DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997             TAG: 9709060089

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E17  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   97 lines

MOVIE WORLD REACTS TO DIANA'S DEATH

ALTHOUGH DIANA, the princess of Wales, never played a formal role in a film, her death was a shocking and tragic force at the World Film Festival in Montreal last week.

Tears filled actor Rod Steiger's eyes as he took the stage at Montreal's Place Des Arts. The occasion was to have been a triumphant one - to accept the Grand Prix des Americas for lifetime achievement from the Festival du Monde.

Instead, Steiger, a veteran of 86 films and an Oscar winner (``In the Heat of the Night''), delivered bitter words about the role of the paparazzi in the princess' death.

``As a member of the international artistic community,'' he said, ``I feel it necessary to speak out against this continued invasion, which, in this case, is no less than a case of manslaughter. Democracy is one thing, but we must pay a price for democracy.

``Freedom without responsibility is chaos. When a speed of 120 miles per hour is reached in an effort to receive privacy, it is time for laws. It is time to say `No more.' ''

With the fire he has displayed in dozens of films, he lifted his arms and shouted ``NO MORE!'' The audience responded with an ovation.

Among the celebrities of the film world gathered in Montreal from more than 40 countries, the feeling was much the same.

Entering Theater Maisonneuve on Aug. 30 for a screening of the Italian-French film ``Homer, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man,'' there was a faint mention of the unraveling tragedy.

``Dodi is dead,'' a Chinese director commented in broken English that was met with a puzzled look.

``Dodi who?''

Of course, he was referring to Dodi Fayed, the film producer (``Chariots of Fire'') and international playboy who had been the prominent post-royal romance of Diana. ``The princess is all right, but being treated at the hospital,'' the Chinese director said.

Hours later, the news broke that the princess was dead. It came on a television screen with only French spoken in the background. Only the dates of her life, birth and death, betrayed the finality of the report.

This festival was mired in dire thoughts of the role of celebrity itself, and of the way celebrity is used and misused. There was talk of the role of being famous - and of the price one has to pay for such fame. Some of the world's most famous people had opinions. Predictably, most of them were against ``the media,'' a mystic two words in which they lump all forms of medium into one.

Gina Lollobrigida, herself one of the most photographed women in the world, said in French, ``Personally, I have always loved the photographers and there has always been a notion of respect between us.''

``At the Cannes festival this year,'' she said, ``an amazing thing happened. After the photographers had taken the pictures they wanted, they laid down their cameras and applauded me, in gratitude for the years I had worked with them. It had never happened before. But I do feel that some photographers go too far.''

Even as she spoke, flashbulbs lit the legendary Italian star with split-seconds of more fame. ``Personally,'' she said, ``it has been my experience that you let them have a few pictures, and then they leave you alone.''

British actor Alan Rickman (``Die Hard,'' ``Robin Hood'') commented that he had flown to Canada from a country in mourning.

``The embrace of the world for this woman, who will now remain eternally youthful, is something that I think was not expected from most of us. Obviously, people from around the world have lived their lives through her. But I don't think a film personage should really comment on an event such as this. It is beyond our domain.''

The paparazzi, World Film Festival variety, were nothing like the Parisian version. They stood where they were assigned and, while aggressive in getting ``one more shot,'' were not antagonistic about it.

The term ``paparazzi'' itself is largely assumed to have originated with the Federico Fellini movie ``La Dolce Vita'' in 1960. Since that film's depiction of crazed photographers in pursuit of celebrities (Anita Ekberg in the film), the term has become a part of international language - and not a pretty word.

Those who dared not condemn the paparazzi did so only on the grounds that they not be identified.

For example, a British scriptwriter pointed out ``There are no circumstances under which a car would be driven at 120 miles per hour in a tunnel in which the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. This is not rational action. Was it a `chase,' as such, or merely a case of hysteria? Diana's choice of Fayed as a boyfriend could not have been more flamboyant in terms of defying the royal family. This was a legitimate story in England that demanded coverage. The Fayed family is one that was in the news before this as in conflict with British mainstream. Their wedding, if it had ever taken place, was very much a legitimate news story, under the circumstances, not a gossip thing. The Fayed family was a political force.''

Ola, an Egyptian movie star who attended the festival, knows the Fayed family well and has been to parties and dinners with them for years.

``They are a respected family, very rich, but their money was made legally,'' Oha said. ``Nothing shady about them. But the son, Dodi, was always merely a playboy. He's never done anything other than spend money and accompany beautiful women. I don't think he was the one to whom she could turn for protection, not, like, for example, the Jackie Onassis thing.''

This is a tragedy that, if it had been scripted by a filmmaker, would have been branded as highly implausible.

It is a fairy tale gone awry.

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