Benicio Del Toro is heading back into real-life territory. He’s now set to star in Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy Picard, which deals with post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotherapy and the friendship between two very different men.
The film has been adapted from a piece of ethnologist / psychologist Georges Devereux’s research, entitled Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian. The story will follow Del Toro’s Picard, a Blackfeet Plains Indian who returns from World War II suffering a variety of symptoms that seemingly defy physical diagnosis. He’s referred to the famous Winter Hospital in Kansas and encounters Devereux, who specialises in treating Native Americans. As they work through counselling sessions, the two men strike up a solid friendship.
With Gina McKee and Mathieu Amalric also starring, Desplechin – who hasn’t made a film since 2008’s A Christmas Tale – starts shooting next week.
Del Toro will next be seen in Oliver Stone’s drug drama Savages, which will arrive on September 28.