In a time where most romantic movies are emotionally manipulative and cringe-inducing to sit through, Words and Pictures is a real treat. Directed by Fred Schepisi, the man who also gave us Roxanne and I.Q., the film stars Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche as rival teachers at an advanced public school and artists whose passion for their work seems to have disappeared.
Jack Marcus (Owen) is an English teacher who has a great love of words that just enthralls his students, but he has not written a book in a long time and instead finds himself getting drunk on a regular basis. Dina Delsanto (Binoche) is the new art teacher who does not go easy on her students, and her worsening rheumatoid arthritis keeps her from completing any new paintings. When these two meet, they try to one up the other to the point where they start up a competition with their students to determine which is more important – words or pictures.
Clive Owen and Fred Schepisi were at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California for the Words and Pictures press day last week and it was a real pleasure talking with them. In our exclusive interview, we spoke about why this particular script stood out, the challenges of playing an alcoholic, how to make a romance film with genuine emotion, and much more.
Check it all out in the video below and be sure to catch Words and Pictures when it hits theatres this Friday!
