Here’s a project, just announced, that has just started filming. Three-time Oscar nominees Ralph Fiennes and Viggo Mortensen are the leads in Oscar winner István Szabó’s “Embers.”
Just based on these two actors alone, the project is worth keeping an eye on — both exceptional at what they do. The big surprise for me is Szabó, who recently turned 88, still making movies and finding financing for a period piece — this could be his final one too.
Also joining the cast are Charlotte Rampling, Katherine Langford, Louis Hofmann, Gijs Blom, Evelyne Brochu, and Jonah Russell. Adapted by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Father”) from Sándor Márai’s most famous and acclaimed novel, “Embers” was once supposed to be directed by Milos Forman. The cast was reportedly set to include Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Winona Ryder. However, Connery withdrew after a disagreement with the producer, and Forman canceled the film just days before shooting was supposed to begin.
The synopsis: “Embers reconnects once-inseparable friends, Henrik (Fiennes) and Konrad (Mortensen), decades after Konrad’s mysterious disappearance and uncovers, over the course of one evening, the secret that tore them apart — and the woman at the center of it.”
Szabó is best known for a handful of acclaimed films spanning 60 years, especially “Mephisto,” which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His other more well-known works include “Colonel Redl” and “Hanussen,” both historical dramas, as well as the sweeping family epic “Sunshine.” He also directed 2004’s “Being Julia,” which earned Annette Bening an Oscar nomination.
Below are first-look images of Fiennes, Mortensen, and Langford:
