Sound of Metal writer/director Darius Marder joins Josh and Joe to discuss Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves.
Watch the Movie
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
Sound of Metal (2020)
Mank (2020)
Star Wars (1977)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Father (2020)
Breaking The Waves (1996)
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
Repo Man (1984)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Innerspace (1987)
The Celebration (1998)
The Five Obstructions (2003)
Europa (1991)
The Servant (1963)
The Go-Between (1971)
Dancer In The Dark (2000)
The Idiots (1998)
Dogville (2003)
Manderlay (2005)
Melancholia (2011)
Naked (1993)
Other Notable Items
CNN
Ricky Gervais
Riz Ahmed
Florian Zeller
Roger Ebert
Lars von Trier
Robby Müller
Jim Jarmusch
Daniël Bouquet
David Bowie
Dogme 95
Tomas Vinterburg
The Paprika Steen podcast episode
Emily Watson
Stellan Skarsgård
Joseph Losey
The Kingdom TV miniseries (1994)
Helena Bonham Carter
Bjork
Nicole Kidman
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
Cannes Film Festival
Mike Leigh
Katrin Cartlidge
Nuart Theatre
Metrograph
This list is also available on Letterboxd.
The post Darius Marder...
Watch the Movie
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
Sound of Metal (2020)
Mank (2020)
Star Wars (1977)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Father (2020)
Breaking The Waves (1996)
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
Repo Man (1984)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Innerspace (1987)
The Celebration (1998)
The Five Obstructions (2003)
Europa (1991)
The Servant (1963)
The Go-Between (1971)
Dancer In The Dark (2000)
The Idiots (1998)
Dogville (2003)
Manderlay (2005)
Melancholia (2011)
Naked (1993)
Other Notable Items
CNN
Ricky Gervais
Riz Ahmed
Florian Zeller
Roger Ebert
Lars von Trier
Robby Müller
Jim Jarmusch
Daniël Bouquet
David Bowie
Dogme 95
Tomas Vinterburg
The Paprika Steen podcast episode
Emily Watson
Stellan Skarsgård
Joseph Losey
The Kingdom TV miniseries (1994)
Helena Bonham Carter
Bjork
Nicole Kidman
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
Cannes Film Festival
Mike Leigh
Katrin Cartlidge
Nuart Theatre
Metrograph
This list is also available on Letterboxd.
The post Darius Marder...
- 2/23/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
“Lucy was a pioneer in making scriptwriting accessible.”
Lucy Scher, who co-ran UK screenwriting talent incubator The Script Factory from 1996, has died at the age of 53.
Scher joined the organisation a few months after its founding by Charlotte Macleod and helped develop it into a vital part of the UK’s screenwriting development scene, training more than a thousand emerging writers and developers and attracting funding successively from the UK Film Council, Skillset and Creative Europe.
Her colleagues at The Script Factory over the years included Briony Hanson, now director of film at the British Council, and Tricia Tuttle, now...
Lucy Scher, who co-ran UK screenwriting talent incubator The Script Factory from 1996, has died at the age of 53.
Scher joined the organisation a few months after its founding by Charlotte Macleod and helped develop it into a vital part of the UK’s screenwriting development scene, training more than a thousand emerging writers and developers and attracting funding successively from the UK Film Council, Skillset and Creative Europe.
Her colleagues at The Script Factory over the years included Briony Hanson, now director of film at the British Council, and Tricia Tuttle, now...
- 8/2/2018
- by Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
Chinese film-maker’s short The Administration Of Glory was in competition at Cannes in 2014
Chinese film-maker and artist Ran Huang has received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Bursary from this year’s award curator, Us actor-director Danny Houston, at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“When I saw Ran’s films I knew I was watching the work of a visionary: he makes me see the world differently and I find that very exciting,” said Houston.
“Sarajevo Film Festival is all about international communication through Art and Ran is investigating the human condition.”
Ran Huang said he was delighted at the possibilities offered by the Bursary: “As an artist you work largely on your own but in film I really enjoy the openness to others’ ideas.
“I appreciate this opportunity to expand my vision, to explore a new language, a new community and a new way to connect with people.”
Huang came to film from fine art, and his conceptual...
Chinese film-maker and artist Ran Huang has received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Bursary from this year’s award curator, Us actor-director Danny Houston, at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“When I saw Ran’s films I knew I was watching the work of a visionary: he makes me see the world differently and I find that very exciting,” said Houston.
“Sarajevo Film Festival is all about international communication through Art and Ran is investigating the human condition.”
Ran Huang said he was delighted at the possibilities offered by the Bursary: “As an artist you work largely on your own but in film I really enjoy the openness to others’ ideas.
“I appreciate this opportunity to expand my vision, to explore a new language, a new community and a new way to connect with people.”
Huang came to film from fine art, and his conceptual...
- 8/22/2015
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
Us actor/director to curate the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation award and present new feature Tigers alongside director Danis Tanovic.
Danny Huston has been named the curator for the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Katrin Cartlidge Foundation and will present this years award.
The actor and director, currently in post production on The Last Photograph, will present the Foundation’s annual bursary to “a new voice in cinema” on Aug 21 in Sarajevo.
Previous curators include Charlotte Rampling, Emily Watson, Jeremy Irons, Danny Glover and Stellan Skarsgard, directors Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Simon McBurney and Danis Tanović, as well as John Lyons, Annie Nocenti and photographer Juergen Teller.
Huston will also present Danis Tanović’s Tigers, with the Director and Producers. The film will be screened within the Open Air Programme at the festival’s largest venue.
His other recent work in front of the camera includes Marc Forster’s “All I See Is You”, “Monster”, directed by Bernard Rose, “[link...
Danny Huston has been named the curator for the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Katrin Cartlidge Foundation and will present this years award.
The actor and director, currently in post production on The Last Photograph, will present the Foundation’s annual bursary to “a new voice in cinema” on Aug 21 in Sarajevo.
Previous curators include Charlotte Rampling, Emily Watson, Jeremy Irons, Danny Glover and Stellan Skarsgard, directors Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Simon McBurney and Danis Tanović, as well as John Lyons, Annie Nocenti and photographer Juergen Teller.
Huston will also present Danis Tanović’s Tigers, with the Director and Producers. The film will be screened within the Open Air Programme at the festival’s largest venue.
His other recent work in front of the camera includes Marc Forster’s “All I See Is You”, “Monster”, directed by Bernard Rose, “[link...
- 8/6/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Verfehlung is the German sales agent’s first acquisition at the Efm.
Fledgling German sales agent Pluto Film has made its first acquisition at the Efm by acquiring Gerd Schneider’s highly topically feature debut Verfehlung (The Culpable) which premiered at last month’s Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken.
Schneider’s screenplay centres on the Catholic prison chaplain Jakob Völz (played by Sebastian Blomberg) faced with a painful dilemma - an acid test for his faith and understanding of his calling as a priest - when his best friend and colleague Dominik Bertram (Kai Schumann) is remanded in custody under suspicion of sexual abuse.
The choice of subject matter for Schneider’s debut is particularly apposite given that he had originally studied Catholic Theology and was then preparing to enter the priesthood before he changed track to study at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg.
In 2006, Schneider received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award at the Sarajevo...
Fledgling German sales agent Pluto Film has made its first acquisition at the Efm by acquiring Gerd Schneider’s highly topically feature debut Verfehlung (The Culpable) which premiered at last month’s Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken.
Schneider’s screenplay centres on the Catholic prison chaplain Jakob Völz (played by Sebastian Blomberg) faced with a painful dilemma - an acid test for his faith and understanding of his calling as a priest - when his best friend and colleague Dominik Bertram (Kai Schumann) is remanded in custody under suspicion of sexual abuse.
The choice of subject matter for Schneider’s debut is particularly apposite given that he had originally studied Catholic Theology and was then preparing to enter the priesthood before he changed track to study at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg.
In 2006, Schneider received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award at the Sarajevo...
- 2/7/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Verfehlung [pictured] is the German sales agent’s first acquisition at the Efm.
Fledgling German sales agent Pluto Film has made its first acquisition at the Efm by acquiring Gerd Schneider’s highly topically feature debut Verfehlung (in English: Transgression) which premiered at last month’s Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken.
Schneider’s screenplay centres on the Catholic prison chaplain Jakob Völz (played by Sebastian Blomberg) faced with a painful dilemma - an acid test for his faith and understanding of his calling as a priest - when his best friend and colleague Dominik Bertram (Kai Schumann) is remanded in custody under suspicion of sexual abuse.
The choice of subject matter for Schneider’s debut is particularly apposite given that he had originally studied Catholic Theology and was then preparing to enter the priesthood before he changed track to study at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg.
In 2006, Schneider received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award at the...
Fledgling German sales agent Pluto Film has made its first acquisition at the Efm by acquiring Gerd Schneider’s highly topically feature debut Verfehlung (in English: Transgression) which premiered at last month’s Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken.
Schneider’s screenplay centres on the Catholic prison chaplain Jakob Völz (played by Sebastian Blomberg) faced with a painful dilemma - an acid test for his faith and understanding of his calling as a priest - when his best friend and colleague Dominik Bertram (Kai Schumann) is remanded in custody under suspicion of sexual abuse.
The choice of subject matter for Schneider’s debut is particularly apposite given that he had originally studied Catholic Theology and was then preparing to enter the priesthood before he changed track to study at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg.
In 2006, Schneider received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award at the...
- 2/7/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Best British movies of all time? (Image: a young Michael Caine in 'Get Carter') Ten years ago, Get Carter, starring Michael Caine as a dangerous-looking London gangster (see photo above), was selected as the United Kingdom's very best movie of all time according to 25 British film critics polled by Total Film magazine. To say that Mike Hodges' 1971 thriller was a surprising choice would be an understatement. I mean, not a David Lean epic or an early Alfred Hitchcock thriller? What a difference ten years make. On Total Film's 2014 list, published last May, Get Carter was no. 44 among the magazine's Top 50 best British movies of all time. How could that be? Well, first of all, people would be very naive if they took such lists seriously, whether we're talking Total Film, the British Film Institute, or, to keep things British, Sight & Sound magazine. Second, whereas Total Film's 2004 list was the result of a 25-critic consensus,...
- 10/12/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Sarajevo Film Festival, which concludes Saturday, has been the scene of yet another hard stance from a filmmaker regarding the conflict in Gaza. Late Thursday, outspoken British director Ken Loach gave a speech at the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award Ceremony honoring Palestinian directors Abdel Salam Shehadeh and Ashraf Mashharawi, and called for an “absolute boycott of all the cultural happenings supported by the Israeli state.” According to Screen Daily, he added, “Israel must become a pariah state.” Loach further referred to the U.S., saying, “My country, to its shame, follows the bully that is the United States. But we are not powerless. We can act together.”
Related: Russell Brand Video Says 6 Companies Should Divest Israeli Holdings Over Gaza
The Sarajevo festival was founded during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. Per Screen, Loach said: “I know the people here will know the struggle and bravery you need when you are under siege,...
Related: Russell Brand Video Says 6 Companies Should Divest Israeli Holdings Over Gaza
The Sarajevo festival was founded during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. Per Screen, Loach said: “I know the people here will know the struggle and bravery you need when you are under siege,...
- 8/23/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Honouring two Palestinian filmmakers at the Sarajevo Film Festival, British director Ken Loach branded the Us as a “bully” and said cultural happenings supported by the Israeli state should be boycotted.
British filmmaker Ken Loach has called for the “boycott of all the cultural happenings supported by the Israeli state” at an awards ceremony honouring two Palestinian directors.
The director of Kes and The Wind That Shakes The Barley gave an impassioned speech at the Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 15-23) last night, where he presented the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award to Palestinian directors Abdel Salam Shehadeh and Ashraf Mashharawi.
Loach branded the directors as “probably two of the greatest filmmakers in the world today, because they are making films in Gaza.”
Stirring memories of Sarajevo’s four-year siege from 1992-96, Loach said: “I know the people here will know the struggle and bravery you need when you are under siege, and you feel...
British filmmaker Ken Loach has called for the “boycott of all the cultural happenings supported by the Israeli state” at an awards ceremony honouring two Palestinian directors.
The director of Kes and The Wind That Shakes The Barley gave an impassioned speech at the Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 15-23) last night, where he presented the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award to Palestinian directors Abdel Salam Shehadeh and Ashraf Mashharawi.
Loach branded the directors as “probably two of the greatest filmmakers in the world today, because they are making films in Gaza.”
Stirring memories of Sarajevo’s four-year siege from 1992-96, Loach said: “I know the people here will know the struggle and bravery you need when you are under siege, and you feel...
- 8/22/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
It’s hard to overstate the shock waves that Lars Von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves” made when it was released in 1996. It’s not as if Lvt was a completely unknown commodity but this was a new level for the filmmaker in the way he both played with his form and embraced larger-than-life imagery. “Breaking the Waves” was both grounded in classic themes and felt like the coming-out party for Dogme, the movement founded by Lvt that embraced natural filmmaking techniques like handheld cameras and sunlight.
And yet it was also So theatrical with its melodramatic undertones that felt like Shakespeare and the flourishes that would come to define Von Trier as one of our most interesting filmmakers. He is one of the few who can go from a natural, human-driven moment to something so precisely artistic and auteur-driven and make them feel like they belong in the same piece.
And yet it was also So theatrical with its melodramatic undertones that felt like Shakespeare and the flourishes that would come to define Von Trier as one of our most interesting filmmakers. He is one of the few who can go from a natural, human-driven moment to something so precisely artistic and auteur-driven and make them feel like they belong in the same piece.
- 4/30/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Breaking the Waves
Written by Lars von Trier and Peter Asmussen
Directed by Lars von Trier
Denmark, 1996
Director Lars von Trier is nothing if not creative. From films like Epidemic in 1987 and Europa in 1991, to last year’s two-part Nymphomaniac, he has managed to bring a continually imaginative photographic and narrative formula to nearly all of his films, the best of which ultimately end up masterpieces of contemporary international cinema. It was arguably his 1996 feature, Breaking the Waves, that first, and most dramatically, catapulted him to the front ranks of modern-day global filmmaking, particularly within the arthouse arena and festival circuit, and understandably so. This affecting film is a powerful work that delves deeply into often unspoken and unconventional recesses of faith and love. Its themes are profound, its performances staggering throughout, and its visual palette and filmic technique are replete with saturated hues, vigorous camera work, and an unabashed intimacy.
Written by Lars von Trier and Peter Asmussen
Directed by Lars von Trier
Denmark, 1996
Director Lars von Trier is nothing if not creative. From films like Epidemic in 1987 and Europa in 1991, to last year’s two-part Nymphomaniac, he has managed to bring a continually imaginative photographic and narrative formula to nearly all of his films, the best of which ultimately end up masterpieces of contemporary international cinema. It was arguably his 1996 feature, Breaking the Waves, that first, and most dramatically, catapulted him to the front ranks of modern-day global filmmaking, particularly within the arthouse arena and festival circuit, and understandably so. This affecting film is a powerful work that delves deeply into often unspoken and unconventional recesses of faith and love. Its themes are profound, its performances staggering throughout, and its visual palette and filmic technique are replete with saturated hues, vigorous camera work, and an unabashed intimacy.
- 4/25/2014
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
Recently Lars von Trier has made headlines for his inappropriate comments and the sexual and violent nature of such films as Antichrist and now Nymphomaniac, but what isn't mentioned as often is some of his earlier work, films such as Europa, Dancer in the Dark and, of course, Breaking the Waves, which has come to Criterion Blu-ray in an impressive package, though there are some notes to be made. To begin, if you haven't seen Breaking the Waves you're in for a fascinating feature that can be interpreted a myriad of ways and argued for days without resolution. I've seen people refer to it as the ultimate religious film as it looks at a conflict of beliefs, one preaching the fear of God and the other dedicated to the love of God. At the center of this is Bess (Emily Watson) a devote believer in God and a character that...
- 4/17/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 15, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Emily Watson stars in Breaking the Waves.
Lars von Trier (Antichrist) became an international sensation with the 1996 drama Breaking the Waves, a galvanizing realist fable about sex and spiritual transcendence.
Emily Watson (War Horse) stuns, in an Oscar-nominated performance, as Bess, a simple, pious newlywed in a tiny Scottish village who gives herself up to a shocking form of martyrdom after her husband (Stellan Skarsgård, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is paralyzed in an oil-rig accident.
At once brazen and tender, profane and pure, Breaking the Waves is an acclaimed examination of the expansiveness of faith and of its limits.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack of the film contains the following features:
• New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Selected-scene audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier, editor Anders Refn, and...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Emily Watson stars in Breaking the Waves.
Lars von Trier (Antichrist) became an international sensation with the 1996 drama Breaking the Waves, a galvanizing realist fable about sex and spiritual transcendence.
Emily Watson (War Horse) stuns, in an Oscar-nominated performance, as Bess, a simple, pious newlywed in a tiny Scottish village who gives herself up to a shocking form of martyrdom after her husband (Stellan Skarsgård, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is paralyzed in an oil-rig accident.
At once brazen and tender, profane and pure, Breaking the Waves is an acclaimed examination of the expansiveness of faith and of its limits.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack of the film contains the following features:
• New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Selected-scene audio commentary featuring director Lars von Trier, editor Anders Refn, and...
- 1/16/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
'We spent weeks in that big house entirely in character – just being really horrible to each other'
Mike Leigh, director
Naked was my big international breakthrough. I'd never had a film in Cannes before – and in 1993, I won best director and David Thewlis took best actor for his extraordinary performance as Johnny. At first, though, the film was called Untitled '92. I was starting to anticipate the millennium: it was obvious it was going to be a big deal, but I didn't know how to treat the subject. I could have made a science-fiction film. But I realised the character of Johnny – a frustrated, idealist drifter who's hacked off with the world – would be a very interesting vehicle for millennial preoccupations.
We prepared for the film in an old office block in Marylebone, London. David was living in Soho, endlessly reading Nostradamus and all the other things Johnny was into.
Mike Leigh, director
Naked was my big international breakthrough. I'd never had a film in Cannes before – and in 1993, I won best director and David Thewlis took best actor for his extraordinary performance as Johnny. At first, though, the film was called Untitled '92. I was starting to anticipate the millennium: it was obvious it was going to be a big deal, but I didn't know how to treat the subject. I could have made a science-fiction film. But I realised the character of Johnny – a frustrated, idealist drifter who's hacked off with the world – would be a very interesting vehicle for millennial preoccupations.
We prepared for the film in an old office block in Marylebone, London. David was living in Soho, endlessly reading Nostradamus and all the other things Johnny was into.
- 11/19/2013
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
This year’s edition (the 19th) of Sarajevo Film Festival had the presence of prominent actor, producer and humanitarian, Danny Glover. The actor was one of the panelists at the Sarajevo Talent Campus, where he conducted a workshop on August 21st.Danny Glover is also the curator of the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award for 2013 and this year’s winner of the award is afro-descendant filmmaker Dyana Gaye, with the short film Deweneti. Dyana was born in Paris in 1975 from Senegalese parentage.Deweneti (Happy New Year in Wolof) tells the story of Ousmane, a beggar in the streets of Dakar and young kuranic student, who despite the hardships of life always has a smile to spare for the passerby who...
- 8/23/2013
- by Hoji Fortuna
- ShadowAndAct
Gaye’s feature debut Des Etoiles will get its world premiere at Toronto.
The Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award has been awarded to director Dyana Gaye at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Gaye’s short Dewenti screened last night to a packed crowd at one of the city’s open-air venues.
The annual bursary, given to a new voice in cinema, was awarded by Danny Glover.
French-Senegalese director Gaye’s feature debut Des Etoiles will premiere at Toronto.
Previous winners of the award include Cary Fukunaga, Juanita Wilson and last year’s winners Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia.
For the last nine years the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation, which aims to promote new talent and new voices, has appointed a curator, selected from among Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient of the annual bursary.
English actress Katrin Cartlidge, who died in 2002, is well known in the Balkans for her performances in Milcho Manchevski’s [link...
The Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award has been awarded to director Dyana Gaye at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Gaye’s short Dewenti screened last night to a packed crowd at one of the city’s open-air venues.
The annual bursary, given to a new voice in cinema, was awarded by Danny Glover.
French-Senegalese director Gaye’s feature debut Des Etoiles will premiere at Toronto.
Previous winners of the award include Cary Fukunaga, Juanita Wilson and last year’s winners Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia.
For the last nine years the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation, which aims to promote new talent and new voices, has appointed a curator, selected from among Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient of the annual bursary.
English actress Katrin Cartlidge, who died in 2002, is well known in the Balkans for her performances in Milcho Manchevski’s [link...
- 8/23/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Last year and again this year we are invited to attend the Sarajevo Film Festival by Asja Makarević, Project Manager for Sarajevo Talent Campus. If you are going, look for Peter Belsito there!
Sarajevo Film Festival (August 16-24, 2013), now in its 19th year, is an international film festival with special focus on the region of Southeast Europe, it provides high quality programming, a strong industry segment, an educational platform for young filmmakers, the presence of numerous representatives of film industry, film authors and media representatives from all over the world, as well as over 100,000 visitors, thus confirming the festival's status, renowned and recognized by film professionals as well as by its audience.
It serves as a catalyst for cooperation within the region, and establishes connections with partners from all over the world. It also represents a platform for development of film business in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region, as well as setting new standards of festival organization and film presentation. While Karlovy Vary Film Festival has the Best of the East which gives a good view of finished films from Eastern Europe and is especially kind to journalists around the world, Sarajevo simultaneously hosts Cinelink, a very pro-active co-production market and workshop and Talent Campus which is a part of the Berlinale. This general networking of the world film industry is even more interesting because of its location in the city of Sarajevo itself. After the 4 year long siege of Sarajevo, it was founded as a means to recreate civil society of the City in 1995.
American actor/activist Danny Glover will curate and present the award for this year's Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award to a new cinematic voice whose work embodies Katrin Cartlidge’s “integrity of spirit and commitment to independent film”. Cartlidge, who died in 2002, was a British actress best known for her work with Mike Leigh and whose last role in the Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović’s No Man’s Land. Over the past nine years the Foundation has appointed a curator, selected from Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient for the annual award, a cash bursary, which is announced at a special red carpet gala at the Festival.
This year, all the selections of the Sff Competition Programme will present a total of 50 films. This brings the best of regional cinema and follows the Sarajevo Film Festival strategy of discovering new talents, approaches and tendencies rooted in the world cinema today.
For the final line-up of the Competition Program, programmers and the Sarajevo Film Festival team saw 750 films from the region, including 200 feature films, 150 documentaries and 400 short and animated films. This year's selection, but also the general interest in our Competition selections, encourages the Sarajevo Film Festival in its determination to continue working on strengthening regional film production, promotion and film distribution. This is even more strongly emphasized by the fact that this year, in its three Competition selections, the Festival brings 14 world premieres, 7 international and 19 regional ones.
Competition Program - Feature Films
World Premieres
Carmen, Romania, 88 min. Director: Doru Nițescu, Screenplay: Tudor Voican, Doru Nițescu
Runaway Day, Greece, Black & White, 80 min. Director and screenplay: Dimitris Bavellas
Talea, Austria, 75 min. Director: Katharina Mückstein, Screenplay: Selina Gnos, Katharina Mückstein
With Mom / Sa Mamom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Slovenia, 80 min.
Director and screenplay: Faruk Lončarević
Wolf / Lupu, Romania, 77 min. Director and screenplay: Bogdan Mustață
Regional Premieres
In Bloom / Grzeli Nateli Dgeebi, Georgia, 102 min. Director: Nana Ekvtimishvili ♀, Simon Groß, Screenplay: Nana Ekvtimishvili ♀ . Isa: Memento
Soldate Jeannette, Austria, 79 min. Director and screenplay: Daniel Hoesl
A Stranger / Obrana I Zaštita, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 87 min. Director and screenplay: Bobo Jelčić. Berlinale Forum.
When Evening Falls On Bucharest Or Metabolism / Când Se Lasă Seara Peste Bucureşti Sau Metabolism, Romania, 93 min. Director and screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu
Documentary Competition:
World Premieres
A Slave (Bosnia and Herzegovina) by Bosnian director Pjer Žalica, known internationally for fiction films Days and Hours and Fuse [trailer]Autofocus, director: Boris Poljak (Croatia)Crazy About You, Danilo Marunović (Montenegro)Escape, Srdjan Keča (Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina) who was the winner of Best Central and East European Documentary Award at Jihlava for Mirage and Best Balkan Documentary at Prizren Dokufest for A Letter to DadFinding Family, Chris Leslie, Oggi Tomic (Bosnia and Herzegovina-uk)Patient, Zdenko Jurilj (Bosnia and Herzegovina)Screens, Hanna Slak ♀(Slovenia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Germany)
International Premieres
Here... I Mean There, Laura Capatana – Juller♀ (Romania), winner of Romanian Days Award For Feature Film at the Transylvania International Film FestivalMarried to the Swiss Franc, Arsen Oremović (Croatia)Mother Europe, Petra Seliškar♀ (Slovenia-Macedonia-Croatia) whose Grandmothers of Revolution played in Sarajevo’s documentary competition in 2006Yugoslavia, How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body, Marta Popivoda ♀(Serbia-France-Germany) which played in 2013 Berlinale Forum Expanded
Regional Premieres
The Cleaners, Konstantinos Georgousis (Greece), Idfa competition entryGangster of Love, Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia-Germany-Romania), winner of audience award at Zagrebdox and competition entry at Karlovy VaryThe Grocer, Dimitris Koutsiabasakos (Greece), audience award winner at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film FestMy Fathers, My Mother & Me, Paul-Julien Robert (Austria), world premiere Visions du RéelMy Kith and Kin, Rodion Ismailov (Azerbaijan), world premiere Visions du RéelRegina, Diana Groó ♀ (Hungary-uk-Germany)Sickfuckpeople, Juri Rechinsky (Austria)Unplugged, Mladen Kovačević (Serbia-Finland), world premiere Visions du RéelThe Verdict, Djuro Gavran (Croatia)When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, Ivana Todorović ♀ (Serbia), Berlinale Shorts title
Gala Screening - Out Of Competition
Occupation, the 27th Picture, Pavo Marinković (Czech Republic-Croatia) Competition ProgramSarajevo Film Festival Competition Program screens world, international and regional premieres of feature, short, animated and documentary films from: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Films selected in Competition Programmes for feature, short and documentary film compete for the prestigious Heart of Sarajevo Awards. Feature FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 16,000 EurosSpecial Jury Prize - 10,000 Euros Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress - 2,500 EurosHeart of Sarajevo for Best Actor - 2,500 Euros Short and Animated FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 2,500 Euros Documentary FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 3,000 Euros CinelinkCineLink, the backbone of the festival’s Industry Section, is a development and financing platform for carefully selected feature projects from Southeast Europe suited for European co-production. With an average conversion rate of its selected projects from development to production at 60% over the past decade, CineLink has grown into one of the most successful development and financing platforms in Europe. With its CineLink, CineLink Plus and Work in Progress sections it caters for projects in all stages of development, as well as projects in production and postproduction. CineLink also offers an awards fund of over 160,000 Euros in cash and services. CineLink is open for feature-length fiction film projects with potential for theatrical distribution, created by authors from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. As part of CineLink, a new project called Regional Forum was first launched in 2009, organised in cooperation with Screen International, one of the leading global magazines in film industry. Regional Forum, conceived as a platform offering a discussion framework for relevant national and regional film organisations and professionals from Southeast Europe, also encourages the harmonisation of national film policies and offers a possibility for exchange of good ideas and practices. Sarajevo Talent CampusSarajevo Talent Campus, the educational and networking platform for emerging filmmakers from Southeast Europe, was launched in 2007 in cooperation with Berlin International Film Festival and Berlinale Talent Campus. The programme offers inspiring lectures, panel discussions, and active critical debates, complemented by workshops, practical tutorials, screenings and inter-festival excursions for participants. The 7th Sarajevo Talent Campus, taking place from the 18th to the 24th of August, will be inviting scriptwriters, directors, actors, producers and film critics. Participation in Sarajevo Talent Campus is open to candidates from: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. 18th Sarajevo Film Festival By Numbers:
• 21 Programmes • 210 Films From 57 Countries• 10 Venues • 330 Employees and 280 Volunteers• More Than 1000 Accredited Guests • More Than 800 Accredited Media Representatives From 32 Countries • More Than 100,000 Visitors At All The Programs
Sarajevo City Of FilmAs the continuation of the activities in accordance with the goals set by the Sarajevo Talent Campus, the Sarajevo City of Film Fund was launched in 2008. The project is aimed at testing the knowledge and experience gained by the Sarajevo Talent Campus participants through the practical application in realisation of low-budget short films, as well as development of cooperation between the young creative authors whose work represents the future of the regional cinematography. Sarajevo City of Film Project has so far led to the filming of 20 short films screened worldwide and won numerous festivals awards.
Sarajevo Film Festival (August 16-24, 2013), now in its 19th year, is an international film festival with special focus on the region of Southeast Europe, it provides high quality programming, a strong industry segment, an educational platform for young filmmakers, the presence of numerous representatives of film industry, film authors and media representatives from all over the world, as well as over 100,000 visitors, thus confirming the festival's status, renowned and recognized by film professionals as well as by its audience.
It serves as a catalyst for cooperation within the region, and establishes connections with partners from all over the world. It also represents a platform for development of film business in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region, as well as setting new standards of festival organization and film presentation. While Karlovy Vary Film Festival has the Best of the East which gives a good view of finished films from Eastern Europe and is especially kind to journalists around the world, Sarajevo simultaneously hosts Cinelink, a very pro-active co-production market and workshop and Talent Campus which is a part of the Berlinale. This general networking of the world film industry is even more interesting because of its location in the city of Sarajevo itself. After the 4 year long siege of Sarajevo, it was founded as a means to recreate civil society of the City in 1995.
American actor/activist Danny Glover will curate and present the award for this year's Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award to a new cinematic voice whose work embodies Katrin Cartlidge’s “integrity of spirit and commitment to independent film”. Cartlidge, who died in 2002, was a British actress best known for her work with Mike Leigh and whose last role in the Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović’s No Man’s Land. Over the past nine years the Foundation has appointed a curator, selected from Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient for the annual award, a cash bursary, which is announced at a special red carpet gala at the Festival.
This year, all the selections of the Sff Competition Programme will present a total of 50 films. This brings the best of regional cinema and follows the Sarajevo Film Festival strategy of discovering new talents, approaches and tendencies rooted in the world cinema today.
For the final line-up of the Competition Program, programmers and the Sarajevo Film Festival team saw 750 films from the region, including 200 feature films, 150 documentaries and 400 short and animated films. This year's selection, but also the general interest in our Competition selections, encourages the Sarajevo Film Festival in its determination to continue working on strengthening regional film production, promotion and film distribution. This is even more strongly emphasized by the fact that this year, in its three Competition selections, the Festival brings 14 world premieres, 7 international and 19 regional ones.
Competition Program - Feature Films
World Premieres
Carmen, Romania, 88 min. Director: Doru Nițescu, Screenplay: Tudor Voican, Doru Nițescu
Runaway Day, Greece, Black & White, 80 min. Director and screenplay: Dimitris Bavellas
Talea, Austria, 75 min. Director: Katharina Mückstein, Screenplay: Selina Gnos, Katharina Mückstein
With Mom / Sa Mamom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Slovenia, 80 min.
Director and screenplay: Faruk Lončarević
Wolf / Lupu, Romania, 77 min. Director and screenplay: Bogdan Mustață
Regional Premieres
In Bloom / Grzeli Nateli Dgeebi, Georgia, 102 min. Director: Nana Ekvtimishvili ♀, Simon Groß, Screenplay: Nana Ekvtimishvili ♀ . Isa: Memento
Soldate Jeannette, Austria, 79 min. Director and screenplay: Daniel Hoesl
A Stranger / Obrana I Zaštita, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 87 min. Director and screenplay: Bobo Jelčić. Berlinale Forum.
When Evening Falls On Bucharest Or Metabolism / Când Se Lasă Seara Peste Bucureşti Sau Metabolism, Romania, 93 min. Director and screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu
Documentary Competition:
World Premieres
A Slave (Bosnia and Herzegovina) by Bosnian director Pjer Žalica, known internationally for fiction films Days and Hours and Fuse [trailer]Autofocus, director: Boris Poljak (Croatia)Crazy About You, Danilo Marunović (Montenegro)Escape, Srdjan Keča (Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina) who was the winner of Best Central and East European Documentary Award at Jihlava for Mirage and Best Balkan Documentary at Prizren Dokufest for A Letter to DadFinding Family, Chris Leslie, Oggi Tomic (Bosnia and Herzegovina-uk)Patient, Zdenko Jurilj (Bosnia and Herzegovina)Screens, Hanna Slak ♀(Slovenia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Germany)
International Premieres
Here... I Mean There, Laura Capatana – Juller♀ (Romania), winner of Romanian Days Award For Feature Film at the Transylvania International Film FestivalMarried to the Swiss Franc, Arsen Oremović (Croatia)Mother Europe, Petra Seliškar♀ (Slovenia-Macedonia-Croatia) whose Grandmothers of Revolution played in Sarajevo’s documentary competition in 2006Yugoslavia, How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body, Marta Popivoda ♀(Serbia-France-Germany) which played in 2013 Berlinale Forum Expanded
Regional Premieres
The Cleaners, Konstantinos Georgousis (Greece), Idfa competition entryGangster of Love, Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia-Germany-Romania), winner of audience award at Zagrebdox and competition entry at Karlovy VaryThe Grocer, Dimitris Koutsiabasakos (Greece), audience award winner at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film FestMy Fathers, My Mother & Me, Paul-Julien Robert (Austria), world premiere Visions du RéelMy Kith and Kin, Rodion Ismailov (Azerbaijan), world premiere Visions du RéelRegina, Diana Groó ♀ (Hungary-uk-Germany)Sickfuckpeople, Juri Rechinsky (Austria)Unplugged, Mladen Kovačević (Serbia-Finland), world premiere Visions du RéelThe Verdict, Djuro Gavran (Croatia)When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, Ivana Todorović ♀ (Serbia), Berlinale Shorts title
Gala Screening - Out Of Competition
Occupation, the 27th Picture, Pavo Marinković (Czech Republic-Croatia) Competition ProgramSarajevo Film Festival Competition Program screens world, international and regional premieres of feature, short, animated and documentary films from: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Films selected in Competition Programmes for feature, short and documentary film compete for the prestigious Heart of Sarajevo Awards. Feature FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 16,000 EurosSpecial Jury Prize - 10,000 Euros Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress - 2,500 EurosHeart of Sarajevo for Best Actor - 2,500 Euros Short and Animated FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 2,500 Euros Documentary FilmHeart of Sarajevo for Best Film - 3,000 Euros CinelinkCineLink, the backbone of the festival’s Industry Section, is a development and financing platform for carefully selected feature projects from Southeast Europe suited for European co-production. With an average conversion rate of its selected projects from development to production at 60% over the past decade, CineLink has grown into one of the most successful development and financing platforms in Europe. With its CineLink, CineLink Plus and Work in Progress sections it caters for projects in all stages of development, as well as projects in production and postproduction. CineLink also offers an awards fund of over 160,000 Euros in cash and services. CineLink is open for feature-length fiction film projects with potential for theatrical distribution, created by authors from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. As part of CineLink, a new project called Regional Forum was first launched in 2009, organised in cooperation with Screen International, one of the leading global magazines in film industry. Regional Forum, conceived as a platform offering a discussion framework for relevant national and regional film organisations and professionals from Southeast Europe, also encourages the harmonisation of national film policies and offers a possibility for exchange of good ideas and practices. Sarajevo Talent CampusSarajevo Talent Campus, the educational and networking platform for emerging filmmakers from Southeast Europe, was launched in 2007 in cooperation with Berlin International Film Festival and Berlinale Talent Campus. The programme offers inspiring lectures, panel discussions, and active critical debates, complemented by workshops, practical tutorials, screenings and inter-festival excursions for participants. The 7th Sarajevo Talent Campus, taking place from the 18th to the 24th of August, will be inviting scriptwriters, directors, actors, producers and film critics. Participation in Sarajevo Talent Campus is open to candidates from: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. 18th Sarajevo Film Festival By Numbers:
• 21 Programmes • 210 Films From 57 Countries• 10 Venues • 330 Employees and 280 Volunteers• More Than 1000 Accredited Guests • More Than 800 Accredited Media Representatives From 32 Countries • More Than 100,000 Visitors At All The Programs
Sarajevo City Of FilmAs the continuation of the activities in accordance with the goals set by the Sarajevo Talent Campus, the Sarajevo City of Film Fund was launched in 2008. The project is aimed at testing the knowledge and experience gained by the Sarajevo Talent Campus participants through the practical application in realisation of low-budget short films, as well as development of cooperation between the young creative authors whose work represents the future of the regional cinematography. Sarajevo City of Film Project has so far led to the filming of 20 short films screened worldwide and won numerous festivals awards.
- 7/20/2013
- by Sydney Levine, Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
The Sarajevo Film Festival has announced that Danny Glover will curate this year’s Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award - named after the British actress who starred in several Mike Leigh films and who died in 2002. Glover will attend the festival, which runs from August 16-24, and will present the winner of the award - aimed at giving new voices, new perspectives and visions a chance to be seen and heard. Over the past nine years the foundation has appointed a curator, selected from Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient for the annual award. The recipient is a new cinematic voice whose work, in some way, embodies her “integrity of spirit and...
- 7/15/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The Sarajevo Film Festival has announced that Us actor Danny Glover is to curate this year’s Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award.
The Lethal Weapon star will attend the festival, which runs from August 16-24, and will present the winner of the award - aimed at giving new voices, new perspectives and visions a chance to be seen and heard.
Over the past nine years the foundation has appointed a curator, selected from Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient for the annual bursary.
The recipient is a new cinematic voice whose work, in some way, embodies her “integrity of spirit and commitment to independent film”. Cartlidge was a British actress who starred in several Mike Leigh films and died in 2002.
The recipient is presented with the award, a cash bursary, at a special red carpet gala at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Past winners include:
Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia (2012, curator: Jeremy Irons)Hala Lotfy...
The Lethal Weapon star will attend the festival, which runs from August 16-24, and will present the winner of the award - aimed at giving new voices, new perspectives and visions a chance to be seen and heard.
Over the past nine years the foundation has appointed a curator, selected from Cartlidge’s friends and colleagues, who in turn chooses a recipient for the annual bursary.
The recipient is a new cinematic voice whose work, in some way, embodies her “integrity of spirit and commitment to independent film”. Cartlidge was a British actress who starred in several Mike Leigh films and died in 2002.
The recipient is presented with the award, a cash bursary, at a special red carpet gala at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Past winners include:
Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia (2012, curator: Jeremy Irons)Hala Lotfy...
- 7/15/2013
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
Moscow – Actor, philanthropist and Unicef Ambassador, Danny Glover will curate the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award at next month’s Sarajevo Film Festival. Glover, known for his roles in the Lethal Weapon franchise, smaller independent roles and as a developer and producer of historically relevant films through his company Louveture Films, including 2012 Sundance grand jury prize winner The House I Live In, is the latest in a line of top international talents to choose a winner for the prestigious prize. The award is named after the British actress who worked with directors that include Mike Leigh, Lars von Trier and
read more...
read more...
- 7/15/2013
- by Nick Holdsworth
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
DoxBox co-founder has not been in contact with family since failing to board plane at Damascus airport two weeks ago
Prominent figures from the film world, including Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Danny Boyle and Kevin Spacey, have urged the Syrian government to release a film-maker detained in Damascus two weeks ago.
Orwa Nyrabia, director of the Damascus-based international documentary festival DoxBox, travelled to the Syrian capital on 23 August to catch a flight to Cairo. His family lost contact with him shortly after he arrived at the airport, and Egyptian authorities say he did not board the plane, indicating that he had been arrested by the Syrian authorities.
A letter signed by 51 directors, producers, writers and actors says no information has been forthcoming about where Nyrabia is being held, which security branch is holding him or why he has been detained.
"We, the undersigned members of the UK film community and international friends,...
Prominent figures from the film world, including Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Danny Boyle and Kevin Spacey, have urged the Syrian government to release a film-maker detained in Damascus two weeks ago.
Orwa Nyrabia, director of the Damascus-based international documentary festival DoxBox, travelled to the Syrian capital on 23 August to catch a flight to Cairo. His family lost contact with him shortly after he arrived at the airport, and Egyptian authorities say he did not board the plane, indicating that he had been arrested by the Syrian authorities.
A letter signed by 51 directors, producers, writers and actors says no information has been forthcoming about where Nyrabia is being held, which security branch is holding him or why he has been detained.
"We, the undersigned members of the UK film community and international friends,...
- 9/7/2012
- by Haroon Siddique
- The Guardian - Film News
In the past few years I've fallen in love with Mike Leigh's work. The first film of his I saw was 2004's Vera Drake, a dark and disturbing picture that doesn't necessarily represent the side of Leigh I love, but is nonetheless a powerful film. It wasn't until Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008 that I saw my second Leigh feature and the sheer lust for life that was exhibited in that film from Sally Hawkins' performance to Leigh's script won me over. Since then I've enjoyed Secrets and Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Another Year and now Naked as Criterion has upgraded their 2005 DVD edition to a beautiful Blu-ray transfer, that allows for Leigh's direction and script to shine along with powerful performances and Dick Pope's wonderful cinematography.
However, I won't be quick to recommend Naked as a blind buy. This film is an alt-Happy-Go-Lucky and hues closer to Vera Drake in its darker tone as Johnny,...
However, I won't be quick to recommend Naked as a blind buy. This film is an alt-Happy-Go-Lucky and hues closer to Vera Drake in its darker tone as Johnny,...
- 7/19/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Chicago – Mike Leigh is now widely recognized as one of the best living directors, delivering yet another critically-acclaimed gem last year in the excellent “Another Year” (also recently-released on Blu-ray and DVD). Before “Secrets and Lies,” “Vera Drake,” and “Happy-Go-Lucky,” there was a searing, riveting howl at the moon known as “Naked,” the first film that really drew international attention to both Leigh and star David Thewlis. The film was recently given the upgrade treatment by Criterion, releasing it on Blu-ray for the first time.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
A good way to draw international attention is to win prizes at Cannes and Leigh and Thewlis won Best Director and Best Actor in the Spring of 1993 at the festival on the Riviera. Leigh had a strong background in theatre and had made some notable television plays and a few feature films (including the highly-underrated “Life is Sweet”), but “Naked” really changed his trajectory.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
A good way to draw international attention is to win prizes at Cannes and Leigh and Thewlis won Best Director and Best Actor in the Spring of 1993 at the festival on the Riviera. Leigh had a strong background in theatre and had made some notable television plays and a few feature films (including the highly-underrated “Life is Sweet”), but “Naked” really changed his trajectory.
- 7/19/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Winnie the Pooh – Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, John Cleese
Movie of the Week
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
The Plot: The final chapter of the Harry Potter franchise. Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue in their quest to find and destroy the Dark Lord’s three remaining Horcruxes
The Buzz: We’ve been following these spell-casters around now for just over a decade, and it’s hard to believe that their journey is coming to a close. It’s been interesting to see Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow up on screen. I’ve personally found these films to be more and more palatable as the kids have moved on through the years, and have therefore found each...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Winnie the Pooh – Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, John Cleese
Movie of the Week
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
The Plot: The final chapter of the Harry Potter franchise. Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue in their quest to find and destroy the Dark Lord’s three remaining Horcruxes
The Buzz: We’ve been following these spell-casters around now for just over a decade, and it’s hard to believe that their journey is coming to a close. It’s been interesting to see Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow up on screen. I’ve personally found these films to be more and more palatable as the kids have moved on through the years, and have therefore found each...
- 7/13/2011
- by Aaron Ruffcorn
- The Scorecard Review
DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed
Rango I wanted to ask for this one for review, but I just didn't have the time so Kevin took care of it for me and I'll have his review of the Blu-ray up in the morning. This was a fun film and a great homage to a countless number of westerns. I imagine it will have wonderful repeat value and if the image I saw on the big screen is any indication, this should look excellent at home in high-definition. Naked (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] The rest of this week finally sees my schedule begin to open up and this is priority one. I'm frustrated I haven't been able to get to this Blu-ray yet as anything from Mike Leigh tends to be a must watch and since I haven't seen Naked yet it makes it that much more intriguing.
Rango I wanted to ask for this one for review, but I just didn't have the time so Kevin took care of it for me and I'll have his review of the Blu-ray up in the morning. This was a fun film and a great homage to a countless number of westerns. I imagine it will have wonderful repeat value and if the image I saw on the big screen is any indication, this should look excellent at home in high-definition. Naked (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] The rest of this week finally sees my schedule begin to open up and this is priority one. I'm frustrated I haven't been able to get to this Blu-ray yet as anything from Mike Leigh tends to be a must watch and since I haven't seen Naked yet it makes it that much more intriguing.
- 7/12/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Battle Beyond The Stars: 30th Anniversary Special Edition (1980)
Synopsis: Shad must scour the cosmos to recruit mercenaries from different planets and cultures, in order to save his peaceful home planet from the threat of the evil tyrant Sador, bent on dominating and enslaving the entire universe. Joining this “magnificent seven” of mercenaries are the deadly Gelt, carefree Cowboy, and the sexy Valkyrie Saint-Exmin. (courtesy of Blu-Ray.com)
Special Features: Audio commentary with producer Roger Corman and writer John Sayles; Audio commentary from production manager Gale Anne Hurd; The Man Who Would Be Shad featurette; Space Opera on a Shoestring featurette; Still gallery; Poster gallery; Theatrical trailer; Radio spot.
Brazil (1985)
Synopsis: In the future, a clerk at the all-powerful Ministry of Information sticks to his ideals and ends up crushed by the system in this half comedy, half...
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Battle Beyond The Stars: 30th Anniversary Special Edition (1980)
Synopsis: Shad must scour the cosmos to recruit mercenaries from different planets and cultures, in order to save his peaceful home planet from the threat of the evil tyrant Sador, bent on dominating and enslaving the entire universe. Joining this “magnificent seven” of mercenaries are the deadly Gelt, carefree Cowboy, and the sexy Valkyrie Saint-Exmin. (courtesy of Blu-Ray.com)
Special Features: Audio commentary with producer Roger Corman and writer John Sayles; Audio commentary from production manager Gale Anne Hurd; The Man Who Would Be Shad featurette; Space Opera on a Shoestring featurette; Still gallery; Poster gallery; Theatrical trailer; Radio spot.
Brazil (1985)
Synopsis: In the future, a clerk at the all-powerful Ministry of Information sticks to his ideals and ends up crushed by the system in this half comedy, half...
- 7/11/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
DVD Playhouse—July 2011
By Allen Gardner
The Music Room (Criterion) Satyajit Ray’s 1958 masterpiece looks at the life of a fallen aristocrat as a metaphor for an India that is not only becoming Westernized, but modernized technologically and culturally beyond recognition. When the beloved music room, where he has hosted lavish concerts in the past, starts falling into disrepair as attendance drops steadily, the man realizes his way of life is vanishing. Stunningly shot in black & white, one of Ray’s finest works. Bonuses: Documentary on Ray from 1984 by Shyam Benegal; Interviews with Ray biographer Andrew Robinson and filmmaker Mira Nair; Excerpt from 1981 roundtable discussion between Ray, critic Michael Ciment, director Claude Sautet. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Beauty And The Beast (Criterion) Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of the classic fairy tale become a beloved classic upon its 1946 release, and hasn’t faded since.
By Allen Gardner
The Music Room (Criterion) Satyajit Ray’s 1958 masterpiece looks at the life of a fallen aristocrat as a metaphor for an India that is not only becoming Westernized, but modernized technologically and culturally beyond recognition. When the beloved music room, where he has hosted lavish concerts in the past, starts falling into disrepair as attendance drops steadily, the man realizes his way of life is vanishing. Stunningly shot in black & white, one of Ray’s finest works. Bonuses: Documentary on Ray from 1984 by Shyam Benegal; Interviews with Ray biographer Andrew Robinson and filmmaker Mira Nair; Excerpt from 1981 roundtable discussion between Ray, critic Michael Ciment, director Claude Sautet. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Beauty And The Beast (Criterion) Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of the classic fairy tale become a beloved classic upon its 1946 release, and hasn’t faded since.
- 7/7/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Naked, the controversial 1993 drama film by writer-director Mike Leigh (Another Year) will receive a release on Blu-ray disc from The Criterion Collection on July 12.
The film was first issued on DVD by Criterion back in 2005.
David Thewliss gives the world a piece of his mind in Naked.
In the movie, David Thewlis (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) stars as Johnny, a charming and eloquent but relentlessly vicious drifter. Rejecting anyone who might care for him, the volcanic Johnny hurls himself through a nocturnal odyssey around London, colliding with a succession of other desperate and dispossessed people, and scorching everyone in his path.
Co-starring alongside Thewliss (who delivers a raging, raw performance) are the late Katrin Cartlidge (Before the Rain) and Lesley Sharp (The Full Monty).
Leigh’s picture of England’s underbelly is an amalgam of black comedy and doomsday prophecy that took the best director and best...
The film was first issued on DVD by Criterion back in 2005.
David Thewliss gives the world a piece of his mind in Naked.
In the movie, David Thewlis (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) stars as Johnny, a charming and eloquent but relentlessly vicious drifter. Rejecting anyone who might care for him, the volcanic Johnny hurls himself through a nocturnal odyssey around London, colliding with a succession of other desperate and dispossessed people, and scorching everyone in his path.
Co-starring alongside Thewliss (who delivers a raging, raw performance) are the late Katrin Cartlidge (Before the Rain) and Lesley Sharp (The Full Monty).
Leigh’s picture of England’s underbelly is an amalgam of black comedy and doomsday prophecy that took the best director and best...
- 4/17/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Note: I’ll be updating this page as Criterion makes the release dates and final art available. – Ryan 4/15/2011
Well here we are, another mid-month Criterion new release announcement. This time last year, we were treated to the incredible one-two punch announcement of Black Narcissus and the Red Shoes as upgraded DVD/Blu-ray editions. This time around we have even more to be excited about.
First up, a couple of films that we’ve actually already covered on the podcast will finally be getting Blu-ray upgrades. One of our very first episodes was on Mike Leigh’s Naked (a film that I wasn’t too hot on, but I loved Leigh’s Topsy Turvy). Now you’ll finally be able to see this incredibly daring and raw look at England in the early 90s, with David Thewlis as the immortal Johnny. I found the dialogue to be a little too rapid and not very naturalistic,...
Well here we are, another mid-month Criterion new release announcement. This time last year, we were treated to the incredible one-two punch announcement of Black Narcissus and the Red Shoes as upgraded DVD/Blu-ray editions. This time around we have even more to be excited about.
First up, a couple of films that we’ve actually already covered on the podcast will finally be getting Blu-ray upgrades. One of our very first episodes was on Mike Leigh’s Naked (a film that I wasn’t too hot on, but I loved Leigh’s Topsy Turvy). Now you’ll finally be able to see this incredibly daring and raw look at England in the early 90s, with David Thewlis as the immortal Johnny. I found the dialogue to be a little too rapid and not very naturalistic,...
- 4/15/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
I love that a heated discussion over Titanic’s infamous Oscar sweep of 1998 has already begun over at Laurent’s excellent retrospective. I guess it’s just the nature of this particular film. There is something about Titanic that hits a raw nerve in people and they feel a need to defend/criticize it so passionately.
As it happens, I fall in the ‘unconditional love’ category and I’m not afraid to admit it. To this day I have a passion for Titanic, a film that so perfectly matches what a glorious, spellbinding, big spectacle romance against an historic backdrop should be, and those films are so rare, especially when they are made with such precise and meticulous detail from James Cameron.
We shouldn’t be embarrassed over how much we loved Titanic in the 90′s. We should embrace it. So as our third ‘Choose The Winners’ article, we are...
As it happens, I fall in the ‘unconditional love’ category and I’m not afraid to admit it. To this day I have a passion for Titanic, a film that so perfectly matches what a glorious, spellbinding, big spectacle romance against an historic backdrop should be, and those films are so rare, especially when they are made with such precise and meticulous detail from James Cameron.
We shouldn’t be embarrassed over how much we loved Titanic in the 90′s. We should embrace it. So as our third ‘Choose The Winners’ article, we are...
- 12/24/2010
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Mike Leigh's films are renowned for their formidable female characters. We get some of his favourite actresses, from veterans Alison Steadman and Brenda Blethyn to the stars of Another Year, together to discuss the special magic of creating a character with Leigh – and talk to the man himself
When Mike Leigh has anything to do with a party, it tends to be dangerous: everything, in his films, starts to unravel. But at this get-together of women who regularly act in them, all is well. They are opening the champagne, getting ready to smile for the camera, and someone – I think it is Alison Steadman – shouts: "To Mike!". Everyone – Imelda Staunton, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Marion Bailey, Karina Fernandez – lifts their glasses. There is much laughter and noisy conversation. I know how many of his regulars regret not being here because I have been talking to some of them – Brenda Blethyn,...
When Mike Leigh has anything to do with a party, it tends to be dangerous: everything, in his films, starts to unravel. But at this get-together of women who regularly act in them, all is well. They are opening the champagne, getting ready to smile for the camera, and someone – I think it is Alison Steadman – shouts: "To Mike!". Everyone – Imelda Staunton, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Marion Bailey, Karina Fernandez – lifts their glasses. There is much laughter and noisy conversation. I know how many of his regulars regret not being here because I have been talking to some of them – Brenda Blethyn,...
- 11/1/2010
- by Kate Kellaway
- The Guardian - Film News
Several stories set to the four seasons is where Mike Leigh went with Another Year -- a hard follow up act to follow in the eyes of those who can't think before the cheery go lucky portrait with Sally Hawkins. I kept thinking of Bergman's later films -- and was comforted like what a quilt would on a winter's day by the on-screen pairing of thesps Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent. They portray just a healthy, super supportive couple growing old together with a mutual respect for one another and those around them. Love the supporting work from Leigh veteran actress Lesley Manville who doesn't go off the deep end but might be as brittle as former Leigh characters as in Secrets & Lies' Brenda Blethyn or Career Girls' nutty perf from Katrin Cartlidge. Side note: I was sort of surprised that Imelda Staunton doesn't occupy much place in the slice of life portrait.
- 5/16/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Filmmaker Juanita Wilson has found herself in the running for an Oscar nomination as an Irish entry for best short-film. Academy eligibility for the 'The Door' has come on the heels of an Irish Film and Television Award (Ifta) for Best Short Film, and the film was also honoured at the Sarajevo Film Festival by the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award 2009. 'The Door' was produced by Louise Curran and James Flynn, with Tim Fleming as its cinematographer. Other awards for the film have included winning the Bilbao Film Festival, taking the top prize in the Best Short Film category at the Academy-affiliated Foyle Film Festival and the prestigious Clare Lynch Award at the Cork Film Festival. The film also screened at the prestigious Edinburgh and Munich film festivals and the Telluride Film Festival.
- 9/7/2009
- IFTN
Variety reports that Nicole Kidman and director Lars Von Trier will reunite for two more films after their recently completed Dogville, thus forming a trilogy of films centered around Kidman's character. The next film, Manderlay, is expected to begin shooting in August 2003, after Kidman has wrapped both Jonathan Glazer's Birth and Frank Oz's remake of The Stepford Wives. In Dogville, expected to premiere at next year's Cannes Film Festival, Kidman plays a stranger who comes to a small American town, and overturns the residents' preconceptions of human nature. Von Trier's cut of the film is rumored to be 165 minutes, and the filmmaker reportedly created an entire small town on a bare soundstage with only actors, lights, theatrical backdrops . and 100 digital cameras. Paul Bettany, Chloe Sevigny, Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara, Stellan Skarsgard and the late Katrin Cartlidge also star.
- 11/5/2002
- IMDbPro News
No Man's Land star Katrin Cartlidge has died suddenly at the age of 41. The British actress, who played a TV reporter in the Oscar-winning Bosnian movie about life on the frontline during the Balkan conflict, is believed to have died of complications resulting from pneumonia and blood poisoning. Cartlidge was a regular collaborator with UK director Mike Leigh, and appeared in several films following a stint in TV soap Brookside. She starred in From Hell, Topsy-turvy, Before The Rain, Career Girls, Naked and Breaking The Waves.
- 9/10/2002
- WENN
Variety reports that Actress Katrin Cartlidge, best known for her roles in British director Mike Leigh's films, has died. She was 41. Cartridge's credits include Leigh's Naked, Career Girls and Topsy Turvy; this year's best foreign film Oscar-winner No Man's Land, in which she played a journalist; the multiple award-winning and criticallly-acclaimed Breaking the Waves; and the Johnny Depp thriller, From Hell. According to her agent, Cartlidge died over the weekend, but no cause of death was given. It is reported that she succumbed to complications from pneumonia and septicemia.
- 9/9/2002
- IMDbPro News
If you go to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and stroll around the kitchen section where all those metal refrigerators and icers and things are, you'll get a feel for "Claire Dolan", a frosty, modern work of filmic blue.
A character portrait of a modern-day call girl, Cannes film festival competition entry "Claire Dolan", scorched in arctic blues and chilly framings, is a mildly interesting but ultimately detached divertissement that will likely swing no more than a one-night stand on the art house circuit.
Katrin Cartlidge stars as Claire, a fashionable woman who has somehow run up a huge debt to her pimp (Colm Meaney). We're never told how this came to be -- she doesn't seem to have a drug habit, and she's methodical to such a degree we can't imagine her not balancing her checkbook to the penny.
In her late 30s, Claire's feeling the pressure from some sort of psychological clock and has decided to quit the trade and have a child. With those goals in mind, she increases her caseload, as it were, doing johns with the fierce determination of a chiropractor who schedules overlapping appointments. Not surprisingly, the erotic portion of this film is negligible -- the sex is about as stirring as the demonstration of a newfangled ice maker -- and writer-director Lodge Kerrigan never gets far beneath Claire's surface. As such, "Claire Dolan" is not much more than a tease.
As the titular character, Cartlidge's piercing eyes and steely demeanor never deviate from a one-note performance. As far as we get to know Claire, all we can determine is that she's terminally snippy and, alas, very shallow.
The only flesh-and-blood performance in the film is Vincent D'Onofrio's sharp turn as a frustrated cabbie who tries to connect with Claire. Meaney is, well, a solid meanie as Claire's pimp, but the role is sorely underwritten and we know nothing about him other than he's manipulative and cruel.
Unfortunately, Kerrigan's direction is befitting more an appliance commercial than a human drama. While he evinces a luminously chilly tone -- thanks to the smart and sterile scopings of cinematographer Teodoro Maniaci and the edgy, modernistic production design of Sharon Lomofsky -- "Claire" is merely one frigid film.
CLAIRE DOLAN
MK2 Prods./Serene Films
Screenwriter-director: Lodge Kerrigan
Director of photography: Teodoro Maniaci
Production designer: Sharon Lomofsky
Music: Simon Fisher Turner
Editor: Kristina Boden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Dolan: Katrin Cartlidge
Elton Garrett: Vincent D'Onofrio
Roland Cain: Colm Meaney
Cain's friend: John Doman
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A character portrait of a modern-day call girl, Cannes film festival competition entry "Claire Dolan", scorched in arctic blues and chilly framings, is a mildly interesting but ultimately detached divertissement that will likely swing no more than a one-night stand on the art house circuit.
Katrin Cartlidge stars as Claire, a fashionable woman who has somehow run up a huge debt to her pimp (Colm Meaney). We're never told how this came to be -- she doesn't seem to have a drug habit, and she's methodical to such a degree we can't imagine her not balancing her checkbook to the penny.
In her late 30s, Claire's feeling the pressure from some sort of psychological clock and has decided to quit the trade and have a child. With those goals in mind, she increases her caseload, as it were, doing johns with the fierce determination of a chiropractor who schedules overlapping appointments. Not surprisingly, the erotic portion of this film is negligible -- the sex is about as stirring as the demonstration of a newfangled ice maker -- and writer-director Lodge Kerrigan never gets far beneath Claire's surface. As such, "Claire Dolan" is not much more than a tease.
As the titular character, Cartlidge's piercing eyes and steely demeanor never deviate from a one-note performance. As far as we get to know Claire, all we can determine is that she's terminally snippy and, alas, very shallow.
The only flesh-and-blood performance in the film is Vincent D'Onofrio's sharp turn as a frustrated cabbie who tries to connect with Claire. Meaney is, well, a solid meanie as Claire's pimp, but the role is sorely underwritten and we know nothing about him other than he's manipulative and cruel.
Unfortunately, Kerrigan's direction is befitting more an appliance commercial than a human drama. While he evinces a luminously chilly tone -- thanks to the smart and sterile scopings of cinematographer Teodoro Maniaci and the edgy, modernistic production design of Sharon Lomofsky -- "Claire" is merely one frigid film.
CLAIRE DOLAN
MK2 Prods./Serene Films
Screenwriter-director: Lodge Kerrigan
Director of photography: Teodoro Maniaci
Production designer: Sharon Lomofsky
Music: Simon Fisher Turner
Editor: Kristina Boden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Dolan: Katrin Cartlidge
Elton Garrett: Vincent D'Onofrio
Roland Cain: Colm Meaney
Cain's friend: John Doman
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/29/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COP LAND
Miramax Films
A solidly entertaining drama that stays true to the independent spirit of its filmmakers, including the casting of heavyweights Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in less-than-glamorous roles, Miramax's "Cop Land" has a good shot at leggy boxoffice success based on upbeat word-of-mouth and critical support.
Writer-director James Mangold ("Heavy") wrangles an impressive cast working for scale -- including Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Berg, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport and Annabella Sciorra -- and spins a compelling tale of cancerous corruption within a secretive group of New York's finest who have settled in the fictional New Jersey burg of Garrison.
With solid production design by Lester Cohen and costumes by Ellen Lutter, the editing by Craig McKay is also on the nose. Howard Shore's fine score is assisted by songs from Bruce Springsteen, Robert Cray and Boz Scaggs (HR 8/11).
David Hunter
CAREER GIRLS
October Films
"Career Girls" is Mike Leigh lite. Coming off the much-lauded, emotionally taut "Secrets & Lies," the acclaimed filmmaker cleanses the artistic palate with another tale of two women, only this time the seemingly slight story -- about two former roommates who are reunited six years later -- generates more laughter than tears.
But while humor abounds, the reflective piece nevertheless carries an emotional heft that tends to sneak up on the viewer after the fact. It's a testament to Leigh's tremendous skills as a storyteller and the splendid performances of his leads, Katrin Cartlidge ("Breaking the Waves") and newcomer Lynda Steadman (HR 8/7).
Michael Rechtshaffen
G.I. JANE
Buena Vista Pictures
A Tom Cruise movie without Tom's magic smile, an Arnold Schwarzenegger adventure without the muscular machismo, Sharon Stone crossing her legs: Imagine more of the same, star vehicles with the star's best assets not used.
Thus marches out Hollywood Pictures' "G.I. Jane", Demi Moore as a Navy S.E.A.L. trainee with her head sheared bald and her body completely covered in military gear. Although there is novelty in seeing the one spot of Moore's anatomy we haven't been exposed to, this formulaic movie is not likely to detonate more than mediocre boxoffice for Buena Vista.
Basically "Top Gun" without the high-flying acrobatics and the good-old-boy charm, "G.I. Jane" is an ultra-serious tract about an underdog's battle against the big bad establishment, in this case, the first female Navy S.E.A.L. vs. the institutional harassment of the military machine.
Special praise to cinematographer Hugh Johnson for the charged scopings and Trevor Jones for the ear-blasting score (HR 8/8-10).
Duane Byrge
Other reviews
Also reviewed last week were "Def Jam's How to Be a Player" (HR 8/6) and "Free Willy 3: The Rescue" (8/8-10).
Miramax Films
A solidly entertaining drama that stays true to the independent spirit of its filmmakers, including the casting of heavyweights Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in less-than-glamorous roles, Miramax's "Cop Land" has a good shot at leggy boxoffice success based on upbeat word-of-mouth and critical support.
Writer-director James Mangold ("Heavy") wrangles an impressive cast working for scale -- including Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Berg, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport and Annabella Sciorra -- and spins a compelling tale of cancerous corruption within a secretive group of New York's finest who have settled in the fictional New Jersey burg of Garrison.
With solid production design by Lester Cohen and costumes by Ellen Lutter, the editing by Craig McKay is also on the nose. Howard Shore's fine score is assisted by songs from Bruce Springsteen, Robert Cray and Boz Scaggs (HR 8/11).
David Hunter
CAREER GIRLS
October Films
"Career Girls" is Mike Leigh lite. Coming off the much-lauded, emotionally taut "Secrets & Lies," the acclaimed filmmaker cleanses the artistic palate with another tale of two women, only this time the seemingly slight story -- about two former roommates who are reunited six years later -- generates more laughter than tears.
But while humor abounds, the reflective piece nevertheless carries an emotional heft that tends to sneak up on the viewer after the fact. It's a testament to Leigh's tremendous skills as a storyteller and the splendid performances of his leads, Katrin Cartlidge ("Breaking the Waves") and newcomer Lynda Steadman (HR 8/7).
Michael Rechtshaffen
G.I. JANE
Buena Vista Pictures
A Tom Cruise movie without Tom's magic smile, an Arnold Schwarzenegger adventure without the muscular machismo, Sharon Stone crossing her legs: Imagine more of the same, star vehicles with the star's best assets not used.
Thus marches out Hollywood Pictures' "G.I. Jane", Demi Moore as a Navy S.E.A.L. trainee with her head sheared bald and her body completely covered in military gear. Although there is novelty in seeing the one spot of Moore's anatomy we haven't been exposed to, this formulaic movie is not likely to detonate more than mediocre boxoffice for Buena Vista.
Basically "Top Gun" without the high-flying acrobatics and the good-old-boy charm, "G.I. Jane" is an ultra-serious tract about an underdog's battle against the big bad establishment, in this case, the first female Navy S.E.A.L. vs. the institutional harassment of the military machine.
Special praise to cinematographer Hugh Johnson for the charged scopings and Trevor Jones for the ear-blasting score (HR 8/8-10).
Duane Byrge
Other reviews
Also reviewed last week were "Def Jam's How to Be a Player" (HR 8/6) and "Free Willy 3: The Rescue" (8/8-10).
- 8/12/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Career Girls" is Mike Leigh lite.
Coming off the much-lauded, emotionally taut "Secrets & Lies," the acclaimed filmmaker cleanses the artistic palate with another tale of two women, only this time the seemingly slight story -- about two former roommates who are reunited six years later -- generates more laughter than tears.
But while humor abounds, the reflective piece nevertheless carries an emotional heft that tends to sneak up on the viewer after the fact. It's a testament to Leigh's tremendous skills as a storyteller and the splendid performances of his leads, Katrin Cartlidge ("Breaking the Waves") and newcomer Lynda Steadman.
While it's not the kind of material that generates Oscar buzz, and those thick accents can at times be challenging to North American ears, "Career Girls" should still make a decent theatrical living given Leigh's considerable select-site following.
The flashback-heavy picture focuses on Hannah (Cartlidge) and Annie (Steadman), two 30-year-old reformed misfits who once shared a London flat in the mid-'80s. Both appear to have come a long way from those post-adolescent days when Hannah was one big nervous tic and Annie had a blotchy skin disorder that made her feel and act like a social outcast.
When Annie accepts an invitation to visit Hannah six years later, the women have blossomed into tic-free, blotch-free, well-adjusted adults with good jobs and strong values.
In time, however, as the distance of those years apart begins to evaporate over a cup of tea, the old dynamics come back into play, and the friends' reflection of their shared past ultimately says a lot about who we are and how much we actually change.
Leigh certainly takes a couple of risks here. The wall-to-wall flashbacks, which in most cases would distract from the central story, may be a little jarring at first but ultimately succeed because they serve as an integral part of that story. In other instances, including one flashback sequence in which the two women and Annie's homely, stuttering friend Ricky (Mark Benton) argue at a pub, the dueling, twitchy assortment of behavioral spasms treads a fine line between parody and pathos.
Cinematographer Dick Pope does an effective job in using composition and distance to reflect the characters' shifting emotional states. So does the sparse but soulful original score composed by "Secrets & Lies" actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Tony Remy, which shares the soundtrack with several songs by the Cure.
CAREER GIRLS
October Films
Director-screenwriter Mike Leigh
Producer Simon Channing-Williams
Director of photography Dick Pope
Production designer Eve Stewart
Editor Robin Sales
Music Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tony Remy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Hannah Katrin Cartlidge
Annie Lynda Steadman
Claire Kate Byers
Ricky Mark Benton
Mr. Evans Andy Serkis
Adrian Joe Tucker
Ricky's Nan Margo Stanley
Lecturer Michael Healy
Running time -- 87 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Coming off the much-lauded, emotionally taut "Secrets & Lies," the acclaimed filmmaker cleanses the artistic palate with another tale of two women, only this time the seemingly slight story -- about two former roommates who are reunited six years later -- generates more laughter than tears.
But while humor abounds, the reflective piece nevertheless carries an emotional heft that tends to sneak up on the viewer after the fact. It's a testament to Leigh's tremendous skills as a storyteller and the splendid performances of his leads, Katrin Cartlidge ("Breaking the Waves") and newcomer Lynda Steadman.
While it's not the kind of material that generates Oscar buzz, and those thick accents can at times be challenging to North American ears, "Career Girls" should still make a decent theatrical living given Leigh's considerable select-site following.
The flashback-heavy picture focuses on Hannah (Cartlidge) and Annie (Steadman), two 30-year-old reformed misfits who once shared a London flat in the mid-'80s. Both appear to have come a long way from those post-adolescent days when Hannah was one big nervous tic and Annie had a blotchy skin disorder that made her feel and act like a social outcast.
When Annie accepts an invitation to visit Hannah six years later, the women have blossomed into tic-free, blotch-free, well-adjusted adults with good jobs and strong values.
In time, however, as the distance of those years apart begins to evaporate over a cup of tea, the old dynamics come back into play, and the friends' reflection of their shared past ultimately says a lot about who we are and how much we actually change.
Leigh certainly takes a couple of risks here. The wall-to-wall flashbacks, which in most cases would distract from the central story, may be a little jarring at first but ultimately succeed because they serve as an integral part of that story. In other instances, including one flashback sequence in which the two women and Annie's homely, stuttering friend Ricky (Mark Benton) argue at a pub, the dueling, twitchy assortment of behavioral spasms treads a fine line between parody and pathos.
Cinematographer Dick Pope does an effective job in using composition and distance to reflect the characters' shifting emotional states. So does the sparse but soulful original score composed by "Secrets & Lies" actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Tony Remy, which shares the soundtrack with several songs by the Cure.
CAREER GIRLS
October Films
Director-screenwriter Mike Leigh
Producer Simon Channing-Williams
Director of photography Dick Pope
Production designer Eve Stewart
Editor Robin Sales
Music Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tony Remy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Hannah Katrin Cartlidge
Annie Lynda Steadman
Claire Kate Byers
Ricky Mark Benton
Mr. Evans Andy Serkis
Adrian Joe Tucker
Ricky's Nan Margo Stanley
Lecturer Michael Healy
Running time -- 87 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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