Michael Winterbottom’s drama centres on the romance between a British police officer and a socialist Zionist writer but puts history-telling over emotion
Working with co-writers Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, Michael Winterbottom hits a clear, confident stride with a robustly well made, if emotionally flavourless historical drama set during the British mandate in what was then Palestine. It is a film that speaks in a complex way to the current Gaza debate, contending that Zionism has anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism in its 20th-century manifestation: a rage against the British masters. But the implication is that it learned habits of ruthlessness from these very people.
The film is based on the true story of Shoshana Borochov, a socialist Zionist writer who came with her Ukrainian family to Tel Aviv as a child in the 1920s and grew up to have a long-term romantic relationship with a British police officer called Thomas Wilkin,...
Working with co-writers Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, Michael Winterbottom hits a clear, confident stride with a robustly well made, if emotionally flavourless historical drama set during the British mandate in what was then Palestine. It is a film that speaks in a complex way to the current Gaza debate, contending that Zionism has anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism in its 20th-century manifestation: a rage against the British masters. But the implication is that it learned habits of ruthlessness from these very people.
The film is based on the true story of Shoshana Borochov, a socialist Zionist writer who came with her Ukrainian family to Tel Aviv as a child in the 1920s and grew up to have a long-term romantic relationship with a British police officer called Thomas Wilkin,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment picked up U.S. distribution rights to the Tel Aviv-set political thriller Shoshana from BAFTA-winning filmmaker Michael Winterbottom.
The pic, which debuted at TIFF before playing the London Film Festival, was written by Laurence Coriat, Paul Viragh, and Winterbottom. Cast includes Irina Starshenbaum (Leto), Douglas Booth (That Dirty Black Bag), and Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye). Greenwich will release the film next year.
Inspired by real events, Shoshana is a political thriller set in 1930s Tel Aviv. Thomas Wilkin, who works in the anti-terrorist squad of the British Palestine Police Force, is in love with Shoshana Borochov. Through their relationship the film explores the way extremism and violence drive a wedge between people, forcing them to choose sides.
Shoshana is an Italian-uk coproduction between Vision Distribution, Revolution Films, and Bartlebyfilm. Producers on the film include Melissa Parmenter, Massimo Di Rocco, Josh Hyams,...
The pic, which debuted at TIFF before playing the London Film Festival, was written by Laurence Coriat, Paul Viragh, and Winterbottom. Cast includes Irina Starshenbaum (Leto), Douglas Booth (That Dirty Black Bag), and Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye). Greenwich will release the film next year.
Inspired by real events, Shoshana is a political thriller set in 1930s Tel Aviv. Thomas Wilkin, who works in the anti-terrorist squad of the British Palestine Police Force, is in love with Shoshana Borochov. Through their relationship the film explores the way extremism and violence drive a wedge between people, forcing them to choose sides.
Shoshana is an Italian-uk coproduction between Vision Distribution, Revolution Films, and Bartlebyfilm. Producers on the film include Melissa Parmenter, Massimo Di Rocco, Josh Hyams,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Isabel Coixet recounts that she vowed to never to do another literary adaptation after her 2017 English-language feature The Bookshop based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed 1978 novel of the same name.
Then the Spanish director read compatriot writer Sara Mesa’s dark 2021 novel Un Amor at the tail-end of the pandemic.
The unsettling work follows troubled translator Nat who quits life in the city for a dilapidated, leaky house in a remote village in Spain’s depopulated rural interior.
It is not exactly clear what prompted the move but she appears to be suffering from some sort of vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder connected to the harrowing refugee accounts she translates for her job.
A figure of curiosity as a lone woman, Nat lives as an outsider and then embarks on an unexpected and inexplicable passionate affair with a local social outcast.
“Sara Mesa is one of the most powerful voices in young Spanish literature.
Then the Spanish director read compatriot writer Sara Mesa’s dark 2021 novel Un Amor at the tail-end of the pandemic.
The unsettling work follows troubled translator Nat who quits life in the city for a dilapidated, leaky house in a remote village in Spain’s depopulated rural interior.
It is not exactly clear what prompted the move but she appears to be suffering from some sort of vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder connected to the harrowing refugee accounts she translates for her job.
A figure of curiosity as a lone woman, Nat lives as an outsider and then embarks on an unexpected and inexplicable passionate affair with a local social outcast.
“Sara Mesa is one of the most powerful voices in young Spanish literature.
- 9/26/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Britain’s official post-wwi administration of Palestine lasted from 1920-48 and is probably the UK colonial enterprise least addressed by its fiction filmmakers. But now prolific writer-director Michael Winterbottom uses that complicated era as a backdrop to the compelling historical romance “Shoshana.” A passion project 15 years in the making and based on real people and events, the film employs the ill-fated, cross-cultural relationship between a ranking member of the British Palestine Police Force and a young Jewish woman to explore the way extremism and violence push people apart, forcing them to choose sides.
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
- 9/17/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Penélope Cruz is taking on an Elena Ferrante adaptation.
IndieWire can confirm the “Ferrari” actress is reuniting with “Elegy” director Isabel Coixet for the adaptation of Ferrante’s 2002 “The Days of Abandonment,” which followed Olga, an Italian woman, who loses her grasp on reality after her husband of 15 years abruptly leaves her for another woman.
The big screen adaptation will instead be set in America, as Variety reported, with the script penned by Laurence Coriat (“Summer in Genoa”). “The Days of Abandonment” will be produced by Lotus, a unit of Raffaella and Andrea Leone’s Leone Film Group, and Cruz’s production banner Moonlyon. Cruz’s brother Edu Cruz will also produce along with Marco Perego through their Nimoa Entertainment company.
Director Coixet has recently helmed “Un Amor,” “My Life Without Me,” and “The Secret Life of Words.”
Author Ferrante’s novels have been adapted for the big and small screens,...
IndieWire can confirm the “Ferrari” actress is reuniting with “Elegy” director Isabel Coixet for the adaptation of Ferrante’s 2002 “The Days of Abandonment,” which followed Olga, an Italian woman, who loses her grasp on reality after her husband of 15 years abruptly leaves her for another woman.
The big screen adaptation will instead be set in America, as Variety reported, with the script penned by Laurence Coriat (“Summer in Genoa”). “The Days of Abandonment” will be produced by Lotus, a unit of Raffaella and Andrea Leone’s Leone Film Group, and Cruz’s production banner Moonlyon. Cruz’s brother Edu Cruz will also produce along with Marco Perego through their Nimoa Entertainment company.
Director Coixet has recently helmed “Un Amor,” “My Life Without Me,” and “The Secret Life of Words.”
Author Ferrante’s novels have been adapted for the big and small screens,...
- 9/6/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Penélope Cruz is set to star as Olga, a writer forced to give up her artistic ambitions when her husband suddenly leaves her and their two young daughters, in Isabel Coixet’s English-language adaptation of Italian author Elena Ferrante’s “The Days of Abandonment.”
The deal to make the film, which is now in development, was signed before the SAG-AFTRA strike. While Cruz did not attend the Venice Film Festival, she elicited raves from critics on the Lido for her performance in Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” as the angry, lonely, grief-ravaged Laura Ferrari, emotionally estranged from her husband Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver).
“The Days of Abandonment,” which will transpose the novel’s original Italian setting to America, reunites the two top Spanish talents following their collaboration on another U.S.-set film, the 2008 drama “Elegy” an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novella “The Dying Animal,” about an affair between a...
The deal to make the film, which is now in development, was signed before the SAG-AFTRA strike. While Cruz did not attend the Venice Film Festival, she elicited raves from critics on the Lido for her performance in Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” as the angry, lonely, grief-ravaged Laura Ferrari, emotionally estranged from her husband Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver).
“The Days of Abandonment,” which will transpose the novel’s original Italian setting to America, reunites the two top Spanish talents following their collaboration on another U.S.-set film, the 2008 drama “Elegy” an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novella “The Dying Animal,” about an affair between a...
- 9/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Charlotte Colbert, the filmmaker and multimedia artist whose feature directorial debut She Will won the Locarno Film Festival’s Golden Leopard for Best First Feature, has signed with Gersh for representation, Co-President David Gersh announced today.
“Charlotte is a visionary writer/ director,” said Gersh, “and is one of the most original and exciting new filmmakers to emerge.”
Colbert’s Locarno thriller tells the story of Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige), who after a double mastectomy, goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt). She discovers that the process of such surgery opens up questions about her very existence, leading her to start to question and confront past traumas. The two then develop an unlikely bond as mysterious forces give Veronica the power to enact revenge within her dreams.
She Will has been acquired for domestic distribution by IFC Films and will be released this spring.
“Charlotte is a visionary writer/ director,” said Gersh, “and is one of the most original and exciting new filmmakers to emerge.”
Colbert’s Locarno thriller tells the story of Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige), who after a double mastectomy, goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt). She discovers that the process of such surgery opens up questions about her very existence, leading her to start to question and confront past traumas. The two then develop an unlikely bond as mysterious forces give Veronica the power to enact revenge within her dreams.
She Will has been acquired for domestic distribution by IFC Films and will be released this spring.
- 2/23/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Tianna Johnson’s “Obeah” has topped The Brit List, an annual league table of top unproduced screenplays from the U.K.
Established in 2007 and similar to The Black List in the U.S., The Brit List is compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
The list includes both feature and television screenplays.
Johnson’s urban fantasy drama, which scored fifteen recommendations, tells the story of a woman on the hunt for a serial killer. The teleplay, set in North West London, incorporates indigenous spiritual practices from the Caribbean.
In second place with thirteen recommendations was “Maps” by Jessica Drewett, a sci-fi drama set in an installer mine.
To be included on the list scripts need at least 7 recommendations.
In 2021, 300 scripts were submitted of which 18 received the requisite number of recommendations. Nearly a third were feature scripts. 65% of the list is made up of female writers.
Established in 2007 and similar to The Black List in the U.S., The Brit List is compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
The list includes both feature and television screenplays.
Johnson’s urban fantasy drama, which scored fifteen recommendations, tells the story of a woman on the hunt for a serial killer. The teleplay, set in North West London, incorporates indigenous spiritual practices from the Caribbean.
In second place with thirteen recommendations was “Maps” by Jessica Drewett, a sci-fi drama set in an installer mine.
To be included on the list scripts need at least 7 recommendations.
In 2021, 300 scripts were submitted of which 18 received the requisite number of recommendations. Nearly a third were feature scripts. 65% of the list is made up of female writers.
- 11/22/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
“Obeah” by Tianna Johnson has topped The Brit List, an annual showcase of unproduced screenplays out of the U.K.
The list was compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
Johnson, represented by Curtis Brown, received 15 recommendations for urban fantasy drama TV show “Obeah.” “Maps,” a sci-fi TV show by as yet unrepresented writer Jessi Drewett received 13 recommendations. TV comedy drama “Animals,” by Laurence Coriat, who is represented by the Independent Talent Group, has Warp Films and Haut et Court attached as producers and received 12 recommendations.
Scripts need a minimum of seven recommendations for inclusion. Of some 300 scripts put forward, 18 have made it onto this year’s list. Nearly a third of the scripts are feature scripts and 65% are written by female writers, the highest proportion so far.
With the success of last year’s list being a mix of both TV and feature projects,...
The list was compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
Johnson, represented by Curtis Brown, received 15 recommendations for urban fantasy drama TV show “Obeah.” “Maps,” a sci-fi TV show by as yet unrepresented writer Jessi Drewett received 13 recommendations. TV comedy drama “Animals,” by Laurence Coriat, who is represented by the Independent Talent Group, has Warp Films and Haut et Court attached as producers and received 12 recommendations.
Scripts need a minimum of seven recommendations for inclusion. Of some 300 scripts put forward, 18 have made it onto this year’s list. Nearly a third of the scripts are feature scripts and 65% are written by female writers, the highest proportion so far.
With the success of last year’s list being a mix of both TV and feature projects,...
- 11/22/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Brit List of best unproduced UK film and TV scripts is topped by Tianna Johnson’s urban drama series Obeah, which received fifteen recommendations. The North London-set thriller follows a woman on the hunt for a serial killer. Scroll down for the lineup in full.
Close behind with thirteen industry recommendations is sci-fi TV project Maps by Jessi Drewett. The drama follows a woman who assumes a false identity to work in an interstellar mine and save her family from debt.
This year’s lineup includes projects set up with BBC, Heyday, Bad Wolf and Company Pictures, but the two highest-rated scripts are currently without producers.
Inspired by the U.S. Black List, the scripts showcase is compiled each year from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
In 2021, the bar for inclusion moved higher, with scripts needing a minimum of seven recommendations for inclusion.
Close behind with thirteen industry recommendations is sci-fi TV project Maps by Jessi Drewett. The drama follows a woman who assumes a false identity to work in an interstellar mine and save her family from debt.
This year’s lineup includes projects set up with BBC, Heyday, Bad Wolf and Company Pictures, but the two highest-rated scripts are currently without producers.
Inspired by the U.S. Black List, the scripts showcase is compiled each year from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.
In 2021, the bar for inclusion moved higher, with scripts needing a minimum of seven recommendations for inclusion.
- 11/22/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Welsh filmmaker Marc Evans' elegiac, semi-autobiographical high school musical "Hunky Dory," which played at SXSW last year after its UK release, is finally opening in NY and La theaters and on VOD March 22 via distrib Variance. The delightful comedy written by Laurence Coriat, set in the sweltering hot summer of 1976, stars a winning Minnie Driver as a drama teacher who mounts a glam rock version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Driver gets to display her skills as a singer (she has released two albums), along with an ensemble of young actors singing live on set--long before "Les Miserables"--led by the film's breakout, Aneurin Barnard ("Citadel"), who won the Olivier award as best actor in a musical for the West End "Spring Awakening." They all cover music from David Bowie to Elo, the Byrds, Beach Boys and Nick Drake in the service of a contemporary translation of Shakespeare's tale. The...
- 3/21/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Satisfactory Endeavor: Evans’ Latest Enjoyable Fluff
Welsh director Marc Evans explores 1970’s rural Wales with his latest film, Hunky Dory, following his 2010 film Patagonia. While Evans is somewhat of a genre jumper, oscillating between thrillers like My Little Eye and Trauma to indie drama like 2006’s Snowcake, his films don’t quite seem to bear a directorial signature. His latest, which is a sort of coming of age story about a group of high school students staging an ambitious musical that, on one hand feels much more sincere than any number of similar American examples (yes, like Glee), lacks any sort of real depth. As its title implies, everything seems to be moving along quite alright, which perhaps is only evidence that Evans’ film isn’t trying to be anything more than it simply is, a kindhearted film about a friendly, progressive minded teacher helping kids explore emotions through art.
Welsh director Marc Evans explores 1970’s rural Wales with his latest film, Hunky Dory, following his 2010 film Patagonia. While Evans is somewhat of a genre jumper, oscillating between thrillers like My Little Eye and Trauma to indie drama like 2006’s Snowcake, his films don’t quite seem to bear a directorial signature. His latest, which is a sort of coming of age story about a group of high school students staging an ambitious musical that, on one hand feels much more sincere than any number of similar American examples (yes, like Glee), lacks any sort of real depth. As its title implies, everything seems to be moving along quite alright, which perhaps is only evidence that Evans’ film isn’t trying to be anything more than it simply is, a kindhearted film about a friendly, progressive minded teacher helping kids explore emotions through art.
- 3/21/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Previously known as Seven Days, Michael Winterbottom‘s long-developing Everyday will head to Toronto to make its world premiere and we’ve got the first festival teaser.
Winterbottom’s film has been shooting for the last five years capturing a man (John Simm) who is in prison for drug smuggling, yet trying to maintain a relationship with his wife (Shirley Henderson) and four children.
Short teaser gives us a taste of what this one has, ‘documentary-style’ feature which ‘offers a masterful meditation on the daily travails of a family living apart from their imprisoned patriarch’.
The first photos were revealed last week, and now we get a glimpse of a car ride and some attractively-shot footage of a family reuniting in the woods.
The film written by Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat will air on U.K. television later this year with some kind of stateside theatrical bow.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Winterbottom’s film has been shooting for the last five years capturing a man (John Simm) who is in prison for drug smuggling, yet trying to maintain a relationship with his wife (Shirley Henderson) and four children.
Short teaser gives us a taste of what this one has, ‘documentary-style’ feature which ‘offers a masterful meditation on the daily travails of a family living apart from their imprisoned patriarch’.
The first photos were revealed last week, and now we get a glimpse of a car ride and some attractively-shot footage of a family reuniting in the woods.
The film written by Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat will air on U.K. television later this year with some kind of stateside theatrical bow.
Click here to view the embedded video.
- 8/27/2012
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
It’s the summer of 1976, and between a conservative school administration and an unrelenting drought, things are beyond dry for Wales’ scrappier teens. It’s little wonder that they flock to the more permissive Miss Mae (Minnie Driver) and her glam-rock interpretation of Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" for the school play. Alas, "Hunky Dory" primarily concerns itself with familiar extracurricular woes and offers up much ado about nothing instead of a more rollicking or romantic coming-of-age story.
Each protagonist has their healthy amount of burdens. Mae has to contend with a “small delegation” of disgruntled faculty; to hear it from one, “self-expression doesn’t butter any parsnips” (She is just as puzzled by the remark as we are.) There’s nice guy Davy (Aneurin Barnard) harboring a crush on the play’s co-lead, Stella (Danielle Branch); bullied Kenny (Darren Evans) giving into the peer pressures of his skinhead brethren; and...
Each protagonist has their healthy amount of burdens. Mae has to contend with a “small delegation” of disgruntled faculty; to hear it from one, “self-expression doesn’t butter any parsnips” (She is just as puzzled by the remark as we are.) There’s nice guy Davy (Aneurin Barnard) harboring a crush on the play’s co-lead, Stella (Danielle Branch); bullied Kenny (Darren Evans) giving into the peer pressures of his skinhead brethren; and...
- 3/11/2012
- by William Goss
- The Playlist
Looking like a sexy hamster, Minnie Driver plays Viv (short for Vivienne, but suggestive of vivacious), a failed actress recently returned to teach drama at a comprehensive in her native south Wales. Her dedication and enthusiasm are an affront to virtually everyone else in the staff room but most especially the overweight sports master and the sour social sciences teacher (Haydn Gwynne), and they're determined to undermine the ambitious rock-opera version of Shakespeare's The Tempest she's directing as the big end-of-term event. The pupils, a surly foul-mouthed crowd, are only mildly interested at first, as is the old-fashioned headmaster (Robert Pugh), and a predictable crisis ensues as Viv tries to keep the show on the road.
The year is 1976, which means that unemployment wasn't as bad as it was later to become, though no one appears to be associated with coal-mining, and there's no need to bother about the weather...
The year is 1976, which means that unemployment wasn't as bad as it was later to become, though no one appears to be associated with coal-mining, and there's no need to bother about the weather...
- 3/4/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
The Josef Fritzl affair and similar cases of horrendous incarceration revealed in its wake have now produced a sizable body of documentaries, feature films and fiction too, of which Michael is a minor, rather puzzling addition. The 40-year-old Austrian film-maker Markus Schleinzer, whose first feature film this is, has worked as a casting director on over 60 films, among them Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf and, most significantly, The White Ribbon, on which he coached the child actors.
The eponymous Michael (Michael Fuith) is a 35-year-old minor official with an Austrian insurance company, who keeps the 10-year-old Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger) a prisoner in the soundproofed basement of his suburban home. Michael is a bespectacled, nondescript loner with a brother and sister both married with children. He largely keeps to himself, rejecting the advances of a female colleague, whom he physically throws out of his house when she intrudes.
The eponymous Michael (Michael Fuith) is a 35-year-old minor official with an Austrian insurance company, who keeps the 10-year-old Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger) a prisoner in the soundproofed basement of his suburban home. Michael is a bespectacled, nondescript loner with a brother and sister both married with children. He largely keeps to himself, rejecting the advances of a female colleague, whom he physically throws out of his house when she intrudes.
- 3/4/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
- 2/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
- 2/1/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
South by Southwest, the annual festival held in Austin, TX, has just released its 2012 film lineup. Headliners include Joss Whedon's anticipated horror flick, "The Cabin in the Woods," (previously announced), '80s reboot "21 Jump Street" and black comedy "Killer Joe." Also on the list are "The Babymakers" starring Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn, and "Small Apartments" with the surprising trio of Billy Crystal, James Caan and Johnny Knoxville. You can check out the rest of the bigger headliners and feature films below. For the full list, head to SXSW.com. Headliners 21 Jump Street Directed by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, Screenplay by: Michael Bacall, Story by: Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill Police officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) get sent back to high school as undercover cops in the action-comedy 21 Jump Street. Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, with Ice Cube (World Premiere) Big Easy...
- 2/1/2012
- by Alex Suskind
- Moviefone
Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.
- 2/1/2012
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
Barring any late additions or surprises, the full lineup for the 2012 edition of the Sundance Film Festival (January 19 through 29) is now complete. We've seen the the Competition and Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=> and New Frontier lineups, the Premieres and the Documentary Premieres. Today's the festival's unveiled its Short Film program. Once again, straight from the release:
U.S. Short Films
This year's 32 U.S. short films were selected from 4,083 submissions.
U.S. Narrative Short Films
’92 Skybox Alonzo Mourning Rookie Card (Director: Todd Sklar, Screenwriters: Todd Sklar, Alex Rennie) — Jim and Dave are brothers who haven't spoken in years and don't like each other very much, but are forced to come together for a week when their dad dies in Kansas City. A limited edition 1992 Skybox Series Alonzo Mourning rookie card is a point of contention.
The Arm (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis) — In an...
U.S. Short Films
This year's 32 U.S. short films were selected from 4,083 submissions.
U.S. Narrative Short Films
’92 Skybox Alonzo Mourning Rookie Card (Director: Todd Sklar, Screenwriters: Todd Sklar, Alex Rennie) — Jim and Dave are brothers who haven't spoken in years and don't like each other very much, but are forced to come together for a week when their dad dies in Kansas City. A limited edition 1992 Skybox Series Alonzo Mourning rookie card is a point of contention.
The Arm (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis) — In an...
- 12/6/2011
- MUBI
Hunky Dory
Director: Marc Evans
Writer: Laurence Coriat
If Marc Evans’ Hunky Dory is anything to go by, the long hot summer of 1976 was a lot more exciting in South Wales than in North London. My memories are mainly of drought warnings, parched lawns and Bjorn Borg winning Wimbledon. But this movie about a school production of The Tempest throws in everything from lazy afternoons at the lido, to skinheads and a spot of arson. In between there’s an awful lot of Minnie Driver. Hunky Dory has its heart in the right place, but does outstay its welcome by a good 20 minutes.
Driver plays Viv May, the inspirational and aspirational drama teacher at a Swansea secondary school. A former actress, her ambitions have now turned to staging a musical that blends Bowie and the Bard. With her Pre-Raphaelite locks, diaphanous frocks and progressive attitudes, Viv makes enemies in the staff room.
Director: Marc Evans
Writer: Laurence Coriat
If Marc Evans’ Hunky Dory is anything to go by, the long hot summer of 1976 was a lot more exciting in South Wales than in North London. My memories are mainly of drought warnings, parched lawns and Bjorn Borg winning Wimbledon. But this movie about a school production of The Tempest throws in everything from lazy afternoons at the lido, to skinheads and a spot of arson. In between there’s an awful lot of Minnie Driver. Hunky Dory has its heart in the right place, but does outstay its welcome by a good 20 minutes.
Driver plays Viv May, the inspirational and aspirational drama teacher at a Swansea secondary school. A former actress, her ambitions have now turned to staging a musical that blends Bowie and the Bard. With her Pre-Raphaelite locks, diaphanous frocks and progressive attitudes, Viv makes enemies in the staff room.
- 10/26/2011
- by Susannah
- SoundOnSight
9 new British films funded by the Lottery Film Fund
selected for the BFI London Film Festival
including the Opening and Closing night Galas
London - Wednesday 7 September 2011. This year.s 55th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express, will showcase 9 new British feature films funded by the UK Film Council.s Film Fund, now with the BFI, including the Opening and Closing night UK Gala premieres of Fernando Meirelles. 360, written by Peter Morgan, and Terence Davies. The Deep Blue Sea.
The line-up of British films which have been developed and/or production funded by the Film Fund at the BFI London Film festival also includes:
Shame, directed by Steve McQueen and co-written with Abi Morgan; We Need To Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay and co-written with Rory Stewart Kinnear; Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold and co-written with Olivia Hetreed; Trishna, written and directed by Michael Winterbottom; A Dangerous Method,...
selected for the BFI London Film Festival
including the Opening and Closing night Galas
London - Wednesday 7 September 2011. This year.s 55th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express, will showcase 9 new British feature films funded by the UK Film Council.s Film Fund, now with the BFI, including the Opening and Closing night UK Gala premieres of Fernando Meirelles. 360, written by Peter Morgan, and Terence Davies. The Deep Blue Sea.
The line-up of British films which have been developed and/or production funded by the Film Fund at the BFI London Film festival also includes:
Shame, directed by Steve McQueen and co-written with Abi Morgan; We Need To Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay and co-written with Rory Stewart Kinnear; Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold and co-written with Olivia Hetreed; Trishna, written and directed by Michael Winterbottom; A Dangerous Method,...
- 9/7/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Patagonia
Stars: Matthew Rhys, Duffy, Nia Roberts, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Written by Laurence Coriat | Directed by Marc Evans
Did you know that back in the 1800s, a community of Welsh folk set sail for a new life in South America and settled, after many years of toil, in Patagonia? Did you also know that there are still vestiges of this Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia today? I didn’t and therefore found Marc Evan’s film (also called Patagonia) utterly fascinating.
Patagonia follows two pairs of travellers – a Welsh couple whose relationship is in the balance, Rhys and Gwen who are in Patagonia due to the former’s photography assignment and old Argentine lady Cerys and her teenage neighbour Alejandro, whom she has tricked into accompanying her to Wales to seek out her descendants’ farm, from which they immigrated to South America.
With its twin tales of travel told in parallel and only tenuously connected,...
Stars: Matthew Rhys, Duffy, Nia Roberts, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Written by Laurence Coriat | Directed by Marc Evans
Did you know that back in the 1800s, a community of Welsh folk set sail for a new life in South America and settled, after many years of toil, in Patagonia? Did you also know that there are still vestiges of this Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia today? I didn’t and therefore found Marc Evan’s film (also called Patagonia) utterly fascinating.
Patagonia follows two pairs of travellers – a Welsh couple whose relationship is in the balance, Rhys and Gwen who are in Patagonia due to the former’s photography assignment and old Argentine lady Cerys and her teenage neighbour Alejandro, whom she has tricked into accompanying her to Wales to seek out her descendants’ farm, from which they immigrated to South America.
With its twin tales of travel told in parallel and only tenuously connected,...
- 7/9/2011
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
I know, I know… it’s not yet even June, and the 84th Academy Awards ceremony is still nine months (and one day) away, but I can’t help myself… my thoughts are already turning to the coming Oscar race! Indeed, I have spent the last several weeks pouring through mountains of material and pestering dozens of knowledgable sources to try to get a sense of the the landscape that awaits us. Now, in order to provide myself and my readers with something fun to think and debate about, I have decided to share my first projections of the 2011 awards season. Needless to say, they are based on limited information and will be amended regularly over the months to come… but, if my initial projections of last year’s Oscar race (which I posted on June 23rd) are any indication, they may not prove to be all that far off,...
- 5/26/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Chicago – At age 50, Michael Winterbottom is still one of the freshest talents on the block. His ability to reinvent himself is almost unparalleled at a time when many of the world’s most respected filmmakers go to the same well once too often. Granted, some of Winterbottom’s experiments pay off more than others, but when they succeed, they do so on a grand scale.
“A Summer in Genoa” is one of the best films Winterbottom has ever made. Americans audiences already seem to have forgotten the picture, which debuted to little fanfare in 2008 (a year after the director’s Angelina Jolie vehicle, “A Mighty Heart”). Since Winterbottom’s prolific work ethic parallels that of filmmakers half his age, he approached “Genoa” as yet another shoestring experiment, baring several stylistic similarities to the documentary realism in his 2004 effort, “9 Songs.”
DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet “Genoa” proves to be a riveting example of...
“A Summer in Genoa” is one of the best films Winterbottom has ever made. Americans audiences already seem to have forgotten the picture, which debuted to little fanfare in 2008 (a year after the director’s Angelina Jolie vehicle, “A Mighty Heart”). Since Winterbottom’s prolific work ethic parallels that of filmmakers half his age, he approached “Genoa” as yet another shoestring experiment, baring several stylistic similarities to the documentary realism in his 2004 effort, “9 Songs.”
DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet “Genoa” proves to be a riveting example of...
- 4/11/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Patagonia
Stars: Matthew Rhys, Duffy, Nia Roberts, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Written by Laurence Coriat | Directed by Marc Evans
Did you know that back in the 1800s, a community of Welsh folk set sail for a new life in South America and settled, after many years of toil, in Patagonia? Did you also know that there are still vestiges of this Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia today? I didn’t and therefore found Marc Evan’s film (also called Patagonia) utterly fascinating.
Patagonia follows two pairs of travellers – a Welsh couple whose relationship is in the balance, Rhys and Gwen who are in Patagonia due to the former’s photography assignment and old Argentine lady Cerys and her teenage neighbour Alejandro, whom she has tricked into accompanying her to Wales to seek out her descendants’ farm, from which they immigrated to South America.
With its twin tales of travel told in parallel and only tenuously connected,...
Stars: Matthew Rhys, Duffy, Nia Roberts, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Written by Laurence Coriat | Directed by Marc Evans
Did you know that back in the 1800s, a community of Welsh folk set sail for a new life in South America and settled, after many years of toil, in Patagonia? Did you also know that there are still vestiges of this Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia today? I didn’t and therefore found Marc Evan’s film (also called Patagonia) utterly fascinating.
Patagonia follows two pairs of travellers – a Welsh couple whose relationship is in the balance, Rhys and Gwen who are in Patagonia due to the former’s photography assignment and old Argentine lady Cerys and her teenage neighbour Alejandro, whom she has tricked into accompanying her to Wales to seek out her descendants’ farm, from which they immigrated to South America.
With its twin tales of travel told in parallel and only tenuously connected,...
- 10/16/2010
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
Marc Evans' high school 70s comedy Hunky Dory has started six weeks of principal photography in Wales. Minnie Driver stars as a drama teacher who mounts a rock 'n roll version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Set in 1976, the hottest summer in living memory, Driver co-stars with Aneurun Bernard, winner of the 2010 Olivier award for best actor in a musical for the West End musical Spring Awakening. Written by Laurence Coriat, Hunky Dory is produced by Jon Finn (Billy Elliot) and Dan Lupovitz (Death Defying Acts). Independent is handling international sales and eOne Films plans to release Hunky Dory in the UK in the spring or summer of 2011. Like TV's Glee, Hunky Dory is a musical. And it gives Driver a chance to display ...
- 9/2/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
Firth will now reunite with the filmmaker on a completely different blend - The Promised Land political crime thriller set in British-ruled Palestine at the end of World War II - circa 1948 when the partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel. Basically, this could be an explosive indie film. Written by Laurence Coriat (who wrote pair of Winterbottom projects in Genova and Seven Days), Firth and Matthew Macfadyen will join the already cast Jim Sturgess. - Michael Winterbottom's Genova was a little seen family drama that played out in the cobblestone streets of the touristy, beach town. If my memory serves me right, Thinkfilm owned the title and the indie unit capsized without ever releasing it -- I caught it at Tiff and thought it was an interesting mix of a teen dealing with loss and leaving her teen life behind with the worried look of her father,...
- 2/12/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
The two most famous incarnations of Mr. Darcy, actors Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen, have joined the cast of Michael Winterbottom's indie political crime thriller "The Promised Land" for Fortissimo Films and Revolution Films says The Hollywood Reporter.
The story details with the events that lead up to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel. Jim Sturgess stars as a British officer hunting down the extremist Jewish factions.
Laurence Coriat penned the script and Andrew Eaton is producing. Filming begins this Summer.
The story details with the events that lead up to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel. Jim Sturgess stars as a British officer hunting down the extremist Jewish factions.
Laurence Coriat penned the script and Andrew Eaton is producing. Filming begins this Summer.
- 2/12/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
- THINKfilm - the medium-sized indie player whose been in the headlines as of late for not paying the bills on time, has found the funds to pick up the North American rights to Michael Winterbottom's latest. Genova will show at the Toronto Film Festival and then compete at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in mid September. Prior to a recent batch of politically-minded narratives (both in fiction and docu forms), Winterbottom's body of work often switches genre branches, so even though he hasn't touched upon the occult, this mystery set on the cobblestone streets of the flagship city is not a huge departure for the Brit filmmaker. Written by Laurence Coriat (who had recently scripted Patagonia - a two for the price of one road movie with director Marc Evans of Snow Cake -- Rickman/Weaver fame helming), this is a coming-of-age story that concerns a British
- 8/25/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- #33. Genova Director: Michael WinterbottomWriters: Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat (Me Without You) Producers: Longtime producer friend Andrew Eaton and Winterbottom Distributor: Currently Seeking Distribution The Gist: Written by Laurence Coriat, the exotic Italian town of Genova provides a fresh start for Joe (Firth) and his two young daughters - a family seeking new lives after the sudden death of their mother. Kelly, the 16-year-old, explores the sexy and dangerous underbelly of this mysterious new world. While the youngest, Mary, has just seen the ghost of her mother wandering the streets. Fact: Winterbottom is currently filming a television project entitled: Seven Days. See It: Winterbottom is one of the rare directors who isn't afraid to switch genres - he went from docu to A Mighty Heart to a ghost story. Release Date/Status?: Currently in post prod - this should make a festival presence. Hanway is handling international sales. ...
- 1/31/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Motherhood certainly isn't interrupting Angelina Jolie's career. The Oscar-winning mom, who recently joined the animated comedy Kung Fu Panda, has also agreed to portray Mariane Pearl, the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl in a film based on her book, A Mighty Heart. Road to Guantanamo helmer Michael Winterbottom directs the Paramount Vantage project, which tells the story of Pearl's search for her kidnapped husband in Pakistan, while she was five months pregnant with his child. Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat will adapt the screenplay while Jolie's betrothed Brad Pitt will produce via his Plan B production company. Filming is expected to start within the next five weeks.
- 7/13/2006
- IMDbPro News
LONDON -- FilmFour has reunited with British helmer Michael Winterbottom to produce his latest movie project, Genova, the Channel 4-owned film arm said Wednesday. FilmFour's backing comes hot on the heels of the unit's previous deals with Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton's production label Revolution Films, which have birthed upcoming The Road To Guantanamo and a first-look deal with Revolution Films' startup TV drama arm and Channel 4. Genova is written by former Winterbottom collaborator Laurence Coriat, who penned the director's 1999 movie Wonderland.
- 5/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- What I like most about a filmmaker like Michael Winterbottom is his continual drive to create and not “categorize” himself in terms of subject matter, genre or filmmaking formula. He certainly would make for an interesting auteur theory study. Just coming off the Berlin film festival (and Best Director award) with his foot to the stomach revealing documentary co-directed by Mat Whitecross and called The Road to Guantánamo and North American audiences are currently loving his unfathomable comedy called Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. Just prior to this with recently had a little porn/concert experiment in 9 Songs, a sci-fi romance in Code 46, a hands on refugee story In This World and the U.K music scene with 24 Hour Party People. Now there are two more films on the horizon. Most likely to be Winterbottom’s next is a story playing with the occult in Genova,
- 2/23/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
Michael Winterbottom's "Wonderland" is one of those "takes-place-in-one-weekend," "Short Cuts"-inspired ensemble films. With exactly 13 characters to keep track of and climaxing with motorcycle crashes and babies being born, it is not, however, tarted up with a lot of irksome, facile humor or sleazy, obsessive behavior by the characters.
A jury member last year whose "Welcome to Sarajevo" was in competition two years ago, Winterbottom returns to Cannes with "Wonderland", which has good prospects for domestic distribution and might come away from this year's competition with honors. The film was made almost simultaneously with the director's "Old New Borrowed Blue", due for release later this year by Miramax.
Filmed with mostly hand-held equipment in Super 16 and splendidly blown-up to 35mm, using natural lighting and no professional extras, "Wonderland" appears at first to be another film from Dogme 95 -- the minimalist manifesto championed by Danes Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who both had features in last year's competition.
But Winterbottom imposed his own unique set of limitations, shooting guerrilla-style -- with a very small crew in the real South London locations indicated by the script -- including a pub, beauty parlor, soccer stadium, trains and sidewalks, with no constructed sets and few standardly-dressed. Likewise, first-time screenwriter Laurence Coriat's easy-flowing scenario is the bones, brains and heart that the cast and director fleshed out during the informally structured shoots.
Not as bleak as Robert Altman's widely influential "Short Cuts" or acidic as last year's Cannes' hits "Happiness" and "The Celebration", "Wonderland" centers on a family where the various siblings and parents generally go their separate ways. While there is plenty of drama and romance, a dab or two of kismet and a little nastiness, the film's realistic approach to storytelling and the strong performances mesh well with Winterbottom's stylistic flourishes.
Like "Happiness", this film features three sisters in various degrees of unhappiness. Nadia (Gina McKee) longs for love but goes on blind dates with the likes of Tim (Stuart Townsend), a seductive Dubliner playing the field. Debbie (Shirley Henderson) works in a salon and has an 11-year-old son (Peter Marfleet), who goes off for an eventful weekend with his volatile, banished dad (Ian Hart). Molly (Molly Parker) is the one about to have a baby and a painful crisis with her husband (John Simm).
Much attention is paid to the sisters' parents. Mother Eileen (Kika Markham) is driven to a heinous act by her sluggish husband, Bill Jack Shepherd), and a neighbor's constantly barking dog. Seen in only a few scenes is their carefree son Darren (Enzo Cilenti) enjoying his 21st birthday with girlfriend Melanie (Sarah-Jane Potts). Neighbor Donna (Ellen Thomas) has an intimate moment with Bill and her quiet son Franklyn (David Fahm) figures in the upbeat coda after much Sturm and Drang in the city.
The film's visual style is adventurous and pleasing in widescreen, with the washed-out colors and grainy imagery giving one a fresh look at the city. Michael Nyman's soaring score is a classy, welcome non-Dogme indulgence.
WONDERLAND
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and BBC Films
A Kismet Film Co. and Revolution Films production
CREDITS:
Director:Michael Winterbottom
Screenwriter:Laurence Coriat
Producers:Michele Camarda, Andrew Eaton
Executive producers:Stewart Till, David Thompson
Director of photography:Sean Bobbitt
Production designer:Mark Tidesley
Editor:Trevor Waite
Costume designer:Natalie Ward
Music:Michael Nyman
Color/stereo
CAST:
Debbie:Shirley Henderson
Nadia:Gina McKee
Molly:Molly Parker
Dan:Ian Hart
Eddie:John Simm
Jack:Peter Marfleet
Eileen:Kika Markham
Bill:Jack Shepherd
Running time: 107 minutes...
A jury member last year whose "Welcome to Sarajevo" was in competition two years ago, Winterbottom returns to Cannes with "Wonderland", which has good prospects for domestic distribution and might come away from this year's competition with honors. The film was made almost simultaneously with the director's "Old New Borrowed Blue", due for release later this year by Miramax.
Filmed with mostly hand-held equipment in Super 16 and splendidly blown-up to 35mm, using natural lighting and no professional extras, "Wonderland" appears at first to be another film from Dogme 95 -- the minimalist manifesto championed by Danes Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who both had features in last year's competition.
But Winterbottom imposed his own unique set of limitations, shooting guerrilla-style -- with a very small crew in the real South London locations indicated by the script -- including a pub, beauty parlor, soccer stadium, trains and sidewalks, with no constructed sets and few standardly-dressed. Likewise, first-time screenwriter Laurence Coriat's easy-flowing scenario is the bones, brains and heart that the cast and director fleshed out during the informally structured shoots.
Not as bleak as Robert Altman's widely influential "Short Cuts" or acidic as last year's Cannes' hits "Happiness" and "The Celebration", "Wonderland" centers on a family where the various siblings and parents generally go their separate ways. While there is plenty of drama and romance, a dab or two of kismet and a little nastiness, the film's realistic approach to storytelling and the strong performances mesh well with Winterbottom's stylistic flourishes.
Like "Happiness", this film features three sisters in various degrees of unhappiness. Nadia (Gina McKee) longs for love but goes on blind dates with the likes of Tim (Stuart Townsend), a seductive Dubliner playing the field. Debbie (Shirley Henderson) works in a salon and has an 11-year-old son (Peter Marfleet), who goes off for an eventful weekend with his volatile, banished dad (Ian Hart). Molly (Molly Parker) is the one about to have a baby and a painful crisis with her husband (John Simm).
Much attention is paid to the sisters' parents. Mother Eileen (Kika Markham) is driven to a heinous act by her sluggish husband, Bill Jack Shepherd), and a neighbor's constantly barking dog. Seen in only a few scenes is their carefree son Darren (Enzo Cilenti) enjoying his 21st birthday with girlfriend Melanie (Sarah-Jane Potts). Neighbor Donna (Ellen Thomas) has an intimate moment with Bill and her quiet son Franklyn (David Fahm) figures in the upbeat coda after much Sturm and Drang in the city.
The film's visual style is adventurous and pleasing in widescreen, with the washed-out colors and grainy imagery giving one a fresh look at the city. Michael Nyman's soaring score is a classy, welcome non-Dogme indulgence.
WONDERLAND
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and BBC Films
A Kismet Film Co. and Revolution Films production
CREDITS:
Director:Michael Winterbottom
Screenwriter:Laurence Coriat
Producers:Michele Camarda, Andrew Eaton
Executive producers:Stewart Till, David Thompson
Director of photography:Sean Bobbitt
Production designer:Mark Tidesley
Editor:Trevor Waite
Costume designer:Natalie Ward
Music:Michael Nyman
Color/stereo
CAST:
Debbie:Shirley Henderson
Nadia:Gina McKee
Molly:Molly Parker
Dan:Ian Hart
Eddie:John Simm
Jack:Peter Marfleet
Eileen:Kika Markham
Bill:Jack Shepherd
Running time: 107 minutes...
- 5/17/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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