Britain’s official post-wwi administration of Palestine lasted from 1920-48 and is probably the UK colonial enterprise least addressed by its fiction filmmakers. But now prolific writer-director Michael Winterbottom uses that complicated era as a backdrop to the compelling historical romance “Shoshana.” A passion project 15 years in the making and based on real people and events, the film employs the ill-fated, cross-cultural relationship between a ranking member of the British Palestine Police Force and a young Jewish woman to explore the way extremism and violence push people apart, forcing them to choose sides.
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
- 9/17/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
The crisis of leadership Britain has been plunged into over recent years merits sustained study as a cautionary tale. But it demands deeper and sharper analysis than is available in “This England,” a curiously indifferent six-part miniseries notionally centred on former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the initial coronavirus outbreak, currently limping out on Sky’s U.K. arm.
When Winterbottom’s Revolution Films announced the project (originally titled “This Sceptred Isle”) last year – with Kenneth Branagh unveiled as the project’s Johnson – speculation was rife. Would the series be an ensemble satire, along the lines of Winterbottom’s rambunctious “24 Hour Party People”? Or an artfully sober inquiry, in the vein of the director’s Amanda Knox-inspired “The Face of an Angel”? In fact, it’s neither: what we’ve got is a hurriedly assembled primetime procedural that undermines its claim to rigorous accuracy from the off...
When Winterbottom’s Revolution Films announced the project (originally titled “This Sceptred Isle”) last year – with Kenneth Branagh unveiled as the project’s Johnson – speculation was rife. Would the series be an ensemble satire, along the lines of Winterbottom’s rambunctious “24 Hour Party People”? Or an artfully sober inquiry, in the vein of the director’s Amanda Knox-inspired “The Face of an Angel”? In fact, it’s neither: what we’ve got is a hurriedly assembled primetime procedural that undermines its claim to rigorous accuracy from the off...
- 10/7/2022
- by Mike McCahill
- Variety Film + TV
So, this Friday is the beginning of the three day weekend that usually kicks off Summer vacation time. But with the lockdown somewhat still in effect (parts of the country are testing the “re-opening waters”), every day feels part of a “stay-cation” holiday as the luggage continues to gather new layers of dust in the back of the closet. Well, there’s always a virtual “vacay” via streaming services. Now, we’re not talking about a collection of the old travelogue film shorts we sometimes see between the features on the TCM cable channel. Nope, this is a brand-spanking’ new flick shot before the world changed (nearly to a standstill), but with a couple of most familiar and entertaining guides. We know that because over the last decade we’ve joined them (as a “fly on the wall”), first through the British Isles, then to Italy, again in Spain. Time...
- 5/22/2020
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It might not be considered Asian by its production country (UK), the origins of its writer/director Michael Winterbottom, or, frankly, by its style that fits the bill of a British globe-trotting thriller, but “The Wedding Guest”, showing at Art Film Fest in Košice, deserves its Asian Movie Pulse review. At least the filming locations were in India and Pakistan, the cast consists of Indian-British star actors and the theme is very much rooted in the culture Indian sub-continent, fresh, approached from an interesting angle and wrapped up in a smooth genre-esque ride.
“The Wedding Guest” is screening at the 27th Art Film Fest Kosice
In the opening montage, we get to see a still nameless, solitary man (Dev Patel), preparing himself for the trip. The nature of his mission is not clear yet, but is certainly clandestine, as he is carrying multiple passports. Once in Pakistan, he travels across the country,...
“The Wedding Guest” is screening at the 27th Art Film Fest Kosice
In the opening montage, we get to see a still nameless, solitary man (Dev Patel), preparing himself for the trip. The nature of his mission is not clear yet, but is certainly clandestine, as he is carrying multiple passports. Once in Pakistan, he travels across the country,...
- 6/19/2019
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Much like the media sensationalism around the Amanda Knox trial itself, there have been misleading reports that Michael Winterbottom’s new film The Face Of An Angel is an Amanda Knox exposé.
“It’s not a film about Amanda Knox,” Michael Winterbottom says emphatically about his new film, being sold at Efm by WestEnd Films. “The case in our film is a fictional case.”
“Once people see the film the talk about [Amanda Knox] will stop,” he adds.
It’s easy to see why there is some confusion, as Winterbottom acquired the rights to Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox by the American journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau. But he uses that book just as a jumping off point for his original script (written by Paul Viragh).
Winterbottom’s story is about a British filmmaker (Daniel Bruhl) who goes to Italy to study the aftermath of a high-profile murder case. He meets the...
“It’s not a film about Amanda Knox,” Michael Winterbottom says emphatically about his new film, being sold at Efm by WestEnd Films. “The case in our film is a fictional case.”
“Once people see the film the talk about [Amanda Knox] will stop,” he adds.
It’s easy to see why there is some confusion, as Winterbottom acquired the rights to Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox by the American journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau. But he uses that book just as a jumping off point for his original script (written by Paul Viragh).
Winterbottom’s story is about a British filmmaker (Daniel Bruhl) who goes to Italy to study the aftermath of a high-profile murder case. He meets the...
- 2/6/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
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