SEDUCED & ABANDONED

If anything, ‘Seduced and Abandoned’ is an incredibly entertaining ride, a giddy film lover’s dream that takes us through the history and mechanics of Cannes. Toback and Baldwin meet a lot of famous faces along the way, and interview Bertolucci, Polanski, Scorsese and Coppola, as well as Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Bérénice Bejo and Diane Kruger, about not only their Cannes experiences, but the struggles of securing the money to make their films at all. These are offer some really interesting moments, many speaking with a frankness and honesty that’s surprising. Without a project to promote, they have no problem discussing the trials and tribulations that come with being a member of the industry, and even with the glitzy background of Cannes, a lot of mysticism about working in the film industry is stripped away. You can see, especially with the directors, that glint of fear in their eyes that at any moment it might all come crashing down.

Where you get the real meat though, is in the pursuit of funding for ‘Last Tango in Iraq’, and this is where the true mechanisms of the film industry are illuminated. It becomes clear pretty quickly that they aren’t very serious about this film they’re shopping around, but use it instead to poke and prod and test the waters with what the money men are actually looking for. While the artists speak of artistic integrity, the financers reduce film to a numbers game. One hilarious and slightly horrifying sequence sees Toback and Baldwin discussing their project with a financing mogul who reduces the stars of the film to a set box-office return, and makes it clear that his choice of which films to finance are a result of where the stars fit on his scale. It’s the part of filmmaking we don’t hear about, and frankly, who would want to? We speak so freely of the art behind film, but rarely want to consider the fact that the money that is spent on them has to come from somewhere, and with independent film, it isn’t coming from a major studio but a battalion of financers who may not even care what the film is about. As much as Toback and Baldwin are clearly enjoying playing their game, they can’t help but be a little taken aback by what they find, giving us permission to be as surprised as them.

As a film, ‘Seduced and Abandoned’ is very cheeky and very rough around the edges, with Toback keeping the film trotting along. It’s never boring or unenlightening, and the two men are excellent hosts, even if their banter together seems a tad contrived and often pretentious. As you start to pick up on the joke though, that this film-within-the-film isn’t to be taken too seriously, you start to understand what they’re getting it. The central image of the film, and one it keeps returning to, is a merry-go-round, and this is a perfect metaphor for the film industry: going around and around in circles. As soon as you get the funding and make the film, you jump straight back on and do it again. ‘Seduced and Abandoned’ is our chance to jump on the ride and see what it’s like for ourselves, with Toback and Baldwin as our guides. It’s a dizzying, confusing and bizarre little trip, but a hell of a lot of fun along the way.