Former Monty Python member, animator and visionary director Terry Gilliam told Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival on Sunday that he wants Johnny Depp to play Satan in his new film “Carnival at the End of Days.”
Gilliam summarized the plot as: “God wipes out humanity and the only character who wants to save them is Satan, and Johnny Depp plays Satan.”
Gilliam was attending the screening at Red Sea of a double bill of the documentaries “Lost in La Mancha” and “He Dreams of Giants,” both of which document Gilliam’s cursed and grueling attempt to make the film “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” The film ultimately premiered in Cannes in 2018, starring Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver.
The producer of the documentaries, Lucy Darwin, was also on stage with Gilliam to explain to the audience how she went from being a publicist on “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen...
Gilliam summarized the plot as: “God wipes out humanity and the only character who wants to save them is Satan, and Johnny Depp plays Satan.”
Gilliam was attending the screening at Red Sea of a double bill of the documentaries “Lost in La Mancha” and “He Dreams of Giants,” both of which document Gilliam’s cursed and grueling attempt to make the film “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” The film ultimately premiered in Cannes in 2018, starring Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver.
The producer of the documentaries, Lucy Darwin, was also on stage with Gilliam to explain to the audience how she went from being a publicist on “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen...
- 12/3/2023
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
More than 50 representatives from across the UK industry will also make the trip to Jeddah.
A group of UK producers, distributors and sales agents are on the ground in Jeddah at this week’s Red Sea International Film Festival, looking to increase the number of UK-Saudi film co-productions.
The delegation has been organised by the British Council, which has taken a booth at the Red Sea Souk industry platform (Dec 2-5), with the help of the festival’s organisers. Attending UK industry will take part in panels, meet Saudi and international financiers, join events at the Souk, and present film projects from their slates.
A group of UK producers, distributors and sales agents are on the ground in Jeddah at this week’s Red Sea International Film Festival, looking to increase the number of UK-Saudi film co-productions.
The delegation has been organised by the British Council, which has taken a booth at the Red Sea Souk industry platform (Dec 2-5), with the help of the festival’s organisers. Attending UK industry will take part in panels, meet Saudi and international financiers, join events at the Souk, and present film projects from their slates.
- 11/30/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Hart, who founded the “Screen On” cinema chain and distribution company Mainline Pictures, died on December 28
Tributes have been paid to Romaine Hart OBE (1933-2021), one of the doyennes of UK independent arthouse exhibition and distribution, who died on December 28 aged 88.
Hart was the founder of the “Screen On” chain and distribution company Mainline Pictures. She gave a significant boost to the careers of several prominent current industry figures, among them Mia Bays, the new director of the BFI Film Fund, and producers Lucy Darwin (Match Point), Stephen Woolley (Number 9 Films) and John Battsek.
“It is an extraordinary legacy that she has left behind,...
Tributes have been paid to Romaine Hart OBE (1933-2021), one of the doyennes of UK independent arthouse exhibition and distribution, who died on December 28 aged 88.
Hart was the founder of the “Screen On” chain and distribution company Mainline Pictures. She gave a significant boost to the careers of several prominent current industry figures, among them Mia Bays, the new director of the BFI Film Fund, and producers Lucy Darwin (Match Point), Stephen Woolley (Number 9 Films) and John Battsek.
“It is an extraordinary legacy that she has left behind,...
- 1/4/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
At the height of Europe’s spring Covid wave in 2021, the filmmaker Lucy Darwin offered to drive the actor and national treasure Miriam Margolyes from her home in Italy to London so that she could film the latest series of Call The Midwife. Along the way, Miriam regaled Lucy with hilarious stories from her career and her opinions on Brexit and the royal family, as she approached her 80th birthday and the release of her autobiography
Contains strong language...
Contains strong language...
- 9/17/2021
- by Lucy Darwin, Noah Anderson, Annabel Kipnis, Elmaz Ekrem, Tony Sage, Phoebe Clothier, Noah Payne-Frank, Joseph Pierce and Charlie Phillips
- The Guardian - Film News
Some labelled Terry Gilliam’s 30 year quest to make ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ cursed, he certainly went through a number of issues trying to get it made. The documentary ‘He Dreams of Giants’ following Gilliam on his quest to make the film has dropped a new trailer.
The touching documentary is a potent study of creative obsession. Combining immersive footage of Gilliam’s production with intimate interviews and archival footage from the director’s entire career, the doc is a revealing character study of an artist and a meditation on the value of creativity in the face of mortality.
Directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe and produced by Lucy Darwin, the team behind ‘Lost in La Mancha’, the 2002 documentary that charted the doomed earlier production of ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’. It features legendary artist and director Terry Gilliam, and features Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce.
The touching documentary is a potent study of creative obsession. Combining immersive footage of Gilliam’s production with intimate interviews and archival footage from the director’s entire career, the doc is a revealing character study of an artist and a meditation on the value of creativity in the face of mortality.
Directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe and produced by Lucy Darwin, the team behind ‘Lost in La Mancha’, the 2002 documentary that charted the doomed earlier production of ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’. It features legendary artist and director Terry Gilliam, and features Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce.
- 3/9/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: He Dreams Of Giants, the feature documentary about Terry Gilliam’s long-troubled Don Quixote adaptation, has been picked up for UK release by Blue Finch Films.
The doc is a follow up to Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s previous chronicle of Gilliam’s doomed efforts to get his film made, 2002’s Lost In La Mancha. Both films were produced by Lucy Darwin. The deal was made by Mike Chapman on behalf of Blue Finch and Ed Parodi on behalf of Film Constellation.
Mike Chapman commented, “We were huge fans of the documentary upon first seeing it and are thrilled to be working on the release in the UK and Ireland. It’s a compelling look at the trials and tribulations of the artistic process, where fact is perhaps wilder than fiction.”
Blue Finch has also acquired Tribeca selection Banksy Most Wanted, an investigation into the real identity of the infamous street artist.
The doc is a follow up to Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s previous chronicle of Gilliam’s doomed efforts to get his film made, 2002’s Lost In La Mancha. Both films were produced by Lucy Darwin. The deal was made by Mike Chapman on behalf of Blue Finch and Ed Parodi on behalf of Film Constellation.
Mike Chapman commented, “We were huge fans of the documentary upon first seeing it and are thrilled to be working on the release in the UK and Ireland. It’s a compelling look at the trials and tribulations of the artistic process, where fact is perhaps wilder than fiction.”
Blue Finch has also acquired Tribeca selection Banksy Most Wanted, an investigation into the real identity of the infamous street artist.
- 10/26/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
London-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has closed key deals on documentary “He Dreams of Giants,” charting Terry Gilliam’s 30-year journey to bring the story of Don Quixote to life on screen.
The film is the follow up from Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s “Lost in La Mancha” (2002), which focused on Gilliam’s first, and ill-fated attempt to tell the same story.
Film Constellation has sold both films to Scandinavia and the Baltics (NonStop Entertainment), and “He Dreams of Giants” has also been sold to German-speaking territories (Koch Media), and Poland (Mayfly).
Both films are directed by Fulton and Pepe. “Lost in La Mancha” was produced by BAFTA-nominee Lucy Darwin. “He Dreams of Giants” was produced by Darwin and Fulton.
“He Dreams of Giants” premiered at Doc NYC and AFI Fest, and is a Darwin Films and Low Key Pictures Production in association with Corniche Media and Fikree Films.
The film is the follow up from Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s “Lost in La Mancha” (2002), which focused on Gilliam’s first, and ill-fated attempt to tell the same story.
Film Constellation has sold both films to Scandinavia and the Baltics (NonStop Entertainment), and “He Dreams of Giants” has also been sold to German-speaking territories (Koch Media), and Poland (Mayfly).
Both films are directed by Fulton and Pepe. “Lost in La Mancha” was produced by BAFTA-nominee Lucy Darwin. “He Dreams of Giants” was produced by Darwin and Fulton.
“He Dreams of Giants” premiered at Doc NYC and AFI Fest, and is a Darwin Films and Low Key Pictures Production in association with Corniche Media and Fikree Films.
- 6/24/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The documentary goes behind-the-scenes of the director’s passion project ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’.
UK sales and production outfit Film Constellation has struck a series of deals on He Dreams Of Giants, which explores Terry Gilliam’s 30-year journey to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen.
The documentary, which goes behind-the-scenes of Gilliam passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, has been picked up for German-speaking territories by Koch Media and Poland by Mayfly.
The feature is directed by Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, who previously followed Gilliam’s doomed attempt to get his...
UK sales and production outfit Film Constellation has struck a series of deals on He Dreams Of Giants, which explores Terry Gilliam’s 30-year journey to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen.
The documentary, which goes behind-the-scenes of Gilliam passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, has been picked up for German-speaking territories by Koch Media and Poland by Mayfly.
The feature is directed by Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, who previously followed Gilliam’s doomed attempt to get his...
- 6/24/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The documentary goes behind-the-scenes of the director’s passion project ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’.
UK sales and production outfit Film Constellation has struck a series of deals on He Dreams Of Giants, which explores Terry Gilliam’s 30-year journey to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen.
The documentary, which goes behind-the-scenes of Gilliam passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, has been picked up for German-speaking territories by Koch Media and Poland by Mayfly.
The feature is directed by Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, who previously followed Gilliam’s doomed attempt to get his...
UK sales and production outfit Film Constellation has struck a series of deals on He Dreams Of Giants, which explores Terry Gilliam’s 30-year journey to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen.
The documentary, which goes behind-the-scenes of Gilliam passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, has been picked up for German-speaking territories by Koch Media and Poland by Mayfly.
The feature is directed by Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, who previously followed Gilliam’s doomed attempt to get his...
- 6/24/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The story behind “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” and its impact on director Terry Gilliam will be revealed in the new documentary “He Dreams of Giants,” a film-behind-the-film from the same team that made 2002’s “Lost in La Mancha,” an earlier look at Gilliam’s disaster-plagued movie.
Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe direct “He Dreams of Giants,” which follows “Lost in La Mancha” and “The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys.” The pair were on set for “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” which is closing the Cannes Film Festival amid a protracted legal battle. The fest has called the film a “unique — and in some ways agonizing — work.”
U.K.-based Quixote Productions, Fulton and Pepe’s Low Key Pictures, and Corniche Pictures are producing “He Dreams of Giants.” Lucy Darwin produces alongside Fulton, and is in Cannes talking to sales agents about the film, which is being edited.
Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe direct “He Dreams of Giants,” which follows “Lost in La Mancha” and “The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys.” The pair were on set for “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” which is closing the Cannes Film Festival amid a protracted legal battle. The fest has called the film a “unique — and in some ways agonizing — work.”
U.K.-based Quixote Productions, Fulton and Pepe’s Low Key Pictures, and Corniche Pictures are producing “He Dreams of Giants.” Lucy Darwin produces alongside Fulton, and is in Cannes talking to sales agents about the film, which is being edited.
- 5/11/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Despite its almost jaunty title, "Match Point" is Woody Allen's attempt at a kind of "Crime and Punishment". In his 70th year, Allen has engineered the most startling departure in his filmmaking career. He has made serious dramas, notably during his Bermanesque period. But never before has he worked in a foreign country or looked into tragic events for philosophical understanding.
The film undoubtedly will find a domestic distributor, but how his normal fans will react to the (mostly) comedic writer-director exploring such new territory is anybody's guess. The film certainly represents a marketing challenge in North America but might actually do better boxoffice in Europe.
The story is set in contemporary England, but it feels more like England several decades ago. It also feels like the work of an outsider, whose knowledge of the country, customs and class system derives from movies and novels rather than experience. Production designer Jim Clay's polished interiors and locations in the Tate Modern and other new galleries certainly make things appear modern-day. But Allen's tale of a poor Irish lad's social climbing via marriage and the beautiful American actress who comes between him and his wife feels distinctly retro.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a former tennis pro who leaves the circuit when he realizes he isn't good enough. He gets a job teaching tennis to wealthy clients at a posh London club. Here he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), and they discover a mutual interest in opera. An invitation from Tom to join him in the family opera box allows Chris to meet Tom's sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), a pleasant and sweet woman, who quickly develops a romantic interest in the handsome tennis coach. Chris soon obliges her, more out of friendliness than any grand passion.
That passion does spark when he meets Tom's fiancee, the moody and provocative Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). She drinks a bit -- most of the characters display fondness for alcohol -- so when Chris catches Nola in the right mood and moment, they have a fling.
Tom eventually jilts Nola, but by then Chris has married Chloe and landed a cushy job in her father's firm. Chloe desperately wants to get pregnant but has no luck. Fate has Chris run into Nola a year later. Their affair resumes, and soon -- and somewhat predictably -- the wrong woman gets pregnant.
Pressure builds on Chris to do "the right thing." But this would require his surrender of a luxurious lifestyle to which he has grown quite accustomed. He secretly borrows one of his father-in-law's shotguns. Like the adulterous ophthalmologist in Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors", Chris faces a moral dilemma: destruction of his life or murder.
Allen's key philosophical interest here is the notion that luck or fate plays a larger role in our lives than we believe and that justice itself is often a matter of luck. Certainly, injustice occurs more frequently.
Allen doesn't portray the characters with much depth. Chris, his protagonist, is the most detailed character, of course, but we never are sure what drives him. He more or less falls into his marriage and job; we certainly sense no burning ambition or steely determination that would lead him to contemplate such a radical act as murder.
Nola possesses plenty of sexual allure, but she never is seen taking advantage of it. If anything, it causes her much grief.
The Hewett siblings are nice sorts, neither overly impressed with their wealth nor abusive toward others. Their father (Brian Cox) and mother (Penelope Wilton) are vivid though light sketches.
Scenes involving Chris' business dealings and later police procedures feel inauthentic. So "Match Point" is a story designed more to prove a philosophical point than to examine a social milieu or a particular cast of characters.
Another factor might explain the sketchiness of these characters: In his movies, Allen explores so much character through comedy that when he denies himself funny lines or physical comedy, his characters lack dimension. They feel soulless, reacting more to the dictates of the story than to inner impulses and desires.
Production values, as one expects from a Woody Allen movie, are impeccable, with opera supplying the only music on the soundtrack.
MATCH POINT
BBC Films and Thema Prods. present a Jada production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Woody Allen
Producers: Letty Aronson, Lucy Darwin, Gareth Wiley
Executive producers: Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Stephen Tenenbaum
Director of photography: Remi Adefarasin
Production designer: Jim Clay
Costume designer: Jill Taylor
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Cast:
Nola Rice: Scarlett Johansson
Chris Wilton: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Chloe Hewett Wilton: Emily Mortimer
Tom Hewett: Matthew Goode
Alec Hewett: Brian Cox
Eleanor Hewett: Penelope Wilton
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
The film undoubtedly will find a domestic distributor, but how his normal fans will react to the (mostly) comedic writer-director exploring such new territory is anybody's guess. The film certainly represents a marketing challenge in North America but might actually do better boxoffice in Europe.
The story is set in contemporary England, but it feels more like England several decades ago. It also feels like the work of an outsider, whose knowledge of the country, customs and class system derives from movies and novels rather than experience. Production designer Jim Clay's polished interiors and locations in the Tate Modern and other new galleries certainly make things appear modern-day. But Allen's tale of a poor Irish lad's social climbing via marriage and the beautiful American actress who comes between him and his wife feels distinctly retro.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a former tennis pro who leaves the circuit when he realizes he isn't good enough. He gets a job teaching tennis to wealthy clients at a posh London club. Here he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), and they discover a mutual interest in opera. An invitation from Tom to join him in the family opera box allows Chris to meet Tom's sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), a pleasant and sweet woman, who quickly develops a romantic interest in the handsome tennis coach. Chris soon obliges her, more out of friendliness than any grand passion.
That passion does spark when he meets Tom's fiancee, the moody and provocative Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). She drinks a bit -- most of the characters display fondness for alcohol -- so when Chris catches Nola in the right mood and moment, they have a fling.
Tom eventually jilts Nola, but by then Chris has married Chloe and landed a cushy job in her father's firm. Chloe desperately wants to get pregnant but has no luck. Fate has Chris run into Nola a year later. Their affair resumes, and soon -- and somewhat predictably -- the wrong woman gets pregnant.
Pressure builds on Chris to do "the right thing." But this would require his surrender of a luxurious lifestyle to which he has grown quite accustomed. He secretly borrows one of his father-in-law's shotguns. Like the adulterous ophthalmologist in Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors", Chris faces a moral dilemma: destruction of his life or murder.
Allen's key philosophical interest here is the notion that luck or fate plays a larger role in our lives than we believe and that justice itself is often a matter of luck. Certainly, injustice occurs more frequently.
Allen doesn't portray the characters with much depth. Chris, his protagonist, is the most detailed character, of course, but we never are sure what drives him. He more or less falls into his marriage and job; we certainly sense no burning ambition or steely determination that would lead him to contemplate such a radical act as murder.
Nola possesses plenty of sexual allure, but she never is seen taking advantage of it. If anything, it causes her much grief.
The Hewett siblings are nice sorts, neither overly impressed with their wealth nor abusive toward others. Their father (Brian Cox) and mother (Penelope Wilton) are vivid though light sketches.
Scenes involving Chris' business dealings and later police procedures feel inauthentic. So "Match Point" is a story designed more to prove a philosophical point than to examine a social milieu or a particular cast of characters.
Another factor might explain the sketchiness of these characters: In his movies, Allen explores so much character through comedy that when he denies himself funny lines or physical comedy, his characters lack dimension. They feel soulless, reacting more to the dictates of the story than to inner impulses and desires.
Production values, as one expects from a Woody Allen movie, are impeccable, with opera supplying the only music on the soundtrack.
MATCH POINT
BBC Films and Thema Prods. present a Jada production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Woody Allen
Producers: Letty Aronson, Lucy Darwin, Gareth Wiley
Executive producers: Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Stephen Tenenbaum
Director of photography: Remi Adefarasin
Production designer: Jim Clay
Costume designer: Jill Taylor
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Cast:
Nola Rice: Scarlett Johansson
Chris Wilton: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Chloe Hewett Wilton: Emily Mortimer
Tom Hewett: Matthew Goode
Alec Hewett: Brian Cox
Eleanor Hewett: Penelope Wilton
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
- 12/30/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Despite its almost jaunty title, Match Point is Woody Allen's attempt at a kind of Crime and Punishment. In his 70th year, Allen has engineered the most startling departure in his filmmaking career. He has made serious dramas, notably during his Bermanesque period. But never before has he worked in a foreign country or looked into tragic events for philosophical understanding.
The film undoubtedly will find a domestic distributor, but how his normal fans will react to the (mostly) comedic writer-director exploring such new territory is anybody's guess. The film certainly represents a marketing challenge in North America but might actually do better boxoffice in Europe.
The story is set in contemporary England, but it feels more like England several decades ago. It also feels like the work of an outsider, whose knowledge of the country, customs and class system derives from movies and novels rather than experience. Production designer Jim Clay's polished interiors and locations in the Tate Modern and other new galleries certainly make things appear modern-day. But Allen's tale of a poor Irish lad's social climbing via marriage and the beautiful American actress who comes between him and his wife feels distinctly retro.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a former tennis pro who leaves the circuit when he realizes he isn't good enough. He gets a job teaching tennis to wealthy clients at a posh London club. Here he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), and they discover a mutual interest in opera. An invitation from Tom to join him in the family opera box allows Chris to meet Tom's sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), a pleasant and sweet woman, who quickly develops a romantic interest in the handsome tennis coach. Chris soon obliges her, more out of friendliness than any grand passion.
That passion does spark when he meets Tom's fiancee, the moody and provocative Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). She drinks a bit -- most of the characters display fondness for alcohol -- so when Chris catches Nola in the right mood and moment, they have a fling.
Tom eventually jilts Nola, but by then Chris has married Chloe and landed a cushy job in her father's firm. Chloe desperately wants to get pregnant but has no luck. Fate has Chris run into Nola a year later. Their affair resumes, and soon -- and somewhat predictably -- the wrong woman gets pregnant.
Pressure builds on Chris to do "the right thing." But this would require his surrender of a luxurious lifestyle to which he has grown quite accustomed. He secretly borrows one of his father-in-law's shotguns. Like the adulterous ophthalmologist in Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors, Chris faces a moral dilemma: destruction of his life or murder.
Allen's key philosophical interest here is the notion that luck or fate plays a larger role in our lives than we believe and that justice itself is often a matter of luck. Certainly, injustice occurs more frequently.
Allen doesn't portray the characters with much depth. Chris, his protagonist, is the most detailed character, of course, but we never are sure what drives him. He more or less falls into his marriage and job; we certainly sense no burning ambition or steely determination that would lead him to contemplate such a radical act as murder.
Nola possesses plenty of sexual allure, but she never is seen taking advantage of it. If anything, it causes her much grief.
The Hewett siblings are nice sorts, neither overly impressed with their wealth nor abusive toward others. Their father (Brian Cox) and mother (Penelope Wilton) are vivid though light sketches.
Scenes involving Chris' business dealings and later police procedures feel inauthentic. So Match Point is a story designed more to prove a philosophical point than to examine a social milieu or a particular cast of characters.
Another factor might explain the sketchiness of these characters: In his movies, Allen explores so much character through comedy that when he denies himself funny lines or physical comedy, his characters lack dimension. They feel soulless, reacting more to the dictates of the story than to inner impulses and desires.
Production values, as one expects from a Woody Allen movie, are impeccable, with opera supplying the only music on the soundtrack.
MATCH POINT
BBC Films and Thema Prods. present a Jada production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Woody Allen
Producers: Letty Aronson, Lucy Darwin, Gareth Wiley
Executive producers: Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Stephen Tenenbaum
Director of photography: Remi Adefarasin
Production designer: Jim Clay
Costume designer: Jill Taylor
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Cast:
Nola Rice: Scarlett Johansson
Chris Wilton: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Chloe Hewett Wilton: Emily Mortimer
Tom Hewett: Matthew Goode
Alec Hewett: Brian Cox
Eleanor Hewett: Penelope Wilton
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
The film undoubtedly will find a domestic distributor, but how his normal fans will react to the (mostly) comedic writer-director exploring such new territory is anybody's guess. The film certainly represents a marketing challenge in North America but might actually do better boxoffice in Europe.
The story is set in contemporary England, but it feels more like England several decades ago. It also feels like the work of an outsider, whose knowledge of the country, customs and class system derives from movies and novels rather than experience. Production designer Jim Clay's polished interiors and locations in the Tate Modern and other new galleries certainly make things appear modern-day. But Allen's tale of a poor Irish lad's social climbing via marriage and the beautiful American actress who comes between him and his wife feels distinctly retro.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a former tennis pro who leaves the circuit when he realizes he isn't good enough. He gets a job teaching tennis to wealthy clients at a posh London club. Here he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), and they discover a mutual interest in opera. An invitation from Tom to join him in the family opera box allows Chris to meet Tom's sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), a pleasant and sweet woman, who quickly develops a romantic interest in the handsome tennis coach. Chris soon obliges her, more out of friendliness than any grand passion.
That passion does spark when he meets Tom's fiancee, the moody and provocative Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). She drinks a bit -- most of the characters display fondness for alcohol -- so when Chris catches Nola in the right mood and moment, they have a fling.
Tom eventually jilts Nola, but by then Chris has married Chloe and landed a cushy job in her father's firm. Chloe desperately wants to get pregnant but has no luck. Fate has Chris run into Nola a year later. Their affair resumes, and soon -- and somewhat predictably -- the wrong woman gets pregnant.
Pressure builds on Chris to do "the right thing." But this would require his surrender of a luxurious lifestyle to which he has grown quite accustomed. He secretly borrows one of his father-in-law's shotguns. Like the adulterous ophthalmologist in Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors, Chris faces a moral dilemma: destruction of his life or murder.
Allen's key philosophical interest here is the notion that luck or fate plays a larger role in our lives than we believe and that justice itself is often a matter of luck. Certainly, injustice occurs more frequently.
Allen doesn't portray the characters with much depth. Chris, his protagonist, is the most detailed character, of course, but we never are sure what drives him. He more or less falls into his marriage and job; we certainly sense no burning ambition or steely determination that would lead him to contemplate such a radical act as murder.
Nola possesses plenty of sexual allure, but she never is seen taking advantage of it. If anything, it causes her much grief.
The Hewett siblings are nice sorts, neither overly impressed with their wealth nor abusive toward others. Their father (Brian Cox) and mother (Penelope Wilton) are vivid though light sketches.
Scenes involving Chris' business dealings and later police procedures feel inauthentic. So Match Point is a story designed more to prove a philosophical point than to examine a social milieu or a particular cast of characters.
Another factor might explain the sketchiness of these characters: In his movies, Allen explores so much character through comedy that when he denies himself funny lines or physical comedy, his characters lack dimension. They feel soulless, reacting more to the dictates of the story than to inner impulses and desires.
Production values, as one expects from a Woody Allen movie, are impeccable, with opera supplying the only music on the soundtrack.
MATCH POINT
BBC Films and Thema Prods. present a Jada production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Woody Allen
Producers: Letty Aronson, Lucy Darwin, Gareth Wiley
Executive producers: Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Stephen Tenenbaum
Director of photography: Remi Adefarasin
Production designer: Jim Clay
Costume designer: Jill Taylor
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Cast:
Nola Rice: Scarlett Johansson
Chris Wilton: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Chloe Hewett Wilton: Emily Mortimer
Tom Hewett: Matthew Goode
Alec Hewett: Brian Cox
Eleanor Hewett: Penelope Wilton
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
- 5/12/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Scarlett Johansson is set to join the cast of Woody Allen's 36th movie, replacing Kate Winslet, who dropped out Friday. Winslet reportedly wanted to spend more time with her family. Johansson joins cast members Emily Mortimer and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers on the feature, which is due to begin production shortly at London's Ealing Studios. The untitled film is being produced by Letty Aronson, Lucy Darwin and Gareth Wiley, with Stephen Tenenbaum executive producing. Hanway Films is handling international sales, with backing from BBC Films, Magic Hour Media, Thema Production, Invicta Capital and the Bank of Ireland. Johansson recently signed on to do Mission: Impossible 3 for C/W Prods. Other projects in which she is involved include The Black Dahlia, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and A Good Woman. Johansson is repped by WMA.
- 6/29/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
British-produced documentary Lost in La Mancha has been picked up for France and French-speaking territories by Haut et Court, the producers said Tuesday. The deal, sealed for an undisclosed amount, was brokered by British producer Lucy Darwin and assisted by law firm Bird & Bird's Kami Naghi and Haut et Court's Carole Scotta and Marion Tharaud. Darwin said she hopes the feature-length documentary -- which details the story of Terry Gilliam's ill-fated attempt to bring an adaptation of Don Quixote to the big screen -- will be released in France in the fall. IFC handled the film's U.S. release, while Optimum Releasing has the title in the United Kingdom. The movie so far has grossed a little less than $1 million from the U.K. and U.S. theatrical releases combined.
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