17/02/2006

There is renewed hope for the European co-production by Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, The Man From London (L’homme de Londres), the shoot for which was abruptly and brutally interrupted after just nine days in February 2004, following the death of French producer Humbert Balsan (see news).

Inspired by Georges Simenon’s novel, French involvement in the project in now in the hands of Paul Saadoun (13 Production) while co-production partnerships are still in place with Hungary’s T.T. Filmmuhely and Germany’s Von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion and CMW Film Company. However, UK company Wind Fish Motion Pictures has pulled out.

With an advance on receipts of €380,000 from the National Film Centre (CNC), €400,000 from Eurimages and support from Arte, the film’s initial budget of €5.29m has been cut back. Shooting begins in Hungary next month, with some filming in Corsica planned for September 2006. UK actress Tilda Swinton is still in the cast, which also includes Miroslav Krobot from the Czech Republic and Hungarian actors Janos Derzsi and Istvan Lenart.

In an open letter, Béla Tarr and Hungarian co-producer Gábor Téni detailed their travails on the project, highlighting the continued support shown by Eurimages, Arte, the CNC, the German co-producers, the MMKA (Hungarian Motion Picture Foundation) and the Hungarian Cultural Minister. The main stumbling block was the fact that Balsan’s company Ognon Pictures was on the verge of bankruptcy, with approximately €13m in debt, and had handed over the rights to The Man From London to French credit agency Coficiné. The legal mess had a happy ending, due mostly to the arrival on the scene of Saadoun, who produced Béla Tarr’s last film, Werckmeister Harmonies, in 2000. Saadoun told Cineuropa, "We had stayed in contact and I didn’t want this film to sit on the shelf because it is such a beautiful screenplay. In conjunction with Coficiné and Ognon, we sorted out the rights problem and the financial issues." Béla Tarr hopes that "the descent into Hell and the humiliation are finally over" so that The Man From London can finally get back on track.

(Translated from French)