Latest news with #TheDisappearanceofJosefMengele
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kevin Spacey Tears Up, Quotes ‘Friend' Elton John in Fiery Speech at Cannes: ‘I'm Still Standing'
Kevin Spacey delivered a lengthy and fiery speech in Cannes on Tuesday evening, marking his first visit to the global film gathering in almost a decade and since being found not guilty on sexual assault charges. More from Variety 'Eagles of the Republic' Review: An Egyptian Movie Star Is Forced to Make a Propaganda Film in Tarik Saleh's Catchy but Muddled Age of Autocracy Thriller 'The Disappearance of Josef Mengele' Review: A Post-War Study of the Nazis' 'Angel of Death' Lacks Dimension 'Fuori' Review: Jailtime Revives a Middle-Aged Writer's Mojo in Mario Martone's Uninvolving Literary Biopic Spacey was speaking at a gala held by the Better World Fund, where he was presented with an 'engagement award,' given to him by the organization's president Manuel Collas de la Roche who said the actor embodied the 'powerful interaction between art and influence.' On stage after accepting the honor, Spacey spoke for almost seven minutes, during which he likened his own ousting from the film industry to the blacklisting of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and got emotional as he praised his 'best friend' and manager Evan Lowenstein. Through Lowenstein, he said he had 'come out the other side of these last few challenging years not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving than I ever have been in my life.' Spacey hailed the Better World Fund for taking 'risks' by inviting him. 'Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every single courtroom he's ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea,' he said. He also compared the decision by the Better World Fund to invite him to Kirk Douglas' support for blacklisted writer Trumbo. 'Kirk Douglas took the risk and would later say: It's easy for us actors to play the hero on screen, we get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice, but in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principle. I have learned a lot from history. It very often repeats itself. The blacklist was a terrible time in our industry, but we must learn from it so that it never happens again.' Spacey added: 'And today we find ourselves once again at the intersection of uncertainty and fear in the film business and beyond.' He closed his speech by citing Elton John. 'As my friend Elton John once said, and the reason that this means so much to me, is because I'm still standing, I'm still standing.' The event also featured an auction with items including a designer cigar humidifier, a guitar signed by Kevin Costner and another guitar signed by Sting (the latter went for $28,000). At one point, Spacey was ushered on stage to urge the audience to pay attention during the auction. Spacey's surprise visit to Cannes — which was reported by Variety over the weekend — marks the first time the two-time Oscar winner has attended the festival since 2016, when he served as emcee for the amfAR gala. Spacey's career imploded the following year following multiple allegations of sexual impropriety. Since 2017, more than 30 men have accused Spacey of sexual assault or inappropriate behavior, leading to his exit from the Netflix series 'House of Cards.' Spacey was found not liable in a civil lawsuit in New York in 2022 and was acquitted in a criminal case in London the following year in one of the U.K.'s most high-profile #MeToo trials. The actor's visit to Cannes has been orchestrated by the producers of conspiracy thriller 'The Awakening,' in which Spacey stars. The British indie — about the uncovering of a sinister global cabal that controls the world (and is run by Spacey) — was the first movie that actor shot after being cleared of charges in the U.K. in 2023. It is being shopped by producers at this year's fest. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Disappearance of Josef Mengele' Review: A Post-War Study of the Nazis' ‘Angel of Death' Lacks Dimension
With 'The Disappearance of Josef Mengele,' Russian dissident Kirill Serebrennikov trains his lens once more on the fault-lines of democracy, and the ease with which fascism takes hold and cross-pollinates. However, the black-and-white-shot post-World War II biopic contains more ideas than it can handle, between a central character study — led by an impeccable August Diehl — mixed with a globe-trotting tale of evasion, along with numerous hints towards turning political wheels. The combination proves too unwieldy, at least in Serebrennikov's scattered execution. The movie's prologue, set in the 21st century, establishes what would become of the Nazi war criminal, as his remains are examined by medical students in Brazil. Among the group is a pair of Black twins, whose professor mentions Mengele's fixation with identical siblings, which both portends fleeting dramatic moments in the rest of the film, and also steeps this post-mortem study in dramatic irony. Mengele would've detested what became of his bones; there's a sense of catharsis to the mad doctor being reduced to parts on a slab. Unfortunately, what follows is seldom retro-fitted with enough dramatic power to earn this preemptive closure. More from Variety 'Fuori' Review: Jailtime Revives a Middle-Aged Writer's Mojo in Mario Martone's Uninvolving Literary Biopic Kevin Spacey Tears Up, Quotes 'Friend' Elton John in Fiery Speech at Cannes: 'I'm Still Standing' At Cannes, Politics, Penny-Pinching and Strict Red Carpet Rules Overshadow the Glitz, Good Times and Glamour Adapted from Olivier Guez's more straightforward non-fiction novel, Serebrennikov's screenplay jumps around in time, albeit with little purpose. It introduces us to Mengele (Diehl), the Third Reich's 'angel of death,' living in secret and looking over his shoulder in 1950s Argentina. The camera follows Mengele — at times literally, from behind — during his attempts to travel back to Europe, inducing a sense of paranoia in the process, while embodying a phantomic righteousness as it gives chase. However, these alluring flourishes quickly fade, as the movie settles into rote rhythms reminiscent of Serebrennikov's most recent effort (the agitator biopic 'Limonov: The Ballad'), in which the political is but window dressing to the personal, rather than part-and-parcel of it. For the most part, 'The Disappearance of Josef Mengele' hobbles between Mengele's stints in various South American countries — primarily, a Nazi-friendly Argentina under Juan Perón, and eventually a military-controlled Brazil — from the '50s through to the '70s. The film, in this way, offers hints at the perpetuation of fascist thought during the 20th century, coming achingly close to making a point as norms seem to shatter far in background (usually, over radio broadcasts). Instead, its constant back-and-forth functions as a highlight reel, denoting Mengele's marriage to his widowed sister-in-law, his relationship with his domineering father and, eventually, the efforts by his adult son Rolf (Max Bretschneider) to connect with his estranged father. Rather than these factual bullet-points serving as a backdrop to explore Mengele, they become foregrounded to the point of subsuming any sense of overarching theme, let alone a cinematic fluidity between eras. The film is at its most potent during its brief foray into Mengele's Nazi past — about halfway through the runtime — taking the form of rare color scenes presented as grainy, celluloid footage shot by the Nazis themselves. The gleeful cruelty contained in these images is downright gut-churning, and makes for a necessary foundation to later moments of the elderly, fugitive Mengele being forced to confront his torturous wrongdoings. Diehl, despite being caked in old-man make up, digs deep into Mengele's chilling contradictions and compartmentalizations, which arrive with a nearly comedic form of self-awareness (Mengele detests the idea that he may one day be fictionalized on film), making the character seem even more pathetic. However, these moments can't help but feel too little, too late. Take, for example, a kind of scene that has become practically expected of modern films on human atrocities — from the 2013 Indonesian genocide documentary 'The Act of Killing,' to the recent World War II dramas 'Oppenheimer' and 'The Zone of Interest' — in which a figure confronted with the reality of their mass murders keels over and vomits, as if in pithy attempt to expel their guilt. Such an instance arrives here as well, albeit without the requisite buildup that might make Mengele's inescapable nausea meaningful. It's a beat that feels mostly self-contained, rather than emanating from a combination of all the preceding drama. Similarly, Mengele's twisted fixations are but details casually shaded into Serebrennikov's sketch, appearing in isolated moments rather than existing as defining characteristics, baked into the character's gaze. His persecution, presented in spurts across the various timelines, seldom leads to a coherent story of a man being chased by demons of his own making (despite frequent allusions to Mossad catching up to other Nazi leaders). Diehl goes to great lengths to embody a figure noxious to the eyes and ears — in the most subtle, skin-crawling ways — with the crouched body language of a man resultant to be seen. However, the film as a whole rarely pierces this veil. 'The Disappearance of Josef Mengele' never builds a complete and detestable human being. Its concerns, ironically, feel far too logistical for a figure whose cold calculations disguised a more vivid and monstrously human collage. The result is a film that gestures towards some novel complexity, but elicits only a shrug. Best of Variety The Best Albums of the Decade
