From Distant Voices, Still Lives to Benediction, the lyrical work of the late director was suffused with the ‘ecstasy’ of cinema – and his fraught Liverpool childhood
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
- 11/4/2023
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Terence Davies, the accomplished and thoughtful director behind such films as Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House Of Mirth and, most recently, Benediction, about World War II poet Siegfried Sassoon, had died. Davies, who began his career making autobiographical short films but switched to literary adaptations and dramas, which nevertheless kept an emotionally affecting through line. Dying at home after a short illness, Davies was 77.
Born in Liverpool to a large Catholic family (which informed much of his early film work), Davies spent a decade as a clerk before attending Coventry Drama School, and starting to make short films. He followed that up with the National Film School. His three initial shorts are Children, Madonna And Child and Death And Transfiguration all tackled autobiographical stories of emotion and religion.
When he started making feature films, his first two efforts, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes were also inspired by his life,...
Born in Liverpool to a large Catholic family (which informed much of his early film work), Davies spent a decade as a clerk before attending Coventry Drama School, and starting to make short films. He followed that up with the National Film School. His three initial shorts are Children, Madonna And Child and Death And Transfiguration all tackled autobiographical stories of emotion and religion.
When he started making feature films, his first two efforts, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes were also inspired by his life,...
- 10/8/2023
- by James White
- Empire - Movies
Terence Davies is at once both monolithic and anonymous. A critically revered British filmmaker whose work has yet to catch on with general audiences (perhaps, in part, because his films are so crushingly intimate that it almost feels inappropriate to watch them in public), he’s seldom recognized on the street, and sometimes that might be for the best.
“The other day I was feeling low,” he said, “and I just thought: ‘Why am I making films that, like, three people or a dog go and see?’ I know this is feeble, but it really is killing when someone says ‘What do you do?’ ‘Oh, I make films.’ ‘Well, would I have seen some of them? Would I have heard of you?’ And I say: ‘Well, probably not.’”
Of course, some of our greatest artists are tremendously under-appreciated in their own time, though they may be the only ones who...
“The other day I was feeling low,” he said, “and I just thought: ‘Why am I making films that, like, three people or a dog go and see?’ I know this is feeble, but it really is killing when someone says ‘What do you do?’ ‘Oh, I make films.’ ‘Well, would I have seen some of them? Would I have heard of you?’ And I say: ‘Well, probably not.’”
Of course, some of our greatest artists are tremendously under-appreciated in their own time, though they may be the only ones who...
- 4/20/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Terence Davies is apparently finding having the “moment” he’s been rightly deserving for almost thirty years.
After having a quiet period from The House of Mirth in 2000 to his underrated documentary Of Time And The City in 2008, Davies has given us three new films in the subsequent nine years, including two that are arriving in theaters damn near one year apart. Sunset Song arrived to grandiose notices (including a rave by your’s truly) in the first half of 2016, and thankfully the director has returned with a film that’s arguably one of his best yet.
Entitled A Quiet Passion Davies jumps from the fictional world created by author Lewis Grassic Gibbon that was Sunset Song and into the real world of legendary scribe Emily Dickinson. Cynthia Nixon stars as the beloved 19th-century poet, as we see her go from teenage religious skeptic to something far less bright eyed and bushy tailed,...
After having a quiet period from The House of Mirth in 2000 to his underrated documentary Of Time And The City in 2008, Davies has given us three new films in the subsequent nine years, including two that are arriving in theaters damn near one year apart. Sunset Song arrived to grandiose notices (including a rave by your’s truly) in the first half of 2016, and thankfully the director has returned with a film that’s arguably one of his best yet.
Entitled A Quiet Passion Davies jumps from the fictional world created by author Lewis Grassic Gibbon that was Sunset Song and into the real world of legendary scribe Emily Dickinson. Cynthia Nixon stars as the beloved 19th-century poet, as we see her go from teenage religious skeptic to something far less bright eyed and bushy tailed,...
- 2/15/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
The story of the reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson comes to life in Terence Davies’ “A Quiet Passion,” which will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall.
A new festival trailer for the period drama was just released and showcases Cynthia Nixon as the renowned artist as she struggles with the world around her.
“A Quiet Passion” is a unique insight into Dickinson’s life and obsessions, and follows the writer from her schoolgirl days in Amherst, Massachusetts to her years writing in near-total isolation, where she produced over a thousand poems that are now regarded as the finest and most inventive in American literature.
Read More: First Look: Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies’ ‘A Quiet Passion’
The biopic also co-stars Jennifer Ehle as Dickinson’s sister, Lavinia, Keith Carradine as her father, Duncan Duff, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon and Catherine Bailey. The picture...
A new festival trailer for the period drama was just released and showcases Cynthia Nixon as the renowned artist as she struggles with the world around her.
“A Quiet Passion” is a unique insight into Dickinson’s life and obsessions, and follows the writer from her schoolgirl days in Amherst, Massachusetts to her years writing in near-total isolation, where she produced over a thousand poems that are now regarded as the finest and most inventive in American literature.
Read More: First Look: Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies’ ‘A Quiet Passion’
The biopic also co-stars Jennifer Ehle as Dickinson’s sister, Lavinia, Keith Carradine as her father, Duncan Duff, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon and Catherine Bailey. The picture...
- 8/17/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Despite being one of the most beloved art film directors of the last 30+ years, it’s a shockingly rare occasion that we are blessed with a new picture from filmmaker Terence Davies. With only Of Time And The City, a micro-budget, rarely seen essay film, Davies saw 11 years fall between The House of Mirth and his 2011 film The Deep Blue Sea. Thankfully though, that rate appears to be shrinking as his newest film, Sunset Song, debuts in theaters this weekend, and yet another film entitled A Quiet Passion is running the festival circuit.
But let’s not get ahead of things. Sunset Song premieres in limited release this weekend, and it’s yet another stunning achievement from one of the true masters of this era. Based on Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel of the same name, Song introduces us to Chris Guthrie, a young woman living with her family on...
But let’s not get ahead of things. Sunset Song premieres in limited release this weekend, and it’s yet another stunning achievement from one of the true masters of this era. Based on Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel of the same name, Song introduces us to Chris Guthrie, a young woman living with her family on...
- 5/13/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
Spend “A Weekend with Amy Heckerling” when Johnny Dangerously and Fast Times at Ridgemont High screen this Saturday, while Look Who’s Talking and Clueless show on Sunday. All are on 35mm.
For “Welcome to Metrograph: A-z,” see a print of Philippe Garrel‘s The Inner Scar on Friday and Sunday; André de Toth‘s...
Metrograph
Spend “A Weekend with Amy Heckerling” when Johnny Dangerously and Fast Times at Ridgemont High screen this Saturday, while Look Who’s Talking and Clueless show on Sunday. All are on 35mm.
For “Welcome to Metrograph: A-z,” see a print of Philippe Garrel‘s The Inner Scar on Friday and Sunday; André de Toth‘s...
- 5/13/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Starting this weekend, Terence Davies will be in New York as the Museum of the Moving Image presents a retrospective of his films, complete but for his latest, A Quiet Passion. He'll be discussing The Long Day Closes and Sunset Song, which opens in the States next week, and there'll be screenings of his Trilogy, Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Lapaglia, Laura Linney, The Neon Bible with Gena Rowlands, Of Time and the City and The Deep Blue Sea with Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston. We're gathering odes to one of Britain's greatest directors. » - David Hudson...
- 5/5/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Starting this weekend, Terence Davies will be in New York as the Museum of the Moving Image presents a retrospective of his films, complete but for his latest, A Quiet Passion. He'll be discussing The Long Day Closes and Sunset Song, which opens in the States next week, and there'll be screenings of his Trilogy, Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Lapaglia, Laura Linney, The Neon Bible with Gena Rowlands, Of Time and the City and The Deep Blue Sea with Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston. We're gathering odes to one of Britain's greatest directors. » - David Hudson...
- 5/5/2016
- Keyframe
This wonderfully inventive meditation on director Mark Cousins’s hometown is refreshingly uncynical and pithy
Mark Cousins has created a meditative tribute to his hometown of Belfast in the “city symphony” tradition that stretches from Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera to Terence Davies’s Of Time and the City. It’s musing, free-associating and visually inventive, with wonderful images from cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Like all of Cousins’s documentary film-making and criticism, it refuses easy cynicism in favour of unashamedly heartfelt human sympathy. This is as refreshing, as ever, yet I wasn’t persuaded by his invention of a fictional wise old woman character who personifies Belfast. She is brutally upstaged by two real-life plain-speaking older women that Cousins interviews. I would have preferred to deal directly with the poetry of Cousins’s own authorial voice.
Continue reading...
Mark Cousins has created a meditative tribute to his hometown of Belfast in the “city symphony” tradition that stretches from Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera to Terence Davies’s Of Time and the City. It’s musing, free-associating and visually inventive, with wonderful images from cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Like all of Cousins’s documentary film-making and criticism, it refuses easy cynicism in favour of unashamedly heartfelt human sympathy. This is as refreshing, as ever, yet I wasn’t persuaded by his invention of a fictional wise old woman character who personifies Belfast. She is brutally upstaged by two real-life plain-speaking older women that Cousins interviews. I would have preferred to deal directly with the poetry of Cousins’s own authorial voice.
Continue reading...
- 4/7/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
iQIYI, which reports 10m subs, will host a curated selection of titles from the BFI London Film Festival.
The British Film Institute (BFI) has struck a commercial deal with China’s largest VOD platform iQIYI for the latter to carry a selection of films that have previously premiered at the BFI London Film Festival.
The titles are a mixture of UK independent and world cinema. Terms of the deal were not made available.
Curated into four categories – Growing Pains, Foreign Adventures, Family Anecdotes, Social Perspectives – the BFI has programmed 20 titles specifically for the new collection, including Michael Haneke’s Oscar-winning Amour, Carol Morley’s The Falling, and Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda.
The BFI negotiated rights to those 20 titles with sales agents, while the full line-up also includes a further 11 films that had previously struck deals to be on iQIYI but will now become a part of the collection, including Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave and [link...
The British Film Institute (BFI) has struck a commercial deal with China’s largest VOD platform iQIYI for the latter to carry a selection of films that have previously premiered at the BFI London Film Festival.
The titles are a mixture of UK independent and world cinema. Terms of the deal were not made available.
Curated into four categories – Growing Pains, Foreign Adventures, Family Anecdotes, Social Perspectives – the BFI has programmed 20 titles specifically for the new collection, including Michael Haneke’s Oscar-winning Amour, Carol Morley’s The Falling, and Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda.
The BFI negotiated rights to those 20 titles with sales agents, while the full line-up also includes a further 11 films that had previously struck deals to be on iQIYI but will now become a part of the collection, including Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave and [link...
- 3/24/2016
- ScreenDaily
★★★★☆ Fans of Terence Davies' heartfelt ode to his hometown Liverpool in Of Time and the City will be drawn to Innocence of Memories, from fellow British filmmaker Grant Gee. A slow-paced yet mesmerising documentary, it interweaves an epic romance and nostalgic love letter to Istanbul to shed light on the past, present and future of its setting. Part alternative travelogue, part meditation on love and loss, it explores the nature of a great city as a living, breathing entity and how memory is inextricably linked to time and place. Gee collaborated in the writing of his latest endeavour with Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who also features throughout.
- 1/31/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Terence Davies’s lyrical version of the Scottish classic finds the veteran director at the height of his powers
Back in the dark days when the UK Film Council was merrily throwing money at the shameful Sex Lives of the Potato Men, British film-making legend Terence Davies was finding it impossible to fund a screen adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel, Sunset Song, a hardscrabble tale of a young woman finding her identity – personal, national, spiritual – in rural northeast Scotland beneath the gathering clouds of the Great War. Despite the critical success of The House of Mirth, his 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel, Davies feared he might never trouble our cinema screens again. It wasn’t until his superb, low-budget love letter to Liverpool, Of Time and the City, became the unexpected toast of Cannes in 2008 that the skies started to brighten for our pre-eminent auteur. Now, with...
Back in the dark days when the UK Film Council was merrily throwing money at the shameful Sex Lives of the Potato Men, British film-making legend Terence Davies was finding it impossible to fund a screen adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel, Sunset Song, a hardscrabble tale of a young woman finding her identity – personal, national, spiritual – in rural northeast Scotland beneath the gathering clouds of the Great War. Despite the critical success of The House of Mirth, his 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel, Davies feared he might never trouble our cinema screens again. It wasn’t until his superb, low-budget love letter to Liverpool, Of Time and the City, became the unexpected toast of Cannes in 2008 that the skies started to brighten for our pre-eminent auteur. Now, with...
- 12/6/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Documentary cinema is in a golden period. While many filmmakers get more and more esoteric with their subjects, others are getting more and more sensory in their aesthetic, and even more are getting more and more distinct in their voice. Films like Room 237 and the various documentaries from Terence Davies have helped usher in a new age of “essay” film, with pictures like Los Angeles Plays Itself proving that the genre of filmmaking once relegated to the special features of any home video release worth its stock can become something far greater.
And then there’s Laurie Anderson.
Best known as a musician, Anderson is also an accomplished visual artist, and has subsequently offered to film goers one of the greatest and most emotionally resonant essay pictures of this golden age.
Entitled Heart Of A Dog, Anderson takes a decidedly more personal route for this essay film, very much...
And then there’s Laurie Anderson.
Best known as a musician, Anderson is also an accomplished visual artist, and has subsequently offered to film goers one of the greatest and most emotionally resonant essay pictures of this golden age.
Entitled Heart Of A Dog, Anderson takes a decidedly more personal route for this essay film, very much...
- 10/23/2015
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Industry veteran to take executive producer and producer duties at new firm.
Chris Moll, who stepped down as head of film at Creative England in April, has resurfaced at burgeoning film and TV production company Catalyst Global Media.
Moll has been hired to takes on both executive producer and producer duties at the London-based firm, which launched in May.
Reporting to Catalyst co-founder and CEO Charlotte Walls, Moll will be charged with sourcing high-quality, commercially viable projects for Catalyst’s development and production slate.
He will also be responsible for expanding the company’s national and international partnerships with key talent, producers, agents, publishers and financiers, and identifying new opportunities for collaboration across film, television, digital and music.
Walls said: “Chris brings tremendous strength as an award-winning film producer and seasoned entertainment executive with passion and vision for current projects and the future of Catalyst.”
Moll said he would help build “a slate focused on both creative...
Chris Moll, who stepped down as head of film at Creative England in April, has resurfaced at burgeoning film and TV production company Catalyst Global Media.
Moll has been hired to takes on both executive producer and producer duties at the London-based firm, which launched in May.
Reporting to Catalyst co-founder and CEO Charlotte Walls, Moll will be charged with sourcing high-quality, commercially viable projects for Catalyst’s development and production slate.
He will also be responsible for expanding the company’s national and international partnerships with key talent, producers, agents, publishers and financiers, and identifying new opportunities for collaboration across film, television, digital and music.
Walls said: “Chris brings tremendous strength as an award-winning film producer and seasoned entertainment executive with passion and vision for current projects and the future of Catalyst.”
Moll said he would help build “a slate focused on both creative...
- 8/12/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Terence Davies first announced his biopic of the notoriously reclusive American poet back in 2012, with Cynthia Nixon attached to star. The project stalled as Davies went into production on Lewis Grassic Gibbon adaptation "Sunset Song." That film wasn't ready for Cannes, but Davies will be taking the Dickinson picture to the Marche du Film this year now that Jennifer Ehle has joined the cast. Variety reports that Ehle will star alongside Nixon in "A Quiet Passion," which starts production this week in Belgium. Davies—whose gorgeous movies like "The Deep Blue Sea," "Of Time and the City" and "Distant Voices, Still Lives" challenge mainstream audiences—wrote the script with Nixon in mind. "It was the kind of dream casting you hope for," Davies told THR during Toronto 2012. "I never, for a moment, imagined my wishes would materialize. Cynthia has such a strong feeling for the work -- and now she is.
- 5/5/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Gazing into the crystal ball, Screen rounds up its Cannes predictions.
With the unveiling of Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection now exactly three weeks away buzz over the titles that Thierry Fremaux and his team will select for the 68th edition is hitting fever pitch.
Official teaser announcements have started to roll this week, led by the confirmation on Wednesday that George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road would premiere in an Out of Competition screening on May 14.
Earlier the week, Cannes unveiled its poster featuring Ingrid Bergman to mark the centenary of the late big screen’s birth and it was announced that Stig Bjorkman’s documentary Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words would show in Cannes Classics as part of the commemorations.
For the rest of the Official Selection, except perhaps the opening film which is traditionally revealed in advance, Cannes watchers will have to wait for the announcement press conference in Paris on April...
With the unveiling of Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection now exactly three weeks away buzz over the titles that Thierry Fremaux and his team will select for the 68th edition is hitting fever pitch.
Official teaser announcements have started to roll this week, led by the confirmation on Wednesday that George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road would premiere in an Out of Competition screening on May 14.
Earlier the week, Cannes unveiled its poster featuring Ingrid Bergman to mark the centenary of the late big screen’s birth and it was announced that Stig Bjorkman’s documentary Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words would show in Cannes Classics as part of the commemorations.
For the rest of the Official Selection, except perhaps the opening film which is traditionally revealed in advance, Cannes watchers will have to wait for the announcement press conference in Paris on April...
- 3/26/2015
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Creative England head of film and iFeatures founder to step down next month.
Creative England head of film Chris Moll is to step down next month.
Industry veteran Moll, who founded and oversees low-budget filmmaking scheme iFeatures - also backed by Creative England - will leave to pursue other projects after three years in the role.
Moll will step down from his position on April 17 ahead of a restructure within Creative England which will include the appointment of a director of content who will work across film, TV, games and digital.
The organisation is not expected to appoint a successor to Moll until the new director is in place.
During Moll’s tenure the organisation backed films including Andrew Haigh’s Berlinale winner 45 Years, action-thriller Spooks: The Greater Good, Charles Barker sci-fi The Call Up and SXSW music documentary The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson, directed by Julien Temple.
iFeatures, which recently...
Creative England head of film Chris Moll is to step down next month.
Industry veteran Moll, who founded and oversees low-budget filmmaking scheme iFeatures - also backed by Creative England - will leave to pursue other projects after three years in the role.
Moll will step down from his position on April 17 ahead of a restructure within Creative England which will include the appointment of a director of content who will work across film, TV, games and digital.
The organisation is not expected to appoint a successor to Moll until the new director is in place.
During Moll’s tenure the organisation backed films including Andrew Haigh’s Berlinale winner 45 Years, action-thriller Spooks: The Greater Good, Charles Barker sci-fi The Call Up and SXSW music documentary The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson, directed by Julien Temple.
iFeatures, which recently...
- 3/24/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Mark Cousins's film exploring childhood and film is dazzling in its breadth and intelligence
While I have always held that film-makers and film critics are fundamentally different beasts (and should ideally be kept in separate cages), Mark Cousins brilliantly bridges the divide between the disciplines, his screen work existing in a distinctive space between creation and commentary. An encyclopedic cineaste who is as happy watching movies as making them, Cousins has carved out a niche as the great chronicler of the medium, with The Story of Film: An Odyssey confirming him as a modern poet of the moving image. This latest visual essay (which builds upon the enchanting explorations of The First Movie) teases away at the portrayal of children on screen, drawing upon a breathtaking knowledge of international cinema which allows Cousins to connect fleeting glances across continents, decades and film formats: from Ozu to Spielberg to Panahi...
While I have always held that film-makers and film critics are fundamentally different beasts (and should ideally be kept in separate cages), Mark Cousins brilliantly bridges the divide between the disciplines, his screen work existing in a distinctive space between creation and commentary. An encyclopedic cineaste who is as happy watching movies as making them, Cousins has carved out a niche as the great chronicler of the medium, with The Story of Film: An Odyssey confirming him as a modern poet of the moving image. This latest visual essay (which builds upon the enchanting explorations of The First Movie) teases away at the portrayal of children on screen, drawing upon a breathtaking knowledge of international cinema which allows Cousins to connect fleeting glances across continents, decades and film formats: from Ozu to Spielberg to Panahi...
- 4/5/2014
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Projects from Terence Davies and Peter Greenaway among the titles being pitched at the Netherlands Production Platform (Npp).
The Holland Film Meeting (Sept 26-29), the Utrecht-based event dedicated to funding independent cinema, begins today.
Projects from Terence Davies (A Quiet Passion) and from Peter Greenaway (Eisenstein In Guanajuato) are among the titles being pitched at this year’s 15th anniversary Netherlands Production Platform (Npp).
The coproduction market includes both international and Dutch projects. 23 projects from 15 countries are at the Npp.
Acclaimed British director Davies has now delivered a final draft of the screenplay for A Quiet Passion, his biopic of reclusive New England poet Emily Dickinson.
The €4.6m project is being produced through Hurricane Films, run by Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter. The company also produced Davies’ feature doc Of Time And The City and is working on his new feature Sunset Song, expected to shoot in early 2014. Boulter is due in Utrecht to present A Quiet Passion.
Boulter...
The Holland Film Meeting (Sept 26-29), the Utrecht-based event dedicated to funding independent cinema, begins today.
Projects from Terence Davies (A Quiet Passion) and from Peter Greenaway (Eisenstein In Guanajuato) are among the titles being pitched at this year’s 15th anniversary Netherlands Production Platform (Npp).
The coproduction market includes both international and Dutch projects. 23 projects from 15 countries are at the Npp.
Acclaimed British director Davies has now delivered a final draft of the screenplay for A Quiet Passion, his biopic of reclusive New England poet Emily Dickinson.
The €4.6m project is being produced through Hurricane Films, run by Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter. The company also produced Davies’ feature doc Of Time And The City and is working on his new feature Sunset Song, expected to shoot in early 2014. Boulter is due in Utrecht to present A Quiet Passion.
Boulter...
- 9/26/2013
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Development to be aided by Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Hurricane Films, the UK production company behind Terence Davies’ Of Time and the City, has picked up three titles for its production slate.
Triple World Score, set among the world of Scrabble enthusiasts, has been written by Frank Cotterell-Boyle (24 Hour Party People) and will be directed by Carl Hunter.
Two Sevens Clash, based on the true experiences of a young Orthodox Jewish punk rocker in 1977 London, will be directed by scriptwriter Mark Jay.
Prayer Before Dawn is based on the book of the same name by ex-professional kickboxer Billy Moore, who wrote about his five-year prison sentence in the notorious ‘Bangkok Hilton’.
The screenplay is being written by Nick Saltrese, who has worked on UK soaps Emmerdale and EastEnders.
Hurricane has also confirmed that it has created its first Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme vehicle for project development.
The company is in advance development of A Quiet Passion, an Emily Dickinson...
Hurricane Films, the UK production company behind Terence Davies’ Of Time and the City, has picked up three titles for its production slate.
Triple World Score, set among the world of Scrabble enthusiasts, has been written by Frank Cotterell-Boyle (24 Hour Party People) and will be directed by Carl Hunter.
Two Sevens Clash, based on the true experiences of a young Orthodox Jewish punk rocker in 1977 London, will be directed by scriptwriter Mark Jay.
Prayer Before Dawn is based on the book of the same name by ex-professional kickboxer Billy Moore, who wrote about his five-year prison sentence in the notorious ‘Bangkok Hilton’.
The screenplay is being written by Nick Saltrese, who has worked on UK soaps Emmerdale and EastEnders.
Hurricane has also confirmed that it has created its first Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme vehicle for project development.
The company is in advance development of A Quiet Passion, an Emily Dickinson...
- 6/24/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Working Title’s Tim Bevan is to mentor UK production outfit Hurricane Films as part of the 2013 mentor initiative from charity Nesta (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).
Bevan will provide guidance and support as Liverpool-based Hurricane Films develops and produces its next two feature films, both to be directed by Terence Davies.
First to go into production this summer is Sunset Song, starring Agyness Deyn and Peter Mullan. Second will be Emily Dickinson story A Quiet Passion, which has Cynthia Nixon attached.
The mentorship is to last 12 months.
Hurricane’s Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter were BAFTA-nominated for producing Terence Davies’ Of Time and the City.
Bevan will provide guidance and support as Liverpool-based Hurricane Films develops and produces its next two feature films, both to be directed by Terence Davies.
First to go into production this summer is Sunset Song, starring Agyness Deyn and Peter Mullan. Second will be Emily Dickinson story A Quiet Passion, which has Cynthia Nixon attached.
The mentorship is to last 12 months.
Hurricane’s Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter were BAFTA-nominated for producing Terence Davies’ Of Time and the City.
- 6/6/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Former "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon is attached to play reclusive poet Emily Dickinson in "A Quiet Passion", a new biopic about her from British director Terence Davies ("Of Time and the City") says The Hollywood Reporter.
The film follows Dickinson's life from precocious schoolgirl to tortured recluse who saw only seven of her 1,000+ poems published in her lifetime.
After her death though, Dickinson was recognized as one of the greatest American poets of all time. Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter will produce the project.
The film follows Dickinson's life from precocious schoolgirl to tortured recluse who saw only seven of her 1,000+ poems published in her lifetime.
After her death though, Dickinson was recognized as one of the greatest American poets of all time. Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter will produce the project.
- 9/11/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
U.K. based production banner Hurricane Films has sealed a co-production deal with German outfit ostlicht filmproduktion on coming-of-age tale Two Sevens Clash from writer and director Mark Jay (Dolphins). Set in north London in 1977 against a backdrop of a divided Britain, it details the story of 16-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy who escapes family pressures by plunging into the love of punk rock. Photos: Cannes 2012: Opening Night Gala Hurricane is run by producers Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopoulos who brought Terence Davies' Of Time And the City to the Festival de Cannes in
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- 5/21/2012
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
All the latest news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette, as it happens
9.53am: Bonjour mesdames et messieurs, it's Wednesday 16th May and that can only mean one thing: the 2012 Cannes film festival is open for business. They've dusted down the red carpet, springcleaned the cinemas, and installed thousands of metal barriers for the 12-day frenzy of film on the Riviera.
Right around now the world's critics are pushing and shoving their way into the press screening for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the festival opener; in a couple of hours from now we'll know whether it's hot... or not.
We've sent a crack team out to the Croisette to bring you all the news, reviews and reactions: Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Charlotte Higgins, Jason Solomons, Henry Barnes and Elliot Smith. We'll also be running a daily live blog to be your one-stop shop for all things Cannes-related.
9.53am: Bonjour mesdames et messieurs, it's Wednesday 16th May and that can only mean one thing: the 2012 Cannes film festival is open for business. They've dusted down the red carpet, springcleaned the cinemas, and installed thousands of metal barriers for the 12-day frenzy of film on the Riviera.
Right around now the world's critics are pushing and shoving their way into the press screening for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the festival opener; in a couple of hours from now we'll know whether it's hot... or not.
We've sent a crack team out to the Croisette to bring you all the news, reviews and reactions: Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Charlotte Higgins, Jason Solomons, Henry Barnes and Elliot Smith. We'll also be running a daily live blog to be your one-stop shop for all things Cannes-related.
- 5/16/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
My last day at the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival gave me the opportunity to finally catch up with yet another of 2011's most praised and talked about dramas with Shame, as well as new works from other British heavyweights Ralph Fiennes and Terence Davies, and a new Thai thriller that we have been following on Twitch for some time. Hkiff Day 13 (4 March)The Deep Blue Sea (dir. Terence Davies, UK)Though I was a big fan of Davies' previous films Of Time And The City and The Long Day Closes, I struggled to find much of interest in his adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play. Rachel Weisz is on excellent form as the lonely wife of a high court judge who embarks on a passionate...
- 4/9/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Hugo; The Deep Blue Sea; We Have a Pope
Despite the inherent redundancy of the format, each new wave of 3D cinema throws up at least one oddity which goes some way toward justifying this technical gimmick. Die-hard 3D apologists cite Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder as a rare triumph from the 1950s fad (although House of Wax is more fun) while Flesh For Frankenstein outshines all other stereoscopic offerings from the 70s and 80s in terms of sheer bloodcurdling camp. But while the blockbusting Avatar remains the commercial flagship for early 21st-century 3D, my money is on Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011, Entertainment, U) being the movie which will be retrospectively regarded as the recent wave's most honourable outing.
Rather than toeing the baloney-on-toast "immersive experience" line trotted out by James Cameron et al, Scorsese's nostalgic homage to early cinema uses 3D as an archaic alienation device, reminding us that...
Despite the inherent redundancy of the format, each new wave of 3D cinema throws up at least one oddity which goes some way toward justifying this technical gimmick. Die-hard 3D apologists cite Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder as a rare triumph from the 1950s fad (although House of Wax is more fun) while Flesh For Frankenstein outshines all other stereoscopic offerings from the 70s and 80s in terms of sheer bloodcurdling camp. But while the blockbusting Avatar remains the commercial flagship for early 21st-century 3D, my money is on Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011, Entertainment, U) being the movie which will be retrospectively regarded as the recent wave's most honourable outing.
Rather than toeing the baloney-on-toast "immersive experience" line trotted out by James Cameron et al, Scorsese's nostalgic homage to early cinema uses 3D as an archaic alienation device, reminding us that...
- 3/31/2012
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Film: The Deep Blue Sea (2011) Cast includes: Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse), Simon Russell Beales (My Week with Marilyn) Director: Terence Davies (Of Time and the City) Genre: Drama | Romance (98) Based on a play by Terence Rattigan "Years ago I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to say to you. It's different this time because this time I really do want to die." It's 1950, and we're watching Hester in a shabby London flat. She puts money into the gas meter, spreads out a quilt in front of the fireplace, puts the note on the mantle, turns on the gas and lies down to die. As she drifts off, we see how things used to be. We see Hester enjoying the attention of Tom Page, a young fighter pilot on leave from the war. "I really mean it. You're the most attractive girl I've met." When she...
- 3/27/2012
- by Leslie Sisman
- Moviefone
"With The Deep Blue Sea," writes Nick Pinkerton in the Voice, "the great British director Terence Davies returns to the postwar period — though in a sense, he has never left. Born in 1945, Davies's cinema is defined by a mixed pity and fondness for the world of yesterday, a past he seemingly finds impossible to put behind him or to do without. The era's hypocritical propriety and quivering repression has most frequently been held up for 'enlightened,' Pleasantville-style condescension, but Davies is a great historical filmmaker because he feels the period too intimately to mock its rituals and mores, knows that no progress occurs without loss."
A retrospective of Davies's work is running at New York's BAMcinématek through March 27, while Sing, Memory: The Postwar England of Terence Davies opens today at the Harvard Film Archive and runs through March 26. On March 28, The Long Day Closes (1992) opens for a week-long run at New York's Film Forum.
A retrospective of Davies's work is running at New York's BAMcinématek through March 27, while Sing, Memory: The Postwar England of Terence Davies opens today at the Harvard Film Archive and runs through March 26. On March 28, The Long Day Closes (1992) opens for a week-long run at New York's Film Forum.
- 3/19/2012
- MUBI
No, we're not looking at a re-release of the man vs. smart shark film from the 90's. A short promotional trailer for this film showed up around the time of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but now a full length trailer for The Deep Blue Sea, an adaptation of the classic 1950's play of the same name by Terrence Rattigan and directed by Terrence Davies (The House of Mirth), is online. The film stars Rachel Weisz as a London socialite and wife of a British Judge (Russell Beale) who's caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot (Tom Hiddleston). Watch the new trailer below! Here's the first full length trailer for The Deep Blue Sea originally form Apple: The Deep Blue Sea is written and directed by Terrence Davies (Of Time and the City, The House of Mirth) adapted from Terrence Rattigan...
- 2/28/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
With his break-out year in Hollywood, Tom Hiddleston mixed things up with two Best Pictures nominees (Midnight in Paris and War Horse) as well as a big blockbuster (Thor). 2012 isn’t looking any different with his role in The Avengers, before a small, quiet indie. We’ve got the domestic trailer for the latter, Terence Davies‘ postwar romantic drama The Deep Blue Sea. Based on Terence Rattigan’s play, I found it a bit dry at Toronto last fall but I’ve warmed up to it since, looking back on Rachel Weisz‘s solid performance and admiring the restrained style. The trailer below gives a good feeling on what to expect and one can see it below via Apple.
Synopsis:
Master chronicler of post-War England, Terence Davies (The Long Day Closes, The House of Mirth) directs Rachel Weisz as a woman whose overpowering love threatens her well-being and alienates the men in her life.
Synopsis:
Master chronicler of post-War England, Terence Davies (The Long Day Closes, The House of Mirth) directs Rachel Weisz as a woman whose overpowering love threatens her well-being and alienates the men in her life.
- 2/28/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Long-awaited project, based on the Lewis Grassic Gibbon novel, finally secures funding despite its disturbing subject
Sunset Song, Terence Davies's long-awaited project based on the Lewis Grassic Gibbon novel, is set to finally go into production, Variety reports.
According to producer Bob Last, the film is now casting, with a view to beginning shooting at the end of this year or the start of 2013 in Scotland and Sweden.
Last produced The House of Mirth for Davies in 2000 – that film was the highest-grossing of his career – and is planning to co-finance the film with Hurriance Films, the outfit behind Of Time and the City, Davies's acclaimed black-and-white documentary about the Liverpool of his youth.
Set in the early 20th century, Sunset Song begins – as did Davies's most recent film, The Deep Blue Sea – with a suicide attempt: that of a poverty-stricken woman in Scotland, broken by repeated childbirths, who kills...
Sunset Song, Terence Davies's long-awaited project based on the Lewis Grassic Gibbon novel, is set to finally go into production, Variety reports.
According to producer Bob Last, the film is now casting, with a view to beginning shooting at the end of this year or the start of 2013 in Scotland and Sweden.
Last produced The House of Mirth for Davies in 2000 – that film was the highest-grossing of his career – and is planning to co-finance the film with Hurriance Films, the outfit behind Of Time and the City, Davies's acclaimed black-and-white documentary about the Liverpool of his youth.
Set in the early 20th century, Sunset Song begins – as did Davies's most recent film, The Deep Blue Sea – with a suicide attempt: that of a poverty-stricken woman in Scotland, broken by repeated childbirths, who kills...
- 2/17/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
"The Deep Blue Sea" and "House of Mirth" director Terence Davies’ long gestating adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s classic 1932 Scottish novel "Sunset Song" is finally getting underway says Screen Daily.
The story follows a proud young woman and her bittersweet relationship with the oppressive landscapes and Highland crofting culture in which she was born.
Hurricane Films and Götafilm have come onboard the project which will begin shooting this winter in Scotland and Pavelund, Sweden. Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter will produce.
Casting is currently underway. Hurricane produced Davies' documentary "Of Time And The City".
The story follows a proud young woman and her bittersweet relationship with the oppressive landscapes and Highland crofting culture in which she was born.
Hurricane Films and Götafilm have come onboard the project which will begin shooting this winter in Scotland and Pavelund, Sweden. Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter will produce.
Casting is currently underway. Hurricane produced Davies' documentary "Of Time And The City".
- 2/17/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Chicago – One of the annual gems of the Chicago movie scene is the Siskel Film Center’s unmissable European Union Film Festival. It provides local movie buffs with the opportunity to sample some of the finest achievements in world cinema. For many of the festival selections, their EU appearance will function as their sole screening in the Windy City.
This year’s edition, running from March 2nd through the 29th, includes high profile films from world renowned filmmakers like Andrea Arnold (“Wuthering Heights”), Bruce Dumont (“Hors Satan”), Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon (“The Fairy”), Abdellatif Kechiche (“Black Venus”) and John Landis (“Burke & Hare”). Moviegoers will have the opportunity to see the latest work from some of the world’s most acclaimed and beloved actors, including Léa Seydoux (“Belle Épine”), Tahir Rahim (“Free Men”), Colm Meaney (“Parked”), Noomi Rapace (“Beyond”), Andy Serkis (“Burke & Hare”), Isabella Rossellini (“Late Bloomers”) and Ewan McGregor...
This year’s edition, running from March 2nd through the 29th, includes high profile films from world renowned filmmakers like Andrea Arnold (“Wuthering Heights”), Bruce Dumont (“Hors Satan”), Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon (“The Fairy”), Abdellatif Kechiche (“Black Venus”) and John Landis (“Burke & Hare”). Moviegoers will have the opportunity to see the latest work from some of the world’s most acclaimed and beloved actors, including Léa Seydoux (“Belle Épine”), Tahir Rahim (“Free Men”), Colm Meaney (“Parked”), Noomi Rapace (“Beyond”), Andy Serkis (“Burke & Hare”), Isabella Rossellini (“Late Bloomers”) and Ewan McGregor...
- 2/15/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
John Akomfrah's "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in all his films," writes Sukhdev Sandhu in a profile for the Guardian. "Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) draws on the photographer James Van Der Zee's The Harlem Book of the Dead and Sergei Paradjanov's The Color of Pomegranates (1968) to fashion a probing, internationalist vision of the black radical leader that is far removed from the conventional hero projected in Spike Lee's biopic the previous year; The Last Angel of History (1995) advanced the concept of the 'data thief' as part of its argument about science-fiction elements in the music of Sun Ra, George Clinton and Lee Scratch Perry. Akomfrah's new film, The Nine Muses, is a multilayered, gorgeously shot and affecting work that interweaves archival footage of black and Asian people traveling to and working in Britain with moody, elliptical shots of...
- 1/22/2012
- MUBI
John Akomfrah's film-poem is a beguiling and often moving study in landscape and memory, comparable in spirit to Terence Davies's Of Time and the City. Loosely constructed around the nine muses of Greek legend (dance, music, tragedy, etc) it intermingles Alaskan landscapes hushed and blanketed in snow with extraordinary archive images of immigrant Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. No conventional narrative intrudes: impressionistic fragments of verse and quotation light the way, principally Anton Lesser reciting from Homer's Odyssey, with selections of Shakespeare and Milton, Beckett and Joyce picked out like distant constellations. The musical accompaniment is similarly eclectic, a mélange of old-school folk, gospel, classical and modern (Arvo Pärt figures prominently). The Nine Muses is less personal, more polemical than Davies's film, though their portrayals of Britain in mid-century have much in common. It is worth watching alone for the faces of children and adults just arrived in the country,...
- 1/20/2012
- The Independent - Film
Terence Rattigan's romantic drama set in a repressive postwar Britain is brought to the big screen superbly by Terence Davies
If we count his first three short films made on shoestring budgets between 1976 and 1983 as a trilogy, and his next, Distant Voices, Still Lives, as a diptych (they were actually made separately), Terence Davies has directed a mere seven films in 35 years. This puts him in the same exclusive league for low output and high quality as his contemporary, Terrence Malick. Davies's last film, Of Time and the City (2008), was a withering documentary about the sad decline of his hometown, Liverpool, and it followed two feature pictures adapted from American novels set at different times and in different American milieux, John Kennedy Toole's The Neon Bible and Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.
His outstanding new movie, The Deep Blue Sea, is a version of a play by Terence Rattigan,...
If we count his first three short films made on shoestring budgets between 1976 and 1983 as a trilogy, and his next, Distant Voices, Still Lives, as a diptych (they were actually made separately), Terence Davies has directed a mere seven films in 35 years. This puts him in the same exclusive league for low output and high quality as his contemporary, Terrence Malick. Davies's last film, Of Time and the City (2008), was a withering documentary about the sad decline of his hometown, Liverpool, and it followed two feature pictures adapted from American novels set at different times and in different American milieux, John Kennedy Toole's The Neon Bible and Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.
His outstanding new movie, The Deep Blue Sea, is a version of a play by Terence Rattigan,...
- 11/27/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Bristol Palestine Film Festival, Bristol
The Palestinian struggle hasn't been forgotten, but with so much going on in the Arab world this year, it could have slipped our attention a little. This new festival, spearheaded by Ken Loach, should rectify that. Its remit is to see the world through Palestinian eyes, via films, art, photography, discussions and poetry. It's not all pain and misery: the first night proper on Friday, introduced by Loach, has delightful animation Hassan Everywhere and (No) Laughing Matter, which journeys to the West Bank in search of good jokes. Other non-fiction subjects include Jaffa oranges and the Palestinian women's football team, while culture-clash drama Amreeka warmly tracks a Palestinian mother's move to the Us.
Various venues, Thu to 10 Dec, bristolpff.org.uk
Terence Davies, Nationwide
Having struggled to get his films made for so long, Davies is now in danger of becoming a national treasure. The...
The Palestinian struggle hasn't been forgotten, but with so much going on in the Arab world this year, it could have slipped our attention a little. This new festival, spearheaded by Ken Loach, should rectify that. Its remit is to see the world through Palestinian eyes, via films, art, photography, discussions and poetry. It's not all pain and misery: the first night proper on Friday, introduced by Loach, has delightful animation Hassan Everywhere and (No) Laughing Matter, which journeys to the West Bank in search of good jokes. Other non-fiction subjects include Jaffa oranges and the Palestinian women's football team, while culture-clash drama Amreeka warmly tracks a Palestinian mother's move to the Us.
Various venues, Thu to 10 Dec, bristolpff.org.uk
Terence Davies, Nationwide
Having struggled to get his films made for so long, Davies is now in danger of becoming a national treasure. The...
- 11/26/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Terence Davies' new film features a bored 1950s wife who leaves her husband after some earth-moving illicit sex. It's how he wishes he'd lived his life, he says
'I'm gay, I live alone and I've been celibate for 30 years," says Terence Davies. "So in a sense, I can't imagine what it's like." The 65-year-old director is talking about women trapped in unfulfilling marriages in the 1950s. And yet, in another sense, he perfectly understands their plight – having witnessed, as a boy in the 1950s, his own mother's brutal marriage.
"My mum had a terrible life because my father was a complete psychopath," he says. "She never once complained. She got on with it. That's what you did. It moves me more than I can say." I can't help thinking of the unbearable scene in his autobiographical 1988 film Distant Voices, Still Lives in which the father bawls "Shut up! Shut up!
'I'm gay, I live alone and I've been celibate for 30 years," says Terence Davies. "So in a sense, I can't imagine what it's like." The 65-year-old director is talking about women trapped in unfulfilling marriages in the 1950s. And yet, in another sense, he perfectly understands their plight – having witnessed, as a boy in the 1950s, his own mother's brutal marriage.
"My mum had a terrible life because my father was a complete psychopath," he says. "She never once complained. She got on with it. That's what you did. It moves me more than I can say." I can't help thinking of the unbearable scene in his autobiographical 1988 film Distant Voices, Still Lives in which the father bawls "Shut up! Shut up!
- 11/24/2011
- by Stuart Jeffries
- The Guardian - Film News
In an extended interview with the director of The House of Mirth and Of Time and the City Jason Solomons asks Terence Davies about his film-making career to date. Davies, whose new film, The Deep Blue Sea, is his first non-documentary work in eleven years, talks about the difficulty he has experienced in getting his films made over the last decade.
Sections of this interview were included as part of the Film Weekly podcast published 24 November 2011.
Jason SolomonsJason Phipps...
Sections of this interview were included as part of the Film Weekly podcast published 24 November 2011.
Jason SolomonsJason Phipps...
- 11/24/2011
- by Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps
- The Guardian - Film News
Veteran director Terence Davies considered quitting the movie industry in the 2000s after growing "sick of the struggle" when two of his projects collapsed due to lack of funding.
The Brit was working on a drama and a comedy, but the films failed to make it to the big screen because of financial issues.
The setbacks hit Davies hard and he debated giving up his moviemaking career - until his 2008 documentary Of Time and the City became a critical success.
He tells Britain's Telegraph magazine, "The struggle to find money is the most eroding thing, particularly when you're told that everyone likes your films but nobody will put money into them.
"I'd got to the point where I just thought, it's too difficult. I can't do it any more. I'm sick of the struggle. I really felt defeated. And that's when it has its worst effect on you because you think, well perhaps I've got no talent; perhaps what I'm doing, nobody wants. And that's the worst thing of all."
Davies' new movie, The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz, is his first feature film since 2000's The House of Mirth.
The Brit was working on a drama and a comedy, but the films failed to make it to the big screen because of financial issues.
The setbacks hit Davies hard and he debated giving up his moviemaking career - until his 2008 documentary Of Time and the City became a critical success.
He tells Britain's Telegraph magazine, "The struggle to find money is the most eroding thing, particularly when you're told that everyone likes your films but nobody will put money into them.
"I'd got to the point where I just thought, it's too difficult. I can't do it any more. I'm sick of the struggle. I really felt defeated. And that's when it has its worst effect on you because you think, well perhaps I've got no talent; perhaps what I'm doing, nobody wants. And that's the worst thing of all."
Davies' new movie, The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz, is his first feature film since 2000's The House of Mirth.
- 11/21/2011
- WENN
Here is the first trailer for Terrence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea, an adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's classic play of the same name. The film stars Rachel Weisz "as a London socialite and wife of a British Judge (Russell Beale) who's caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot (Tom Hiddleston).
The film was written and directed by Davies (Of Time and the City, The House of Mirth). The Deep Blue Sea arrives in UK theaters on November 25th, and will probably hit Us theaters before the end of 2011. Check out the short trailer below and share your thoughts!
I love Weisz so this might be film I end up seeing. What do you think?...
The film was written and directed by Davies (Of Time and the City, The House of Mirth). The Deep Blue Sea arrives in UK theaters on November 25th, and will probably hit Us theaters before the end of 2011. Check out the short trailer below and share your thoughts!
I love Weisz so this might be film I end up seeing. What do you think?...
- 9/21/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Though the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival is over (see Alex coverage right here, and stay tuned for a big recap coming soon), that doesn't mean we're done seeing promotions for the film come out of the woodwork. Today's Tiff selected film getting the marketing machine moving is The Deep Blue Sea, an adaptation of the classic 1950's play of the same name by Terrence Rattigan. The film stars Rachel Weisz as a London socialite and wife of a British Judge (Russell Beale) who's caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot (Tom Hiddleston). See the short, but promising trailer below! Here's the teaser trailer for Terrence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea: The Deep Blue Sea is written and directed by Terrence Davies (Of Time and the City, The House of Mirth) adapted from Terrence Rattigan's 1950's play. The wife (Rachel Weisz of The Constant Gardener...
- 9/21/2011
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
One of the more memorable films at the Toronto International Film Festival was Terence Davies‘ postwar romantic drama The Deep Blue Sea. Based on Terence Rattigan’s play, it was a bit dry and I didn’t love Rachel Weisz‘s performance, but the restraint and emotion that came through are its strong suits. We recently posted a clip, but now the full trailer has arrived on I Love Film. Music Box recently picked up the film for Us distribution, so expect to see it sometime next year. Check out the trailer below for the film also starring Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale by clicking the image. We’ll pop in an embed when available.
Synopsis:
Postwar England has been a recurring and vital setting for Terence Davies. His semiautobiographical masterpieces Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, as well as the bulk of his rapturous documentary Of Time and the City,...
Synopsis:
Postwar England has been a recurring and vital setting for Terence Davies. His semiautobiographical masterpieces Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, as well as the bulk of his rapturous documentary Of Time and the City,...
- 9/20/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Why round up reviews of both in one entry? Because Fernando Meirelles's 360 will be opening the BFI London Film Festival on October 12 and Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea will be closing it on October 27. What's more, both star Rachel Weisz and, of course, both have just seen their world premieres in Toronto. We'll consider them, though, in order of interest.
"So entirely immersive is Terence Davies's desire to recreate and analyze the ethos of post-World War II Britain that not only has he fulfilled his ambition to refashion Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea," writes Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter, "but he has created a theoretical sequel to Noël Coward and David Lean's Brief Encounter in the bargain. As intensely personal and deeply felt as it is, however, Davies's attempt to breathe new life into Rattigan's 1952 play is a rather bloodless, suffocating thing,...
"So entirely immersive is Terence Davies's desire to recreate and analyze the ethos of post-World War II Britain that not only has he fulfilled his ambition to refashion Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea," writes Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter, "but he has created a theoretical sequel to Noël Coward and David Lean's Brief Encounter in the bargain. As intensely personal and deeply felt as it is, however, Davies's attempt to breathe new life into Rattigan's 1952 play is a rather bloodless, suffocating thing,...
- 9/14/2011
- MUBI
There must be around 120 titles showing at Tiff next week with available North American rights but only there only about two dozen titles that will premium must see titles for All acquisition heads. Once again I've put together a Top 20 list with the highest item on the list belonging to the title that should fetch the most dollars and perhaps the most heat in terms of a North American distribution deal. I predict what buyers might be looking at before the point of purchase and what they'll be thinking in terms of audience reach in a field/year that is once again is strong in British and U.S mid-range indie items. So enjoy the list and if you happen to be at one of these premieres take a look at who might be sitting next to you --- they may just be one of the most important power players/ distribution heads in the room.
- 9/1/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
The London Film Festival announced that Terence Davies’ adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s play The Deep Blue Sea, will close out this years festival. The movie marks a return to fiction movie-making for Davies after his documentary Of Time and the City took Cannes by storm in 2008. Davies is responsible for a number of great British films including The House of Mirth and The Long Day Closes so his upcoming film is highly anticipated by most cinephiles. The feature will star Rachel Weisz, Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston. Weisz stars a woman approaching a middle life crisis and leaves her privileged life as the wife of a high court judge (Beale) to embark on an affair with a dashing young pilot (Hiddleston). The festival is set to run from October 12-27.
- 8/30/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Last week, we reported on the news that 360 was set to open the 55th BFI London Film Festival and this morning we found out the news that The Deep Blue Sea starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale will be closing the 2011 event.
The Deep Blue Sea is directed by Terence Davies and from the images that Jon posted a while ago, it looks beautifully shot.
Set in post-war Britain, this deeply moving story is an adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s classic play, The Deep Blue Sea is a study of forbidden love, suppressed desire, and the fear of loneliness. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, what – or whom – should Hester choose?
I’ve placed the full press release below for your viewing pleasure and we can’t wait to see what else will be playing this year. We’ll find out the full line-up...
The Deep Blue Sea is directed by Terence Davies and from the images that Jon posted a while ago, it looks beautifully shot.
Set in post-war Britain, this deeply moving story is an adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s classic play, The Deep Blue Sea is a study of forbidden love, suppressed desire, and the fear of loneliness. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, what – or whom – should Hester choose?
I’ve placed the full press release below for your viewing pleasure and we can’t wait to see what else will be playing this year. We’ll find out the full line-up...
- 8/30/2011
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 55th BFI London Film Festival will end on a high note with the UK premiere of The Deep Blue Sea.
Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives) marks his return to fiction feature following his much loved documentary Of Time and the City, with this London based drama.
He says: "To get into the BFI London Film Festival at all is bliss - to get a Closing Night film is sheer heaven!"
Sandra Hebron, the Festival’s Artistic Director adds: "It’s a great pleasure to close the Festival with this exquisite new feature from one of our most cherished directors. This beautifully directed and acted film is the perfect closing night film."
Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale).
To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her...
Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives) marks his return to fiction feature following his much loved documentary Of Time and the City, with this London based drama.
He says: "To get into the BFI London Film Festival at all is bliss - to get a Closing Night film is sheer heaven!"
Sandra Hebron, the Festival’s Artistic Director adds: "It’s a great pleasure to close the Festival with this exquisite new feature from one of our most cherished directors. This beautifully directed and acted film is the perfect closing night film."
Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale).
To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her...
- 8/30/2011
- by Nathan.Reecs@lovefilm.com (Nathan Rees)
- LOVEFiLM
The author's stylish language will be heard once more in the movie, fifty years after he was branded as old-fashioned amid the coming of drama's angry young men
The spare, stylish dialogue of Terence Rattigan, at one time the highest-paid screenwriter in the world, will soon be heard in Britain's cinemas once more. In the final phase of a centenary year that has seen the late playwright's work revived on stages across the country, next month will bring not just a celebration of his theatrical legacy at Chichester Festival Theatre, but the release of a new film version of The Deep Blue Sea – the play regarded by many as Rattigan's masterpiece.
Director Terence Davies is due to show his film, which stars Rachel Weisz as the troubled Hester Collyer, at the Toronto Film Festival before its British premiere in November.
Davies, the acclaimed experimental screenwriter and filmmaker from Liverpool behind Distant Voices,...
The spare, stylish dialogue of Terence Rattigan, at one time the highest-paid screenwriter in the world, will soon be heard in Britain's cinemas once more. In the final phase of a centenary year that has seen the late playwright's work revived on stages across the country, next month will bring not just a celebration of his theatrical legacy at Chichester Festival Theatre, but the release of a new film version of The Deep Blue Sea – the play regarded by many as Rattigan's masterpiece.
Director Terence Davies is due to show his film, which stars Rachel Weisz as the troubled Hester Collyer, at the Toronto Film Festival before its British premiere in November.
Davies, the acclaimed experimental screenwriter and filmmaker from Liverpool behind Distant Voices,...
- 8/22/2011
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
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