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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Wild Bunch [France]

Country:

UK Belgium France

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 2007 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Angel - Ein Leben wie im Traum

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

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

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

Everyone told me my dreams were lies.

Angel Deverell (Romola Garai) imagines herself to be a writer. Night after night she writes of her imaginative world. At school, she is ridiculed for her fantasies, and her mother (Jacqueline Tong) has no idea of her talent. A London publisher Theo (Sam Neill), publishes her first book despite her arrogance and his reservations. The novel is a bestseller. She writes another and another and another, and so on.

At the height of her fame, she meets the painter Esmé (Michael Fassbender), and is immediately stuck, even if he is even more arrogant that she is. And, sad to say, more untalented.

This is the key to this film. It is a satire of those stories of the period. There are only two serious people in the film. The rest are caricatures of popular characters and settings.

British writer Elizabeth Taylor's novel, based upon Marie Corelli, a long-forgotten English novelist of the 19th Century, was translated to the screen by François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women), who also directed. He certainly captured the ego Corelli was reputed to have.

The life she lived or the life she dreamed? That is the question of this film. There is no doubt that for a few brief moments, Angel was never in touch with reality. It makes for great satire.