Celluloid Dreams, which last year handled 40 Shades of Blue and Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know, acquired Quinceañera for an undisclosed sum.

Cinematical reviewed Quinceañera during Sundance, and also interviewed directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.

UPDATE: Cinematical just heard from director Wash Westmoreland, who confirmed that Celluloid Dreams are handling foreign sales for Quinceañera and are "knocking out territories left and right". American rights for the film, says Westmoreland, are "still up in the air, but we have some great possibilities".

If ever a film needed a group hug, it's Chen Kaige's The Promise. The film - China's biggest budget film ever - has really been through the wringer over the past several months. Way back at Cannes last year, the Weinsteins acquired the film.  The poor film was hijacked by pirates, who sold it pay-per-view on a remote television station. Since then it's been re-edited, renamed, and released in a longer version (for the Oscars) and a shorter version (for the Golden Globes), and then subsequently freed up by the Weinsteins, who had a disagreement with Kaige and producer  Etchie Stroh over their handling and distribution plan for the film. Now, at long last, acoording to indieWIRE, the film has found a new home at Warner Independent Pictures, so it can relax, take a hot bath and a nap, and warm its feet up by the cozy fire of better (hopefully more expansive) distribution.

The film which took nearly three years to shoot, has demolished box office records in China. If you can't wait to see the full version, you can watch the smashing 11 minute trailer.