San Sebastian: Richard Gere pushes his envelope
by John Hopewell and Maria Alvarez Rilla
Richard Gere arrived in San Sebastian Saturday to receive one of its two career achievement Donostia Awards. On Sunday, he gave a press conference. At times, it seemed more like a masterclass in geopolitics, Buddhism, the political situation in Tibet, "dirty wars" in 1980s Central America, Iraq (a big mistake), George Bush (overshadowed by dad), Sarajevo (you should go there), China (boycotts aren't a solution). Did you know that El Salvador is one of the most densely populated places on earth? You did after listening to Gere.
And that "bipolarism is a problem worldwide."?
Well, no, but I could have imagined it was.
Gere was a consummate professional, courteously flirting for a mo with a young femme journo-admirer, deflecting a question about why he had repeated so few times with the same directors, saying - no doubt sincerely - that he was honored to be considered at the same level as other actors who had won the award. But, as he said almost from the get-go, movies formed "only a minor part" of his life.
Somebody asked him - it was probably the most interesting question - why he played so many characters he were slightly shadowy, dodgy, not quite what they seemed. He said he'd thought about that, but didn't have an answer.
San Sebastian uses stars to get journos, hoping they'll also write about other things, like San Sebastian itself. Gere also uses his star status to get films made about Bosnia, or to push his real agenda. It was frustrating. I wanted an obviously intelligent person to talk more about films. But at least he was honest about the process.
Editor's note: The Variety España team is on the ground inSpain
Richard Gere arrived in San Sebastian Saturday to receive one of its two career achievement Donostia Awards. On Sunday, he gave a press conference. At times, it seemed more like a masterclass in geopolitics, Buddhism, the political situation in Tibet, "dirty wars" in 1980s Central America, Iraq (a big mistake), George Bush (overshadowed by dad), Sarajevo (you should go there), China (boycotts aren't a solution). Did you know that El Salvador is one of the most densely populated places on earth? You did after listening to Gere.
And that "bipolarism is a problem worldwide."?
Well, no, but I could have imagined it was.
Gere was a consummate professional, courteously flirting for a mo with a young femme journo-admirer, deflecting a question about why he had repeated so few times with the same directors, saying - no doubt sincerely - that he was honored to be considered at the same level as other actors who had won the award. But, as he said almost from the get-go, movies formed "only a minor part" of his life.
Somebody asked him - it was probably the most interesting question - why he played so many characters he were slightly shadowy, dodgy, not quite what they seemed. He said he'd thought about that, but didn't have an answer.
San Sebastian uses stars to get journos, hoping they'll also write about other things, like San Sebastian itself. Gere also uses his star status to get films made about Bosnia, or to push his real agenda. It was frustrating. I wanted an obviously intelligent person to talk more about films. But at least he was honest about the process.
Editor's note: The Variety España team is on the ground in
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
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