After much speculation, director Casey Affleck has confirmed what many suspected: the Joaquin Phoenix documentary I'm Still Here was all a hoax...
To give them credit, we'll be talking about this for a long time to come. Many had suspected - but, to be fair, many hadn't - that there was something a bit odd about actor Joaquin Phoenix's announcement that he was going to quit acting altogether, and become a hip hop artist. Then, when it was announced that a documentary about it was being made, I'm Still Here, further questions were raised. Was this all for real? Or was Phoenix actually embarking on a mightily unusual film project?
It turns out it was the latter. The suspicions were confirmed by I'm Still Here director Casey Affleck, talking to the New York Times. He says of Phoenix's work in the film that "It’s a terrific performance, it’s the performance of his career," before going on to confirm that virtually none of the documentary footage was real. Instead, the movie was shot from pretty much start to finish.
It turns out, too, that Phoenix's agent was in on the two-year project. Affleck, Phoenix's brother-in-law, revealed that when he went to talk to agent Patrick Whitesell about his plans to make Phoenix look as if he "has lost his mind and make him as unattractive as possible, you would think he would have me killed immediately". Whitesell didn't, and on they went with the project.
The final film opens today in the UK, and has had mixed reviews, which, by the sounds of the New York Times piece, Affleck has looked upon with some bemusement. You can read the full article here.
Meanwhile, you can read our review of the movie right here.