Okri wrote:What about something like Lady Chatterly? A French film, based on an English novel, set in England, starring French actors/actresses speaking French?
Well, if you mean the porn version... I mean, we can't deny that you watch ALL movies - but in porn, let's face it, everything is allowed. If you refer to the Marc Allegret version, though, that's a special case: in the 50s nobody in the British film industry would have dared to touch this "forbidden" book, so the more open minded French were free to be the first to adapt it to the screen. The movie isn't good and you are right, it's set in England with French-speaking actors, but the cast is very interesting and it says alot about European sexual cliches of the time: lady Chatterley is played by a French actress, her husband is played by an English actor, and the lover is played by an Italian - Sicilian even! - actor. (By the way Erno Crisa, who was then a big star in Italy but is almost forgotten today even here, was one of the most handsome faces of Italian cinema).
There may be other cases like this, but believe me, it's rare, very rare. And don't forget that France is closer to England than US is to Sweden - but really, this happens very rarely even between two European countries. We just couldn't do that.
But I think the real problem is ignorance - as it often is. Another example. Through Imdb and other sites I've checked the American reviews of A Separation, and by the way I must admit that some of them are very perceptive, and most - almost all actually - praise the movie. But that's not the point here. The point is: is it so difficult for Americans - and film reviewers are well-educated Americans, or should be - to realize that Iran ISN'T an Arab country? I mean - this isn't a small, unknown nation like Andorra - we are talking about a place that's often discussed in the news, especially in the US. It's ignorance, I repeat - and ignorance leads to even worse mistakes than considering the Iranians as Arab.
I'm sure that in the book all those subplots are better explored than in the movie.
Big Magilla, Rosanna actually is an Italian name. But Roseanna? Never.