Two Lovers (2008 Film)
''Two Lovers'' is a 2008 American romantic drama film, directed by James Gray, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. The film takes its inspiration from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1848 short story " White Nights", which had already been turned into a film seven times, first by Luchino Visconti: '' Le Notti Bianche'' (1957). ''Two Lovers'' was directed by James Gray, and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. It is set in the largely Russian Jewish neighborhood Brighton Beach in New York City, as was Gray's first film '' Little Odessa''. ''Two Lovers'' premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May. The film was Gray's third to enter the competition at this festival. It was released on February 13, 2009. Plot Leonard Kraditor is walking along a bridge over a stream in Brooklyn, when suddenly he jumps into the water in an attempted suicide. He changes his mind and quickly walks to the home where he resides with his parents. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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James Gray (director)
James Gray (born April 14, 1969) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Since his feature debut '' Little Odessa'' in 1994, he has made seven other features including '' We Own the Night'' (2007), '' Two Lovers'' (2008), '' The Immigrant'' (2013), '' The Lost City of Z'' (2016), (2019), and '' Armageddon Time'' (2022). Five of his films have competed for the at the Cannes Film Festival. Early life Gray was born in New York City and grew up in the neighborhood of Flushing. He is of Russian Jewish descent, with grandparents from Ostropol, Western Ukraine, which at that time was a part of the USSR. The original family name was "Grayevsky" or "Greyzerstein." His father was once an electronics contractor. Gray attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where his student film, ''Cowboys and Angels'', helped him get an agent and the attention of producer Paul Webster, who encouraged him to write a script which he could produce. Care ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2008 Cannes Film Festival
The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2008. American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama film ''The Class (2008 film), The Class''. The festival opened with ''Blindness (2008 film), Blindness'' by Fernando Meirelles and closed with ''What Just Happened (2008 film), What Just Happened'' by Barry Levinson. Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies. The British press reported the list of films in competition this year was notable for its absence of British films for the second successive year. Juries Main competition The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 2008 Official Selection: *Sean Penn, American actor and director - Jury President *Jeanne Balibar, French actress and singer *Rachid Bouchareb, Franco-Algerian director *Sergio Castellitto, Italian actor and director *Alfonso Cua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Little Odessa (film)
''Little Odessa'' is a 1994 American crime drama film directed and written by James Gray, in his directorial debut, and starring Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Maximilian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave. The title is a reference to Brighton Beach, a community in Brooklyn nicknamed "Little Odessa". Plot The film follows the personal relationship between Arkady Shapira, his terminally ill wife Irina, and their two sons, Joshua and Reuben. Joshua, the elder brother, is a hit-man for the Russian-Jewish mafia in Brooklyn and estranged from his family. After finishing a contract killing, Joshua is ordered to kill an Iranian jeweler in Brighton Beach, which he reluctantly accepts. Joshua stands outside his family's apartment, where he is spotted by one of his old friends Sasha, who tells Joshua's brother Reuben the next day. Reuben goes to the hotel where Joshua is staying to see him. Joshua asks Reuben how he knew he was in Brighton, and they plan to meet again the next day. J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn), Ocean Parkway to the west, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to the east, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay at the Belt Parkway to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south along the beach and Riegelmann Boardwalk, boardwalk. It is known for its high population of Russian Americans in New York City, Russian-speaking immigrants, and as a summer destination for New York City residents due to its beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and its proximity to the amusement parks in Coney Island. Brighton Beach is part of Brooklyn Community Board 13, Brooklyn Community District 13, and its primary ZIP Code is 11235. It is patrolled by the 60th Precinct ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Russian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest population of Jews in the world. Within these territories, the primarily Ashkenazi Jewish communities of many different areas flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of antisemitic discriminatory policies and persecution, including violent pogroms. Many analysts have noted a "renaissance" in the Jewish community inside Russia since the beginning of the 21st century;Renaissance of Jewish life in Russia November 23, 2001, By John Daniszewski, Chica ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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White Nights (1957 Film)
''White Nights'' (, ) is a 1957 romantic drama film directed by Luchino Visconti, Film adaptation, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story White Nights (short story), of the same name. It was written for the screen by Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, and stars Maria Schell, Marcello Mastroianni, and Jean Marais. The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences, and won the Silver Lion at the 18th Venice International Film Festival. Plot Late one winter night in downtown Livorno, a young man named Mario, who is new in town, sees a young woman named Natalia crying on a small bridge over a canal. When she sees Mario looking at her, Natalia runs away and almost gets struck by a motorcycle. The motorcyclists hit on Natalia, but Mario shoos them away and attempts to strike up a conversation with her. She does not say much, but listens politely, and then says Mario can walk her home. After agreeing to meet Mario the following night, Natalia returns to the bridge. Wh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later moved towards luxurious, sweeping epics dealing with themes of beauty, decadence, death, and European history, especially the decay of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Critic Jonathan Jones (journalist), Jonathan Jones wrote that “no one did as much to shape Italian cinema as Luchino Visconti.” Born into a Milanese Visconti di Modrone, noble family with close ties to the artistic world, Visconti began his career in France as an assistant director to Jean Renoir. His 1943 directorial debut, , was condemned by the Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist regime for its unvarnished depictions of working-class characters, but is today renowned as a pioneering work of Italian cinema, generally regarded as the first neorealist film. During Wor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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At The Movies (Australian TV Series)
''At the Movies'' is an Australian television program on ABC hosted by film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, where they discussed the film's opening in theatres that week. History The program, which began in mid-2004, is a continuation of the pair's earlier program '' The Movie Show'', which aired on SBS One from 1986 to 2004. The pair left SBS after expressing dissatisfaction with high-level decisions. The weekly half-hour program consists of film reviews and discussions as well as interviews with cast and crew members. The hosts also occasionally broadcast from film events such as the Cannes Film Festival. The pair's 25 years of presenting film reviews on television was celebrated in a special show on 26 October 2011, filmed before an audience and special guests, hosted by Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush. On 16 September 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz announced they would be retiring at the end of the 2014 series. The final episode aired on 9 December 2014, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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White Nights (short Story)
"White Nights" (; original spelling , ''Beliya nochi'') is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, originally published in 1848, early in the writer's career. Like many of Dostoevsky's stories, "White Nights" is told in the first person by a nameless narrator. The narrator is a young man living in Saint Petersburg who suffers from loneliness. He gets to know and falls in love with a young woman, but the love remains unrequited as the woman misses her lover, with whom she is finally reunited. Synopsis The short story is divided into six sections: ;First Night The narrator describes his experience walking in the streets of Saint Petersburg. He loves the city at night, and feels comfortable in it. Because all the people he is used to seeing are not there, he no longer feels comfortable during the day. He drew his emotions from them: if they were happy, he was happy; if they were despondent, he was despondent. New faces made him feel alone. As he walked, the houses would talk to him a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential Masterpiece, masterpieces. Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of Russian Empire, 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include ''Crime and Punishment'' (1866), ''The Idiot'' (1869), Demons (Dostoevsky novel), ''Demons'' (1872), ''The Adolescent'' (1875) and ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (1880). His ''Notes from Underground'', a novella published in 1864, is considered one of the first works of existentialism, existentialist literature. Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends and through books by Ru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |