Bel Ami

Uberto Pasolini had wanted to make an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel Ami for some time. “I just loved the book since I was a teenager,” he says. But the Italian-born, London-based film-maker took the decision not to direct it himself, despite having tried his hand behind the camera on the 2008 drama Machan. “I felt that there were other people with more talent that would serve the film better than I could.”

Those people were Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, the co-founders of London-based theatre company Cheek By Jowl, known for their re-examinations of Shakespeare and other classical plays — work which Pasolini describes as “vital, gutsy, modern and relevant”.

Set in belle epoque 1890s Paris, the film stars Twilight sensation Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy, a social climber who rises to power through a series of dangerous liaisons. Other cast members include Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Holly Grainger, Philip Glenister and Colm Meaney.

The screenplay is written by UK based Rachel Bennette, who has previously worked on BBC dramas such as Lark Rise To Candleford, but is new to feature films.

The film shot for 28 days across various locations in London before moving to Hungary, where the cast and crew shot exteriors over a two-week period. The film wrapped on April 11^th.

“We needed a location that could serve as Paris in 1890 and we felt that, both from a financial and from a creative point of view, Budapest was offering the best choice in Europe,” explains Pasolini. “I know Prague. I have been to Romania. I felt that the scale of the houses in Paris was better achieved in Budapest.”

The production in Budapest was shot entirely on location on portions of Andrassy utca, a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city. The production also shot four days in an 18th century church in Budapest’s 5th district.

“Because of our leading man and his very high profile, particularly among teenagers, there has been a medium to large gaggle of young fans but [they are] very civilized, very polite, and [so it] was very much not a problem from a shooting point of view,” says Pasolini.

The demands of the production required closing segments of the avenue — two weeks before national elections and one week before the Easter holiday. Since the shoot took up nearly 3,000 square meters and rerouted traffic, the shooting was restricted to Sunday. Permits were required from two different municipal office and police, as well as separate permission from the owners of 20 other buildings.

On a daily basis, the crew had to redress, remove or disguise modern signage, awnings and street furniture, as well as covering street surfaces with 100 cubic meters of sand. “You do it the day before or the morning of the shooting day and, as soon as you’re done, it goes back to the way it was before,” Pasolini said. 

Fixing locations and securing permits was the task of of local services provide Pioneer Pictures. Pasolini first met Pioneer producer Ildikó Kemény, associate producer on Bel Ami, 20 years ago when she served as István Szabó assistant on Meeting Venus, on which Pasolini was associate producer.

Pioneer also handled the production’s access to the 20% tax rebate provided by Hungarian Motion Picture Act. Local brokerage Concorde Securities helped cash-flow the rebate.

Pasolini also accessed the UK tax credit through production partners Ingenious, who brought Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller on board as executive producer a few months into pre-production. “[Fuller] is interested in growing further his involvement in cinema through his company, 19 Entertainment,” Pasolini said. “He was interested in working with Robert Pattinson and he seemed to be a natural partner from the creative and financing point of view.”

The remaining budget came from pre-sales, predominantly through Rai Cinema (who provided half the budget of Pasolini’s The Full Monty) who will distribute the film in Italy and Studio Canal, for France, the UK (through Optimum Releasing) and Germany (Kinowelt). Pasolini’s own production company Redwave Films also put in money, although the producer declines to say how much and will only describe the overall budget as “big”.

Meanwhile Protagonist has already completed a slew of distribution deals, including sales in Australia (Hopscotch), Benelux (Independent) and Latin America (California Filmes), with plans to release in early 2011.