England, My England (1995)

Director:

Tony Palmer

Writers:

John Osborne, Charles Wood

Stars:

Simon Callow, Michael Ball, Rebecca Front

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simon Callow	...	Charles II
Michael Ball	...	Henry Purcell
Rebecca Front	...	Mary II
Lucy Speed	...	Nell Gwyn
Letitia Dean	...	Barbara Palmer (Lady Castlemaine)
Nina Young	...	Frances Purcell
John Shrapnel	...	Samuel Pepys
Robert Stephens	...	John Dryden
Terence Rigby	...	Captain Henry Cooke
Bill Kenwright	...	Bill
Murray Melvin	...	Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury
Corin Redgrave	...	William of Orange
John Fortune	...	Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon
Guy Henry	...	James II
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Kiffen

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

composer | baroque | play within film | independent film

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Genres:

History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Also Known As:

England, my England

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films, Ladbroke Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film of Brook Williams.

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Goofs

One shot shows a stagehand turning a winch to lift Mary Tudor when she's playing Cupid. When she's being lowered, a shot shows the stagehand turning the winch in the same direction as previously.

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Quotes

Colonel Wharton: Opera is a danger you would do best to avoid.

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Connections

References Amadeus (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Sonata for trumpet and strings in D"
Music by Henry Purcell
Performed by David Blackadder with English Baroque Soloists
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner

User Reviews

To Touch The Nerve Of What Is Truly English, Listen To Tony Palmer

An odd thesis, indeed, to put upon a movie about Henry Purcell.

But hear me out, fair Ladies and honourable Sires. This is the opportunity to hear about the greatest artist before the face of Albion to put justice as well as artistic congeniality before the memories of the greatest spirits to fire up our imagination. Oh yes, a spirit and talent to match his subjects. There hasn't been a master of 'portraits' since Hohlbein or Hilliard, who caught the essence of a spirit as close, detailed and true to its core as Tony Palmer. So, what better master to call upon the task of giving the greatest English composer a face to last beyond the brittle pages of an encyclopedia?

I dare the claim that Purcell was and is the eternal master of the achingly, painfully and gloriously beautiful - the indigo and forest green shades of melancholy music to tease the gentlest tears from stone.

Yes, Tony Palmer's piece is a masterful fresco of the Restoration, but still it's but a frame to what Purcell was all about. Palmer NEVER sells his subjects short for hidden agendas.

To give this claim substance, the best of the best for this task provided the music: John Eliot Gardiner & The English Baroque Soloists.

You can't possibly aim higher than this, and this movie achieved even beyond my biased expectations. The cream of the English acting craft: Simon Callow and Robert Stephens to give music to the words of masters John Osborne and Charles Wood.

Bugger me, but is there any claim out there which can come up with a more suitable setup?

Gather, people, Anglophiles and friends of the core to humanity.

Settle into your favourite chair and surrender to the sound-kept peak of aching beauty.

Schogger13