It’s William Monahan Day in the trades, it seems – not only has the shaggy writer and recent Oscar winner for The Departed just signed on to his next film with Martin Scorsese, he’s also inked himself into a film with Leonardo DiCaprio. Looks like somebody’s about to install an herbal Jacuzzi at his new place on the beach.
Leo and Monahan will be reteaming for another Asian film adaptation, this time Confessions of Pain. It’s another movie from Alan Mak, Andrew Lau and Felix Chong, aka the same dudes who made Infernal Affairs, the movie The Departed was based on. Confessions of Pain is about a cop and a private eye who investigate the murder of the cop’s father-in-law… and discover all kinds of dark secrets in the process. DiCaprio will star – surely as the most troubled one of the two, upset by his inability to cultivate reasonable facial hair – and will produce through his Appian Way company.
David Mamet’s new book, Bambi Vs Godzilla (buy it from CHUD!), has some interesting thoughts on the crime and noir genres as the cinematic equivalent of adolescence – the protagonists get involved in something and learn that their authority figures are not to be trusted, and must rebel against and break away from them. Confessions of Pain sounds like it fits right into that mold.