Irish Eye on Hollywood: Brosnan in Polanski's 'Ghost Writer'

Controversy may be on the agenda when Pierce Brosnan’s new film is unveiled at the Berlin Film Festival this February. Brosnan will star in The Ghost Writer, one of the films slated to open the fest. The film has been directed by none other than Roman Polanski. Polanski, of course, was recently placed under house arrest and is back in an L.A. courtroom, the latest episode in a decades-old saga that began when he was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in the 1970s. Since then, the director of classics such as Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby has split Hollywood into two camps. Supporters feel the case is complex and the aging director should be shown some leniency. Others believe it is about time Polanski faces justice. 

Either way, Brosnan will star in The Ghost Writer (based on a novel by Robert Harris) alongside Ewan McGregor. In the film, Brosnan plays a former British prime minister who is writing his memoirs. Like Polanski himself, the film’s protagonist is facing a legal battle. Brosnan’s character is facing an indictment by an international criminal court. The Ghost Writer also features actresses Kim Cattrall and Olivia Williams.

Brosnan will also be seen in Remember Me, due out in March, alongside Twilight saga star Robert Pattinson and Chris Cooper. The film is about a complicated father-son relationship made even more complicated when the son falls in love.

Another big-time film with Irish ties will be unveiled at the Berlin film fest in February: Martin Scorsese’s latest, Shutter Island. Based on a novel by Irish-American novelist Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), this thriller is set in the 1950s and also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. The film revolves around two investigators hunting down an escapee from a Boston asylum.

Indeed, the legendary Scorsese continues to look to Irish Americans for inspiration, as he has in many of his past films, from the classic Goodfellas (Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, was Irish American) to more recent movies such as The Gangs of New York.
Aside from Shutter Island, keep an eye out for Boardwalk Empire, produced by Scorsese and slated to debut on HBO in September. Starring Steve Buscemi and Kelly MacDonald (who plays an Irish immigrant), the mini-series is set in 1920s Atlantic City as organized crime figures were establishing themselves at the gambling mecca. 

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Nster.com