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Actor Marton Csokas (pronounced CHO-kash), has enjoyed an exciting and eclectic fifteen year-plus career in movies, in television, and on stage, both at home in New Zealand and worldwide. His intensity, talent, dedication, and range as an actor, have made Marton a favorite among both critics and movie-goers. He is well-known for his interesting character and film choices, as well as his humble attitude towards his work and his life as an actor.
Marton Csokas first became well-known for his recurring role on the television series, "Xena." American audiences, as well as critics, took note of him as the villain, Yorgi, in the Vin Diesel adrenaline ride, "xXx." Marton has also appeared in the high profile films "The Lord of the Rings", "The Bourne Supremacy", "Asylum", "Kingdom of Heaven", and "The Great Raid". Most recently, he co-starred with Charlize Theron in "Aeon Flux". He can currently be seen with Eric Bana in the immigrant drama, "Romulus, My Father."
News and Updates
5/28/07 - No articles yet, but from the Melbourne premiere we have several photos of Marton.
5/28/07 - A triple update today. First, another account of the premiere of ROMULUS, MY FATHER at Castlemaine from ABC Central Victoria.
Movie world premiere in Castlemaine
Last Update: Monday, May 28, 2007. 1:46pm AEST
By Terri-Anne Kingsley
It's not every day a small town like Castlemaine hosts a movie's world premiere.
But yesterday was the big day for Castlemaine. After Romulus, My Father was shot in the region, it seemed like a good idea to have the film shown in Castlemaine - and when circumstances conspired to make that screening a world premiere, it was time to dust off the red carpet.
The day also included displays of the hotrods, classic cars and motorbikes for which Castlemaine is famous (including the bike ridden by Eric Bana in the movie), bands in the streets (once again including a movie touch - the local Salvation Army band featured in the movie), and plenty of locals taking to the street.
Most of the film's stars were at the premiere; Eric Bana (Romulus Gaita), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Raimond Gaita), Marton Csokas (Hora) and Russell Dykstra (Mitru) were all there, as was first-time director Richard Roxburgh, screenwriter Nick Drake, producer Robert Connolly, and author Raimond Gaita.
The premiere showing was packed, and it's going to be showing for a long time; theatre director David Stretch says they've made an unheard-of commitment to keep Romulus, My Father showing on Sundays for the next year.
Mayor of Mount Alexander Shire called it 'a fantastic day' for the town. "It's not every day you do a world premiere," he said. "I don't think you'll see [another world premiere] in a hurry, although we're going to try and organise one in the next couple of years!"
Producer Robert Connolly said that cast and crew were happy to be able to hold the world premiere in Castlemaine. "We're very, very fortunate to be able to deliver on a promise we made to the local community here. We met the mayor when we came here and we promised that we'd have the world premiere here, and I don't think he believed it would ever happen. We're really excited, we couldn't have made the film without everybody's support."
Director Richard Roxburgh echoed praise for locals. "Everybody in the district was extremely supportive when we were making the film...we came here and saw the extraordinary beauty of the location, it had to be here, and everybody was really fantastic along the way."
Eric Bana said local support was a key to making the film a success. "When you set out to make a film, you can have a great script, you can have your funding, your money in place to make the film, you can have a cast, you can have a director, you can have a producer and a location, but to be completely honest, without the literal goodwill support of the local community, it is almost impossible to film within that local community. So we really owe all you guys a huge thank you for embracing us...you really embraced us, and this region was such a wonderful place to film this movie. We would have been stuffed without your support."
Author of Romulus, My Father called the experience of being at the premiere 'moving.' "It was only 50 years ago that my father, the actual historical Romulus, parked his motorbike just out there, and we went in to watch the film...so it's very moving for me that there should be a movie called Romulus, My Father, and everybody's turned out here like this."
Since ABC is a radio network, they have an audio link to the premiere. Some of the locals are interviewed as well as Robert Connoly and Eric Bana. It gives you a real sense of the excitement there. audio
5/28/07 - ROMULUS, MY FATHER had its world premiere at Castlemaine, Australia yesterday. The film was shot in Victoria State in the small towns of Castlemaine, Maldon, and Bendigo. It was opened there by the producers in a show of thanks to the local residents who welcomed a big city film crew into their midst for several weeks last year. Here's an on-the-scene report from Bendigo's newspaper, THE ADVERTISER:
28 May 2007
THE MOMENT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR
The likes of it may never be seen again in Castlemaine.
On the afternoon that Hollywood came knocking, children sought signatures, starstruck grannies compared notes about who had met Eric Bana first and scruffy artists in work boots converged on a red carpet at the Theatre Royal for the world premiere screening of author Raimond Gaita's Australian story, Romulus, My Father.
This tale of extraordinary hardship formed the basis of director Richard Roxburgh's seven-year development of the film Romulus, My Father.
The movie - which had its world premiere in Castlemaine yesterday - is based on the memoirs of author Raimond Gaita.
The film tells the story of Gaita's father Romulus, who escaped Yugoslavia after World War II with his German wife Christina and their four-year-old son Raimond.
Life in post-war Australia was a long way from the European battlefields.But it was far from idyllic. Mental illness, relationship breakdowns and the harshness of the country landscapes tore the family apart. But it is the father and son bond between Raimond and Romulus that endures.
Screenplay writer Nick Drake arrived from the UK for yesterday's world premiere of the film. "I came here four years ago and had never visited Australia before," he said. "I was asked to write the screenplay of this wonderful book set in this wonderful place. It has changed my life."
Mount Alexander Shire mayor Jim Norris says success breeds success."We've shown we actually have the capability of producing a film in the shire," he said. "I think we will see a return of people coming back to shoot more films here."
Local Sue McKindley sold plum puddings to locals and visitors to the town yesterday. "I think it's magnificent for the town," she said of the film. "Everybody's been so supportive of the movie. Just to be able to go and watch it and see the locals in it is just amazing. I think it has really uplifted everybody."
Hollywood star Eric Bana thanked locals for the goodwill shown to the production crew during filming in 2006. "This region was such a wonderful place to film this movie," he said.
Supported by Film Victoria, Innovation Minister John Brumby said the film received funding as part of the State Government's Provincial Film Strategy. "Location Victoria has been developed so rural and regional communities can enjoy the many benefits film and television production can bring," he said.
Producer Rob Connolly arrived fresh from the Cannes Film Festival for the event. He said he was thrilled at the support shown from Castlemaine residents at the red carpet premiere. "I never in a million years thought it was going to be like this," Mr. Connolly said.
Local Marg Hansford told how she could not get her car out of the driveway when the crew shot film scenes in her street.
"I'm looking forward to seeing it," she said.
5/24/07 - Today's SYDNEY MORNING HERALD includes a great interview with Marton on his part in ROMULUS, MY FATHER. Along the way we get some interesting family history and a glimpse of his rarely seen sense of humor.
ROMANIANS OF THE DAY
Benito di Fonzo
May 25, 2007
In Romulus, My Father, Marton Csokas (Lord of the Rings, xXx) takes a break from playing elves and villains to assume a role closer to his heart. The son of a Hungarian immigrant plays Hora, the Hungarian voice of hope and sanity opposite Eric Bana's troubled Romanian in Richard Roxburgh's directorial debut.
It's based on philosopher Raimond Gaita's memoirs of the country Victorian shack where his father raised him with the help of Hora. Meanwhile, his German mother (Franka Potente, Run Lola Run) disappears to the city with her lover (Russell Dykstra), who is also Hora's brother. Romulus, My Father encapsulates the seldom-told struggle of the Eastern Europeans who came to Australia after suffering both Nazi and Soviet occupation.
"There are certainly similarities to the stories that my father and friends of the family told me," Csokas says.
"They shared the shock of the new, coming from an old established culture and what it was to arrive in a very foreign land. My father was the only person left in his family, and off he went from 12 years old. The story of Romulus is not dissimilar to that. The boy at the centre of the story, Raimond, has the wisdom of the old world in a burgeoning new land, and that's what struck me as the most wonderful thing about this story."
The film explores how young Gaita (Kodi Smit-McPhee) deals with the tragedy that unfolds in his life as his extended family try to survive and stay sane in rural post-war Australia. This bleakness is balanced by the optimistic Hora, who introduces the future philosopher to the works of Bertrand Russell as they watch the sun set.
"He's the light in the darkness, which is why I loved playing Hora," Csokas says. "He's full of sun and life. I could do with a lot more of Hora in my life."
Romulus, My Father
Directed by Richard Roxburgh
Stars Eric Bana, Marton Csokas, Franka Potente
Rated M. Opens Thursday.
There is a Q&A and screening of the film with Bana at the Cremorne Opheum on Tuesday at 6.30pm.
5/22/07 - Last week the cast bio for Marton on the ROMULUS, MY FATHER site was updated to say he would be doing a play, RIFLEMIND, later this year in Sydney. While this was very welcome news, MCN refrained from immediately reposting it here because last year the same site said he would be appearing in THERESE RAQUIN in London and for unknown reasons, it never materialized. So this time, we contacted Sydney Theater Company directly to confirm his casting and received this reply:
Marton Csokas is going to be playing Phil in Riflemind by Andrew Upton, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman later this year in Wharf 1 @ Sydney Theatre Company.
Yours, Serena Hill
Serena Hill
Casting Director
Sydney Theatre Company
RIFLEMIND will run from October 5 to November 18.
5/17/07 - The May 16th edition of "The Sydney Morning Herald has an article discussing Cannes film festival this week and the puzzling absence there of any Australian long or short films.
"In all this, however, there is not one Australian film. Not a short, not a feature, in any of the festival sections, for the first time since 1981. Short films, in particular, have been Australia's great strength; at least one has been included in competition almost every year since the mid-1980s. Given that relatively fallow years in the past decade have always been greeted as a crisis, there has been a surprisingly muted reaction to this dreadful dearth.
Of course, it is partly thanks to the luck of the draw. Some possible contenders, such as Tony Ayres's The Home Song Stories, Cherie Nowlan's Clubland and Noise, by Matthew Saville, were selected for other festivals this year. The only feature film that was a realistic Cannes starter was Richard Roxburgh's artful, atmospheric Romulus, My Father.
The stars Eric Bana and Franka Potente certainly could have brought their share of celebrity glitz. Perhaps the problem was that Romulus is an unremittingly sad story of an immigrant couple beset by depression; it certainly doesn't show the kind of Australia that charmed French fans of Muriel or Priscilla or Ten Canoes.
That doesn't explain why there are no Australian shorts. But the idea that this was too gloomy, or perhaps too recognisably arthouse, to represent Australia testifies to the nature of the beast. The selectors have their whims, befitting the mercurial nature of the greatest film festival in the world. No wonder Cannes always manages to be surprising.
5/15/07 - From the very beginning of The Marton Csokas Network, it has been our policy not to run reviews of Marton's various films so that new viewers can approach each one without bias, good or bad, and judge his movies for themselves. But since most of us will probably only see ROMULUS, MY FATHER on the dvd release which will be a long time from now, this review from "The Hollywood Reporter" gives a good synopsis of the plot for the impatient. Marton is singled out for praise near the end.
RMF Review
5/13/07 - The May 12th edition of THE AUSTRALIAN has a fascinating look at the difficult journey of "Romulus, My Father" from award winning book to film. Marton isn't quoted, but his character Hora is mentioned several times.
"It's not surprising philosopher Raimond Gaita didn't want his memoir, Romulus, My Father, filmed. It is an extraordinary book, dealing with insanity and saintliness, among other aspects of the human condition, and informed by wisdom: more like an extended tragic poem in mood than a conventional biography or autobiography."more
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