Of all the LFF’s coups, the Joaquin Phoenix-led biopic of country music legend Johnny Cash, Walk The Line, is one of the biggies so anticipation was high at yesterday’s Times Gala screening. The cast and crew were promoting the film in the States ready for its premiere in three weeks, but the stars turned out in droves regardless.
Ex-Suede and current The Tears member Bernard Butler sneaked in early, while several coiffed New Romantics sailed through the doors. Gael Garcia Bernal (more about him on Saturday) and Pride and Prejudice’s Tom Hollander both trod the red carpet, while we also spied Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright scuttling on through.
The film had special meanings for some of the audience, especially Frank Skinner. ”Johnny Cash was the first gig I ever went to at the Birmingham Odeon, aged 13. I remember the Man in Black which I thought was the best thing I’d ever heard. There was the whole Carter family there and it was amazing – a very special moment in history.”
Further down the carpet, The Brothers Grimm director Terry Gilliam gave his thoughts on the Man: “Johnny Cash was a brilliant dancer, really sexy. I just thought what he could do was this little foxtrot (begins to twist). Johnny Cash…what can you say? There was this really nice documentary on recently and when he was younger he was funnier. He used to really take the piss out of people – he could do a great Elvis. Most people don’t get to see this of Johnny, they just all (lowers voice) like that.” Er, did you get all that?
The film, introduced by festival director Sandra Hebron and editor of The Times, Robert Thomson, earned a rousing round of applause and rightly so. Reece Witherspoon shines as the steely June Carter, while Joaquin Phoenix eerily captures that whisky-soaked purr, especially towards the end with a roasting ‘Ring of Fire’.
The stars then made their way to Café del Paris for a glitzy session of cocktails and Empire went home to a mouldy potato. Now - if we can just learn three some chords, we can get our own biopic ready in time for next year’s festival.
Check back for photos later.