Eric Cantona » Ken Loach

Cantona presents award to Loach

Linus — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:47 +0000

Spotted at: Essen, Germany
on Friday, 11 December
For: a film gala in honour of Ken Loach, recipient of the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Loach wants Cantona at Bath City

Linus — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:58 +0000

Director of Looking For Eric, & Bath City fan, Ken Loach is hoping to tempt Eric Cantona out of retirement and star for Bath City if they make it through to the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time in 15 years.

Loach is the award-winning director behind the recent cinema smash hit Looking for Eric, in which Cantona played himself.

Cantona, 43, who retired from playing to become an actor hours after leading United to the 1997 Premier League title, sent the Blue Square South minnows a ‘good luck’ message before their shock first-round win over Grimsby.

Loach added that a dream draw for Bath would be to play Manchester United, he said: “If I were writing Bath’s Cup run for a film, the story would be us getting to the third round and then drawing Manchester United away.

“I would get Eric out of retirement and he would score the winning goal in front of the Stretford End, wearing our black and white shirt.

“When filming with Eric, I spoke to him a lot about Bath.

“I asked if he would come and do a Q and A evening to raise some money for the club and he obliged.

“He came down, posed with a Bath shirt on and spent a couple of hours chatting to supporters.

“I think a few people were surprised at how charming he was, far removed from the pictures they had seen of him snarling away and kicking that Crystal Palace supporter in the chest.

“I think Eric found the whole experience very liberating and took away some great memories.

“I spoke to him before the Grimsby game and he wished us luck, which was a nice boost for the players.”

Bath City have support of Cantona

Linus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:32 +0000

Looking for Eric director Ken Loach has revealed that Cantona sent a good luck message ahead of Bath City’s match with Grimsby in the FA Cup.

Loach told BBC Radio Bristol: “I sent Eric a text before the Grimsby game and he sent me a good luck message. He’ll be delighted.”

Bath will play either Forest Green Rovers or Mansfield in the next round on 28 November. They defeated League Two side Grimsby 2-0 on Saturday.

Steve Evets: Men & Women Love Cantona

Linus — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:09 +0000

Eric Cantona’s co-star in the movie Looking for Eric, Steve Evets explains the appeal of the enigmatic Frenchman.

“Women love him,” he ponders. “And blokes love him.”

“If you caught him sh***ing your wife you’d ask if she was up to scratch.”

The actor also added that being on the camera with the famous footballer under the direction of Ken Loach was like being in a “legend sandwich”.

Steve also revealed that he had no idea Cantona was in the movie until he shot their first scene together.

Watch an interview with the director Ken Loach, Steve Evets and The King himself @The Sun.

Cantona on Looking For Eric

Linus — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:00:18 +0000

Digital Spy recently interviewed Looking For Eric director, Ken Loach & Cantona. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

Eric, what was it about Ken that made you want to work with him?
Eric: “It was my two brothers, Jean-Marie and Joel, who wrote two pages of a story. They wanted to make a movie and we went to a French production company called Why Not, and the first name we put on the list was Ken Loach. It was a dream for all of us, but we tried and we met Ken, Paul [Laverty, screenwriter] and Rebecca O’Brien [producer] and they read the two pages and they said it was very inspired and with that we can do something. Paul had the freedom to write his own story which was better than the one we showed him.”

Eric, you also reveal a talent for playing the trumpet in this film.
Eric: “Well, when I was banned [from playing football] for nine months I needed to focus on something else. I admire a lot Miles Davis and Chet Baker, and I like the sentiment, so I tried it. I practised for a few months and I stopped after. And then, when I spent time with Paul, speaking about different things, about life, he said, ‘I don’t know how, but it will be in the script.’ So, just before shooting I started again, just for a few days. I tried my best.”

Do you also see yourself as a bit of a philosopher? When you were banned you made that famous comment about seagulls following the trawler…
Eric: “I’m not a philosopher… No. Everyone tries to analyse what I said at the press conference about the seagulls, but I didn’t want to give sense. I just wanted to put [across] the words. I think anybody can find sense in any situation; the meaning was not in the words, the meaning was just that I came in front of you and said something that means nothing. It’s because they tried to make the situation very serious and I think, in life, there are plenty of serious things, but I don’t think the world of football it’s so serious. It’s important to have distance from things about yourself. If we believe we are king or God we become crazy. Football is a game we all enjoy together because we all know it’s just a game.”

Cantona: Looking For Eric is universal

Linus — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:00:03 +0000

Eric Cantona has insisted that Looking For Eric, directed by acclaimed British director Ken Loach, can reach an audience beyond football fans.

Cantona appears as himself in the movie, offering advice to a down-and-out postman who idolised him while he played for Manchester United.

“It’s not only a film about relationships between fans and idols,” Cantona said at the UK press conference to promote the film. “It’s also a love story, a story of a man who’s depressed, has problems in his relationships with his step-children. All the subjects are very universal.”

Cantona admitted that he recognised much of his own life in the movie, adding praise for screenwriter Paul Laverty and Loach.

“It’s not only for United fans,” Cantona explained “It was my experience, when I saw the film for the first time, I felt the same energy I had when I met [fans]. It’s why I wanted to work with Ken and Paul. They have a lot of humanity and solidarity in their previous films.”

Fans get kick to see Cantona in the flesh

Linus — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:00:40 +0000

Cantona arrived at the Light House Cinema in Dublin yesterday for the Irish premiere of Looking for Eric, a film made by the director Ken Loach.

Hundreds of Manchester United fans, some of whom weren’t born by the time Cantona had retired, turned up for the premiere chanting the familiar refrain “Ooh-ah, Cantona” and waving those blue, white and red flags with Cantona’s image in the middle.

“It still a surprise for me, especially the young who weren’t born. Maybe they like me as an actor, no?” said Cantona, wearing a thick beard as befits the image of the footballer turned philosopher. Cantona indulged them all signing autographs and a scooter with his image on it owned by United fanatic Matt Farrell.

Source: The Irish Times

Looking for Eric in Salford

Linus — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:11:26 +0000

Eric Cantona was given a hero’s welcome at the UK premiere of Looking for Eric last night.

The premiere was in Salford, where over a hundred fans awaited his arrival to cheer him on.

Looking for Eric is a movie directed by Ken Loach, about a postman Eric, who turns to his hero Cantona for inspiration as his life spirals out of control. Cantona plays himsel

Before the screening at the Vue Cinema in Salford Quays, Cantona said: “It’s a way of sharing with people the wonderful time I had here as a player.” It is released on June 12.