(Venice) In Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceopening film of the 81e Presented on Wednesday, Tim Burton pays homage to the Italian masters of horror, Mario Bava and Dario Argento.
Thirty-six years after the release of BeetlejuiceTim Burton still does not understand why the film was, and still is, so successful. Although fans of the film demanded it and he often discussed it with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, the American filmmaker did not dream of making a sequel.
“It had to become a personal project,” he said at the press conference following the presentation of Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. I had become a little disillusioned with cinema, I felt like I had lost my way, but, like the character Catherine plays, I wanted to continue making my art. This film was a return to my roots, it allowed me to re-energize and do what I love to do.
For Michael Keaton, as well as Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder, who play Beetlejuice, Delia and Lydia respectively, it is with joy that they have plunged back into the universe of Beetlejuice “There are so few opportunities to do something so unique and original,” the actor confirmed. “Tim and I have a lot of fun working together and laughing together.”
Although Tim Burton claims not to have rewatched the 1988 film to prepare for the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has the same gothic charm, wild fantasy and irreverent humor, as well as the ingenious stop-motion animation special effects (stop motion). “I’m not going to win an Oscar for this, that’s for sure,” the director said. The special effects allowed him to bring back, for a joyously bloody animated sequence, Charles, a character played by Jeffrey Jones, who has since pleaded guilty to child molestation charges.
Of course, part of the film relies on Danny Elfman’s jaunty yet sinister soundtrack and the use of popular songs in hilarious scenes. lip sync – you will never listen the same way again MacArthur Parkby Donna Summer, I promise!
PHOTO PARISA TAGHIZADEH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder and Justin Theroux in a scene from the film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Obviously, we find with joy the same deliciously offbeat characters, to which are grafted new characters, including Delores, played by Monica Bellucci, Burton’s companion in the city. At the pace of Tragedyby the Bee Gees, facing an amusing Danny de Vito as a concierge of the world of the dead, Delores, wife of Beetlejuice, comes back to life by gluing back together, or rather stapling together, literally all her pieces.
“I really enjoyed shooting this scene because I had to follow a choreography,” said the Italian actress. “For me, Delores is more than a monster, she is a creature. I like her duality; she is both charming and dangerous. With her scars, I find that she looks like a broken doll and that she embodies a metaphor for life. In fact, it is a great film for women where we find three generations of strong women.”
Blood wedding
Dressed in a black wedding dress, Delores, whose specialty is sucking out souls, has been ardently searching for Beetlejuice since their fateful wedding night, which Tim Burton recounts in a very pretty macabre sequence shot in black and white and narrated in Italian.
“I always wanted to make an Italian horror film. I admire Mario Bava and Dario Argento. I also love dubbed films,” the filmmaker confessed.
“Thanks to Tim, I saw the films of Bava and Argento. It was very inspiring for everyone’s creativity,” added Monica Bellucci.
While Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe), a mediocre actor turned detective, pursues the dark Delores, who is trying to get his hands on Beetlejuice, the mischievous demon, for his part, has not forgotten that Lydia, now a popular host of a show about haunted houses produced by her lover Rory (Justin Théroux), was supposed to marry him so that he could come back from the dead.
PHOTO VIANNEY LE CAER, INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega in Venice on Wednesday
“We’ve gotten older since the first movie, but we’re all happy to be alive,” continued Catherine O’Hara, whose character, now a prominent artist, seems more eccentric and narcissistic than ever. “Delia and Lydia are no longer in the same place in their lives, they’ve matured together, but Beetlejuice hasn’t aged because he’s always been dead.”
“I feel spoiled,” Winona Ryder exclaimed. “I was excited to be reunited with them all and to look into Michael’s eyes again. There’s a playfulness in Tim’s way of working, where you can try things and if it’s not good, you just let it go. The shoot was similar to the first one; we were in a creative space where we felt completely free and protected. There’s a lot of love in this movie!”
While Delia and Lydia are less at loggerheads than before, Lydia experiences tensions with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who does not believe her mother talks to ghosts since she cannot speak to her own deceased husband.
“I was excited to work with these actors that I admire and to work again with Tim, with whom I had developed trust during the filming of Wednesdayconfided the young actress. I didn’t want to copy what the wonderful Winona had done, but it was necessary for our characters to be similar even if their anger does not come from the same place.”
It was also while filming the series Wednesday that Tim Burton found the taste to dive back into the world of Beetlejuice: “Everything was done quickly, even the puppets, everyone put their own spin on it, their energy.”
As for whether there will be a second sequel, nothing is less certain. “If you do the math, it would be in 36 years, so I will be over 100 years old at that time!” the filmmaker joked.