That pic above is of Max von Sydow at the age of 28 in Ingmar Berman’s The Seventh Seal and it is a role in which you would think Sydow would have never been featured in a film the likes of Rush Hour 3. Sydow is the Exorcist! He’s an Oscar nominee! To be remembered for Rush Hour 3 cannot and will not happen.
Unfortunately many of you have not yet had a chance to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which I am sure is one of the big reasons Martin Scorsese considered the 78-year-old actor for a role in Shutter Island and I am damn grateful for it. While the role doesn’t appear to be huge it means we may see yet another great performance from an actor that needs an Oscar before he passes (perhaps Sydow, Peter O’Toole and Hal Holbrook could start a club).
News comes in that Max, along with Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley have joined Scorsese’s new film based on the Dennis Lehane novel with filming set to begin March 6. The trio join Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Patricia Clarkson.
The film revolves around two U.S. marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) who travel to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. Chaos ensues for the two as they encounter a web of deceit, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island.
Sydow will play one of the hospital’s physicians, while Mortimer will play a pivotal role as Rachel, an escaped hospital patient. Haley will play an inmate and while I was not at all impressed with him in Little Children as was the rest of the world, but I did just see him playing a homeless man in Semi-Pro and it was damn funny. Haley also just finished filming Watchmen for Zack Snyder.
Shutter Island is set for a October 2, 2009 release.
Oh, and if you have never seen it, rent The Seventh Seal it is amazing! Why else would I save screen captures from it?
