Bright Young Things (2003)

An adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel "Vile Bodies", is a look into the lives of a young novelist, his would-be lover, and a host of young people who beautified London in the 1930s.

Director:

Stephen Fry

Writers:

Stephen Fry (screenplay), Evelyn Waugh (novel)

Stars:

Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily Mortimer, Dan Aykroyd

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simon McBurney	...	Sneath (Photo-Rat)
Michael Sheen	...	Miles Maitland
Emily Mortimer	...	Nina
James McAvoy	...	Simon Balcairn
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Adam
Stockard Channing	...	Mrs. Melrose Ape
Adrian Scarborough	...	Customs Officer
Jim Carter	...	Chief Customs Officer
Fenella Woolgar	...	Agatha
Dan Aykroyd	...	Lord Monomark
Julia McKenzie	...	Lottie Crump
Bruno Lastra	...	Basilio
David Tennant	...	Ginger Littlejohn
Jim Broadbent	...	The Drunken Major
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Judge

Storyline

A fool and his money. In the 1930s, Adam Fenwick-Symes (Stephen Campbell Moore) is part of the English idle class, wanting to marry the flighty Nina Blount (Emily Mortimer). He's a novelist with a one hundred-pound advance for a manuscript confiscated by English customs. He spends the next several years trying to get money and to set a wedding date. He trades in gossip, wins money on wagers, then gives it to a drunken Major (Jim Broadbent), who suggested he bet on a horse in an upcoming race. Adam tries to get the money back, but can't find the Major. Meanwhile, Nina needs security, friends drink too much, and general unhappiness spoils the party. Then war breaks out. Is Adam's bright youth dimming with the fall of an empire?

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian subtext | orgy | man dancing with man | lesbian | homosexual | 

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Taglines:

Sex... Scandal... Celebrity... Some things never change.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Offical Site with synopsis, trailer, cast & crew Revolution Films

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agria niata

Filming Locations:

Port of Tilbury, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$46,926, 22 August 2004

Gross USA:

$933,637

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,905,499

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Film Consortium, UK Film Council, Visionview Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was produced by Doubting Hall Productions, reflecting Colonel Blount's (Peter O'Toole's) (resident of Doubting Hall) foray into filmmaking in Evelyn Waugh's "Vile Bodies", the book on which this movie was based.

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Goofs

An issue of "The Daily Express" from October 1931 refers to Adolf Hitler as "the new German Chancellor." However, Hitler did not become Chancellor of Germany until January 30, 1933.

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Quotes

Adam Fenwick-Symes: Oh Nina, what a lot of parties... Masked parties, Savage parties, Victorian parties, Greek parties, Wild West parties, Circus parties, parties where you have to dress as somebody else, almost naked parties in St. John's Wood, parties in flats and studios and houses and ships and hotels and nightclubs, in swimming baths and windmills. Dances in London so dull. Comic dances in Scotland and disgusting dances in the suburbs. All that succession and repetition of massed humanity. All those vile ...

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Crazy Credits

The end credits list the actors one or two at a time, showing pictures of their characters in the film along with their names.

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Connections

Version of Vile Bodies (1970)

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Soundtracks

Silver Threads Among The Gold
Lyrics by Eben E. Rexford and music by H.P. Danks
Performed by Marcus Oliver

User Reviews

A pretty good first stab

Stephen Fry is such a prodigious polymath that it's no surprise what a good fist he's made of his directorial debut. That's not to say it's wholly successful; the characters are so shallow that it is hard to warm to them, although it should be pointed out that this is not necessarily a fault. Indeed, it's refreshing these days to find a film in which characters are not trying to ingratiate themselves. Emily Mortimer is exempt from this observation in any case, as she's just so adorable - and is it just me or does she look a dead spit for the young Mary Steenburgen?

I found not only the camerawork but the lighting extremely gaudy, sometimes offputtingly so. However, Fry is admirably adventurous in some of his camera sweeps, not playing it safe as some inexperienced directors do.

As to the performances, it is true that Simon Callow hams it up quite outrageously (although he still wrung a couple of chuckles out of me), and I found Michael Sheen's uber-camp queen rather wearing, until his scene at the end which I thought he handled well. I know I'm not the first person to say this, but it bears repetition: Fenella Woolgar is a revelation in this film, conveying the insouciance of the upper class effortlessly (and the scene after the "orgy" with the stern family is priceless). James McEvoy was excellent too.

Oh, and by the way, to whomever described Evelyn Waugh as "herself one of the beauties of the age" - you may have been joking, but in case not, Evelyn Waugh was in fact a curmudgeonly man who would no doubt have snorted to hear himself thus described!