From Park City
By Juan Rodriguez Flores, Executive Editor LWR, translated by Andrea Barrera, Intern
It’s not the first time that actor Sean Penn presents one of his films at the “Sundance Festival”. He had done it before with “The Falcon and the Snowman”, when he began profiling himself as one of the best artists of his generation.
The opportunity to return to Park City was because of his latest film “This Must Be The Place”, where the U.S premiere took place this past Sunday in one of the main theaters where the festival is taking place.
Even though the film was directed by the Italian Paolo Sorrentino and received an indifferent reaction from the audience, Sean Penn was satisfied with the results.
In “This Must Be The Place” Penn plays the character Chayenne, a bizarre American rock singer who decides to abandon his artistic career to go live in Ireland away from the media in which, from concert to concert, obtained fame, popularity and fortune.
In an interview he gave to LWR, he said that since the first moment he read the script written by Sorrentino “I immediately felt identified with Chayenne, maybe because more than once I’ve considered doing the same thing: avoid being under the inquisitive eyes of the public, because of the popularity I have from the result of the movies that I have made a long time ago”.
Although “This Must Be the Place” is a movie that has as a principal figure an artist does not mean it’s a light story. What happens in it is more than that, the drama of a man who attempts to do justice to the memory of his father who recently passed away and who, during World War II, was victimized in a concentration camp by an ex Nazi soldier who was living somewhere in the United States.
“There are a lot of similarities between Chayanne and I-considers Penn- because I think that the effort to recuperate individuality has been lost, to be exposed to the manipulation of media should be healthy for the soul and mental equilibrium. This is something that I have been thinking about for a long time now, and I think that there should be a strong feeling of common sense to do it. Without a doubt, I think I have it”.
The affirmations expressed by Sean Penn at the “Sundance Festival” this year, are not that different that those that in the past, were published in the magazine pages and newspapers who had the opportunity to interview him.
“There is nothing new in the opinion that I carry in regards to what I think about fame and celebrities, states Penn. I continued to reiterate again and again from before I came to present my film. Today, prior to the screening of “This Must Be the Place”, I had the opportunity to speak to other reporters. This is about something very simple: I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, on my behalf, to make sure that celebrities ( as is known in this country) is like a disease that is corrupting the lives of those we came to be (and are) victims of it. I think that the celebrity decreases the value that they should have, essentially, human beings in the film industry and other entertainment industries. I think we should fight with all our forces”.
Although he continues to conserve the current rebellious and idealistic attitude that has characterized his entire career, Sean Penn also has a side of his personality in the practical sense and understanding of reality in which he is allowed to survive against all kinds of obstacles.
“I am not at war with Hollywood; I understand that I am an actor like many others, and that I make a living practicing my craft. But that does not mean that I have other interests and aspirations. One of these, perhaps the most important of all, is to become director and acting leave behind forever. I have directed several films, but until we find the possibility of doing full-time will still appear from time to time on the big screen”.
Meanwhile, located away from the limelight and publicity, free of charge and without international support of any kind, Sean Penn continues to help the people of Haiti recover from the earthquake that more than two years ago destroyed most of the country.
“The lack of solidarity lies and corruption with which it acts in the great tragedies that happen in the world, and boundless greed with multinational companies backed by Wall Street are other problems that we must fight. Against all this the problem of celebrity is like child’s play, “said Penn with a significant smile before concluding his brief chat with us.
