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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some exteriors were shot at the Adelphi terrace in London.

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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

Featured in Stephen Fry: Director Documentary (2003)

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Soundtracks

The Party's Over Now
Written and performed by Noël Coward

User Reviews

An Acid Satire With Serious Pretensions

"Bright Young Things" is a mostly effective satire, with some jarring seriousness thrown in, of "Masterpiece Theater" Jazz Age costume dramas for its first seven-eighths.

Set in the same period as "Gosford Park," its conflicts are just within the sexual and financial eccentricities of the empty-headed leisure and wannabe leisure class, where titles don't match income or outflow.

It is more of a visual evocation of Noel Coward songs and incorporates some of his numbers, as well as original sound-alike songs. The frolics have some similarities to the simultaneous Weimar Republic portrayed in "Cabaret."

Stephen Campbell Moore as the protagonist is almost too good in his film debut, as his character's captivatingly serious eyes and demeanor conflict with his insouciant company, particularly Emily Mortimer as his dispassionate lover, though that justifies the stuck-on denouement, that even without having read the Evelyn Waugh book this is adapted from, "Vile Bodies," I can tell didn't have this too neat and comeuppance tying-up.

The most pointed parts of the movie are its acid documentation of the birth of the tabloid gossip press, including Dan Ackroyd as a Canadian press baron with a more than passing resemblance to today's lords of Fleet Street. James McAvoy is very good as a more upper-class betraying precursor to his scandal-seeking scion reporter in the mini-series "State of Play," and manages to seem like a real person, unlike so many of the characters who are just types or plot conveniences.

The production design and costumes are delightful.

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:

Bright Young Things

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