Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche have reunited more than a quarter of a century after starring together in the Oscar-winning film The English Patient to act in classical drama The returnworld premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday night.
Although Fiennes was not present at TIFF due to his commitments in Britain, Binoche paid tribute to her co-star, noting that they share similar qualities, despite coming from different countries and backgrounds.
“I always enjoyed working with him (Fiennes), because there is so much rhythm, around the weight of the words, the weight of the silence and the quiet. It's very genuine,” Binoche told the audience at Roy Thomson Hall after receiving a brief but lively standing ovation when The return concluded.
“And I feel very much like, even though we are husband and wife in this film, we are like brother and sister. We are very similar, even though we live in different countries, in different languages, with different genders and different educations,” Binoche, originally from France, said of Fiennes, who is from the United Kingdom.
Prior to Toronto, Bleecker Street acquired North American rights to The returna revisitation of Homer Odyssey which sees Fiennes as King Odysseus, emaciated and unrecognizable since he left to fight in the Trojan War. His beloved wife Penelope (Binoche) is imprisoned in her own home, hunted down to choose a new husband, a new king.
Their son Telemachus, played by Charlie Plummer, has lost faith in his father and faces death at the hands of suitors who see him as an obstacle in their relentless pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom.
Pasolini, director of Nowhere special and producer of The Complete Montyhe directed the film based on a screenplay he wrote with Edward Bond and John Collee.
In 1997, Binoche took home the Silver Bear for Best Actress for her work in Anthony Minghella's film The English PatientThe adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel tells the story of a French-Canadian nurse (Binoche) who, in an Italian monastery, cares for a badly burned Englishman who can't remember his name, and is played by Fiennes.
Binoche said during the post-screening Q&A that, while watching The returnhe realized that Fiennes was injured in The English Patient and their latest collaboration. “The only difference is that he was my patient more than 20 years ago, and now I had to be patient to get him back,” she noted.
At the Oscars, The English Patient won nine of its 12 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Binoche, and Best Director for Minghella.
The returnan Italy-Greece-UK-France co-production, sees Pasolini and James Clayton producing for Red Wave Films, Roberto Sessa for Picomedia with Rai Cinema, Giorgos Karnavas and Konstantinos Kontovravkis producing for Heretic and Stéphane Moatti, Romain Le Grand, Vivien Aslanian and Marco Pacchioni for Kabo Films and Marvelous Production.
Andrew Karpen and Kent Sanderson are executive producers of Bleecker Street.