A hoax or the real deal? This has been the thought on everyone’s mind regarding Casey Affleck’s documentary about his brother-in-law, Joaquin Phoenix.
Titled, “I’m Still Here: The Lost Years Of Joaquin Phoenix,” the film hits in limited release this Friday, September 10 (read our just published review) and a recent WENN interview with Affleck seems to suggest that the director has admitted that elements of the film have been fabricated (our review definitely seems to think at least some of it is staged or fraudulent, but not all of it).
Speaking at the premiere in Venice, Affleck was cagey with direct questions as to whether the documentary was a prank or not.
“Elliptically, I would say… I sincerely don’t want to influence people’s interpretation. I can tell you there is no hoax. It makes me think of Candid Camera or something… I’m very interested to hear those sorts of reactions and I appreciate that point of view, and I understand how a lot of this movie could be confusing in terms of, ‘Oh well, it seems like something’s real or not real.'”
Ok, sure he says it’s “no hoax,” but the opening line is a bit of a curious response. To add further confusion he sort of admits the sequences featuring Diddy — who is seen being pursued by Phoenix to produce his hip-hop solo album — are staged.
“The role that (Combs) played in Joaquin’s life was to be the bearer of bad news. He was the hammer that crushed the dream. All of that is a little bit of an act.”
WENN quotes are weird. It’s like a wire service that’s fed to places like IMDB so sometimes the validity of their quotes are questionable, but regardless, it does jive with our review that says, “More than likely, ‘I’m Still Here’ is a blend of fact and fiction.” You’ll have to be the judge yourself when you finally get a chance to see it.
“I’m Still Here” will also appear at the Toronto International Film Festival next week and will be available on VOD September 24th. Update: We’ve received the small list of all the songs used in the film and we’re going to place them below the jump.
“Cool Water”
Written by Royston Langdon
Performed by Antony Langdon & Joaquin Phoenix
(context, Langdon is a former member of Space Hog and is Phoenix’s assistant)
“All The World Is Green”
Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Performed by Antony Langdon
LAVO Techno
Written by Chris Knight
Performed by Chris Knight
“Night/Part One: Snow”
Written by George Winston
Performed by George Winston
Courtesy of Windham Hill Records/RCA Victor
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
“Farewell To Stromness”
Written by Peter Maxwell Davies
Performed by Simon Mulligan
Courtesy of Nick Morgan Music
“Due Tramonti”
Written by Ludovico Einaudi
Performed by
Ludovico Einaudi (piano)
Marco Decimo (cello)
Courtesy of Ponderosa Music & Art — this song closes out the movie and it’s “fucking beautiful” says our EIC.
