This is the kind of projects that has us excited about 3D technology. A biopic based on the life and times of Spanish artist Salvador Dali is reportedly in the works with Philippe Mora writing and directing, Alan Cumming to star as the surrealist and Judy Davis as his great love, Gala — all, of course, in 3D.
The film is described as an untraditional biopic and reportedly “unfolds not as a linear narrative but as a series of dream-like, fantasy sequences intersected with reality, and is profoundly evocative of Dali’s art.” The story itself is apparently catalysed as, after near-fatal injuries from a house fire leaves him bedridden in hospital, “a semi-conscious Dali overhears a doctor suggesting what an extraordinary movie his life would make and so his mind — and the film — begins to soar, occasionally breaking the so-called ‘fourth wall” when the artist converses directly with his audience.” Uh, sounds kinda amazing, right?
”I want this to be the film that Dali would have wanted you to see,” Mora explained to the SMH. “True to his outrageous sense of humour, it will be simultaneously a surreal parody of what the artist would have wanted you to experience, a kind of crazed, artistic Inspector Clouseau. With his muse and wife Gala in the mix, it’s an extraordinary love story.”
Also involved the story is Dali’s work with Luis Bunuel which culminated in 1928’s “Un Chien Andalou” and 1930’s “L’âge D’or“; his associations with figures such as Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, Harpo Marx and Andy Warhol; his friendships with his mentor Picasso and the poet Lorca; his obsession with singer-performer Amanda Lear; and his bisexuality and obsession with Gala (Davis).
Lensing is set to begin in Cologne in June and will move to locations in New York, London, Barcelona and Australia, which will serve for parts of the Catalan coast. the project has a budget of $15m and is a collaboration between Aquafilm/Peter Kreutz in Cologne and Column Pictures in Sydney. [SMH/ScreenDaily]
