For a minute there, it appeared that photographer turned feature film director Anton Corbijn was going to retire. He’d made three terrific indie movies, the black and white Joy Division/Ian Curtis movie “Control,” the awesome Bergman-esque assassin thriller “The American” with George Clooney and the slow-burn war-on-terror thriller “A Most Wanted Man” with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. He’d actually contemplated it for a minute, but apparently after his last feature with Hoffman, Corbijn has found himself more comfortable behind the camera and with more to say (he spoke more about rediscovering his mojo in our interview from last year).
READ MORE: Review: Anton Corbijn’s ‘Life’ Starring Robert Pattinson & Dane DeHaan
That’s a boon for us, as his latest, “Life,” features the inspired pair of Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan as two real-life artists. In 1955, ambitious Hollywood photographer Dennis Stock (Pattinson) and the then still unknown James Dean (DeHaan) meet at one of director Nicholas Ray‘s parties. The meeting of these two young men led to the creation of a series of world famous LIFE magazine images of a cult star before he died at the age of just 24. "James Dean haunted Times Square" in particular—recreated in this new clip—went on to become one of the most reproduced photographs of the 20th century.Corbijn’s tale, maybe not unlike the recent “The End Of The Tour,” documents the brief, but life-altering days when Stock and Dean collaborated.
“Life” arrives in select U.S. theaters on December 4th via Cinedigm. Does that mean its an Oscar contender? Well, it’s going to be a pretty small release so I wouldn’t get those hopes up, but dare to dream. Watch the new clip below. [Vanity Fair]
