Having collaborated with Writer Frank McGuinness on a number of projects including their BAFTA-nominated short film The Stronger, Actor/Filmmaker Lia Williams returns to the director’s chair for another McGuinness-penned script in the form of Jsb Films produced historical prison drama Samovar. The story is an imagining of Swedish Architect and Humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg’s life spent behind bars in a Soviet prison and the development of a tender relationship he forms with a fellow inmate, who recounts to him the impact of humanitarian actions. It’s a fascinating rendering of the prison life of a man who remains quietly defiant of a bleak and brutal world and Dn is delighted to Premiere Samovar online accompanied by an interview with Williams about her ongoing working relationship with Frank McGuinness, the practical challenges of shooting alongside a working prison, and the empathetic understanding she has for the actor’s process.
- 5/9/2023
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke is all set to torch London – in a good way – with her West End stage debut in Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. The former Daenerys Targaryen will play Nina in director Jamie Lloyd’s staging of the Chekhov classic at London’s Playhouse Theatre.
Previews begin March 11, with an opening night set for March 19 (the engagement runs through May 30).
“I am over the moon to be playing Nina in Jamie Lloyd’s interpretation of The Seagull,” Clarke said in a statement. “I’ve long been a fan of the singular vision he brings to each of his masterful productions and the way he approaches classical texts. We are so lucky to be working with Anya’s brilliant adaptation, as she brings a light touch of modernity to this beautifully crafted play.
Previews begin March 11, with an opening night set for March 19 (the engagement runs through May 30).
“I am over the moon to be playing Nina in Jamie Lloyd’s interpretation of The Seagull,” Clarke said in a statement. “I’ve long been a fan of the singular vision he brings to each of his masterful productions and the way he approaches classical texts. We are so lucky to be working with Anya’s brilliant adaptation, as she brings a light touch of modernity to this beautifully crafted play.
- 12/20/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Further cementing a fruitful professional partnership after their successful collaborations on The Seagull, Betrayal and Old Times in London and New York, Kristin Scott Thomas and director Ian Rickson come up with the goods again for Electra, a powerhouse rendition of Sophocles’ classic tragedy. Staged in the round at London's Old Vic using Frank McGuinness’ 1997 adaptation of the text, the production strikes a smart balance between antiquity and modernity. Sparse, period-suggestive but not literal design and eerie music (by rock star Pj Harvey) rub up against instantly accessible performances, stippled with surprisingly effective moments of humor. Thomas rightly
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- 10/2/2014
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Emily Watson will star in BBC One drama A Song For Jenny.
The War Horse actress will play the mother of a girl, Jenny, who was killed in the London bombings in 2005, reports Radio Times.
The drama is based on Julie Nicholson's memoir A Song For Jenny: A Mother's Story of Love and Loss, and will follow the real-life events of July 7, 2005.
Playwright Frank McGuinness will write the script for the project, which will air to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack.
Watson said: "Although daunted by the task ahead, as a Londoner who was there on 7/7, I feel honoured to be part of the team asked to tell this compelling story. I hope we can do it justice."
Nicholson added: "Despite the poignancy of the subject, I am delighted that my memoir has inspired the re-telling of Jenny's story for film.
"I believe it is in safe...
The War Horse actress will play the mother of a girl, Jenny, who was killed in the London bombings in 2005, reports Radio Times.
The drama is based on Julie Nicholson's memoir A Song For Jenny: A Mother's Story of Love and Loss, and will follow the real-life events of July 7, 2005.
Playwright Frank McGuinness will write the script for the project, which will air to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack.
Watson said: "Although daunted by the task ahead, as a Londoner who was there on 7/7, I feel honoured to be part of the team asked to tell this compelling story. I hope we can do it justice."
Nicholson added: "Despite the poignancy of the subject, I am delighted that my memoir has inspired the re-telling of Jenny's story for film.
"I believe it is in safe...
- 8/24/2014
- Digital Spy
What more has Courtney Love possibly got to share with us, and how will Steve McQueen fare at the Oscars? These are just a few of the topics that will set tongues wagging in the new year
Pop
Courtney Love's memoir
The question is not so much "what will be in Courtney Love's book?" as "what could possibly be in Courtney Love's book that she hasn't already spoken/ranted/raved about?" Still, her self-titled autobiography has been described as "too crazy not to be true" and should provide her definitive take on her time with Hole and her doomed relationship with Kurt Cobain. It will also, hopefully, spill previously unspilled beans on her relationships with Billy Corgan and Steve Coogan. Oh, and according to an interview she did with Rolling Stone, it was inspired by Russell Brand's My Booky Wook. The mind boggles. Tj
Everything to...
Pop
Courtney Love's memoir
The question is not so much "what will be in Courtney Love's book?" as "what could possibly be in Courtney Love's book that she hasn't already spoken/ranted/raved about?" Still, her self-titled autobiography has been described as "too crazy not to be true" and should provide her definitive take on her time with Hole and her doomed relationship with Kurt Cobain. It will also, hopefully, spill previously unspilled beans on her relationships with Billy Corgan and Steve Coogan. Oh, and according to an interview she did with Rolling Stone, it was inspired by Russell Brand's My Booky Wook. The mind boggles. Tj
Everything to...
- 1/1/2014
- by Mark Lawson, Andrew Dickson, Lyn Gardner, Oliver Wainwright, Andrew Clements, Jonathan Jones, Tim Jonze, Henry Barnes, Stuart Heritage, Judith Mackrell
- The Guardian - Film News
London — The English National Opera's 2013-14 season will include a world premiere of Oedipus-inspired opera "Thebans" and the return of Monty Python's Terry Gilliam to direct a new production, the company announced Wednesday.
"Thebans," based on the tragedies of Sophocles, is a first opera from composer Julian Anderson, with libretto by Irish playwright Frank McGuinness. It opens in May 2014.
Gilliam, who directed "The Damnation of Faust" at the Eno in 2011, will lead a production of Hector Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" in June 2014.
Both will be conducted by Eno Musical Director Edward Garner.
The season includes 10 new productions, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte," directed by Katie Mitchell, a Calixto Bieito-directed production of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio" and Mozart's "The Magic Flute" directed by Simon McBurney – a co-production with the Netherlands Opera.
The company also plans revivals of recent successes including David Alden's production of...
"Thebans," based on the tragedies of Sophocles, is a first opera from composer Julian Anderson, with libretto by Irish playwright Frank McGuinness. It opens in May 2014.
Gilliam, who directed "The Damnation of Faust" at the Eno in 2011, will lead a production of Hector Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" in June 2014.
Both will be conducted by Eno Musical Director Edward Garner.
The season includes 10 new productions, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte," directed by Katie Mitchell, a Calixto Bieito-directed production of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio" and Mozart's "The Magic Flute" directed by Simon McBurney – a co-production with the Netherlands Opera.
The company also plans revivals of recent successes including David Alden's production of...
- 5/1/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
For Christopher Eccleston, small is always beautiful, whether it be TV thriller Blackout or Greek tragedy Antigone on the stage. He reveals why making films just doesn't compare
He strides across the polished tiled floor, past imposing columns and heavy, intricately carved doors. Outside, the Manchester winds are furiously buffeting the redbrick walls of this grand, turn-of-the-last-century university hall. There seems nowhere more appropriate to meet Christopher Eccleston: he has a face to fit buildings like this, an on-screen intensity that is the match of the architecture. But even so, his latest TV role looks set to stretch him: an unflinching, uncomfortable, three-hour examination of addiction and corruption, in which Eccleston goes from rock bottom to hero, as Manchester politician Daniel Demoys.
Written by Bill Gallagher, who adapted Lark Rise to Candleford for the small screen, Blackout puts alcoholism under the microscope in the course of its three episodes.
He strides across the polished tiled floor, past imposing columns and heavy, intricately carved doors. Outside, the Manchester winds are furiously buffeting the redbrick walls of this grand, turn-of-the-last-century university hall. There seems nowhere more appropriate to meet Christopher Eccleston: he has a face to fit buildings like this, an on-screen intensity that is the match of the architecture. But even so, his latest TV role looks set to stretch him: an unflinching, uncomfortable, three-hour examination of addiction and corruption, in which Eccleston goes from rock bottom to hero, as Manchester politician Daniel Demoys.
Written by Bill Gallagher, who adapted Lark Rise to Candleford for the small screen, Blackout puts alcoholism under the microscope in the course of its three episodes.
- 6/27/2012
- by Vicky Frost
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor best known as the private detective Frank Marker in the television series Public Eye
For 10 years, the actor Alfred Burke, who has died aged 92, starred as the downbeat private detective Frank Marker in the popular television series Public Eye (1965-75). The character was intended as a British rival to Raymond Chandler's American gumshoe Philip Marlowe. Tough, unattached and self-sufficient, Marker could take a beating in the service of his often wealthy clients without quitting. "Marker wasn't exciting, he wasn't rich," Burke said. "He could be defined in negatives."
An ABC TV press release introduced the character as a "thin, shabby, middle-aged man with a slightly grim sense of humour and an aura of cynical incorruptibility. His office is a dingy south London attic within sound of Clapham Junction. He can't afford a secretary, much less an assistant, and when he needs a car, he hires a runabout from the local garage.
For 10 years, the actor Alfred Burke, who has died aged 92, starred as the downbeat private detective Frank Marker in the popular television series Public Eye (1965-75). The character was intended as a British rival to Raymond Chandler's American gumshoe Philip Marlowe. Tough, unattached and self-sufficient, Marker could take a beating in the service of his often wealthy clients without quitting. "Marker wasn't exciting, he wasn't rich," Burke said. "He could be defined in negatives."
An ABC TV press release introduced the character as a "thin, shabby, middle-aged man with a slightly grim sense of humour and an aura of cynical incorruptibility. His office is a dingy south London attic within sound of Clapham Junction. He can't afford a secretary, much less an assistant, and when he needs a car, he hires a runabout from the local garage.
- 2/19/2011
- by Dennis Barker, Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Tenth Doctor David Tennant's celebrated starring role in the RSC's production of Hamlet in 2008 saw the Doctor Who actor playing opposite Penny Downie as Gertrude - opposite Eighth Doctor Paul McGann! Downie is playing the title role in Frank McGuinness' new production of Euripides' Helen, which begins performances at Shakespeare's Globe from August 2nd - and joining her Paul McGann plays Menelaus in the play that rewrites the established legend of Helen of Troy. Seven years have passed...
- 6/17/2009
- by Christian Cawley info@kasterborous.com
- Kasterborous.com
Controversial drama 'A Short Stay in Switzerland' starring Julie Walters (Mamma Mia) and penned by award-winning Irish writer Frank McGuinness will air on Wednesday 1st April at 9pm on TV3. 'A Short Stay in Switzerland' is inspired by the true story of Dr Anne Turner who, having just witnessed the death of her husband from an incurable neurological disease, is diagnosed with a near identical illness. With determined rationality, Anne's answer is that once her illness has reached a critical point, she will take her own life. And to do this she needs her children's support. Playwright and writer Frank McGuinness has previously been behind the screenplays for 'Dancing at Lughnasa' and 'Talk of Angels'.
- 3/31/2009
- IFTN
Portland State University School Of Fine And Performing Arts and The Department Of Theater Arts Present: Electra by Sophocles Northwest Premiere of a New Adaptation by Frank McGuinness Directed by Devon Allen, performances at Artists Repertory Theatre, Morrison Stage Friday, March 6 - Saturday, March 14, 2009 Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m. General admission tickets: $10 Seniors/Students/Psu Students: $8 "Shall there be killing after killing forever?"...
- 2/17/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Shakespeare's Globe is delighted to announce its 2009 theatre season, which opens on Shakespeare's birthday, 23 April, and goes under the overall title of Young Hearts. The Shakespeare plays will be Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida and a revival of Dominic Dromgoole's 2007 production of Love's Labour's Lost, prior to embarking upon a North American tour in the autumn. The 2009 theatre season will also include a range of new work including the Globe's first excursion into full-scale Greek drama in a new version of Euripedes' Helen by Frank McGuinness; A New World, marking the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, by Trevor Griffiths and the return of Ch? Walker's explosive, panoramic and funny tale of contemporary London life, The Frontline.
- 2/10/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Gates Of Gold, a new comedic drama by Frank McGuinness makes its American Premiere at 59E59 Theaters. Previews begin Thursday, February 19, 2009. The official opening will be on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Produced by Artists Theatre Group, Inc., Warren Baker and Sally Jacobs, the production is directed by Kent Paul. Critics are encouraged to attend one of the following press performances: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 8:15 Pm Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 8:15 Pm Friday, February 27,2009 at 8:15 Pm Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 2:15 Pm Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 8:15 Pm Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 5:00 Pm (Press Opening)...
- 2/3/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is proud to welcome The Artists Theatre Group, Inc., in association with Warren Baker and Sally Jacobs, with the American premiere of Gates Of Gold, a new comedic drama by Frank McGuinness and directed by Kent Paul. Previews begin Thursday February 19 for a limited engagement though Sunday March 29. Opening night is Sunday, March 1 at 5:00Pm.
- 1/27/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Gates Of Gold, a new comedic drama by Frank McGuinness will hold its American Premiere at 59E59 Theaters. Previews begin Thursday, February 19, 2009. The official opening will be on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Produced by Artists Theatre Group, Inc., Warren Baker and Sally Jacobs, the production is directed by Kent Paul. Written by acclaimed Irish author Frank McGuinness, who earned a Tony Award nomination for Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, and received a Tony Award for best revival in 1997 for A Doll's House, Gates Of Gold is an acerbic duel between Hilton Edwards and Miche?l MacLiamm?ir, fashionable and eloquent theatrical trailblazers who founded Dublin's Gate Theatre. Gates Of Gold is funny, witty, deeply moving and a vibrant celebration of art, love, and, finally, life itself. This production marks the American premiere of Gates Of Gold, which starred Alan Howard in Dublin and William Gaunt in the West End. Frank McGuinness was born in Buncrana,...
- 1/26/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Julie Walters wants the subject of assisted suicide to be revisited after playing the role of a terminally ill doctor in forthcoming drama A Short Stay In Switzerland. The BBC One programme is based on the true story of Dr Anne Turner (Walters), a medic who travelled to Switzerland to end her own life because it is illegal in the UK. The script, written by Frank McGuinness, follows Dr Turner's efforts to cope with progressive supranuclear palsy and her subsequent declining health. PAquotes Walters as saying: "I think the subject should be debated. (more)...
- 1/17/2009
- by By Sarah Rollo
- Digital Spy
Julie Walters is to follow her role in The Mary Whitehouse Story with another BBC drama, A Short Stay In Switzerland. Walters will play Dr Anne Turner in the one-off film, written by Frank McGuinness, which will air on BBC One early next year. Based on a true story, the drama sees Dr Turner diagnosed with an incurable neurological disease shortly after her husband has died of a similar (more)...
- 7/18/2008
- by By Dave West
- Digital Spy
NEW YORK -- An adaptation of the hugely acclaimed Brian Friel play, "Dancing at Lughnasa" demonstrates the risks of transferring poetic theatrical material to the big screen.
Although intelligently adapted, beautifully acted and gorgeously photographed, the movie never quite soars the way the theatrical production did, and it is unlikely to reap the same kind of critical success. The presence of Meryl Streep -- who gets to deliver an Irish accent -- should help, as will the film's pedigree, but boxoffice prospects don't look particularly green.
Adapted by famed Irish playwright Frank McGuinness ("Someone Who'll Watch Over Me"), "Lughnasa" is a memory piece set in rural Ireland in 1936 about the five unmarried, Catholic Mundy sisters, who live in a small house in the hills outside the Donegal village of Ballybeg. Together, they take care of Michael Darrell Johnston), the 8-year-old love child of Christina (Catherine McCormack). The other sisters are Kate (Streep), a teacher at the local Catholic school who is about to lose her job because of falling attendance; Agnes (Brid Brennan, the only holdover from the original theatrical cast), who has assumed the role of caretaker; Rose (Sophie Thompson), gentle, sweet and mentally impaired; and Maggie (Kathy Burke), irrepressibly cheerful and profane.
The plot, such as it is, mainly revolves around a pair of arrivals -- the sisters' long-absent and rather addled older brother Jack (Michael Gambon), fresh from a decades-long stint as a missionary in Africa, and Gerry (Rhys Ifans), Michael's father, who is on his way to fight for anti-Franco forces in Spain. The title refers to an annual pagan ritual that is the town's social highlight of the year.
In its translation to the screen, "Dancing at Lughnasa" has somehow lost something, and it's hard to say exactly what. Certainly, the play's highly poetic language doesn't fully translate. And the much-heralded episode in which the sisters spontaneously burst into a joyous dance -- the highlight of the stage version -- falls flat on screen. Here, the story comes across as simply a series of minor but picturesque episodes, with the chief attributes being the excellent performances and gorgeous photography of the Irish countryside.
Streep has been so good for so long that it's easy to take her for granted, but she delivers another excellent performance as a curmudgeonly character who in lesser hands would be lessened to caricature. McCormack is luminous as the sensual Christina, and the three other female leads deliver superbly nuanced work. Ifans is highly appealing as a young man so high-spirited that he whoops and hollers at the prospect of going to war. Although one misses Gambon's usual mesmerizing intensity, he gives a well-modulated, quiet performance that is perfectly apt.
Director Pat O'Connor obviously knows his way around Ireland, but his command of the material is less sure, resulting in awkward tonal shifts and passages. The excellent soundtrack is provided by composer Bill Whelan, best known for the worldwide "Riverdance" sensation.
DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits: Director: Pat O'Connor; Producer: Noel Pearson; Screenplay: Frank McGuinness; Director of photography: Kenneth MacMillan; Editor: Humphrey Dixon; Music: Bill Whelan. Cast: Kate Mundy: Meryl Streep; Father Jack Mundy: Michael Gambon; Christina Mundy: Catherine McCormack; Maggie Mundy: Kathy Burke; Rose Mundy: Sophie Thompson; Agnes Mundy: Brid Brennan; Gerry Evans: Rhys Ifans; Michael Mundy: Darrell Johnston. MPAA rating: PG. Color/stereo. Running time -- 94 minutes.
Although intelligently adapted, beautifully acted and gorgeously photographed, the movie never quite soars the way the theatrical production did, and it is unlikely to reap the same kind of critical success. The presence of Meryl Streep -- who gets to deliver an Irish accent -- should help, as will the film's pedigree, but boxoffice prospects don't look particularly green.
Adapted by famed Irish playwright Frank McGuinness ("Someone Who'll Watch Over Me"), "Lughnasa" is a memory piece set in rural Ireland in 1936 about the five unmarried, Catholic Mundy sisters, who live in a small house in the hills outside the Donegal village of Ballybeg. Together, they take care of Michael Darrell Johnston), the 8-year-old love child of Christina (Catherine McCormack). The other sisters are Kate (Streep), a teacher at the local Catholic school who is about to lose her job because of falling attendance; Agnes (Brid Brennan, the only holdover from the original theatrical cast), who has assumed the role of caretaker; Rose (Sophie Thompson), gentle, sweet and mentally impaired; and Maggie (Kathy Burke), irrepressibly cheerful and profane.
The plot, such as it is, mainly revolves around a pair of arrivals -- the sisters' long-absent and rather addled older brother Jack (Michael Gambon), fresh from a decades-long stint as a missionary in Africa, and Gerry (Rhys Ifans), Michael's father, who is on his way to fight for anti-Franco forces in Spain. The title refers to an annual pagan ritual that is the town's social highlight of the year.
In its translation to the screen, "Dancing at Lughnasa" has somehow lost something, and it's hard to say exactly what. Certainly, the play's highly poetic language doesn't fully translate. And the much-heralded episode in which the sisters spontaneously burst into a joyous dance -- the highlight of the stage version -- falls flat on screen. Here, the story comes across as simply a series of minor but picturesque episodes, with the chief attributes being the excellent performances and gorgeous photography of the Irish countryside.
Streep has been so good for so long that it's easy to take her for granted, but she delivers another excellent performance as a curmudgeonly character who in lesser hands would be lessened to caricature. McCormack is luminous as the sensual Christina, and the three other female leads deliver superbly nuanced work. Ifans is highly appealing as a young man so high-spirited that he whoops and hollers at the prospect of going to war. Although one misses Gambon's usual mesmerizing intensity, he gives a well-modulated, quiet performance that is perfectly apt.
Director Pat O'Connor obviously knows his way around Ireland, but his command of the material is less sure, resulting in awkward tonal shifts and passages. The excellent soundtrack is provided by composer Bill Whelan, best known for the worldwide "Riverdance" sensation.
DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits: Director: Pat O'Connor; Producer: Noel Pearson; Screenplay: Frank McGuinness; Director of photography: Kenneth MacMillan; Editor: Humphrey Dixon; Music: Bill Whelan. Cast: Kate Mundy: Meryl Streep; Father Jack Mundy: Michael Gambon; Christina Mundy: Catherine McCormack; Maggie Mundy: Kathy Burke; Rose Mundy: Sophie Thompson; Agnes Mundy: Brid Brennan; Gerry Evans: Rhys Ifans; Michael Mundy: Darrell Johnston. MPAA rating: PG. Color/stereo. Running time -- 94 minutes.
- 11/17/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Picture-postcard pretty but emotionally vapid, "Talk of Angels" has all the elements of a classy romantic drama -- an exotic locale, political intrigue and, of course, illicit love -- minus any convincing substance.
It's based on Irish author Kate O'Brien's controversial 1936 novel "Mary Lavelle", which was banned in Ireland on charges of "immorality." (O'Brien was subsequently kicked out of Spain by the Franco regime.) The film adaptation, marking the feature debut of theater director Nick Hamm, itemizes all the key personalities and events without giving viewers much to truly care about.
While it may be enough to satisfy those looking for a Harlequin Romance-style quick fix, "Talk of Angels'" will likely take speedy flight to the video heavens.
Taking its name from an Irish phrase that's equivalent to "speak of the devil," the film tells the story of Lavelle (the beauteous Polly Walker), a young convent girl who leaves Ireland behind to work as a governess in Spain at one of those ultra-bourgeois households with which Luis Bunuel would have had a field day.
Presided over by hovering matriarch Dona Consuelo (Marisa Paredes), a woman who has clearly seen too many Joan Crawford movies, the Areavaga clan is just one of your average wealthy Spanish families on the verge of disintegration as civil war looms large.
As her husband, the idealistic Dr. Vicente Franco Nero) secretly tends to injured radicals, her son Francisco (Vincent Perez), trapped in a loveless marriage, eyes the comely Mary and the laws of mutual attraction take over.
Despite the counseling of a colorful group of fellow expatriate Irish women who function as the picture's Greek chorus -- including the big-sisterly O'Toole (Ruth McCabe) and the tormented Conlon (Frances McDormand), who confidentially admits to having a forbidden crush on Mary -- our heroine finds herself at a tricky crossroads in a city on the brink of irrevocable change.
Romantic leads Walker and Perez certainly make a photogenic pair and have done fine work elsewhere (she in "Enchanted April", he in "Queen Margot"), but they fail to ignite a convincing spark chemistry-wise, which is obviously crucial to the story's effectiveness.
Director Hamm is underserved by the perfunctory script credited to Ann Guedes and Frank McGuinness. But he tries to compensate with artful framing and thoughtful composition, for which he is richly served by the contributions of cinematographer Alexei Rodionov ("Orlando") and production designer Michael Howells ("Ever After").
But in the end, it's all very attractive frosting on an unsatisfying, underbaked cake -- angel food or otherwise.
TALK OF ANGELS
Miramax Films
Director: Nick Hamm
Producer: Patrick Cassavetti
Executive producers: Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Donna Gigliotti
Screenwriters: Ann Guedes, Frank McGuinness
Director of photography: Alexei Rodionov
Production designer: Michael Howells
Editor: Gerry Hambling
Costume designers: Liz Waller, Lala Huete
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mary Lavelle: Polly Walker
Francisco Areavaga: Vincent Perez
Dr. Vicente Areavaga: Franco Nero
Conlon: Frances McDormand
O'Toole: Ruth McCabe
Dona Consuelo: Marisa Paredes
Pilar: Penelope Cruz
Beatriz: Ariadna Gil
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
It's based on Irish author Kate O'Brien's controversial 1936 novel "Mary Lavelle", which was banned in Ireland on charges of "immorality." (O'Brien was subsequently kicked out of Spain by the Franco regime.) The film adaptation, marking the feature debut of theater director Nick Hamm, itemizes all the key personalities and events without giving viewers much to truly care about.
While it may be enough to satisfy those looking for a Harlequin Romance-style quick fix, "Talk of Angels'" will likely take speedy flight to the video heavens.
Taking its name from an Irish phrase that's equivalent to "speak of the devil," the film tells the story of Lavelle (the beauteous Polly Walker), a young convent girl who leaves Ireland behind to work as a governess in Spain at one of those ultra-bourgeois households with which Luis Bunuel would have had a field day.
Presided over by hovering matriarch Dona Consuelo (Marisa Paredes), a woman who has clearly seen too many Joan Crawford movies, the Areavaga clan is just one of your average wealthy Spanish families on the verge of disintegration as civil war looms large.
As her husband, the idealistic Dr. Vicente Franco Nero) secretly tends to injured radicals, her son Francisco (Vincent Perez), trapped in a loveless marriage, eyes the comely Mary and the laws of mutual attraction take over.
Despite the counseling of a colorful group of fellow expatriate Irish women who function as the picture's Greek chorus -- including the big-sisterly O'Toole (Ruth McCabe) and the tormented Conlon (Frances McDormand), who confidentially admits to having a forbidden crush on Mary -- our heroine finds herself at a tricky crossroads in a city on the brink of irrevocable change.
Romantic leads Walker and Perez certainly make a photogenic pair and have done fine work elsewhere (she in "Enchanted April", he in "Queen Margot"), but they fail to ignite a convincing spark chemistry-wise, which is obviously crucial to the story's effectiveness.
Director Hamm is underserved by the perfunctory script credited to Ann Guedes and Frank McGuinness. But he tries to compensate with artful framing and thoughtful composition, for which he is richly served by the contributions of cinematographer Alexei Rodionov ("Orlando") and production designer Michael Howells ("Ever After").
But in the end, it's all very attractive frosting on an unsatisfying, underbaked cake -- angel food or otherwise.
TALK OF ANGELS
Miramax Films
Director: Nick Hamm
Producer: Patrick Cassavetti
Executive producers: Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Donna Gigliotti
Screenwriters: Ann Guedes, Frank McGuinness
Director of photography: Alexei Rodionov
Production designer: Michael Howells
Editor: Gerry Hambling
Costume designers: Liz Waller, Lala Huete
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mary Lavelle: Polly Walker
Francisco Areavaga: Vincent Perez
Dr. Vicente Areavaga: Franco Nero
Conlon: Frances McDormand
O'Toole: Ruth McCabe
Dona Consuelo: Marisa Paredes
Pilar: Penelope Cruz
Beatriz: Ariadna Gil
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 10/26/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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