MISTER LONELY

In Paris, a young American earns his living as a Michael Jackson impersonator. At a performance he meets Marilyn Monroe – or rather, a woman who lives as Marilyn – and follows her invitation to a commune in the Scottish Highlands. Other lookalikes live there too: Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn’s husband; her daughter Shirley Temple; along with James Dean, Abraham Lincoln, Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Stooges. Together they build a stage and hope for an audience for their big show. “Mister Lonely” (2007) by the American Harmony Korine tells of people who cannot cope with reality and have therefore fled into other people’s lives.

Diego Luna plays Michael, Samantha Morton plays Marilyn. Korine wrote the screenplay with his brother Avi; after his raw early works, it is his gentlest film, a pastiche about identity and loneliness. It premiered in Cannes in May 2007; the film reached cinemas over the following years. “Mister Lonely” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2008.

Shown at the 2008 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2008 · Film Archive