Auteurs David Cronenberg and Pedro Almodovar are joining the line-up of the 49th New York Film Festival line-up with two new galas. Both are edgy sexually transgressive dramas from Sony Pictures Classics, which is also releasing the opening night film Carnage. Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, starring Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley, will debut at Venice, play NYFF October 5 and open in theaters November 23. Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, starring Antonio Banderas, played to mixed reaction at Cannes and will open October 14, right after its gala on October 12.
Thankfully adding two new galas did not mean backing off from the NYFF’s traditional standards. (Both films are from master filmmakers beloved by the festival.) Closing night is expected to be announced at week’s end. “This year has seen a great deal of growth for us with the opening of our new Film Center,” said executive director Rose Kuo. “We are thrilled to continue that expansion at this year’s NYFF. We will be offering more screenings, panels, and family events as well as these two new marquee nights that feature highly anticipated fall films.”
Produced by Jeremy Thomas and adapted by Christopher Hampton from his play The Talking Cure, A Dangerous Method follows the complex dynamics inside the power triangle of Carl Jung (Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) and alluring but mentally unbalanced patient Sabina Spielrein (Knightley). The film also stars Vincent Cassel and Sarah Gordon.
Psychological thriller The Skin I Live In reunites Almodovar with Banderas, the star of Matador among others of the director’s early films. Almodovar and his brother Agustin adapted Thierry Jonquet’s novel Mygale. Renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Banderas) fights for the development of new, tougher human skin and uses a hidden patient/prisoner (Elena Anaya) as his test subject; the movie explores issues of power and sexual identity. Almodóvar regular Marisa Paredes returns as Ledgard’s loyal assistant. Here’s our interview with Banderas.
General Public tickets will be available September 12th.
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