''Glitterati'' is an American film directed by

Roger Avary Roger Roberts Avary (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. He collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on ''Pulp Fiction'', for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Acade ...

. Filmed in 2001, it remains unreleased due to various legal, ethical and music licensing concerns. ''Glitterati'' stars

Kip Pardue Kevin Ian "Kip" Pardue (born September 23, 1975) is an American actor and model, who became known for his roles in the films ''Remember the Titans'', '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', ''The Rules of Attraction'' and ''Thirteen''. Early life and educa ...

as Victor Ward, a shallow and narcissistic aspiring model, as he travels around Europe and becomes implicated in a terrorist plot. The film was assembled from 70 hours of video footage shot for the European sequence of ''

The Rules of Attraction ''The Rules of Attraction'' is a satirical black comedy novel by Bret Easton Ellis published in 1987. The novel follows a handful of rowdy and often sexually promiscuous, spoiled bohemian students at a liberal arts college in 1980s New Hampsh ...

''. The film was intended as a connecting bridge between ''The Rules of Attraction'' and a planned film adaptation of

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a w ...

's 1998 novel ''

Glamorama ''Glamorama'' is a 1998 novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. ''Glamorama'' is set in and satirizes the 1990s specifically celebrity culture and consumerism. ''Time'' describes the novel as "a screed against models and celebrity". Develop ...

'', which was to be directed by Avary and star Pardue. Avary has described ''Glitterati'' a "pencil sketch of what will ultimately be the oil painting of ''Glamorama''."

Plot

Victor Ward is in Europe in order to "take a whack at the whole modelling, European, figure-it-out kind of thing". The film uses song

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

to tell the story of how Victor Ward becomes involved with a

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

bombing and then plans a second bombing in Rome, after sightseeing the ruins of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

and the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

Production

Filming took place over two weeks, beginning in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and followed by

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Cadaques,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Roger Avary instructed Kip Pardue to remain in character as Victor Ward for the entire duration of filming. Avary followed Pardue with a PAL Sony PD-150, and Greg Shapiro, the producer. Pardue would interact with members of the public, and Shapiro would later ask them to sign release forms.

Release

Avary described the film as "ethically questionable" and stated that he has no intention to release it on DVD, but only to show it privately in "sporadic surprise screenings". Bret Easton Ellis said of the film that "for many legal reasons, it will never see the light of day" as it's "basically about 90 minutes of

ardue Ardue is a townland in the civil parish of Drumlane, Barony of Loughtee Lower, County Cavan, Ireland. Etymology The townland name is an anglicisation of a Gaelic placename, ''Ard Aodha'', meaning 'The Height of Hugh'. The local pronunciation i ...

actually in character seducing women throughout Europe."

References

External links

* American avant-garde and experimental films 2004 films American musical drama films Films directed by Roger Avary 2000s musical drama films Films based on works by Bret Easton Ellis Films with screenplays by Roger Avary 2000s avant-garde and experimental films Unreleased American films Films shot in Paris Films shot in London Films shot in Amsterdam 2004 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{musical-drama-film-stub