Faithful to indie cinema
Brilliant American actor revealed as a teenager alongside Anne Hathaway in the series The Green FamilyJesse Eisenberg imposed his machine-gun phrasing and lanky body in both independent and Hollywood cinema. We think of Village by Night M. Shyamalan, Bergman separate by Noah Baumbach, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice by Zach Snyder (where he plays Lex Luthor), Night Moves by Kelly Reichardt… And, of course, to his unforgettable composition as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network by David Fincher, which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2011.
Jesse Eisenberg awarded in Deauville: small arrangements with the celebrity
For his second film as director, after When You Finish Saving the World with Julianne Moore in 2022, Eisenberg remains faithful to New York independent cinema and to Woody Allen, with whom he filmed in To Rome with Love in 2012 and Café Society in 2017. He opposite Emma Stone. The latter is the producer ofA Real Pain where, like the master of New York comedy (fallen from his pedestal), the filmmaker manages to address, through comedy, serious subjects.
A personal journey
This trip to Poland has a very personal flavor for Jesse Eisenberg, from a New York Jewish family of Polish and Ukrainian origin. Ultra-agitated, anxious, speaking too quickly, with the air of an eternal teenager at 41, his character is clearly his alter ego on screen… In perfect contrast to this cool cousin, who nevertheless hides a deep evil- being, played by Kieran Culkin (the brother of Macaulay, who we could notably see in the series Succession). Which has just won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for this seductive composition.
Woody Allen: “Filmmakers like Scorsese and Spielberg are perfectionists. I never felt like them, I’m lazy”
The comic duo works wonderfully, while allowing Eisenberg to explore the theme of the legacy of the Holocaust on the descendants of survivors. Is it morally possible to be happy after such events? This is the profound question posed, with humor and tenderness, by this very successful dramatic comedy.
A Real Pain Drama comedy Screenplay and direction Jesse Eisenberg Photography Michal Dymek Montage Robert Nassau With Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe, Ellora Torchia, Priya Liza Sadovy… Duration 1h30
