A 27-year-old from Paris who, despite having no previous film experience, won the best actress award at last year's Venice film festival
Who is she?
A 27-year-old from Paris who, despite having no previous film experience, won the best actress award at last year's Venice film festival. Jury head Quentin Tarantino had this to say of her film Attenberg: "[It] grew on us the most, and showed another Greece." Labed's achievement is impressive since although her parents are Greek, she wasn't fluent and had to learn her lines phonetically.
What's this other side of Greece Tarantino was talking about?
Definitely not the standard-issue tourist side. Labed plays 23-year-old Marina, whose father is dying and who suffers from serious case of arrested development. She is repulsed by human behaviour, the male of the species in particular ? much preferring David Attenborough documentaries. We should mention here that director is Athina Rachel Tsangari, who produced Yorgos Lanthimos's bizarre black comedy Dogtooth. It goes without saying Attenberg is equally strange.
But why is it called Attenberg, rather than Attenborough?
It's a running joke: Marina's best friend can't pronounce Attenborough. Labed herself admits the film is hard to explain. "It doesn't really look like any other film I have seen ? It's like an ancient Greek tragedy: a story about sex and death, paced by crazy dances and crazy songs." Which is pretty spot-on.
What next?
Back to Venice next month with another Greek film, Yorgos Lanthimos's followup to Dogtooth, Alps.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/aug/18/first-sight-ariane-labed
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