A deep, rich filmmaking heritage courses through the veins of Americano, the directorial debut by Mathieu Demy. A child actor and the son of French New Wave and Left Bank directors Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda, Mathieu Demy has sought out others with similar family ties to star in his film which deals with inheritance and legacy. Americano co-stars Carlos Bardem, the son of Spanish actress Pilar Bardem, and brother to Javier; Geraldine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie Chaplin; and Chiarra Mastroianni, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni.
The big draw, however, is Salma Hayek, taking on the sexy role of a stripper named Lola. Demy stars as a Parisian man named Martin, who flies off to Los Angeles to deal with inheritance concerns in the wake of his mother's sudden death. There, he's pointed in the direction of Tijuana, Mexico to locate Lola, a close friend of his mother's, and someone who forces him to face an uncomfortable past.
Americano made its debut to rather mixed results at last year's Toronto Film Festival, and the newly released trailer shows why. There doesn't appear to be much going on until Hayek's character is introduced, and then it's overly infatuated with her, not that I can blame them. It's just not enough to base a story around. If there's more to it than just watching Hayek work a pole, you wouldn't know it by this footage.
Americano will release here in the United States on June 15th....
