Mister Lonely
Encyclopedia
Mister Lonely is a 2007 comedy-drama
film directed by Harmony Korine
, and co-written with his brother Avi Korine.
) living in Paris
scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson
look-alike, dancing on the streets, public parks, tourist spots and trade shows. During a show in an old people's home, he meets Marilyn Monroe
(Samantha Morton
). Haunted by her angelic beauty, he follows her to a commune in the Scottish Highlands
, joining her husband Charlie Chaplin
(Denis Lavant
) and her daughter Shirley Temple
(Esme Creed-Miles). Here, The Pope
(James Fox
), The Queen (Anita Pallenberg
), Madonna
(Melita Morgan), James Dean
(Joseph Morgan
), and other impersonators build a stage in the hope that the world will visit and watch them perform. When the play goes bust, Marilyn kills herself and Michael moves back to Paris, leaving open the question of whether he will quit his life as an impersonator.
A second plotline concerns a convent
of nuns, in what seems to be a Third World
country. One of the nuns survives a fall from an airplane during a mission to deliver food to villages, and discovers that if you are true of heart, God will protect you. All the nuns then begin jumping from planes to show they are true of heart and protected by God. This storyline ends with the nuns being invited to the Vatican
to meet the Pope
himself, but the plane crashes in the ocean, killing everyone on board.
Korine came up with the idea for the film after the release of Julien Donkey-Boy
, but his drug use and general disillusionment (along with fund-raising difficulties) prolonged the process. In a February 2007 interview with Screen International, he said: "I'd been making movies since I was virtually a kid, and it had always come very easily. At a certain point after the last movie, I started to have this general disconnect from things. I was really miserable with where I was. I began to lose sight of things and people started to become more and more distant. I was burnt out, movies were what I always loved in life and I started to not care. I went deeper and deeper into a dark place and to be honest movies were the last thing I was thinking about - I didn't know if I was going to be alive. My dream was to evaporate. I was unhealthy. Whatever happened during that time, and I won't go into the details, maybe it was something I needed to go through." In a 2003 interview with the New York Post
, former girlfriend Chloe Sevigny
revealed that the formerly straight edge
Korine had become addicted to heroin and methadone
while they were together, with Korine's substance abuse issues contributing to the end of their relationship.
Richard Strange, who plays Abraham Lincoln
in the movie, claimed that Korine often changed scenes and lines as he filmed the movie.
even bathed with his shoes on, as his impersonated character Charlie Chaplin
was said to do.
To film the secondary storyline, Korine worked with real skydiving nuns from Spain
, sometimes in 120-degree heat.
, with the other half being created by Spiritualized
frontman, Jason "Spaceman" Pierce
.
The film received mixed to negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes
reports that the film maintains a 46% approval, the general consensus being, "Less biting or offensive than Korine's earlier works, this frustratingly dull film still maintains the director's trademark odd beauty."
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film directed by Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
, and co-written with his brother Avi Korine.
Plot
A young American man (Diego LunaDiego Luna
Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...
) living in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
look-alike, dancing on the streets, public parks, tourist spots and trade shows. During a show in an old people's home, he meets Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
(Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
). Haunted by her angelic beauty, he follows her to a commune in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, joining her husband Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
(Denis Lavant
Denis Lavant
Denis Lavant is a French film actor known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association with director Leos Carax...
) and her daughter Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
(Esme Creed-Miles). Here, The Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
(James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
), The Queen (Anita Pallenberg
Anita Pallenberg
Anita Pallenberg is an Italian-born actress, model, and fashion designer. She was the romantic partner of Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist and guitarist Brian Jones and later the partner of the guitarist of the same band Keith Richards, from 1967 to 1979, by whom she has two surviving...
), Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
(Melita Morgan), James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
(Joseph Morgan
Joseph Morgan (actor)
Joseph Morgan is an English actor.-Early life:Morgan was born in London, England. He lived in Morriston, Swansea for 11 years and was a pupil at Morriston Comprehensive School and then studied a BTEC Performing Arts course at Gorseinon College, now Gower College Swansea, before moving back to...
), and other impersonators build a stage in the hope that the world will visit and watch them perform. When the play goes bust, Marilyn kills herself and Michael moves back to Paris, leaving open the question of whether he will quit his life as an impersonator.
A second plotline concerns a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of nuns, in what seems to be a Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
country. One of the nuns survives a fall from an airplane during a mission to deliver food to villages, and discovers that if you are true of heart, God will protect you. All the nuns then begin jumping from planes to show they are true of heart and protected by God. This storyline ends with the nuns being invited to the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
to meet the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
himself, but the plane crashes in the ocean, killing everyone on board.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Diego Luna Diego Luna Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls... |
Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records... |
| Samantha Morton Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes... |
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s.... |
| Denis Lavant Denis Lavant Denis Lavant is a French film actor known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association with director Leos Carax... |
Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I... |
| Werner Herzog Werner Herzog Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner... |
Father Umbrillo |
| James Fox James Fox James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His... |
The Pope |
| Melita Morgan | Madonna Madonna (entertainer) Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983... |
| Anita Pallenberg Anita Pallenberg Anita Pallenberg is an Italian-born actress, model, and fashion designer. She was the romantic partner of Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist and guitarist Brian Jones and later the partner of the guitarist of the same band Keith Richards, from 1967 to 1979, by whom she has two surviving... |
The Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,... |
| Jason Pennycook | Sammy Davis, Jr. Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities.... |
| Esme Creed-Miles | Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia... |
| Werner Herzog Werner Herzog Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner... |
Priest |
| Leos Carax Leos Carax Leos Carax is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl , and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge and the controversial Pola X... |
Renard |
| Britta Gartner | Nun |
| Alisa Grace Greaves | Autograph Girl |
| Quentin Grosset | Le Petit Garçon |
| Rachel Korine | Little Red Riding Hood Little Red Riding Hood Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings.... |
| Joseph Morgan Joseph Morgan (actor) Joseph Morgan is an English actor.-Early life:Morgan was born in London, England. He lived in Morriston, Swansea for 11 years and was a pupil at Morriston Comprehensive School and then studied a BTEC Performing Arts course at Gorseinon College, now Gower College Swansea, before moving back to... |
James Dean James Dean James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark... |
| Richard Strange Richard Strange For the Jesuit, see Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, curator, teacher, adventurer, and the founder and front man of seminal mid-seventies protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.-Music:Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975,... |
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... |
| Daniel Rovai | Moe Howard Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz , known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades... |
| Mal Whiteley | Larry Fine Larry Fine Louis Feinberg , known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.-Early life:... |
| Nigel Cooper | Curly Howard Curly Howard Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz , better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine... |
| Michael-Joel Stuart Michael-Joel David Stuart Michael-Joel David Stuart is a young British actor.Michael-Joel made his television debut in the BBC's award-winning drama production . He also performed as young Sunny in the West-End musical Daddy Cool and as young Simba in the West-End musical The Lion King. In 2007 he played Buckwheat in the... |
Buckwheat |
| Angel Morgan | Various parts |
Development
Korine conceived of a movie about impersonators as a way to explore what he called "the obsessive nature" of the impersonator personality. Rather than mocking or belittling impersonation, Korine claims to have felt a "fondness and empathy" for impersonators since childhood.Korine came up with the idea for the film after the release of Julien Donkey-Boy
Julien Donkey-Boy
Julien Donkey-Boy is a 1999 independent drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. The screenplay concentrates on the schizophrenic Julien, played by Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, and his dysfunctional family. The film also stars Chloe Sevigny as Julien's sister, Pearl, and Werner Herzog as...
, but his drug use and general disillusionment (along with fund-raising difficulties) prolonged the process. In a February 2007 interview with Screen International, he said: "I'd been making movies since I was virtually a kid, and it had always come very easily. At a certain point after the last movie, I started to have this general disconnect from things. I was really miserable with where I was. I began to lose sight of things and people started to become more and more distant. I was burnt out, movies were what I always loved in life and I started to not care. I went deeper and deeper into a dark place and to be honest movies were the last thing I was thinking about - I didn't know if I was going to be alive. My dream was to evaporate. I was unhealthy. Whatever happened during that time, and I won't go into the details, maybe it was something I needed to go through." In a 2003 interview with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, former girlfriend Chloe Sevigny
Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
revealed that the formerly straight edge
Straight edge
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a...
Korine had become addicted to heroin and methadone
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937...
while they were together, with Korine's substance abuse issues contributing to the end of their relationship.
Richard Strange, who plays Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in the movie, claimed that Korine often changed scenes and lines as he filmed the movie.
Production
While shooting the commune scenes, the cast and crew of Mister Lonely lived together in a Scottish castle, and many of the actors remained in their impersonated characters for all or part of the time they were off-camera. Actor Denis LavantDenis Lavant
Denis Lavant is a French film actor known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association with director Leos Carax...
even bathed with his shoes on, as his impersonated character Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
was said to do.
To film the secondary storyline, Korine worked with real skydiving nuns from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, sometimes in 120-degree heat.
Soundtrack
Half of the music for the film was written and performed by Sun City GirlsSun City Girls
The Sun City Girls were an American experimental rock band, formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981 the group consisted of Alan Bishop , his brother Richard Bishop , and the late Charles Gocher . Their name was inspired by Sun City, Arizona, an Arizona retirement community...
, with the other half being created by Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
frontman, Jason "Spaceman" Pierce
Jason Pierce
Jason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...
.
- "Michael's Opening" (dialogue)
- Jason SpacemanJason PierceJason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...
– "Blues 1" - Jason Spaceman – "Blues 2 (Intro)"
- Sun City GirlsSun City GirlsThe Sun City Girls were an American experimental rock band, formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981 the group consisted of Alan Bishop , his brother Richard Bishop , and the late Charles Gocher . Their name was inspired by Sun City, Arizona, an Arizona retirement community...
– "3D Girls" - Jason Spaceman – "Panama 1"
- Sun City Girls – "Spook"
- Jason Spaceman – "Garden Walk"
- Sun City Girls – "Steppe Spiritual"
- Jason Spaceman – "Pope in the Bath"
- "Nun's Prayer" (dialogue)
- Sun City Girls – "Mr. Lonely Viola"
- Sun City Girls – "Beryl Scepter"
- "Red Riding Hood's Hangman" (dialogue)
- Jason Spaceman – "Stooges Harmonica"
- "Father Umbrillo's Broken Nation"
- Jason Spaceman – "Musicbox Underwater"
- Sun City Girls – "Circus Theme"
- Sun City Girls – "Vine Street Piano"
- Jason Spaceman – "Paris Beach"
- Sun City Girls – "Farewell"
- Angel Morgan – "Gold Dust"
Reception
Korine's largest film to date with a budget of $8.2 million, Mister Lonely earned $386,915 in its first nine months — $167,396 in the United States and $219,519 in other territories.The film received mixed to negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that the film maintains a 46% approval, the general consensus being, "Less biting or offensive than Korine's earlier works, this frustratingly dull film still maintains the director's trademark odd beauty."