Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Bright Leaves

  • 20032003
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
643
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
169,250
1,310
Bright Leaves (2003)
Home Video Trailer from First Run
Play trailer2:43
1 Video
2 Photos
DocumentaryBiographyComedy
McElwee family legend has it that the Hollywood melodrama "Bright Leaf" starring Gary Cooper as a 19th century tobacco grower, is based on filmmaker Ross McElwee's great-grandfather, who cre... Read allMcElwee family legend has it that the Hollywood melodrama "Bright Leaf" starring Gary Cooper as a 19th century tobacco grower, is based on filmmaker Ross McElwee's great-grandfather, who created the Bull Durham brand.McElwee family legend has it that the Hollywood melodrama "Bright Leaf" starring Gary Cooper as a 19th century tobacco grower, is based on filmmaker Ross McElwee's great-grandfather, who created the Bull Durham brand.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
643
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
169,250
1,310
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Ross McElwee
    • Writer
      • Ross McElwee
    • Stars
      • Allan Gurganus
      • Paula Larke
      • Marilyn Levine
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Ross McElwee
    • Writer
      • Ross McElwee
    • Stars
      • Allan Gurganus
      • Paula Larke
      • Marilyn Levine
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 17User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
    • Awards
      • 9 nominations

    Videos1

    Bright Leaves
    Trailer 2:43
    Bright Leaves

    Photos

    Bright Leaves (2003)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Allan Gurganus
    • Self
    Paula Larke
    • Self
    Marilyn Levine
    • Self
    Emily Madison
    • Self
    Adrian McElwee
    Adrian McElwee
    • Self
    Ross McElwee
    Ross McElwee
    • Self
    Tom McElwee
    • Self
    Patricia Neal
    Patricia Neal
    • Self
    Vlada Petric
    • Self
    Charleen Swansea
    • Self
    • Director
      • Ross McElwee
    • Writer
      • Ross McElwee
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Sherman's March
    7.2
    Sherman's March
    Time Indefinite
    7.7
    Time Indefinite
    Photographic Memory
    6.9
    Photographic Memory
    Tabloid
    7.0
    Tabloid
    Within Our Gates
    6.4
    Within Our Gates
    Something to Do with the Wall
    7.5
    Something to Do with the Wall
    Charleen
    7.4
    Charleen
    8.8
    In Paraguay
    Frontline
    8.6
    Frontline
    Bright Leaf
    6.6
    Bright Leaf
    Orpheus
    7.9
    Orpheus
    Tongues Untied
    7.1
    Tongues Untied

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Scenes in the film show the harvesting of tobacco. The farmer refers to it as "cropping ". There are two terms in North Carolina for harvesting, cropping and priming. The use of one term versus the other is determined by an invisible line that runs roughly through the geographical middle of the state from east to west. To the north the term priming is used while cropping is used in the southern half.
    • Goofs
      The filmmakers states that the Duke tobacco trust was dissolved in the 1920's. The Supreme Court decision against American Tobacco was handed down on May 29, 1911.
    • Quotes

      Ross McElwee: As time goes by, my father is beginning to seem less and less real to me in these images. Almost a fictional character. I want so much to reverse this shift, the way in which the reality of him is slipping away. Having this footage doesn't help very much - or, at least, not as much as I thought it would.

    • Crazy credits
      Too many beauty queens to be named here
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Christmas with the Kranks/A Very Long Engagement/The Life and Death of Peter Sellers/Alexander/Bright Leaves (2004)

    User reviews17

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Great Fun
    Seen at NYFF. Ross McElwee has perfected a sui generis form of personal-confession, free-associating, voiced-over "documentary" (if that's the word) that isn't quite like anything else. (Comparisons will doubtless be made with Michael Moore, but the difference is obvious: Moore hammers his points home, while McElwee tries to pretend that he doesn't have any to make.) Five years, he tells us, in the making, the film mines his native North Carolina for musings on tabacco, its ravages, its sweet consolations, and the fact that his family lost its fortunes to the Duke clan and then made back a more modest one by treating the victims of the industry that that clan had perfected. Oh, and that he had a father and has a son he whom he loved and loves beyond all telling. And that there was a Michael Curtiz/Gary Cooper movie, "Bright Leaf", that may or may not be about his family, but that we all ought to go check out anyway, if only to see Cooper interact on screen with his then lover Patricia Neal, who turns up in the now-doughty flesh the better to frustrate McElwee in his attempts to validate his romantic notions, another theme. North Carolina is the main character here, or rather McElwee's complex relationship with it and feelings about it and about his own now-Yankeeized family. Charm and yarns, poignant reflections on time lost and time regained and how the home movies he and his family seem to have made with Friedmanesque compulsion may or may not interact with these, some pure and wonderful comedy on film itself, all come together in a rich stew.

    If you expect movies to be "about" anything in particular, this film will doubtless leave you scratching your head in frustration and bafflement. If you can accept a movie that is a beautifully paced (quick/elegiac/quick) romp by a quirky mind with one of the sharpest eyes around, you'll have a great time. The festival audience (many of whom, unlike me, seemed to know what to expect) certainly did.

    PS: In the Q&A, McElwee pointed out the obvious: that this film was actually made on film, not from digitized pixels. He wryly dismissed those who applauded this affirmation as flacks for Kodak, but the reason for the applause is real and obvious. What a joy it is once again to actually see detail in an image, to see faces in full and changing expression instead of in soupy facsimile. And to see real colors (and what an eye for color McElwee has) in all their changing subtlety, instead of vague planes of yellow or puce.
    helpful•10
    4
    • Mengedegna
    • Oct 14, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 8, 2004 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Official sites
      • Official Site (United States)
      • PBS (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Яркие листья
    • Filming locations
      • Durham, North Carolina, USA
    • Production companies
      • Channel 4 Television Corporation
      • Homemade Movies
      • WGBH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $77,888
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,485
      • Aug 29, 2004
    • Gross worldwide
      • $77,888
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Bright Leaves (2003)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Bright Leaves (2003) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View image
    Photos
    These Stars Are on the Rise
    See the gallery
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list
    Back to top

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.