CANNES -- An ebullient Al Pacino survived a mob scene of fans and paparazzi at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. Here to present his documentary Looking For Richard in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, he generated the most intensity to date, as Cannes security guards shoved people aside like rag dolls to usher him inside. At a press conference, Pacino waxed poetic about Shakespeare and directing for the first time. A decade in the making, the two-hour Looking For Richard has been culled from 80 hours of footage Pacino has shot of actors, including himself, performing in Richard III. The film takes audiences inside the actors' heads to look at the act of creation.
Pacino is hoping the film, once it plays in film festivals and theatres, ends up in schools.
"It's a dream for me."
He is despondent about the indifference to Shakespeare's work he has seen in U.S. youth.
"I don't know if they teach Shakespeare properly in school. I do know that when I went to a college I found hardly any of the students had read Hamlet. I think that it's in the way it's presented. I hope this film can do something about that."
He would also like to go to schools himself, now that he is armed with Looking For Richard, and talk about it.
"But I can't go to ALL the schools."
Not enough time.
The act of creating the film has transformed Pacino's relationship to filmmaking. As an eight-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner, and a two-time Tony Award winner, Pacino has a huge body of work, much of it highly acclaimed, from The Godfather to such recent films as Heat.
Yet directing is profoundly different.
"It re-ignites things, it's exciting. And I'm glad to use the word passion and not obsession."
Meanwhile, he continues his acting career, recently completing the movie Donnie Brasco with Johnny Depp. Just don't expect his future to include another Godfather sequel. Pacino doesn't think it will happen, despite rumors.
"That all depends on Francis (Coppola), because he is the visionary. If he had a definite idea of doing another one, I know that I would be interested."
