2024-04-20 17:36:03
We may not have had Giorgos Lanthimos in Cannes this year (since his “Alpes” went to the competition part of the Venice Film Festival), but we had worthy Greek representation – even if… by half. The reason for the Pontian origin Denis Pontalides (Dionysis Podalidis), who plays Nicolas Sarkozy in the film “La Conquete”, while next week he will visit Athens.
The Xavier Düringer-directed film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and Denis, who is Greek on his father’s side, walked the red carpet alongside glamorous actress Florence Pernell, who plays the French president’s ex-wife, Cecilia. Cecilia famously left Sarkozy in 2007, the day he won the election. The fact that the film focuses on the reasons that led to this decision is said to have caused… a headache in the Champs Elysees presidential palace. But the bad tongues say that what bothered Nikolas the most was that his cinematic… self has thinning hair. “It’s not fair for him to play me. He has less hair than me,” the French president reportedly said, protesting to his entourage.
Indeed, to achieve a greater resemblance to Sarkozy, Denis had to wear a wig in the film, thus covering the bald spot on the front of his head.
The actor even tried to meet the president in person, but the response he got to the letter he sent him was negative. They finally found each other two months ago, when the film was ready to be released. “He politely told me he wasn’t going to see her, just as he doesn’t read the books written about him. But he asked me if I was happy to play him. I answered him yes and he was happy” revealed the Greek-French “Sarkozy”.
Denis was born in France 47 years ago and grew up in the suburbs of Versailles. He studied literature, acting and directing, while he started his career in cinema in 1989 with the Greek film “Xenia” by Patris Vivankos, where he co-starred with Themida Bazaka. In 2002 he won a César Award for Best Actor. At the same time, he has been very involved in the theater, winning several Moliere awards, not only for acting but also for directing. Do you want the best? Years ago he collaborated in a film with Carla Bruni Sarkozy’s sister, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.
The film “Liberte Oleron” by his brother, Bruno Pontalides, who is also involved in directing, will be presented on Monday at the French Institute of Athens, where Denis himself will be “present”, as the protagonist. In the following days, from May 24 to 26, he will star in the theatrical performance “Doctor Jekyll”, at the Onassis Foundation’s Arts and Letters Building.
In the meantime, the day before yesterday in Cannes, Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas drew the most flashes. After about 20 years the Spanish director and his compatriot actor joined forces again in the film “La Piel Que Habito”. Her case involves a psychopathic plastic surgeon who hunts down his daughter’s rapists. “It’s the hardest film I’ve written,” Almodovar said at the press conference, while at the photo shoot that followed, Banderas gave a… cuteness recital for the photographers.
Finally, the Danish director Lars Von Trier, who yesterday expressed his “sympathy” for Hitler, was yesterday declared an “undesirable person” by the Cannes Film Festival “with immediate effect”, but his film “Melancholia” was not excluded from the competitive part of the festival.
Ilias Maraveyas
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