Gaza on verge of famine as war escalates, ceasefire talks stall    Gaza crisis, trade on agenda as Trump hosts Starmer in Scotland    Obama calls for aid access to Gaza, says 'no justification' for withholding food    Egyptian president follows up on initiatives to counter extremist thought    Egypt's SCZONE eyes deeper investment, port digitalisation ties with Singapore    Egypt's gold prices slip slightly on July 28th    Egypt's Housing Min. reviews HDP marketing plan    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egypt, South Africa pledge to deepen development cooperation at G20 meeting    Egypt's PM orders road maintenance review, tougher penalties to curb accidents    Egypt, Novartis explore expanding collaboration in oncology, cardiology    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Midar partners with Adeer to develop Boulevard project in Mostakbal City with EGP 70bn investment    Association of Real Estate Developers seeks urgent meeting over threatened land deallocation on Northwest Coast    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Sudan's ambassador to Egypt holds reconstruction talks on with Arab League    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Egypt welcomes 25-nation statement urging end to Gaza war    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Egypt, Senegal sign pharma MoU to unify regulatory standards    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt foils terrorist plot, kills two militants linked to Hasm group    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Billy Bob Thornton turns car wreck past into a film
Published in Daily News Egypt on 15 - 02 - 2012

When actor-director Billy Bob Thornton was a boy, his father took him to the scene of car crashes to survey the wreckage. Now he has turned his unconventional childhood into a movie.
"Jayne Mansfield's Car" is a dark family comedy that explores how war affects men and how fathers and sons so often fail to communicate.
The picture, warmly applauded at the Berlin film festival on Monday ahead of its world premiere, is the first feature Thornton has directed for over a decade. He also stars.
"If you could say what this movie is about in one sentence, it's about the romanticism of tragedy," Thornton told reporters in Berlin, where the movie is in the main competition.
Jayne Mansfield's Car, a reference to the actress killed in a car crash in 1967, is set in 1969 in southern United States where Robert Duvall's character Jim Caldwell and his middle-aged children live a materially comfortable life.
Son Carroll, played by Kevin Bacon, is a drug-taking hippie and anti-war protester who is a constant source of shame to his gruff, conservative father.
Brother Jimbo is more like his father, while child-like oddball Skip (Thornton) lies somewhere in between.
Jim's ex-wife dies in England, where she remarried and had another family, and when they turn up on the Caldwells' doorstep to attend her US burial, chaos ensues.
The male characters, including the visiting father played by John Hurt, are all defined by their experiences of war — World War One, World War Two and the Vietnam conflict.
The figure of Jim, cold, cruel and unable to express his feelings, was partly inspired by his own father, Thornton said.
"My father was a very violent Irishman and so there was abuse both verbal and physical in our household," the 56-year-old Oscar winner said.
"He was a Korean war veteran in the navy and he was a very intense guy who I don't think I ever had a conversation with."
Car wreck childhood
Scenes in which Jim takes his grandson to see the aftermath of car crashes are based on truth, Thornton added.
"He (my father) would take my brother and I ... to car wrecks and he would stand there and smoke Lucky Strikes and stare at the car wreck for two hours while my brother and I were like 'why are we here?' That was how he connected with us.
"Through all of that, through beatings and no communication or anything when I grew up, I realized that I understood my father and I loved my father."
The comedy in the film stems from the Caldwells' failure to communicate — Jim only lets down his guard after his tea is spiked with LSD — and the interplay between upper class English visitors and straight-talking American southerners.
"That accent makes me hornier than Frank Sinatra," Skip confesses to his English half-sister, before trying to organize an unconventional sexual encounter with her.
But amid the laughs there is a serious side to Jayne Mansfield's Car, which had a budget of around $12 million and was funded by Russian money.
Thornton is in Berlin at the same time as ex-wife Angelina Jolie, whose Bosnian war drama "In the Land of Blood and Honey" was also screened at the festival.
"Angelina is a wonderful woman and one of my best friends in the world — we talk on a regular basis," he said.
"When people split up, people like to make up stories about how much they are against each other. This was never true, it never has been and never will be. I'll love her to the end of my life and she'll love me, as friends."


Clic here to read the story from its source.