The cast of Johnny Depp‘s Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness took to the San Sebastian red carpet Tuesday night to usher in the star’s second directorial feature.
Depp — applauded by the audience shortly before the film screened and given a standing ovation afterwards — was joined by Riccardo Scamarcio and Antonia Desplat at the Kursaal Theater on Spain’s northern coast for the world premiere of Modi, which follows three days in the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.
Also starring Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery, Luisa Ranieri, Ryan McParland and Al Pacino as art collector Maurice Gangnat, the movie is backdropped by Paris in the middle of World War II as the painter and sculptor strives for recognition. Scamarcio features in the titular role while Desplat plays Modigliani’s partner of two years, Beatrice Hastings.
Reporters were thrilled by Depp’s presence at the press conference earlier in the afternoon, though The Hollywood Reporter understands that 12 international journalists abandoned a planned junket with Depp and the cast over issues with access to the director.
It was at the presser that Depp likened his bumpy life to Modigliani’s, referencing the legal frenzy and defamation trial after his public split from actress Amber Heard: “I’m sure we can say that I’ve been through a number of things here and there. Maybe yours didn’t turn into a soap opera,” he said. “I mean, literally, televised.”
Depp also revealed that it was Pacino who urged the actor to helm the film: “When Pacino speaks, you must listen.” Elsewhere, the cast told THR that “Hollywood needs Johnny Depp.” Scamarcio said of the star’s return to showbiz after years of controversy: “He’s the nicest, the kindness, the sweetest man I’ve ever worked with in my life. The industry, I think, should be very careful.”
Modi releases in theaters in Italy on Dec. 5, though a release date in the U.S. is yet to be confirmed. It lines up alongside one of San Sebastian’s glitziest fests ever, with Cate Blanchett, Javier Bardem, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh among the stars appearing or debuting films here.
THR‘s contributing film critic Leslie Felperin writes in her review of Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness: “Scamarcio is just about charismatic enough to hold attention, but Modi’s trajectory here — a countdown over a few days as he waits to pitch to famed collector Gangnat — doesn’t take us terribly far towards understanding what makes him tick or even why we should care.”
San Sebastian Film Festival runs from Sept. 20-28.
