Sunset Boulevard, Chapter II

Author(s): Stefano
Location: Italy

"Sunset Boulevard, Chapter II”

Directed by Stephen Frears
Written by Ronald Harwood
Original music by George Fenton
Cinematography by Robert Richardson
Art direction by Dante Ferretti
Costumes by Colleen Atwood

Principal Cast:

Faye Dunaway – Norma Desmond
Ewan MacGregor – Peter Gillis
Anthony Hopkins – Max von Mayerling
Laura Linney – Betty Schaefer
Billy Crudup – The Ghost of Joe Gillis
Tommy Lee Jones – Detective Jakobs
Alan Alda – Dr. Thompson
Joan Plowright – Mrs. Wilson
Ellen Burstyn – Hedda Hopper

Tagline: "Now, after all these years… she’s ready for her close-up"

Synopsis: 15 years have passed by since the faded silent-movie star Norma Desmond
killed her young gigolo, screenwriter Joe Gillis, with a shot of her gun. Since that terrible night, Norma has been imprisoned for 15 years in a Los Angeles mental-hospital. But in 1965 her psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson (Alan Alda), has established she’s definitively recovered from her madness: so now Norma (Faye Dunaway) can finally come back to her sinister mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Her faithful butler Max von Mayerling (Anthony Hopkins), the woman’s first husband and ex-director, is ready to welcome Norma and take
care of her, together with a new housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson (Joan Plowright). But although everything seems under control, Norma still can’t forget her past and is tormented by the memories of her acting-career and the visions of Joe Gillis’ ghost (Billy Crudup), who appears in dreams to Norma. The events come to a turning point when Norma meets Peter Gillis (Ewan MacGregor), Joe’s younger brother, an ingenuous aspiring actor who’s lookin’ for a job in Hollywood, and who doesn’t know anything about his brother’s death; immediately Norma falls in love with Peter and offers him a role in a new motion picture she’s gonna producing and starring. But things become difficult because of screenwriter Betty Schaefer (Laura Linney), Joe Gillis’ past girlfriend, who’s also in love with Peter and had never forgiven Norma for Joe’s death. Other characters include the cynical detective Jakobs (Tommy Lee Jones), a private eye who suspects Norma is not totally sane and could be very dangerous, and well-known Hollywood reporter Hedda Hopper (Ellen Burstyn), who hopes to make the last and probably the greatest scoop of her long journalistic career when Norma will kill her next victim. And it will not take much time…

What the press would say:

Academy Award nominee Stephen Frears (“Dangerous liaisons”, “The grifters” and the recent “The Queen”) is the director of this marvelous noir black-comedy, an astonishing and thrilling sequel of Billy Wilder’s black and white masterpiece “Sunset Boulevard”. Ronald Harwood’s intriguing screenplay tells the narration of Norma’s comeback with an anguishing dark-tone that turns into thriller after the first half of the film, and the story fades into many flashbacks with scenes taken from the original classic. The picture itself is a disturbing chronicle of Hollywood’s deep changes during the 60’s. Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway gives on of her best performances with this wonderful portrait of Norma Desmond (played in the original version by the legendary Gloria Swanson), and this role represents the highest point of her career in almost 30 years. Mrs. Dunaway has given life to an unforgettable villain, similar to other characters she’d played in the past like Diane Christensen in “Network” or Joan Crawford in “Mommie dearest”, and she’ll probably get her fourth Academy Award nomination in the next Oscar race. Sir Anthony Hopkins is also flawless in Erich Von Stroheim’s role of Max von Mayerling, and the german accent he’d studied for the role is simply perfect. Ewan MacGregor is completely persuasive and charming as Norma’s young object of desire, and the supporting cast is one of the best ensemble seen in an american movie this year, with actors like Laura Linney (who reprises Betty Schaefer’s character), Tommy Lee Jones (an excellent private-eye), Alan Alda, Joan Plowright, and Ellen Burstyn in the role of the (in)famous reporter Hedda Hopper (who made a cameo appearance in Wilder’s film).

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Best Picture
Best Director – Stephen Frears
Best Actress – Faye Dunaway
Best Supporting Actor – Anthony Hopkins
Best Supporting Actress – Laura Linney
Best Original Screenplay – Ronald Harwood
Best Original Score
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design