Robert Pattinson and Cosmopolis proves an early indication of his talent
Phillipa Snow from New Statesmendiscusses Rob and Cosmopolis in today’s world: “The dystopian thriller offers both the soothing image of a billionaire capitalist brought to heel by riots, and one of the earliest indications of Robert Pattinson’s talent.” Below is an extract from the article:
When Cosmopolis first screened in 2012, the movie’s buzz centred around the fact that Robert Pattinson – lately of the blockbuster teen romance series Twilight – would be playing Eric Packer, who in Don DeLillo’s original novel utters the immortal line, “I want to bottle-fuck you slowly with my sunglasses on.” Pattinson was known primarily for being pretty, and if he was known for much else it was for exasperated interviews about the films that made him famous. “I want to do a movie with [Jean-Luc] Godard so badly,” he told the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles a few months after the release of Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, a declaration that led to some merriment from those who saw themselves as being above the kind of culture loved by adolescent girls. I remember seeing Cosmopolis in 2012, and thinking that his casting was a masterstroke – an empty vessel, as gorgeously inexpressive as a statue, to be filled with DeLillo and Cronenberg’s ideas about the ruling class.
When viewed in 2020, Cosmopolis is exhilarating in two ways. The first is that it offers up the soothing image of a billionaire capitalist brought to heel by riots. The second is that Pattinson’s work as Packer, thorough enough that it looks like natural blankness, has since turned out to be one of the earliest indications of his talent.
At present, Robert Pattinson is utterly believable as someone who might work with Godard; he is no longer a heart-throb, but an unpredictable star of the arthouse. Watch him talking about vomiting on himself while masturbating for The Lighthouse, or extolling the delights of sexual spitting, or inventing a disturbing childhood memory about witnessing a clown’s death at a circus (he later admitted the anecdote, told on the Today Show, was fabricated) and the general impression is not of a gorgeous, inexpressive statue, but of a man who at any moment might reveal himself to be an actual lunatic. As is true of Joaquin Phoenix, there is something faintly feral in his best performances – a loss of sense, of sanity, of dignity. He is still beautiful, but unsettlingly so, age hollowing what were already unreal cheekbones into caverns. (In another 20 years, he may look like his co-star in The Lighthouse, Willem Dafoe.) What he has done is let a fine machine – his bankable image as a boring cutie meant for kids – degrade in public. It might be a scandal if he had not proven quite so popular with, among others, directors such as Claire Denis, the Safdie brothers, Robert Eggers and James Gray. It might be scandalous if he were not so good.
Claire Denis presented a three-hour masterclass last Wednesday (29 April 2020) as part of the Vision du Réel film festival. The festival also honored her with the “Maître du Réel” and Claire was happy to provide some insights into her career where she mentioned both Rob and Juliette Binoche. The masterclass will be made available with English subtitles at the festivals site. But for now, here are two takes on what drew Claire to Rob:
There’s something hidden in him. I think that’s why he’s so strong. He’s not at all naturalistic — he has this plastic beauty behind which hides something mysterious. That’s very powerful in cinema.
The question of reality also manifests itself in your relationship with the actors, like when you talk about Robert Pattinson , which you directed in High Life : “I saw it in Twilight and Cosmopolis , and it struck me because it has a hidden side, which is also seen in Good Time . He is not a naturalist actor, there is always something under it, and that is why it works in all those films “.
Robert Pattinson as Eric Michael Packer in #Cosmopolis
UPDATED: 6 April 2020
Bringing this forward as we’re celebrating Rob’s performance in Cosmopolis as our Movie Monday on Twitter and Instagram today. I posted this back in August 2018 – so it’s actually almost 8 years since we were blessed with this great performance.
It’s hard to believe that Cosmopolis came out 6 years ago, but I’m glad it did and it can certainly be considered the precursor for so many brilliant performances from Rob since that time. It should be no surprise then that I thought we should kickstart the week by celebrating Rob’s performance in this film. Thank you Mr Cronenberg for believing in Rob and helping to unlock the potential we all knew was there. Say hello to Eric Michael Packer …
MOVIE MONDAY: Behind the Scenes with Robert Pattinson | #EricMichaelPacker #Cosmopolis
Caitlin Cronenberg shared a few behind the scenes photos today of Rob on the set of Cosmopolis with her dad – David Cronenberg. They aren’t new, but it’s great inspiration for our Movie Monday. So here are the pics, plus a few more of Rob on the set of Cosmopolis. You can check out all the ones we have in our Gallery
Robert Pattinson talks The Batman, The Lighthouse and his movies post Twilight
Clark Collis from Entertainment Weekly talks to Rob about The Lighthouse, his movie choices and directors post Twilight and The Batman. The whole interview is great, but Rob talking why he was interested in The Batman starts at 14.48. Of course the fact that Jack Nicholson was involved in that franchise would pique his interests. He also talks about finding out about The Batman on his first day on the #Tenet set and talking to Christopher Nolan.
I am unable to embed so click on the photo of Rob below to watch the full 18 min+ interview or head on over to MSN
Terry Gross from Fresh Air spoke with Rob about The Lighthouse, Rob’s forever changing accents, preparing for The Batman and more (including hearing Honeybun). Here’s an extract from the transcript. Sit back and listen to Rob for over 30 mins.
British actor Robert Pattinson can’t tell you how many times people have said to him: “Hey man … you know what you’d be great at playing? An English prince.”
But that’s not really his thing.
“I think when you first start, if you’re tall and English and have kind of floppy hair, in England that is the box that you’re put in,” he says. “But I like movies because of Pacino, basically. I didn’t grow up watching period dramas and being like, ‘That’s what I want to do!’ ”
…
On something filmmaker David Cronenberg told him at Cannes that stuck with him
I’d never been to Cannes before … and I was very nervous, and I said, “How do you think it’s going to go tomorrow?” And David [said], “I’m fully expecting a significant number of walkouts.” It absolutely terrified me when I first heard it … but as soon as I saw his pleasure in thinking that there were going to be walkouts, it really made a big effect on me. … If you’re chasing after people, getting them to like you, you’re always going to be unsatisfied. Whereas, if you team up with people who throw caution to the wind about their work and are entirely unconcerned … they’re going to make exactly the movie that they want to make.
The BatmanRole: Bruce Wayne | Batman Director: Matt Reeves
Release Date: 1 October 2021. Filming commenced 27 Jan 2020 | Filming suspended 14 March 2020 due to COVID-19. Production rumoured to recommence 6 July 2020. Stay tuned for DCFanDome with exclusive content - 22 August 2020
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