ITALY: French director Luc Besson presents unfinished animation 'Arthur and the Minimoys' at Rome Film Festival

Will it or won't it is the question on everyone's lips - will French director Luc Besson's 10th film 'Arthur and the Minimoys' be his last. Besson presented his still unfinished animation on Monday (October 16) at Rome's film festival, accompanied by a band of youngsters who all appeared to give it the thumbs up. 'The king is the movie-goer, he is the one who decides' Besson said as he walked down the red carpet. 'I did my job, I spent five years of my life on it. I gave everything and I hope someone will like it' he said. The filmmaker best known for his movies Leon and The Fifth Element had said that this latest film would be his last. 'Don't believe the press' he replied when asked if this was the end of his movie making career. It seems now if the first 'Arthur' is successful at the box office he will go ahead to make the sequel 'Arthur and the Forbidden City'. 'Arthur" is adapted from a series of children's books written by Besson, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. It is a mix of 3D animation and actors and, Besson said, has been a bit of a gruelling slog to finish. With some of the main characters being voiced by Madonna, Snoop Dog and David Bowie, many believe it does have the recipe for success. At a rather unusual news conference conducted largely by a group of school children bussed in for the occasion, Besson was under little illusion that whilst the children may have liked the film trailer they were more excited about missing a day in school. 'I see a lot of happy and contented faces here' Besson said after the trailer screening. 'Maybe it is because you are not in class' he said to the children's shouts and applause. Besson, who has five children of his own, seemed happy to be questioned by the children commenting that their questions were much better than usual. Asked whether the animation had been difficult to make, he replied. 'Yes (it was the most difficult). It was five years and I didn't understand anything about computers and I needed to work with a crew of about 200 people and it was really really long. After two or three years I became demoralised but I stuck with it and went ahead.' The secret of his being able to complete this long and tiring project could have been because of the very special cast. 'It was really good working with the minimoys actors, actors of only 2mm in height' Besson told the children. 'They were never late and listened to everything I said' he said. Certainly the children can't wait to see the finished product. 'It was great. Firstly because they put a lot of passion into the making of it and secondly because I like these films with really, really small people' said soon-to-be film critic, ten-year-old Valerio. The 80 million dollar Arthur and the Minimoys will open in France in December and in North America from January.

ITN Source | October 19, 2006

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