ITALY: Michael Caine, Jude Law and Kenneth Branagh arrive in Venice for the premiere of 'Sleuth'

Michael Caine and Jude Law face off in Harold Pinter's new version of 1972 thriller "Sleuth", with Caine this time as the man who enters a cat-and-mouse game with his wife's young lover. Actors Jude Law and Michael Caine, together with director Kenneth Branagh arrived at the Venice Lido on Thursday (August 30) for the screening of their latest project 'Sleuth'. Branagh and the cast, presenting the film in Venice where it is one of 22 titles in the main competition, said their "Sleuth" was not a simple remake of the original, and credited the script by Nobel laureate Harrold Pinter for this. "There is no point in doing a remake, I think, especially when very good films work. This is a completely different take on the whole thing and it's much more as you've seen, I think you've seen the film this morning, it's very very different, a much more severe, and from a point of view it was a Pinter, Harrold Pinter script which made it completely different but I would have never done just a straight remake of the play at all," Caine, who in the first film played the younger character alongside Laurence Olivier, told reporters on Thursday. In a neat reversal of roles, Caine here takes on what had been Olivier's role as Andrew Wike, an ageing and eccentric crime fiction writer who invites his wife's lover, the penniless and charming actor Milo Tindle played by Law, to meet him at home. Faithful to its theatrical roots, the film is based on the witty dialogue between the two men and is set entirely in Wike's house. But this time Pinter drastically changed the interior from chintz curtains and flowery cushions to an ultra-modern decor of remotely-controlled doors, internal lifts and omnipresent surveillance cameras adding to a sense of paranoia. "In this case, in a film that is one hour shorter, it's much more about that sensual rivalry between two men over one woman. That's what's similar, that's the great idea and that's a universal idea that goes way way beyond the original Sleuth it forms a basic, much more classical drama as well and when you get to sensational actors like this and a writers who enjoys occupying that territory and this kind of primal conflict between two powerful, intelligent passionate men, that's what we took and that's what was newly forged in this version I think," Branagh said. Law, who is also one of the film's producers, said Pinter had never seen the original film and had reworked the script by reading the award-winning mystery play by Anthony Shaffer on which both movies adaptations are based. Branagh said his film, which is one hour shorter than the original, focused less on Wyke's character and more on the rivalry between the two men over one woman who is never seen in the movie. That rivalry at one stage takes on a homosexual overtone, with Caine almost seducing Law in what he called the "ultimate humiliation of the lover". The film marks the second time Law, 35, is following in Caine's acting footstep -- in 2004 he starred in the remake of 'Alfie'- made famous by Caine, but the second version was widely seen as a flop. "When I was approached originally to work on this the new version of Alfie its seemed like, you know, a brilliant idea because the original was such a successful piece of work and from my experience it didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to but you know part of the reason I think you embark on a creative journey is to sometimes fall flat, you know, and sometimes you know the fall leads to a triumph. I think this one has worked but again I think what we all keep reiterating is that again it didn't feel like I was stepping actually into Michael's shoes in this one, because it felt like such an original new take on an idea," Law said. Both his and Caine's performance won early praise by critics at Thursday's press screening on the Lido. Branagh is one of four British directors vying for the top Golden Lion award along with Joe Wright, Ken Loach and Peter Greenaway.

ITN Source | September 6, 2007

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