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Gwyneth
Paltrow as the new
face of Tod’s Ad Campaign |
FRESH from the red carpet where she has been
promoting the record smash Iron Man and before she sets off for the
Cannes Film Festival, Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow
flew to Rome to collaborate with two time Academy Award-nominee
Dennis Hopper on a short film for Tod’s.
Written and directed by the multitalented
Hopper, the Short, which will be playing on the Tod’s website to
millions of online viewers, represents a unique and intriguing
collaboration between art and commerce, as well as between two of
the world’s most mesmerizing screen idols.
In a plot that reads like a modern day fairy
tale, Paltrow plays an actress haunted by the world’s media. “It
had to be Gwyneth Paltrow,” says Diego Della Valle, President of
the Tod’s Group. “She’s the perfect ambassador for the
brand—modern, charming, with a strong sense of family. To me,
she’s the contemporary embodiment of Audrey Hepburn.”
The short sees Paltrow being interviewed by a
devastatingly handsome journalist played by the Italian actor
Daniele Savoca. During their interview, the paparazzi descend and
Paltrow flees, accidentally leaving behind her precious “Pashmy”
bag in her determination to escape. Trying to do the honorable
thing—reunite her with her precious “Pashmy”—the journalist
sets off to find her and eventually tracks her down at a glamorous
ball, just outside Rome. “Cinderella had her shoe,” says Hopper,
“Gwyneth has her Tod’s bag.”
“Condensing a memorable cinematic experience
into eight minutes was not the hard part,” says Hopper. In
addition to the central narrative, the lavishly shot Short features
some elaborate vignettes, featuring several hundred extras, clowns
on stilts, an antique horse drawn carriage, street artists and a
band. Echoes of Fellini’s unforgettable masterpiece La Dolce Vita
were on everyone’s minds during filming, especially when life
began to imitate art and the world’s media really did swarm around
the set once word got out that Paltrow and Hopper were in town.
Hopper spent several days scouting for
locations, although in reality the process had taken years. “It
was Diego Della Valle and his son Emanuele who both first walked me
round this city,” he recalls. ”It had to be here. It’s a
member of the cast in its own right. It’s the most incredible,
poetic place”.
Many of Rome’s most iconic sites—the streets
and piazzas of the Eternal City and at the exquisite Villa
Aldobrandini just outside Rome—feature, as does Cinecittà, the
legendary film studios which became a home from home for some of the
greatest directors including Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini and
Roberto Rossellini and where some of the great milestones in cinema,
from Ben Hur to Gangs of New York were filmed.
Finding time in the duo’s schedules was the
toughest challenge. Paltrow for the last month has been promoting
the triumphant Iron Man. This week, Two Lovers in which she stars
opposite Joaquin Phoenix, will debut in Cannes. Paltrow essentially
plays herself and was attracted by the script and the director.
Hopper recently filmed Palermo Shooting with Wim
Wenders, which is in competition in Cannes this year, and Swing Vote
with Kevin Costner. Later this year, Taschen will publish a book of
500 of his photographs and the world famous Cinematheque Française
in Paris is mounting a retrospective in his honor in the fall.
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