Risen (2010)

The story of Howard Winstone is a compelling one. Howard became Featherweight Champion of the World at the age of 29 in 1968. What makes Howard's story quite remarkable is that as a young ... See full summary »

Director:

Neil Jones

Writers:

Stuart Brennan, Neil Jones

Stars:

Stuart Brennan, John Noble, Erik Morales

8 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Stuart Brennan	...	Howard Winstone
John Noble	...	Eddie Thomas
Erik Morales	...	Vicente Saldivar
Shane Richie	...	Mike Barrett
Grainne Joughin	...	Bennita Winstone
Edward Eales-White	...	Don James (as Edward E. White)
Boyd Clack	...	Howard Winstone Snr
Helen Griffin	...	Katie Winstone
Simon Phillips	...	Mickey Duff
Leon Sua	...	Mitsunori Seki
Don James	...	Billy Evans
Enzo Maccarinelli	...	Eddie Avoth
Simon Wakeford	...	Harry Carpenter
Billy Rumbol	...	Terry Spinks
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Avoth	...	Jack Solomons

Storyline

The story of Howard Winstone is a compelling one. Howard became Featherweight Champion of the World at the age of 29 in 1968. What makes Howard's story quite remarkable is that as a young man he lost the tips of three fingers in an industrial accident of his home town of Merthyr Tydfil. The accident was so severe that he was unable to make a fist with his right hand, a devastating blow for anyone, but a blow made all the worse for one who's entire career demands the use of both hands. Howard was known for his right handed power back in his early day's so the day of the fateful accident was essentially the day Howard's boxing career came to an end. Well that's what everyone assumed accept Howard, who completely changed the way he boxed and went on remarkably to become Champion of Britain, Champion of Europe and Champion of the world! The story of Howard Winstone's boxing career alone is a remarkable one, but there was far more to Howard than just his boxing career, in Howard there was ...

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Felemelkedés

Filming Locations:

Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Burn Hand Film Productions, Templeheart Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joe Bone acted as stand in for the majority of boxing choreography, including the part of Saldivar, and helped coach the other actors through their paces.

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Quotes

Katie Winstone: What are you going to do, Howard? You're going to have to get another job.
[Howard holds up his bandaged hand, having just lost three fingers in an industrial accident]
Katie Winstone: Don't ask for sympathy because there isn't any here. Two weeks of long faces is enough. Get on with it.

User Reviews

Needs a lot of work. Below average.

I saw this film from rental and I must say that I was looking forward to it. Critic reviews have been very poor for this but sometimes they get things wrong. Sadly not in the case of Risen. The sound of this film is absolutely inaudible which is baffling as money has clearly been spent (with John Noble in the cast) but why not use even a small amount of time recording clear voices which is essential in making films. Neil Jones is clearly lacking any sense of style (or talent) in his direction. The acting is very weak and holds back the viewer from emotional involvement of any kind. The fighting scenes are lacking any sense of realism, except for a very good use of a head-cam which looks great but is still not enough to hide the shambles which is everything else in this film. Howard Winstone is a legend in Wales and this story just doesn't get to grips with anything that approaches interesting yet alone exciting (isn't that what Boxing movies should be?) This quote about it being better than Raging Bull is clearly a fabrication. Be warned this is obviously a paid comment of some kind, notice that a person isn't credited with the quote but rather an unknown Film Festival. I really wanted to like this film due to some knowledge of the great Mr Winstone, but I feel the director felt a need to appease the family rather than seek out the truth to this story. Bad form director! Maybe someone else can do justice to this great man.