Angel (2007)

The rise and fall of a young eccentric British writer, in the early 20th century.

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

Elizabeth Taylor (novel), François Ozon

Stars:

Romola Garai, Sam Neill, Lucy Russell

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romola Garai	...	Angel Deverell
Sam Neill	...	Théo
Lucy Russell	...	Nora Howe-Nevinson
Michael Fassbender	...	Esmé
Charlotte Rampling	...	Hermione
Jacqueline Tong	...	Mother Deverell
Janine Duvitski	...	Aunt Lottie
Christopher Benjamin	...	Lord Norley
Tom Georgeson	...	Marvell
Simon Woods	...	Clive Fennelly
Jemma Powell	...	Angelica
Alison Pargeter	...	Edwina
Seymour Matthews	...	Norley Doctor
Una Stubbs	...	Miss Dawson
Jo Perrin	...	Publisher's secretary

Storyline

Angel Deverell comes of age in Edwardian Cheshire knowing she will be a great writer. Rising above her class (her widowed mother has a grocery shop), Angel finds a publisher and a wide audience for her frothy romances. With royalties, she buys an estate, then she's smitten by Esme, a rake from local aristocracy and an artist of dark temperament. She hires Esme's sister Nora, who dotes on her, as a personal assistant, and pursues Esme. Angel is grandly self-centered, coloring her world as if it were one of her novels. When the Great War breaks out and reality begins to trump her will, can Angel hold on to her man and her public?

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | writer | eccentric | novel | personal assistant | 

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Taglines:

A dreary city tenement provides backdrop to this tale of exclusion and the magic it takes to become accepted.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The outdoor scenes were shot in bitterly cold weather. The camera would freeze after two minutes of shooting, and had to be taken inside and warmed up with hot towels before taken outside again. The actors did not mind this as they too could warm up between takes.

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Quotes

Angel Deverell: [from trailer] Everyone told me my dreams were lies. All I wanted was to make it true.

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Connections

Referenced in The New Girlfriend (2014)

User Reviews

The Emperor's New Clothes

My advice would be don't waste your time with this film.

Large chunks were clearly meant to be ironic but much was also meant to be more darkly realistic. The result was a wildly veering mish-mash of genres which the director failed to navigate successfully.

Overall, the film felt like a mix between a 1940s melodrama and a 1970s made-for-TV two-part series, with a loathsome central character.

Two people in our group of 20 loved the film, so it must have something going for it. The rest of us were desperate for it to be over from about 20 minutes in. At one point, the main character gets sick, and from behind me and beside me I heard simultaneous mutters of "please die" and "thank god". That was exactly how I felt.

I am sure the film was making all kinds of comments about art, literature, characterization etc etc but it all went sailing over my head. Driving home, I said as much to my flatmate, and he paraphrased Bill Hicks to me: "The film was bad. Don't get suckered into believing it actually saying something complex and clever. It was bad. Leave it at that and walk away".

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Wild Bunch [France]

Country:

UK Belgium France

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 2007 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Angel

Filming Locations:

Abbaye de Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, Braine L'Alleud, Wallon Brabant, Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,835,903

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidélité Productions, Poisson Rouge Pictures, SCOPE Invest

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1