Mister Lonely (2007)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Harmony Korine

Writers:

Avi Korine (writer)
Harmony Korine (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

In Paris, a young American who works as a Michael Jackson lookalike meets Marilyn Monroe, who invites him to her commune in Scotland, where she lives with Charlie Chaplin and her daughter, Shirley Temple. |

Plot Keywords:

Queen Of England | Fireworks | Eccentric | Farm | Marilyn Monroe

Cast

Diego Luna	...	Michael Jackson
Samantha Morton	...	Marilyn Monroe
Denis Lavant	...	Charlie Chaplin
Werner Herzog	...	Father Umbrillo
James Fox	...	The Pope
Melita Morgan	...	Madonna
Anita Pallenberg	...	The Queen of England
Jason Pennycooke	...	Sammy Davis, Jr.
Esme Creed-Miles	...	Shirley Temple
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Blaine
Leos Carax	...	Renard
Nigel Cooper	...	Curly - One of the 3 Stooges
Britta Gartner	...	Nun
Alisa Grace Greaves	...	Autograph Girl
Quentin Grosset	...	Le petit garçon
Rachel Korine	...	Little red riding hood
Joseph Morgan	...	James Dean
Daniel Rovai	...	Moe
Richard Strange	...	Abraham Lincoln
Mal Whiteley	...	Larry - one of the 3 Stooges

Runtime:

Canada:112 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:112 min

Country:

UK | France | Ireland | USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Company:

Film4

Trivia:

In an interview with a newspaper in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., Harmony Korine stated that he made several trips to Iceland to scout locations for the film. He ended up ditching that idea altogether and shooting the film in Scotland and France.

Korine quirky poetry worth the effort

Since no one makes movies like Harmony Korine, I'm not sure what the standard for critique is. So suffice to say it's really beautiful, unsettling, rambling, and actually kind of spiritual. Love his movies or not he is an honest filmmaker with a true sense of the surreal and the poetry that lurks in the strangest details. The casting is brilliant and the structure unique and pure Korine. The premise is the wacky goings on at a retreat for celebrity and historical impersonators tucked away in (where?) the Scottish Highlands. They are rehearsing a "play" of some kind. It makes for some beautiful moments.

This story is told against another story of nuns who want to jump without parachutes from an airplane to prove the possibility of miracles (as legend claims did happen once) Needless to say this has ripe opportunities,especially when you have Werner Herzog playing the pilot. (Korine says the scene with the man waiting for his wife to return to the airport is an actual caught conversation. THIS you have to see to believe). At the screening I attended, an very odd fan's comment to Korine was simply; "Nuns floating dead on a beach. Awesome image man.Dude you rock". Korine says the two stories are really the same thing. Hmmm - I guess so.

Putting the great, great Samantha Morton together with Herzog, Richard Strange, Leos Carax (Pola X), Anita Pallenberg, Diego Luna, and James Fox - matches any casting coup by John Waters. The story may be criticized as forced and ridiculous, but Korine is willing to take bold chances, to mix it up and. with the help of great actors and wonderful cinematography he create of a work of real cinema poetry.