New Delhi, March 16 (Ians) Patrick French, the biographer of Sir Vidia Naipaul and Francis Younghusband, and Dean of the School of Art and Sciences at Ahmedabad University, passed away on Thursday in London, leaving behind his wife Meru Gokhale and four children.
He was 57 and suffering from cancer.
Reacting to the shocking news, fellow writer and Indophile William Dalrymple tweeted: “Heartbroken to hear about the death of Patrick French, who I have loved and admired since we were both thirteen, and who was the Best Man at my wedding. He was funny & clever & charming, always full of enthusiasm & energy. He was also the greatest biographer of our generation.”
At the time of his death, French was writing a biography of British-Zimbabwean Nobel laureate Doris Lessing.
He first attracted the attention of the world with his authoritative account of the life and adventures of Sir Francis Younghusband, the British explorer and diplomatist who revealed,...
He was 57 and suffering from cancer.
Reacting to the shocking news, fellow writer and Indophile William Dalrymple tweeted: “Heartbroken to hear about the death of Patrick French, who I have loved and admired since we were both thirteen, and who was the Best Man at my wedding. He was funny & clever & charming, always full of enthusiasm & energy. He was also the greatest biographer of our generation.”
At the time of his death, French was writing a biography of British-Zimbabwean Nobel laureate Doris Lessing.
He first attracted the attention of the world with his authoritative account of the life and adventures of Sir Francis Younghusband, the British explorer and diplomatist who revealed,...
- 3/16/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
ITV Drama ‘Singapore Grip’ Called ‘Harmful Non-Representation’ For Colonialism Portrayal (Exclusive)
“The Singapore Grip,” a new drama from ITV, is facing intense scrutiny over its depiction of colonialism, with British East and Southeast Asian media advocacy group Beats calling the series “harmful (non)representation” and “deeply upsetting.”
Adapted from Booker Prize-winning author J.G. Farrell’s 1978 novel by Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”), “The Singapore Grip” is set during World War 2, and focuses on a British family living in Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion. It stars Luke Treadaway, David Morrissey, Jane Horrocks, Colm Meaney, Charles Dance, Elizabeth Tan and Georgia Blizzard.
The six-part series, produced by Mammoth Screen, has drawn considerable criticism on social media in the last week after ITV released a trailer. In response, Canadian actor Simu Liu, who plays Marvel’s first Asian superhero, Shang-Chi, in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” tweeted in response: “No… just…no.”
No… just…no.
Adapted from Booker Prize-winning author J.G. Farrell’s 1978 novel by Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”), “The Singapore Grip” is set during World War 2, and focuses on a British family living in Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion. It stars Luke Treadaway, David Morrissey, Jane Horrocks, Colm Meaney, Charles Dance, Elizabeth Tan and Georgia Blizzard.
The six-part series, produced by Mammoth Screen, has drawn considerable criticism on social media in the last week after ITV released a trailer. In response, Canadian actor Simu Liu, who plays Marvel’s first Asian superhero, Shang-Chi, in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” tweeted in response: “No… just…no.”
No… just…no.
- 9/8/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The scope of this slice of wartime history is so small, it’s almost the movie equivalent of a one-man show. There are perhaps only a dozen speaking roles. Brian Cox is impressive as The Man Who Saved England in its Darkest Hour, but the drama reduces both the man and the historical crisis to trivial status, as little more than a personal emotional crisis: “Winston, the Haunted Imperialist.”
Churchill
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
2017 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date October 3, 2017 / 30.99
Starring: Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Ella Purnell, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, James Purefoy.
Cinematography: David Higgs
Film Editor: Chris Gill
Original Music: Lorne Balfe
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Produced by Claudia Bluemhuber, Nick Taussig, Piers Tempest, Paul Van Carter
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky
No, it isn’t Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill … that’s another movie, Darkest Hour. This is the Brian Cox Churchill movie.
Any...
Churchill
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
2017 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date October 3, 2017 / 30.99
Starring: Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Ella Purnell, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, James Purefoy.
Cinematography: David Higgs
Film Editor: Chris Gill
Original Music: Lorne Balfe
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Produced by Claudia Bluemhuber, Nick Taussig, Piers Tempest, Paul Van Carter
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky
No, it isn’t Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill … that’s another movie, Darkest Hour. This is the Brian Cox Churchill movie.
Any...
- 9/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Brian Cox gives an excellent performance as Winston Churchill in Churchill. He's the best thing about it...
One of the earliest and most foreboding images in Churchill comes as a put-upon Prime Minister stands by the sea. As the tides gently roll in, his famous Homburg hat blows into the water and when he bends down to retrieve it, the tide appears to him to be reddened with blood. Regrettably, it's the first and last cinematic beat in a film that puts its lead character's inner turmoil upfront.
It's June 1944, and Winston Churchill (Brian Cox) cuts a less impressive figure than he did when he was inspiring the people of Britain as they came under attack from Nazi forces years earlier. In fact, he finds himself listing in the margins of an Allied high command led by Dwight D. Eisenhower (John Slattery) as they plan Operation Overlord and the Dunkirk landings.
One of the earliest and most foreboding images in Churchill comes as a put-upon Prime Minister stands by the sea. As the tides gently roll in, his famous Homburg hat blows into the water and when he bends down to retrieve it, the tide appears to him to be reddened with blood. Regrettably, it's the first and last cinematic beat in a film that puts its lead character's inner turmoil upfront.
It's June 1944, and Winston Churchill (Brian Cox) cuts a less impressive figure than he did when he was inspiring the people of Britain as they came under attack from Nazi forces years earlier. In fact, he finds himself listing in the margins of an Allied high command led by Dwight D. Eisenhower (John Slattery) as they plan Operation Overlord and the Dunkirk landings.
- 6/19/2017
- Den of Geek
Author: Scott Davis
There have been many films over the decades based on the life of Winston Churchill and the momentous things the former Prime Minister did during the war. Indeed, there is a separate film due for release later this year called Darkest Hour, with Gary Oldman in the lead role, but not many have looked inwards at the man himself.
In Churchill, the new film directed by Jonathan Teplitsky (The Railway Man), the story focuses not just on the 96 hours before D-Day but also what Churchill was thinking in the days leading up to it.
It was that exploration of the human behind the man that drew the director to the project:
“When you think of Churchill, you think of all sorts of greatness and what have you but the script wasn’t that – it was more about exploring the human being behind that and the fascinated me...
There have been many films over the decades based on the life of Winston Churchill and the momentous things the former Prime Minister did during the war. Indeed, there is a separate film due for release later this year called Darkest Hour, with Gary Oldman in the lead role, but not many have looked inwards at the man himself.
In Churchill, the new film directed by Jonathan Teplitsky (The Railway Man), the story focuses not just on the 96 hours before D-Day but also what Churchill was thinking in the days leading up to it.
It was that exploration of the human behind the man that drew the director to the project:
“When you think of Churchill, you think of all sorts of greatness and what have you but the script wasn’t that – it was more about exploring the human being behind that and the fascinated me...
- 6/13/2017
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Chicago – Winston Churchill, except to hardcore history buffs, is fast fading from the cultural radar. Often called the Greatest Briton Ever, the lion who led his people for so many years became a bit toothless during the greatest World War II battle ever conceived, D-Day the Sixth of June. That moment in his life, and the lives of those around him, is the subject of the magnificent new film, “Churchill.”
Rating: 5.0/5.0
In the past of film history – closer to when Winston Churchill absolutely mattered to his generation – this movie might have been a major event, because of its grand psychological profile of the Prime Minister. The director Jonathan Teplitzky (of the underrated WWII film “The Railway Man”) takes the highly intelligent and thrilling script by Alex von Tunzelmann and creates a historical masterwork, even though the chains of “period movie” and “World War II” shackles the impression of rendering such subject matter today.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
In the past of film history – closer to when Winston Churchill absolutely mattered to his generation – this movie might have been a major event, because of its grand psychological profile of the Prime Minister. The director Jonathan Teplitzky (of the underrated WWII film “The Railway Man”) takes the highly intelligent and thrilling script by Alex von Tunzelmann and creates a historical masterwork, even though the chains of “period movie” and “World War II” shackles the impression of rendering such subject matter today.
- 6/2/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Brian Cox as “Winston Churchill” in Churchill, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. Photo courtesy of Cohen Media Group (c)
Brian Cox portrays Winston Churchill in a dramatization of the events just prior to the D-Day invasion of France by Allied forces during World War II in Churchill. Directed Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man, BBC’s Indian Summers television series) from a script by historian Alex Von Tunzelmann, Churchill aims to get beneath the usual familiar image of Churchill as a gruff, cigar-chewing British bulldog to create a fuller human portrait of the man who grappled with deep depression and fears of failure while leading his country through its darkest hours.
It is an admirable aim but unfortunately the film falls far short of its goal. Led by an overheated performance by Cox, Churchill stages a last-minute attempt to stop the 1944 Normandy Invasion, gripped with fear that it would fail. Less than a week before D-Day,...
Brian Cox portrays Winston Churchill in a dramatization of the events just prior to the D-Day invasion of France by Allied forces during World War II in Churchill. Directed Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man, BBC’s Indian Summers television series) from a script by historian Alex Von Tunzelmann, Churchill aims to get beneath the usual familiar image of Churchill as a gruff, cigar-chewing British bulldog to create a fuller human portrait of the man who grappled with deep depression and fears of failure while leading his country through its darkest hours.
It is an admirable aim but unfortunately the film falls far short of its goal. Led by an overheated performance by Cox, Churchill stages a last-minute attempt to stop the 1944 Normandy Invasion, gripped with fear that it would fail. Less than a week before D-Day,...
- 6/2/2017
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Brian Cox is a marvel of an actor, and to watch him tear into the role of Winston Churchill is not to be missed. This is a version of the venerable British Prime Minister we haven't seen before – no longer the lion of British fortitude ("We will fight them on the beaches!"), but a man on the ropes. He's hobbled not just by his alcoholism and "the black dog" of depression, but by his conviction that the D-Day landing, just days away on June 6, 1944, will be a disaster.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky,...
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky,...
- 6/1/2017
- Rollingstone.com
MaryAnn’s quick take… This low-stakes, emotionally limp portrait may be intended to humanize a towering, almost mythic figure, but instead just needles and undercuts him. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
A ticking-clock thriller following Winston Churchill in the 96 hours before D-Day” is how you may see this film being sold. Don’t believe it. A portrait of the British Prime Minister in the days before the launch of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, Churchill could, if we’re being generous, be called intimate and leisurely, which even so hardly makes for an exciting time at the movies. But the film is more fairly deemed small scale, low stakes, and emotionally limp. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann, making her screenwriting debut, explores Churchill’s (Brian Cox: Morgan) well-documented opposition to D-Day,...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
A ticking-clock thriller following Winston Churchill in the 96 hours before D-Day” is how you may see this film being sold. Don’t believe it. A portrait of the British Prime Minister in the days before the launch of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, Churchill could, if we’re being generous, be called intimate and leisurely, which even so hardly makes for an exciting time at the movies. But the film is more fairly deemed small scale, low stakes, and emotionally limp. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann, making her screenwriting debut, explores Churchill’s (Brian Cox: Morgan) well-documented opposition to D-Day,...
- 6/1/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
I’m far from a history buff. To me Winston Churchill was a pillar of strength that helped take down the Nazis and declare victory for the Allied forces against fascism. I don’t believe that’s an ill-advised description by any means, but it’s definitely a shallow one. Here we are half a century removed from that carnage and our memories are mostly divided into two categories: good and evil. The latter holds the Holocaust, genocide, oppressive regimes, the suspension of freedom, and some of our species’ greatest villains. The former contains pride, valor, hope, and success with names like Churchill, Eisenhower, and Fdr rising to the status of sainthood. But the truth is much more complicated. Heroism and leadership co-exist with aching regret. Even the greats must combat defeat.
It’s this reality that historian Alex von Tunzelmann touches upon in her script Churchill. A depiction of...
It’s this reality that historian Alex von Tunzelmann touches upon in her script Churchill. A depiction of...
- 5/29/2017
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
As one of the most iconic, intimidating figures in world history, Winston Churchill has been depicted in film many times. Played by actors ranging from Richard Burton to Albert Finney; from Christian Slater to Michael Gambon – the former British Prime Minister is as recognizable in fictionalizations as he is in real, historical footage. Though interest in his story has never really waned, there has been a notable surge in Churchill-based projects recently, with two heading for theatres this year. One is the more high profile Darkest Hours, starring Gary Oldman, and the other is Churchill, starring Brian Cox, which has had a new trailer released this week.
By the time of his passing in 1965, Sir Winston Churchill had been a prominent and influential British politician for half a century. The former British Army Officer served his government in trade, home affairs, and defence – as well as having held the...
By the time of his passing in 1965, Sir Winston Churchill had been a prominent and influential British politician for half a century. The former British Army Officer served his government in trade, home affairs, and defence – as well as having held the...
- 4/25/2017
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
As is so often the case in cinema, when one drama about a particular subject or figure comes along, another one arrives soon after. Before Joe Wright’s Gary Oldman-led drama Darkest Hour hits theaters later this year, another historical drama about Winston Churchill will arrive this summer. In the aptly-named Churchill, Brian Cox portrays the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the first trailer has now landed.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), this drama takes place specifically right before D-Day and follows Churchill’s internal battle in making the decision to send troops to certain death. Scripted by Alex von Tunzelmann, Cox certainly seems fitting for the part, so this should be a worthy warm-up to Wright’s film, and even another WWII film this summer: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.
Also starring Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, and Ella Purnell,...
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), this drama takes place specifically right before D-Day and follows Churchill’s internal battle in making the decision to send troops to certain death. Scripted by Alex von Tunzelmann, Cox certainly seems fitting for the part, so this should be a worthy warm-up to Wright’s film, and even another WWII film this summer: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.
Also starring Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, and Ella Purnell,...
- 3/21/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Lionsgate has released the UK trailer for its upcoming historical drama/thriller “Churchill.” The film about the legendary British Primer Minister hails from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky (“The Railway Man”), from a screenplay by British author/historian Alex von Tunzelmann. Brian Cox toplines the film.
Read More: Hugh Jackman and Noomi Rapace to Star in Michael Mann’s Ferrari Biopic
Here is the plot summary: In June 1944, allied Forces stand on the brink: a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, Churchill is a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Read More: ‘The Sweet Life’ Trailer: Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s Melancholic Road Trip Turns Into a Touching Love Affair...
Read More: Hugh Jackman and Noomi Rapace to Star in Michael Mann’s Ferrari Biopic
Here is the plot summary: In June 1944, allied Forces stand on the brink: a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, Churchill is a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Read More: ‘The Sweet Life’ Trailer: Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s Melancholic Road Trip Turns Into a Touching Love Affair...
- 3/21/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
Film will be directed by Railway Man’s Jonathan Teplitzky and will use material from Weston’s three autobiographies
A film about Simon Weston, the former soldier-turned-campaigner who was badly injured during the 1982 Falklands war, is to go into production.
According to Screen, Railway Man director Jonathan Teplitzky has been hired for the film which will draw on material contained in Weston’s three autobiographies. The script will be written by historian and former Guardian columnist Alex von Tunzelmann.
Continue reading...
A film about Simon Weston, the former soldier-turned-campaigner who was badly injured during the 1982 Falklands war, is to go into production.
According to Screen, Railway Man director Jonathan Teplitzky has been hired for the film which will draw on material contained in Weston’s three autobiographies. The script will be written by historian and former Guardian columnist Alex von Tunzelmann.
Continue reading...
- 9/28/2016
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: $13m project from Salon Pictures will chart story of soldier who suffered severe burns during the Falklands War; Embankment to sell.
The story of Simon Weston, the British army veteran who endured severe burns during the Falklands War, is to be told in an ambitious new film which has Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man) attached to direct.
Salon Pictures is producing the feature.
Weston came back from the brink of death to rebuild his life. He wrote best-selling autobiographies, campaigned tirelessly for charity and is regarded by many as a symbol of Britain’s war in the Falklands.
During the Falklands War in 1982 Weston was a young soldier on the ship Rfa Sir Galahad when an Argentine Skyhawk dropped a 500lb bomb, killing most of his platoon. His fight for survival and recovery took him to a dark abyss.
Teplitzky will direct from a screenplay by Alex Von Tunzelmann (Churchill) with the picture due to shoot...
The story of Simon Weston, the British army veteran who endured severe burns during the Falklands War, is to be told in an ambitious new film which has Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man) attached to direct.
Salon Pictures is producing the feature.
Weston came back from the brink of death to rebuild his life. He wrote best-selling autobiographies, campaigned tirelessly for charity and is regarded by many as a symbol of Britain’s war in the Falklands.
During the Falklands War in 1982 Weston was a young soldier on the ship Rfa Sir Galahad when an Argentine Skyhawk dropped a 500lb bomb, killing most of his platoon. His fight for survival and recovery took him to a dark abyss.
Teplitzky will direct from a screenplay by Alex Von Tunzelmann (Churchill) with the picture due to shoot...
- 9/28/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Brian Cox as Churchill.
Shooting has begun in Scotland on Jonathan Teplitzky's next film, Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the man himself.
The film was written by Alex von Tunzelmann, best known for her Guardian column Reel History,.on the historical accuracy - or not - of certain movies.
Churchill takes place in the forty-eight hours leading up to D-Day in May 1944, and, given it marks von Tunzelmann's feature debut, is presumably unimpeachable on historical grounds.
Joining Cox in the cast are Miranda Richardson as Churchill's wife Clemmie, John Slattery as Eisenhower, James Purefoy as George VI and Ella Purnell as Churchill's secretary.
Teplitzky (The Railway Man, Better Than Sex) said that "to work with Brian Cox and see him play such an icon will be an incredible experience..
Producers are Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures with Piers Tempest and Jo Bamford.s Tempo Productions,...
Shooting has begun in Scotland on Jonathan Teplitzky's next film, Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the man himself.
The film was written by Alex von Tunzelmann, best known for her Guardian column Reel History,.on the historical accuracy - or not - of certain movies.
Churchill takes place in the forty-eight hours leading up to D-Day in May 1944, and, given it marks von Tunzelmann's feature debut, is presumably unimpeachable on historical grounds.
Joining Cox in the cast are Miranda Richardson as Churchill's wife Clemmie, John Slattery as Eisenhower, James Purefoy as George VI and Ella Purnell as Churchill's secretary.
Teplitzky (The Railway Man, Better Than Sex) said that "to work with Brian Cox and see him play such an icon will be an incredible experience..
Producers are Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures with Piers Tempest and Jo Bamford.s Tempo Productions,...
- 5/26/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
First look at Brian Cox as the wartime leader as Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy and Ella Purnell join cast.
Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun in Scotland on its new feature film, Churchill.
Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) plays the Second World War leader in the 48-hours preceding D-Day in May 1944, when Churchill had to prepare a final attempt to crush Hitler’s encroaching army.
The cast is rounded out with Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, Testament of Youth) as wife Clemmie Churchill, with John Slattery (Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, James Purefoy (Rome) as King George VI, and rising-star Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tarzan) joining the cast as Churchill’s secretary.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the film is written by British historian and author Alex von Tunzelmann in her feature debut.
Churchill was developed with the assistance of the BFI. Producers are [link...
Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun in Scotland on its new feature film, Churchill.
Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) plays the Second World War leader in the 48-hours preceding D-Day in May 1944, when Churchill had to prepare a final attempt to crush Hitler’s encroaching army.
The cast is rounded out with Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, Testament of Youth) as wife Clemmie Churchill, with John Slattery (Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, James Purefoy (Rome) as King George VI, and rising-star Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tarzan) joining the cast as Churchill’s secretary.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the film is written by British historian and author Alex von Tunzelmann in her feature debut.
Churchill was developed with the assistance of the BFI. Producers are [link...
- 5/24/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Stanley Tucci, Miranda Richardson join drama Churchill starring Brian Cox.
Upcoming Winston Churchill biopic Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the British wartime leader, has attached Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man) as director.
Churchill will also star Miranda Richardson (Testament Of Youth) as the Prime Minister’s wife while Spotlight actor Stanley Tucci will portray Us General Eisenhower.
Set across the five days before D-Day in 1944, the film charts the tension between the British Pm and the Allied leaders, including Eisenhower and Montgomery, who are poised to launch the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Exhausted by years of war, Churchill is terrified of repeating the disastrous Gallipoli landings of the First World War, but gains strength from his brilliant wife Clementine.
Teplitzky replaces Brian Welsh on the project, which was written by historian Alex von Tunzelmann and is produced by Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of London’s Salon Pictures. Embankment is handling...
Upcoming Winston Churchill biopic Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the British wartime leader, has attached Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man) as director.
Churchill will also star Miranda Richardson (Testament Of Youth) as the Prime Minister’s wife while Spotlight actor Stanley Tucci will portray Us General Eisenhower.
Set across the five days before D-Day in 1944, the film charts the tension between the British Pm and the Allied leaders, including Eisenhower and Montgomery, who are poised to launch the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Exhausted by years of war, Churchill is terrified of repeating the disastrous Gallipoli landings of the First World War, but gains strength from his brilliant wife Clementine.
Teplitzky replaces Brian Welsh on the project, which was written by historian Alex von Tunzelmann and is produced by Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of London’s Salon Pictures. Embankment is handling...
- 2/12/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Stanley Tucci, Miranda Richardson join drama Churchill starring Brian Cox.
Upcoming Winston Churchill biopic Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the British wartime leader, has attached Jonathan Teplitzy (The Railway Man) as director.
Churchill will also star Miranda Richardson (Testament Of Youth) as the Prime Minister’s wife while Spotlight actor Stanley Tucci will portray Us General Eisenhower.
Set across the five days before D-Day in 1944, the film charts the tension between the British Pm and the Allied leaders, including Eisenhower and Montgomery, who are poised to launch the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Exhausted by years of war, Churchill is terrified of repeating the disastrous Gallipoli landings of the First World War, but gains strength from his brilliant wife Clementine.
Teplitzky replaces Brian Welsh on the project, which was written by historian Alex von Tunzelmann and is produced by Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of London’s Salon Pictures. Embankment is handling...
Upcoming Winston Churchill biopic Churchill, starring Brian Cox as the British wartime leader, has attached Jonathan Teplitzy (The Railway Man) as director.
Churchill will also star Miranda Richardson (Testament Of Youth) as the Prime Minister’s wife while Spotlight actor Stanley Tucci will portray Us General Eisenhower.
Set across the five days before D-Day in 1944, the film charts the tension between the British Pm and the Allied leaders, including Eisenhower and Montgomery, who are poised to launch the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
Exhausted by years of war, Churchill is terrified of repeating the disastrous Gallipoli landings of the First World War, but gains strength from his brilliant wife Clementine.
Teplitzky replaces Brian Welsh on the project, which was written by historian Alex von Tunzelmann and is produced by Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of London’s Salon Pictures. Embankment is handling...
- 2/12/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Biopic of wartime leader to be written by the Guardian’s Alex von Tunzelmann and will focus on Churchill’s relationship with his wife Clementine during 1944 crisis
Brian Cox is to star as the British second world war leader Winston Churchill in the story of the 48 hours leading up to the D-Day landings in 1944.
Titled Churchill, the new biopic is said to focus heavily on the prime minister’s relationship with his wife Clementine. It’s described as a “ticking-clock thriller”, set against the backdrop of the allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
Continue reading...
Brian Cox is to star as the British second world war leader Winston Churchill in the story of the 48 hours leading up to the D-Day landings in 1944.
Titled Churchill, the new biopic is said to focus heavily on the prime minister’s relationship with his wife Clementine. It’s described as a “ticking-clock thriller”, set against the backdrop of the allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
Continue reading...
- 11/5/2015
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: Brian Welsh to direct drama about lead up to D-Day landing.
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
- 11/4/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Brian Welsh to direct drama about lead up to D-Day landing.
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
Brian Cox (The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) is newly attached to star in Churchill, a UK drama about the build up to the D-Day landings.
Brian Welsh, director of Bifa-winning feature In Our Name and TV series The Escape Artist, will direct historian Alex von Tunzelmann’s script, which is being sold at Afm by Embankment Films.
UK producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter of Salon Pictures produce the story of the tense build up to the D-Day landings and the relationship between British Prime Minister Churchill and his wife Clemmie.
Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, the script depicts Churchill as a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.
Only the unflinching support of his unflappable wife Clementine...
- 11/4/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
From John Wayne as Genghis Khan to 1776’s catchy showtunes about dysentery … here’s my favourite examples of movies which have played fast and loose with historical truth
Alex von Tunzelmann has been giving Guardian Film readers a historian’s take on historical movies since 2008. To celebrate the publication of her book, Reel History: The World According to the Movies, she picks 10 weird and wonderful cinematic takes on the past.
Continue reading...
Alex von Tunzelmann has been giving Guardian Film readers a historian’s take on historical movies since 2008. To celebrate the publication of her book, Reel History: The World According to the Movies, she picks 10 weird and wonderful cinematic takes on the past.
Continue reading...
- 9/30/2015
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
In the latest of our Reel History series analysing the accuracy of films based on fact, Alex von Tunzelmann grapples with Bennett Miller’s tale of an ambitious Olympic wrestler and a troubled billionaire philanthropist
• Foxcatcher: the ‘uneasy relationship between money and creativity’
• Peter Bradshaw’s review of Foxcatcher: a superb variant on the underdog sports movie
Continue reading...
• Foxcatcher: the ‘uneasy relationship between money and creativity’
• Peter Bradshaw’s review of Foxcatcher: a superb variant on the underdog sports movie
Continue reading...
- 1/14/2015
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
In this special edition of the podcast, Nathaniel welcomes two Katharine Hepburn buffs Nick Davis and Anne Marie Kelly to talk about their (shared) first Actress Obsession. Naturally Kate the Great isn't the only diva that finds her way into the conversation. Expect supporting roles or cameos: Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, Tennessee Williams, Deborah Kerr, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, George Cukor and more...
You can listen at the bottom of the post or download the conversation on iTunes. Continue the conversation in the comments.
00:00 Intro. Plus Middle School drama: Hilariously "intense" early obsessions
13:00 Types, Genres, and Suddenly Last Summer
17:00 Her autobiography and films she loathed like Dragon Seed
22:00 Chemistry and co-stars
33:00 Revisiting unsatisfying movies -- raise a cocktail to this peculiar cinephile habit
40:00 The Spinster & The Magic Penis
47:00 Bette Davis and why we compare them. Silliness before the sign off.
Further...
You can listen at the bottom of the post or download the conversation on iTunes. Continue the conversation in the comments.
00:00 Intro. Plus Middle School drama: Hilariously "intense" early obsessions
13:00 Types, Genres, and Suddenly Last Summer
17:00 Her autobiography and films she loathed like Dragon Seed
22:00 Chemistry and co-stars
33:00 Revisiting unsatisfying movies -- raise a cocktail to this peculiar cinephile habit
40:00 The Spinster & The Magic Penis
47:00 Bette Davis and why we compare them. Silliness before the sign off.
Further...
- 7/14/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Historian Alex von Tunzelmann considers this year's fact-based Oscar contenders, and argues there's more to effective cinema than mere historical accuracy: "There is extraordinary power in the moving image. Many of us will know that 'Braveheart' (1995) is tosh when we watch it, but years later bits of it may have taken root in our imaginations – and we don't always remember that they emanated from that great steaming heap of lies." She also evaluates seven of this year's Oscar nominees: "12 Years a Slave" passes with flying colors as both history and cinema, but she argues that the factual fidelity...
- 1/31/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Most of this year's Oscar contenders are based on historical events – and there are academics waiting to pounce on every slip-up and blunder. But there is more to a great movie than getting the facts straight
• Top 10 biopics
• Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History series
It's Oscars time again, and this year many of the big contenders have one thing in common. Two thirds of the contenders for best film are based on historical events. History also picks up four out of five best actor nominations, two out of five best actresses, and three out of five directors. So fierce has the competition among historical films become that it was reported that academic "history assassins" were paid handsomely by marketing consultants to spot errors in other studios' films. These errors would then be filtered out subtly through blogs, undermining rivals' Oscar hopes.
It was rumoured that sniping about the liberties...
• Top 10 biopics
• Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History series
It's Oscars time again, and this year many of the big contenders have one thing in common. Two thirds of the contenders for best film are based on historical events. History also picks up four out of five best actor nominations, two out of five best actresses, and three out of five directors. So fierce has the competition among historical films become that it was reported that academic "history assassins" were paid handsomely by marketing consultants to spot errors in other studios' films. These errors would then be filtered out subtly through blogs, undermining rivals' Oscar hopes.
It was rumoured that sniping about the liberties...
- 1/31/2014
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
This black and white biopic of Diggers founder Gerrard Winstanley's truly level take on these socialist ancestors never sacrifices authenticity for entertainment
• More from the Reel history archive
Winstanley (1975)
Director: Kevin Brownlow
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: A
Gerrard Winstanley began True Levellers, a Christian group devoted to egalitarian and communal living that formed in the wake of the English civil war. They became known as the Diggers, and are often considered precursors of socialists or communists.
Name check
Few things warm the cockles of a historian's cold, dispassionate heart like a long list of eminent advisers named in the opening credits of a film. Winstanley shouts out to several museum curators (from the V&A, Tower of London and the Museum of English Rural Life), somebody from the Roundhead Association (yes, it still exists) and a brigadier from the Sealed Knot. A prologue provides historical background, complete with...
• More from the Reel history archive
Winstanley (1975)
Director: Kevin Brownlow
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: A
Gerrard Winstanley began True Levellers, a Christian group devoted to egalitarian and communal living that formed in the wake of the English civil war. They became known as the Diggers, and are often considered precursors of socialists or communists.
Name check
Few things warm the cockles of a historian's cold, dispassionate heart like a long list of eminent advisers named in the opening credits of a film. Winstanley shouts out to several museum curators (from the V&A, Tower of London and the Museum of English Rural Life), somebody from the Roundhead Association (yes, it still exists) and a brigadier from the Sealed Knot. A prologue provides historical background, complete with...
- 12/13/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Critics might be skeptics, but this drama about the events at the hospital after the shooting gets just about everything right
• Read more about Parkland
• More from the Reel history archive
Parkland (2013)
Director: Peter Landesman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: A
On 22 November 1963, John F Kennedy was shot as he was driven through Dallas, Texas, and died shortly afterwards. He was the fourth president of the United States to be assassinated.
People
On the fateful morning, FBI and Secret Service men prepare for Kennedy's visit. Members of the public, including home-movie camera enthusiast Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), look forward to catching a glimpse of their president. At Parkland Hospital, 28-year-old Dr Jim Carrico (Zac Efron) wakes up for his shift and gets on with the important business of flirting with red-headed nurses. The film uses documentary footage and re-enactments to assemble the familiar events of that day: John and Jackie Kennedy...
• Read more about Parkland
• More from the Reel history archive
Parkland (2013)
Director: Peter Landesman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: A
On 22 November 1963, John F Kennedy was shot as he was driven through Dallas, Texas, and died shortly afterwards. He was the fourth president of the United States to be assassinated.
People
On the fateful morning, FBI and Secret Service men prepare for Kennedy's visit. Members of the public, including home-movie camera enthusiast Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), look forward to catching a glimpse of their president. At Parkland Hospital, 28-year-old Dr Jim Carrico (Zac Efron) wakes up for his shift and gets on with the important business of flirting with red-headed nurses. The film uses documentary footage and re-enactments to assemble the familiar events of that day: John and Jackie Kennedy...
- 11/21/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Parkland and other movies about JFK's assassination show just how far to the right Hollywood has shifted. Alan J Pakula's classic film, however, is a high point of New American Cinema
• John F Kennedy assassination: 50 years of conspiracy in film and fiction
• All Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History assessments of the JFK films
Just about the only interesting things about the new Hollywood movie Parkland is its demonstration of how far Hollywood has shifted to the right over the last couple of decades.
John F Kennedy was quite a conservative president. He opposed the March on Washington and did little to promote the cause of civil rights, whereas Hollywood celebrities as diverse as Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, and Steve McQueen joined the march and heard Martin Luther King discuss his dream. Nevertheless Kennedy's murder sent shockwaves through the liberal Los Angeles community. The humourist Mort Sahl remarked that Kennedy...
• John F Kennedy assassination: 50 years of conspiracy in film and fiction
• All Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History assessments of the JFK films
Just about the only interesting things about the new Hollywood movie Parkland is its demonstration of how far Hollywood has shifted to the right over the last couple of decades.
John F Kennedy was quite a conservative president. He opposed the March on Washington and did little to promote the cause of civil rights, whereas Hollywood celebrities as diverse as Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, and Steve McQueen joined the march and heard Martin Luther King discuss his dream. Nevertheless Kennedy's murder sent shockwaves through the liberal Los Angeles community. The humourist Mort Sahl remarked that Kennedy...
- 11/19/2013
- by Alex Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Down with Dom or better off with the Butler? We have the answers – plus what's coming up on the site today
What should you watch over the weekend?
In the UK? Lined up for your delectation: a glass of Dom Hemmingway, a dose of Don Jon, a serving of The Butler, or a session with The Counselor. Also up for the watching: In Fear, Utopia, Future My Love and Ram-Leela.
In the Us? Take your pick from The Best Man Holiday, Charlie Countryman, Faust and Nebraska.
In the paper today
• Peter's full compliment of reviews
• An interview with Robert De Niro by Xan Brooks
• A piece of the fallacy of historical accuracy by David Cox
• A feature on the JFK assassination on film by Steve Rose
On the site today
• Andrew Pulver profiles Sandra Bullock
• We've top 10 adaptations
• And Hadley Freeman meets Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels on...
What should you watch over the weekend?
In the UK? Lined up for your delectation: a glass of Dom Hemmingway, a dose of Don Jon, a serving of The Butler, or a session with The Counselor. Also up for the watching: In Fear, Utopia, Future My Love and Ram-Leela.
In the Us? Take your pick from The Best Man Holiday, Charlie Countryman, Faust and Nebraska.
In the paper today
• Peter's full compliment of reviews
• An interview with Robert De Niro by Xan Brooks
• A piece of the fallacy of historical accuracy by David Cox
• A feature on the JFK assassination on film by Steve Rose
On the site today
• Andrew Pulver profiles Sandra Bullock
• We've top 10 adaptations
• And Hadley Freeman meets Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels on...
- 11/15/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Don Cheadle tunes up his Miles Davis film, plus all the rest of the film news on Thursday 14 November
In the news today
- Don Cheadle is planning to direct and star in Kill the Trumpet Player, a biopic of Miles Davis. Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have signed up.
- 50 Shades of Grey's release date has been pushed back to Valentine's Day 2015.
- The Weinsteins won their scuffle with the MPAA over Philomena's rating. It'll be released in the states as PG-13.
- And there are only so many things man can't do ... Mission Impossible 5 is on the cards, with Tom Cruise on board.
Elsewhere on the site
- There was one film you should watch this week and Xan Brooks knew what it was.
- Schmaltz on the side? Alex von Tunzelmann judged how The Butler serves up history.
- The first trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Noah was released today.
In the news today
- Don Cheadle is planning to direct and star in Kill the Trumpet Player, a biopic of Miles Davis. Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana have signed up.
- 50 Shades of Grey's release date has been pushed back to Valentine's Day 2015.
- The Weinsteins won their scuffle with the MPAA over Philomena's rating. It'll be released in the states as PG-13.
- And there are only so many things man can't do ... Mission Impossible 5 is on the cards, with Tom Cruise on board.
Elsewhere on the site
- There was one film you should watch this week and Xan Brooks knew what it was.
- Schmaltz on the side? Alex von Tunzelmann judged how The Butler serves up history.
- The first trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Noah was released today.
- 11/14/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Release dates for The Monuments Men, Grace of Monaco and Foxcatcher moved back, ruling them out of 2014 Oscars
It was the awards season that looked too good to be true. And so, indeed, it proved. Over the past few weeks, three of the most eagerly anticipated films scheduled for release in coming months have had their release dates abruptly moved back, thereby ruling them out of the running for the 2014 Oscars.
Audiences will now have to wait until later next year for their first look at George Clooney's second world war art heist caper The Monuments Men, as well as Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly in biopic Grace of Monaco and Steve Carell as reclusive philanthropist-turned-killer John du Pont in Foxcatcher.
Reasons and theories for the delays have abounded, with Clooney and Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller citing late-running post-production, and the director of Grace of Monaco going public over...
It was the awards season that looked too good to be true. And so, indeed, it proved. Over the past few weeks, three of the most eagerly anticipated films scheduled for release in coming months have had their release dates abruptly moved back, thereby ruling them out of the running for the 2014 Oscars.
Audiences will now have to wait until later next year for their first look at George Clooney's second world war art heist caper The Monuments Men, as well as Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly in biopic Grace of Monaco and Steve Carell as reclusive philanthropist-turned-killer John du Pont in Foxcatcher.
Reasons and theories for the delays have abounded, with Clooney and Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller citing late-running post-production, and the director of Grace of Monaco going public over...
- 10/26/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Olivier Dahan complains that a second version of the Grace Kelly biopic has been created by the Us distributors, saying the situation is 'catastrophic'
• Grace of Monaco: watch Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly in world exclusive trailer for new biopic
The director of an Oscar-tipped biopic which stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly has attacked plans by Harvey Weinstein to edit the film as a "pile of shit".
Speaking to French newspaper Liberation in comments translated by the Hollywood Reporter, Olivier Dahan stridently defended his right to release Grace of Monaco, which details a period in Kelly's marriage to Rainier III, prince of the tiny European state, in its original form. Weinstein, who is famed for his cutting room proclivities, recently delayed the film's debut in cinemas on the basis that it is not yet ready to be viewed.
The film, about Kelly's intervention in a row between Rainier...
• Grace of Monaco: watch Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly in world exclusive trailer for new biopic
The director of an Oscar-tipped biopic which stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly has attacked plans by Harvey Weinstein to edit the film as a "pile of shit".
Speaking to French newspaper Liberation in comments translated by the Hollywood Reporter, Olivier Dahan stridently defended his right to release Grace of Monaco, which details a period in Kelly's marriage to Rainier III, prince of the tiny European state, in its original form. Weinstein, who is famed for his cutting room proclivities, recently delayed the film's debut in cinemas on the basis that it is not yet ready to be viewed.
The film, about Kelly's intervention in a row between Rainier...
- 10/21/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Your daily movie bulletin bringing you all the latest on 25 September
Coming up today
Daniel Radcliffe "is the latest name in the frame for the planned biopic of the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury," or so it appeared earlier this week, following a Daily Star report confidently claiming this was the case.
But, alas, the Harry Potter star has denied the rumours, telling Empire magazine: "everyone on the internet who I presume is saying I'm totally wrong for that part is correct. I Am completely wrong for that part!"
More on this later today, plus:
Blue is the Warmest Colour "should not be released" says director.
Clint Eastwood's son is aiming to follow dad to Hollywood.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are working on an adult animation titled Sausage Party.
The first photo from the set of forthcoming Dumb and Dumber sequel.
A video interview with Hugh Jackman, who'll be discussing Prisoners.
Coming up today
Daniel Radcliffe "is the latest name in the frame for the planned biopic of the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury," or so it appeared earlier this week, following a Daily Star report confidently claiming this was the case.
But, alas, the Harry Potter star has denied the rumours, telling Empire magazine: "everyone on the internet who I presume is saying I'm totally wrong for that part is correct. I Am completely wrong for that part!"
More on this later today, plus:
Blue is the Warmest Colour "should not be released" says director.
Clint Eastwood's son is aiming to follow dad to Hollywood.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are working on an adult animation titled Sausage Party.
The first photo from the set of forthcoming Dumb and Dumber sequel.
A video interview with Hugh Jackman, who'll be discussing Prisoners.
- 9/25/2013
- by Adam Boult
- The Guardian - Film News
Your daily movie bulletin bringing you the lowdown on 4 September
Coming up today
It's musical chairs time in film festival-land: Xan Brooks is leaving Venice, Henry and I are off to Toronto, and Mark Brown reports on the lineup for this year's London film festival, which is announced today. Before Xan goes, he'll offer his verdict on The Unknown Known, the new documentary by Errol Morris about Donald Rumsfeld.
In the real world there's plenty going on, too, so stand by for full stories on some of these headlines:
• Blue is the Warmest Colour actors accuse director Abdellatif Kechiche of sexual humiliation during shoot
• Benedict Cumberbatch's representatives deny Star Wars rumours
• Naomi Watts "walked out of Simon Mayo interview" over Diana questions
• Argentina plans Pope Francis movie
• Fan anger over Fifty Shades of Grey casting
• Derek Cianfrance is to direct The Light Between Oceans
Elsewhere on the site, Charles Gant...
Coming up today
It's musical chairs time in film festival-land: Xan Brooks is leaving Venice, Henry and I are off to Toronto, and Mark Brown reports on the lineup for this year's London film festival, which is announced today. Before Xan goes, he'll offer his verdict on The Unknown Known, the new documentary by Errol Morris about Donald Rumsfeld.
In the real world there's plenty going on, too, so stand by for full stories on some of these headlines:
• Blue is the Warmest Colour actors accuse director Abdellatif Kechiche of sexual humiliation during shoot
• Benedict Cumberbatch's representatives deny Star Wars rumours
• Naomi Watts "walked out of Simon Mayo interview" over Diana questions
• Argentina plans Pope Francis movie
• Fan anger over Fifty Shades of Grey casting
• Derek Cianfrance is to direct The Light Between Oceans
Elsewhere on the site, Charles Gant...
- 9/4/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Naomi Watts' star turn as real-life CIA agent Valerie Plame lets her director make bold accusations about the Bush administration – but he may yet be proved right
• Reel History on The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
• Reel History on Land of the Pharoahs
• Reel History on Girl with a Pearl Earring
Fair Game (2010)
Director: Doug Liman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: B+
Valerie Plame was a CIA operations officer working on nuclear non-proliferation at the time of the invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
People
The film's action begins shortly after the events of 11 September 2001. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband, the former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), host Washington dinner parties. Obviously, no one knows Plame is a CIA agent. She pretends to be a run-of-the-mill venture capitalist, smiles sweetly and serves pudding. Her guests spout ever sillier opinions about the war on terror; she must remain silent and composed.
• Reel History on The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
• Reel History on Land of the Pharoahs
• Reel History on Girl with a Pearl Earring
Fair Game (2010)
Director: Doug Liman
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: B+
Valerie Plame was a CIA operations officer working on nuclear non-proliferation at the time of the invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
People
The film's action begins shortly after the events of 11 September 2001. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and her husband, the former ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), host Washington dinner parties. Obviously, no one knows Plame is a CIA agent. She pretends to be a run-of-the-mill venture capitalist, smiles sweetly and serves pudding. Her guests spout ever sillier opinions about the war on terror; she must remain silent and composed.
- 8/21/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
'I felt Diana's presence,' says Oscar-nominated actor, who speaks of personal responsibility of playing the late princess
• Alex von Tunzelmann on the history and politics behind Diana and Grace of Monaco
• Watch the trailer for Diana
• Peter Bradshaw on first footage from the film
• Naomi Watts: it's an honour to play Diana
Naomi Watts has revealed she felt Princess Diana gave her permission to play her from beyond the grave.
Interviewed in the Mail on Sunday, the double Oscar-nominated star of Oliver Hirschbiegel's upcoming Diana biopic said she immersed herself so fully in the role of the late princess that she came to feel a spiritual connection with her subject.
"There were definitely moments when I felt Diana's presence – I dreamed about her a lot, too, and that's a first," said Watts. "I kept wondering to myself: 'Would she have liked it?'
"So I found myself...
• Alex von Tunzelmann on the history and politics behind Diana and Grace of Monaco
• Watch the trailer for Diana
• Peter Bradshaw on first footage from the film
• Naomi Watts: it's an honour to play Diana
Naomi Watts has revealed she felt Princess Diana gave her permission to play her from beyond the grave.
Interviewed in the Mail on Sunday, the double Oscar-nominated star of Oliver Hirschbiegel's upcoming Diana biopic said she immersed herself so fully in the role of the late princess that she came to feel a spiritual connection with her subject.
"There were definitely moments when I felt Diana's presence – I dreamed about her a lot, too, and that's a first," said Watts. "I kept wondering to myself: 'Would she have liked it?'
"So I found myself...
- 8/19/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Two new biopics of the master of suspense depict him as a bully who abused his leading ladies. But where does the truth lie?
The appearance of two new films about Alfred Hitchcock, widely considered to be the greatest of Britain's filmmakers, is a reminder that there was a time when he was also considered lovable. His unmistakable profile, his deadpan, Droopy Dog style, and his sense of humour helped make Hitch a star as well as a director.
Then, in 1983, came Donald Spoto's biography, The Dark Side of Genius. Spoto revealed that Hitchcock had harassed actor Tippi Hedren on the set of 1963's The Birds to the point of physical and psychological collapse. During the filming of the followup, Marnie, Hedren claimed that he also "made an overt sexual proposition", and when she resisted "became threatening", saying he would ruin her career. He never forgave her for turning him down,...
The appearance of two new films about Alfred Hitchcock, widely considered to be the greatest of Britain's filmmakers, is a reminder that there was a time when he was also considered lovable. His unmistakable profile, his deadpan, Droopy Dog style, and his sense of humour helped make Hitch a star as well as a director.
Then, in 1983, came Donald Spoto's biography, The Dark Side of Genius. Spoto revealed that Hitchcock had harassed actor Tippi Hedren on the set of 1963's The Birds to the point of physical and psychological collapse. During the filming of the followup, Marnie, Hedren claimed that he also "made an overt sexual proposition", and when she resisted "became threatening", saying he would ruin her career. He never forgave her for turning him down,...
- 1/11/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
I was on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, in 2004 with a group...
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
I was on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, in 2004 with a group...
- 1/4/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
Continue reading...
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
Continue reading...
- 1/4/2013
- by Simon Jenkins
- The Guardian - Film News
Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
Continue reading...
Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.
I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.
Continue reading...
- 1/4/2013
- by Simon Jenkins
- The Guardian - Film News
Under-the-radar Oscar hopeful "The Impossible" may be one of the year's most emotionally battering films, but not everyone's feeling it -- as the adjusted true-life tale of surviving the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami continues to take flak for overwhelming focus on the white tourists affected by the tragedy. British historian Alex von Tunzelmann is among the least impressed, acknowledging the film's skilful construction, but writing: "The film seems unaware of its own politics – though it certainly has some ... Both at the beach and in the hospital, almost all the victims of this disaster appear to be white. The Alvárez-Belón...
- 1/3/2013
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Acknowledging the missile crises and cold war paranoia of the time would have lit a fuse under this well-researched but rather simpler tale of a lot of men lusting after a young showgirl
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Entertainment grade: B-
History grade: B
In 1963, the British secretary of state for war, John Profumo, lied in Parliament about an affair he had had with Christine Keeler. She had also been having an affair with Yevgeny Ivanov, an alleged Soviet spy.
People
Scandalmongering osteopath Stephen Ward spots Christine Keeler dancing burlesque at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho, London (in the film, the Café de Paris). Keeler is played by Joanne Whalley, who looks astonishingly like the real thing. The film's producers have done an excellent job of casting actors who look right – including John Hurt as Ward, Jeroen Krabbé as Ivanov, and a Harold Macmillan lookalike in the House of Commons scenes who...
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Entertainment grade: B-
History grade: B
In 1963, the British secretary of state for war, John Profumo, lied in Parliament about an affair he had had with Christine Keeler. She had also been having an affair with Yevgeny Ivanov, an alleged Soviet spy.
People
Scandalmongering osteopath Stephen Ward spots Christine Keeler dancing burlesque at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho, London (in the film, the Café de Paris). Keeler is played by Joanne Whalley, who looks astonishingly like the real thing. The film's producers have done an excellent job of casting actors who look right – including John Hurt as Ward, Jeroen Krabbé as Ivanov, and a Harold Macmillan lookalike in the House of Commons scenes who...
- 7/11/2012
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Catch up with the last seven days in the world of film
The big story
We're so sick of Prometheus that, even though it's really the big story of the week (for the third time in a row) that we're going to completely avoid the subject. Not even mention it. Nada. Niet. Rien.
Instead we'll focus our attention on a trivial few seconds on a Los Angeles pavement that says more than anything else how things have changed in cinemaland. All powerful gossip site TMZ, which prides itself on getting every scoop going, failed to notice it had in its possession some of the most fabled footage of the modern era: actual live film of legendary auteur Terrence Malick, the most notorious avoider of flashbulbs and spotlights this side of Nosferatu.
TMZ's roving videographer was presumably pretty pleased with themself for bumping into Benicio del Toro, ignoring the scruffy, unkempt elderly gent walking alongside.
The big story
We're so sick of Prometheus that, even though it's really the big story of the week (for the third time in a row) that we're going to completely avoid the subject. Not even mention it. Nada. Niet. Rien.
Instead we'll focus our attention on a trivial few seconds on a Los Angeles pavement that says more than anything else how things have changed in cinemaland. All powerful gossip site TMZ, which prides itself on getting every scoop going, failed to notice it had in its possession some of the most fabled footage of the modern era: actual live film of legendary auteur Terrence Malick, the most notorious avoider of flashbulbs and spotlights this side of Nosferatu.
TMZ's roving videographer was presumably pretty pleased with themself for bumping into Benicio del Toro, ignoring the scruffy, unkempt elderly gent walking alongside.
- 6/14/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Nothing, it seems, can stand in the way of the Margaret Thatcher biopic: you literally couldn't avoid it
The big story
There was only one film in town this week: The Iron Lady. Guardian political grandee Michael White failed to square the screen Thatcher with the one he knew, Alex von Tunzelmann told us there was more to Margaret Thatcher than a fabulous blow dry, Meryl Streep raced to the front of the queue in the best actress Oscar betting, the Thatcher family apparently turned down an invitation to watch the film, and the premiere – on a blue carpet – triggered the usual shenanigans. Our man Peter Bradshaw, though, has the definitive word on the film.
In the news
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 should get an Oscar, say its makers
Warner Bros deny cleaning up the audio on The Dark Knight Rises, after complaints no one could understand...
The big story
There was only one film in town this week: The Iron Lady. Guardian political grandee Michael White failed to square the screen Thatcher with the one he knew, Alex von Tunzelmann told us there was more to Margaret Thatcher than a fabulous blow dry, Meryl Streep raced to the front of the queue in the best actress Oscar betting, the Thatcher family apparently turned down an invitation to watch the film, and the premiere – on a blue carpet – triggered the usual shenanigans. Our man Peter Bradshaw, though, has the definitive word on the film.
In the news
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 should get an Oscar, say its makers
Warner Bros deny cleaning up the audio on The Dark Knight Rises, after complaints no one could understand...
- 1/5/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
The late Christopher Hitchens enjoyed telling the story of meeting Margaret Thatcher in the late 70s, back when, as Mark Dery puts it in a cracking piece I'll get to in a moment, "the post-9/11 libertarian hawk and vorpal swordsman of the New Atheism was lefter than he is now." (Dery was writing in the summer of 2010.) Hitchens so enjoyed the telling and the retelling that the story eventually took on the form of a well-rehearsed stand-up routine. For comparison, you can watch a relatively short early draft here, but trust me, you'll want to take the five-and-a-half minutes for this one:
For Mark Dery, the crucial question is, "Why does a certain sort of Englishman squirm with delight at the thought of being taken in hand and sharply disciplined by Milton Friedman's idea of Emma Peel? And the flip answer is: the English Vice, French prostitutes' wry term...
For Mark Dery, the crucial question is, "Why does a certain sort of Englishman squirm with delight at the thought of being taken in hand and sharply disciplined by Milton Friedman's idea of Emma Peel? And the flip answer is: the English Vice, French prostitutes' wry term...
- 1/3/2012
- MUBI
Yes, she's a teenage girl. But was there any need to make one of history's most remarkable women quite so much of a pain in the neck?
Joan of Arc: The Messenger (1999)
Director: Luc Besson
Entertainment grade: D–
History grade: C+
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was a 15th-century French peasant who claimed to experience religious visions. She led French forces during the hundred years war, but was captured and burned at the stake at the age of just 19.
Violence
The film begins in 1420. Eight-year-old Joan skips back to her village from church through sunny fields of poppies, lavender and sheep. The reverie doesn't last long: English marauders are setting fire to her village. While she hides in a cupboard, a particularly ugly Englishman kills and rapes her sister – in that order. The scene would be revolting enough if it had actually happened. It didn't. In 1425, Burgundian soldiers, accompanied by a few English,...
Joan of Arc: The Messenger (1999)
Director: Luc Besson
Entertainment grade: D–
History grade: C+
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was a 15th-century French peasant who claimed to experience religious visions. She led French forces during the hundred years war, but was captured and burned at the stake at the age of just 19.
Violence
The film begins in 1420. Eight-year-old Joan skips back to her village from church through sunny fields of poppies, lavender and sheep. The reverie doesn't last long: English marauders are setting fire to her village. While she hides in a cupboard, a particularly ugly Englishman kills and rapes her sister – in that order. The scene would be revolting enough if it had actually happened. It didn't. In 1425, Burgundian soldiers, accompanied by a few English,...
- 12/15/2011
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise dismiss a lawsuit and a rumour as 'par for the course' and 'ludicrous'
The big story
Celebrity gesture of the week? The shrug.
Angelina Jolie sported one as a lawsuit claiming her directorial debut was nicked from a Croatian journalist was filed, then Tom Cruise (aka Tom Cruise's People) took up the trend in response to rumours that crowds who greeted the Mission Impossible star's arrival in Mumbai were hired actors.
It became both rather well. "It's par for the course," said Jolie of Josip Knežević's claim that she had taken her story from his book, The Soul Shattering. "It happens on almost every film. There are many books and documentaries that I did pull from, but that particular book I've never seen." Jolie's film, In The Land of Blood and Honey, is set during the Bosnian war and sees a Serbian camp commander...
The big story
Celebrity gesture of the week? The shrug.
Angelina Jolie sported one as a lawsuit claiming her directorial debut was nicked from a Croatian journalist was filed, then Tom Cruise (aka Tom Cruise's People) took up the trend in response to rumours that crowds who greeted the Mission Impossible star's arrival in Mumbai were hired actors.
It became both rather well. "It's par for the course," said Jolie of Josip Knežević's claim that she had taken her story from his book, The Soul Shattering. "It happens on almost every film. There are many books and documentaries that I did pull from, but that particular book I've never seen." Jolie's film, In The Land of Blood and Honey, is set during the Bosnian war and sees a Serbian camp commander...
- 12/8/2011
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
The acclaimed, eccentric director of Women in Love and The Devils died this week, prompting tributes from the press and former colleagues
The big story
Ken Russell died this week, leaving behind a body of work that shocked and surprised, teased and titillated. He was, said Xan Brooks in our early news story a man of "wild drama, gaudy conflagrations and operatic flourishes", a "juggler of high and low culture who invariably courted controversy".
Russell's career path - from his documentary work for the 1960s BBC series Monitor, to the short films he made at home in later years - was hard to map. His most infamous and innovative works - The Devils, Altered States - flashed by in the wake of semi-hits Women in Love (which won him an Oscar in 1971) and Tommy. He was, said friends an "iconoclast" (Venessa Redgrave). "Fearless, eccentric and silly" (Melvyn Bragg). "Capable of...
The big story
Ken Russell died this week, leaving behind a body of work that shocked and surprised, teased and titillated. He was, said Xan Brooks in our early news story a man of "wild drama, gaudy conflagrations and operatic flourishes", a "juggler of high and low culture who invariably courted controversy".
Russell's career path - from his documentary work for the 1960s BBC series Monitor, to the short films he made at home in later years - was hard to map. His most infamous and innovative works - The Devils, Altered States - flashed by in the wake of semi-hits Women in Love (which won him an Oscar in 1971) and Tommy. He was, said friends an "iconoclast" (Venessa Redgrave). "Fearless, eccentric and silly" (Melvyn Bragg). "Capable of...
- 12/1/2011
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
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