Tom Hanks was notably absent from the Asteroid City photocall this morning in Cannes after clearing out the red carpet he and his wife had with a member of staff at the film’s premiere last night.
Hanks, one of the world’s biggest stars, and his wife Rita Wilson were pictured pointing fingers in the face of Vincent Chapalain at the premiere of the Wes Anderson film last night.
Last night Rita was quick to clear up the confusion, insisting that she and Tom just couldn’t hear what the man was saying. Shortly after, Chapalain – who has worked at the festival for ten years – came forward to corroborate her story.
‘They just asked me if they should go back to the start of the mat with the rest of the film crew (I’m not from security.)
“And with the cries of the photographers, they needed to speak loudly,” he said on Twitter.
Where is Tom? Hanks was notably absent from the Asteroid City photo-call and press conference
It’s a misunderstanding ! Vincent Chapalain, the Cannes employee who was pictured in a tense moment with Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, says the pair were simply asking if they should come back to the start of the mat
Chapalain, equally keen to clear up the fuss, has now corroborated Wilson’s story on Twitter. “They just asked me if they should go back to the start of the mat with the rest of the camera crew (I’m not from security). And with the screams of the photographers, they needed to talk loudly,” did he declare.
As innocent as the break-in may have been, Hanks was notably absent from the well-attended photo call where co-stars Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson and others clapped today.
Chapalain worked for ten years as a ‘red carpet manager’ in Cannes
And while the red carpet interaction wasn’t as tense as it initially appeared, Hanks was known to have had a short fuse in the past.
Last June, Hanks was seen yelling at photographers to “back off!” after a tense interaction in Manhattan, where a paparazzi came across Wilson in a media scrum.
Tuesday’s interaction might have been innocent – but Hanks was notably absent from the Asteroid City photoshoot on Wednesday.
Co-stars Bryan Cranston and Scarlett Johansson were seen checking their phones at the event.
“Does Anderson give the middle finger to those who make fun of the stylized dysfunction of his characters? “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep,” goes a mantra repeated by the cast in another scene.
‘Is the director referring to the importance of forgetting your cynicism and surrendering to fantasy? If so, where do I sign?
Chapalain at the 2018 premiere of Burning in Cannes
Chapalain explained that Hanks and Wilson were asking if they should go back to where the rest of the film crew was.
Hanks and Wilson had trouble hearing him, he said, because of the loud screams from the photographers
The film received rave reviews.
In his four-star review, Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian wrote: “Asteroid City’s eccentricity, its elegance, its cheerfulness and its abundance of detail in the picture frame make it such a delight. The same goes for his dapper style of classic American pop culture.
“With each new shot, your eyes race across the screen, taking in all the little jokes and pictorial embellishments, each getting a micro-chuckle.
“The film unfolds intelligently and exhilaratingly, deftly absorbing the implications of pathos and loneliness without allowing itself to slow down. It’s tempting to consider this scholarly void as some kind of symptom, but I really don’t think so: it’s the expression of style. And what style it is.
Ed Pottom of Time gave a four-star review which read, “Some lines sound like pops at Anderson’s detractors.” The Johansson femme fatale actress, who is recovering from an abusive marriage, says she and Augie are “two catastrophically hurt people who don’t express the depth of their passion.” . . because they don’t want to”.
“Does Anderson give the middle finger to those who make fun of the stylized dysfunction of his characters? “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep,” goes a mantra repeated by the cast in another scene.
‘Is the director referring to the importance of forgetting your cynicism and surrendering to fantasy? If so, where do I sign?
Last year, Hanks was seen yelling at photographers to “back off!” after a tense interaction in Midtown
Impressive: The film was inundated with rave reviews after its premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday
Reviews: Early reviews of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City hailed 1950s sci-fi as an “exhilarating triumph of pure style”
In his impressive five-star review, Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent said, “In its quirky way, Asteroid City is an Anderson patchwork of Cold War paranoia and American family values in all their often hypocritical glory.
“It’s every bit as arched as his best work, yet still manages to tug hard on the heartstrings.”
Deadline’s Todd McCarthy called the film “a fresh, original and disarming creation like you’ve never seen before”.
He said, “Scene after scene there is a wink and urgency that matches the speed of dialogue delivery and gives the film a kind of stylized urgency that is both distinctive and fun.
“Sometimes it’s hard to keep up, and yet it doesn’t matter at all, because you feel welcomed into a strange world.
“On the other hand, the vanity of spectacle in a film doesn’t really pay off; arguably, it complicates the job with little to show, and the general public, as opposed to art film lovers, will be baffled by what’s going on.
“There is even an extra layer to the procedure which, arguably, is more of a hindrance than a benefit.
“But otherwise, it’s a fresh, quirky and disarming creation unlike anything you might have seen with a remarkable and often thrilling degree of stylized storytelling.”
