The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
On July 10, 2021, local time, at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, director Sean Penn (center) attended the premiere of "Flag Day". People's Vision Diagram
This year's 74th Cannes Film Festival is more than halfway through, and unlike previous years, when many political and social issues have erupted, this year's guests are more focused on the film itself. Only Spike Lee, chairman of the jury in the main competition section, made some painless criticisms of former US President Donald Trump and others in response to a question from a Georgian journalist at a previous press conference. However, the recent debut of the film "Flag Day" has finally made the media who are happy to capture such news finally get their wish.
Sean Penn plays a professional liar born on U.S. National Day.
Sean Penn: "Trump Committed Manslaughter"
"Flag Day" is self-directed and self-starred by the famous American filmmaker Sean Penn, telling the story of an old professional liar born on American National Day who tries to repair his relationship with his family. Playing his daughter in the film is Sean Penn's own daughter Dylan Penn, and his youngest son, Hopper Jack Penn, also appears in the film.
At a press conference that followed, Sean Penn spoke about the pandemic and social issues in the United States. He, who earlier this year publicly denounced former US President Trump for committing "manslaughter, and it is a mass murder", once again focused his fire on Trump. "We as human beings, if we can't do even the most basic empathy, the result will be this, and all that we are witnessing right now is the huge price that all of us have to pay for it." 」
Sean Penn said, "Whether from a human or political point of view, it can be said that the Trump administration is a despicable and vulgar government, and truth and reason are attacked, resulting in not only the United States, but the entire human world, which is affected by disinformation and delayed." ”
On July 11, 2021, local time, the 74th Cannes Film Festival, "Flag Day" press conference. People's Vision Diagram
During the epidemic, Sean Penn set up the non-profit organization Core (abbreviated as the Organized Community Relief Program) out of his own pocket, successfully operated a number of COVID-19 testing centers in Los Angeles and New York, benefiting a large number of ordinary local people and vulnerable groups, and is regarded as one of the biggest filmmakers in Hollywood to fight the epidemic.
In his opinion, "When my team and I came home from a day of virus testing and saw the crazy news on TV, do you know what it felt like?" It was as if someone was shooting the most vulnerable groups in the street with a machine gun from the white house turret."
Speaking of the film itself, Sean Pan, who has directed films such as "The Death Order" and "Survival in the Wilderness", said that he had never thought of starring in his own films, thinking that it would lead to distraction and unpopularity on both sides. Therefore, although he has been a director many times in the past, he has never appeared in these films. And this time, the exception is due to actor Matt Damon, who also came to Cannes this year.
"I didn't think about acting myself at first, but the two producers kept advising me until I was only a month and a half away from filming, and I had to make a decision, and in order not to play the role, I made one last effort, that is, to send the script to Matt Damon to see if he intended to play." He was really helpful and quickly finished reading the script and then called me. On the phone, he didn't say whether to act or not, but just told me, 'If you let go of such a good opportunity to star in this movie with your daughter, you are a big fool.'" The phone call became the last straw that led to my determination. ”
Sean Pan's daughter Dylan Pan starred in the film.
Flag Day is based on Jennifer Vogel's 2004 memoir, Flim-Flam Man: A True Family History. Sean Penn said that when he first read the book, he saw his daughter Dylan Pan as the protagonist of the story. Dylan Penn, now Chinese New Year's Eve, is the love of Sean Penn and ex-wife Robin Wright, who started her career as a video and model in her early years, and has only starred in two feature films in the past, with "Flag Day" being her first starring role.
"At first, I didn't think about whether to play this role or not, but I always felt quite worried, at least ten times I refused, and finally agreed." Dylan Pan admits, "I was only fifteen years old when I first read that book, and by the time I read it again this time, I was almost thirty years old, and re-reading it felt like I was reading my own diary, and there were many places that resonated with me and allowed me to incorporate my own experience." ”
Sean Penn's first trip to Cannes
Sean Penn won Best Actor in Cannes as early as 1997 for "The Man"; in 2008, he also chaired the jury of the main competition section; and he directed films "The Death Order" and "The Last Look", both of which competed in the Palme d'Or. However, his first visit to the Cannes Film Festival is quite legendary.
In 1984, the 23-year-old Sean Penn made a name for himself in Hollywood starring in the youth comedy "Open American School" and the crime film "Bad Boys." One day, while pouring yellow soup at a bar on Sunset Boulevard, he saw Harry Dean Stanton, a veteran actor who was more than thirty years older than himself, also there, and he went up to talk to him. The young Pan touted his predecessors, which caused Stanton to look at him with surprise and mentioned to him his plans to leave for the film festival in Cannes, France, the next day. "Paris, Texas," starring Stanton and directed by Wim Wenders, competed for the Palme d'Or that year, and it really had a laugh to the end.
Young Sean Penn (right) with Harry Dean Stanton.
Sean Pan immediately asked Stanton, who had just met for the first time, if he could take him with him, the offspring, to grow up with him, but Stanton readily agreed. So the next day the two flew to France together, and Sean Penn's carry-on luggage was just a passport and a toothbrush. Because he could not afford an expensive hotel in the center of Cannes, he and Stanton were crammed into a room for the first five days, until the latter was somewhat bored and threw the junior out.
Fortunately, there was no shortage of his Hollywood peers on the Côte d'Azur at that time. Soon, Sean Penn was having a hot fight with actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, who were more than a decade older than himself (the "Once Upon a Time in America" was being screened in Cannes), and De Niro paid for Sean Penn to book a hotel room for him to spend a pleasant time in Cannes, and the two also formed a deep friendship. As for five years later, they starred together in Neil Jordan's "We're Not Angels," that's a story.
Sean Penn and Robert De Niro at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Liu Wei