Van Dormael returns with 'Nobody'

Source: variety.com

The moment Jaco Van Dormael started shooting his third feature "Mr Nobody" in the summer of 2007, newspapers in his native Belgium began to predict glory at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. When the finished film was denied a place in the fest's competition this year, it was treated as a national tragedy.

The producers, led by Philippe Godeau of Pan-Europeenne, announced that they preferred to go straight to the public in October, but then in early July all the release dates were cancelled without explanation. Rumors started to circulate that the film was being re-edited, until a competition slot in Venice was announced and Belgian national honor was saved.

Van Dormael's status at home goes back to his 1991 feature debut, "Toto the Hero." Using a complex structure of flashbacks and fantasy sequences, it tells the story of a man convinced he has been denied a happy life by a mixup in the maternity ward. It won the best debut prize at Cannes, a Cesar for best foreign film and a host of other awards.

Five years later, "The Eighth Day" caused similar ripples when Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne shared acting kudos at Cannes for their perfs as a harried exec and a young man with Down Syndrome who befriends him. Despite a cooler critical reception than "Toto," the pic was a huge box office success, selling more than 5 million tickets across Europe. No Belgian film since has made international turnstiles hum in the same way.

But then Van Dormael seemed to disappear, an absence from filmmaking he now blames on a combination of family distractions and the length of time it takes him to be satisfied with his own writing.

Signs that he was ready to film again began to appear at the end of 2006, when the French script of "Mr. Nobody" was published as a book. That budget turned out to be in the region of $58 million, bigger than any previous Belgian film. While this leans heavily on local subsidies and the nation's tax shelter for investment, significant coin has also come from France and international funds such as Eurimages.

Shooting took place in Belgium, Canada and Germany over 120 days, followed by a year of post-production. The film is Van Dormael's English language debut, with an international cast led by Jared Leto, Diane Kruger and Sarah Polley. It returns to the themes of lost love and alternative realities that drove "Toto," recounting the possible lives that await a child faced with choosing between his separating parents. The tale is told from the year 2090, through the failing memory of the 120-year-old man who lived one, or perhaps all of these lives.