Roman Polanski surprised Cannes yesterday by debuting a new short film before a festival screening of his 1979 film Tess. The three-minute film, called A Therapy, stars Ben Kingsley and Helena Bonham Carter as a therapist and his stylish, Prada-wearing patient, and marks a collaboration with the Italian fashion house.
“When I was asked to shoot a short movie for Prada, I did not think that I could really be myself, but the reality is that in the total freedom I was given, I had the opportunity to reunite my favorite group of people on set and just have fun,” said Polanski. “The chance to dwell on what the fashion world represents nowadays and the fact that it is accompanied by so many stereotypes is fascinating and at the same time a bit upsetting, but you definitely can not ignore it. It’s very refreshing to know that there are still places open to irony and wit and, for sure, Prada is one of them.” Afterwards, he told AFP of the film: “It’s a sort of anti-ad.” See it after the cut.