Rendition Day and Rendition Jake

Rendition Day is here at last and, while the film hasn't arrived on my own doorstep unfortunately, at least I can enjoy the screencaps posted at IHJ, which hint of deleted scenes with Jake in them. Although why any director would wish to delete an instant of film that contained Jake Gyllenhaal will always be a mystery to me.


Looking at Jake in these pictures, so soon after seeing him in Beverly Hills all shaven, reminded me of this old quote of Jake's that I read sometime ago and has now re-emerged along with Jake's beautiful chin: 'Hollywood heart-throb JAKE GYLLENHAAL has developed a huge dislike for facials, after an ex-girlfriend forced him to go through the beauty procedure. The 23-year-old actor, ex-boyfriend of SPIDER-MAN beauty KIRSTEN DUNST, finds the widely-used beautification technique unbearable. He says, "A girlfriend took me to get a facial once. It was weird to have a person pushing on your skin for an hour. I suffered for a week with little red marks."'


For those of us not fortunate enough to be able to settle back tonight with kicked-off shoes to watch Rendition, here is a reposting of a Making of documentary, which at least contains some additional Jake and is definitely worth a rewatch.



Jake's Rendition scenes were, of course, filmed in Morocco and I've spent some time today remembering back to the early part of 2007 when I imagined Jake in some exotic and warm location. Rendition's filming was a big source of interest for the Moroccan media and many local blogs. For instance, we hear of filming at El Badia palace in Marrakesh and at the coastal town of Essaouira. This interesting article by Emmanuel Levy looks at the visual style of Rendition and explores the ways in which Gavin Hood and his crew and actors recreated and visualised the grey area between right and wrong.


This was partly achieved through the opposing ways in which the worlds of Morocco and Washington were captured. There is a great account of what filming in Morocco was like for the cast. '"I think it is wonderful when you walk on the set and you have South Africans, and Moroccans, Americans and Brits," says Jake Gyllenhaal. "There is a real open heart here. I think that comes from Gavin Hood. I think every set I've been on is defined by the director."


"Shooting in Morocco with an international cast and crew was an amazing experience," adds cast member Igal Naor. "For me, as an Israeli, to feel free, and to feel comfortable, to not be afraid of anyone or anything--I felt as if I was in London or Paris. It was great. I met so many Muslims who became good friends and after two weeks, we said to ourselves, 'How can we be together? How can we have fun?? Look how close we are. Judiaism and Islam are so much the same. And it's something that makes me very happy. I have many Arab and Palestinian friends in Israel, too. Why can't it always be like that?"


Hood adds, "One of the fun things about this movie was the fact that we had crew made up from people all over the world working on a film that is essentially about the struggle of different cultures in this very stressful modern time. The debates among the crew members about the issues at hand were wonderful because I watched people grow and come to understand each other and enjoy being with each other. I hope this film reminds us that we are all just people with emotional issues and needs. I get so frustrated the way people want to talk about how people are different, yet we don't talk enough about the ways in which we are the same."'

I hope people will forgive me if I finish this post with some gratuitous Rendition Jake. Just to console those of us who have yet to receive the DVD, you understand.




Includes pictures from IHJ