Michael Winterbottom Movies
Acclaimed British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom is known for making intense, passionate films that explore the demands of human relationships and emotional commitment. He first earned recognition with Butterfly Kisses (1995), a somewhat controversial revision of the buddy/road genre that told the story of a pair of lesbians (Saskia Reeves and Amanda Plummer) who go on a killing spree across Great Britain.Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, on March 29, 1961, Winterbottom earned a degree at Oxford and received film training in Bristol and London. After beginning his professional career as a film editor for Thames Television, he directed two documentaries about Ingmar Bergman and a few television series, most notably the acclaimed BBC drama Family (1994).
The same year that Butterfly Kiss was released, Winterbottom presented audiences with a film of an entirely different sort. Go Now, a romantic drama starring Robert Carlyle as a man whose life is turned inside out after he is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, was a tough yet sweet look at life's hard knocks. It featured stunning performances from Carlyle and Juliet Aubrey, who played his lover, and it earned an overwhelmingly strong reception.
Winterbottom followed Go Now with a film that was in a much darker emotional vein: Jude, his 1996 adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Starring Christopher Eccleston as its doomed protagonist and Kate Winslet as his equally ill-fated paramour, the film earned fairly strong reviews, though many critics -- and audience members -- found its unyielding pessimism hard to take. Equally heart-rending was Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), which focused on the experiences of a group of journalists and civilians in war-torn Sarajevo. The first major Western film to take place in the former Yugoslavia, it debuted at the 1997 Cannes Festival, where it received a warm reception but no awards. The film's Cannes reception mirrored the way in which audiences subsequently responded to it; although it received largely positive critical notices, audiences stayed away due in part to the difficult subject matter.
After making the romantic crime drama I Want You (1998), Winterbottom directed one of his most anticipated films to date, Wonderland (1999). An ensemble drama focusing on the lives of three lower-middle-class sisters in London, the film marked a departure from the kind of emotionally devastating works with which Winterbottom had made his name. That same year, he released With or Without You, a romantic drama about a couple whose marriage is threatened when old flames and amorous pen pals enter the picture. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- 2013
Director Michael Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me, The Trip) reunites with 24 Hour Party People star Steve Coogan to tell the sordid tale of English entrepreneur and real estate developer Paul Raymond (Coogan), who earned the nickname "The King of Soho" after opening London's first strip club in 1958. But just as Raymond begins to challenge British sexual mores, some accusing him of practicing the same type of hypocrisy that he purported to rail against in the public eye. Stephen Fry, Imogen Poots, and Anna Friel co star in this biographical period drama scripted by Matt Greenhalgh (Control, Nowhere Boy). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2012
Shot over the course of five years in order to accurately reflect the passage of time from the perspective of a prison inmate, Michael Winterbottom's Everyday tells the story Ian, of a convicted drug-smuggler who attempts to maintain a healthy relationship with his wife Karen as she raises their four children while awaiting her husband's release. As that date draws near, day passes afford Ian the opportunity to spend time walking through the park or enjoying a quiet meal with his family. Meanwhile, both the convict and his overburdened wife wrestle with the stress of seeing their family fragmented while facing an uncertain future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director Fernando Meirelles (Blindness, The Constant Gardener) teams with screenwriters Peter Morgan and Peter Emmanuel Goldman to expand the scope of Arthur Schnitzler's 1897 play La Ronde, which explored the ways that social boundaries can be shattered by human sexuality. Set in seven cities across the globe, 360 finds a disparate group of characters unknowingly bonded by the sexual choices they make. Consumed by loneliness, a British businessman (Jude Law) ponders a rendezvous with a prostitute. When his colleague catches wind of the plan, blackmail enters the picture. Meanwhile, the businessman's wife (Rachel Weisz) prepares to call it quits with her younger lover; a Brazilian student breaks up with her boyfriend in London and heads back to Rio; a recovering alcoholic (Anthony Hopkins) travels to Phoenix in search of his missing daughter; a freshly paroled sex offender (Ben Foster) struggles to stay composed when propositioned in a Denver airport; and a prominent widower's religious devotion is put to a difficult test. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, a modern retelling of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Ubervilles, stars Freida Pinto as the title character, a young Indian woman who meets Jay (Riz Ahmed), the son of a rich real-estate man. He convinces her to come work in a hotel owned by his father, and because her family is in desperate need of money -- and he's charming and handsome -- she accepts. While things go well at first, she becomes pregnant and is forced to leave the job. Although Trishna tries to make it on her own as a dancer, Jay eventually returns and attempts to sweep her off her feet again. Trishna played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Freida Pinto, Rizwan Ahmed, (more)
The second feature-length adaptation of author Jim Thompson's acclaimed 1952 crime novel, Michael Winterbottom's unflinching, psychosexual post-noir stars Casey Affleck as Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford, a stoic small-town lawman leading a secret life as a serial killer. His West Texas jurisdiction plagued by a series of unsolved murders, Deputy Sheriff Ford does his best to maintain a cool facade while working to deflect the suspicions of the locals. When those suspicions grow too strong to ignore, the psychotic sheriff begins to buckle under the pressure. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, (more)
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reprise their roles from Michael Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story for this tale of a restaurant critic who reluctantly invites his obnoxious best friend on a business trip through the English countryside. Tapped by The Observer to review fine restaurants throughout the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, Steve (Coogan) finds himself without a traveling companion after his girlfriend decides not to go at the last minute. After being turned down by everyone he knows, Steve extends an invitation to Rob (Brydon), and together the pair attempts to navigate the winding back roads of rural England, impersonating popular celebrities and bickering endlessly along the way. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, (more)
Naomi Klein's controversial best-selling book which explores how both natural and man-made disasters are used to force disadvantageous political and economic changes on unwilling governments is brought to the screen in this documentary from filmmakers Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross. Using electroshock treatment as a metaphor -- a harsh jolt to the body and brain that, after being embraced as a healing method, was in turn discovered to cause more harm than good -- The Shock Doctrine explores how the United States, with the help of the C.I.A., became enamored of Milton Friedman's interpretation of free-market capitalism and attempted to persuade developing nations of its value. However, since fully unregulated markets tended to create an unbalanced economic climate in which a small number of people became extremely wealthy and vast numbers were plunged into poverty, the United States was only successful at selling free market deregulation to countries in crisis who had no practical choice than to do what the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth demanded. The results led to both widespread privation and violence in Russia, Poland, Chile, South Africa and the Middle East, and The Shock Doctrine explains how this happened, where it's still going on, and what can be done to stop it. The Shock Doctrine was an official selection at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Klein
- 2009
11 year old Lucy (Molly Windsor) becomes a ward of the state, and copes with the hardships of being lost in a cruel and uncaring system. Now safe from her abusive father (Robert Carlyle), Lucy bonds with her defiant teenage roommate Lauren (Lauren Socha) and falls back on her faith in the Holy Spirit in the fight to persevere. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Molly Windsor, Robert Carlyle, (more)
In the wake of a family tragedy, an English ex-patriot living in the United States decides to relocate himself and his daughters to Italy, only to discover that grief has followed them overseas when the youngest girl proves unable to move past her acute emotional pain. An Englishman at heart, Joe (Colin Firth) now lives a happy life with his wife and daughters in the United States. Their happy existence is turned upside down in an instant, however, when his wife is driving their daughters home one day and becomes momentarily distracted from the road. Later, as Joe and his daughters attempt to contend with the thick fog of grief hanging over their household, the loving father surmises that a change of scenery may be in order; accepting a teaching job in Italy in hopes that it will help them contend with their bereavement. For teenage daughter Kelly (Willa Holland), at least, the move works miracles: though Kelly was sullen and withdrawn back home, she seems awakened by the endless possibilities that the future may hold in Europe - even entering into a clandestine romance with a handsome Italian boy. Kelly's younger sister Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine), unfortunately, is another case entirely. Despite her father's most valiant efforts to assuage her grief, Mary just doesn't seem capable of shaking the loss. Meanwhile, as Joe rekindles an old friendship with a university colleague (Catherine Keener), his family soaks in the marvelous medley of medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary influences of the scenic, northern Italian city. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colin Firth, Perla Haney-Jardine, (more)
Angelina Jolie stars as Mariane Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in director Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Mariane's memoir recounting the abduction and murder of her husband (played in the film by Dan Futterman) by Pakistani militants. It was on January 23, 2002, that Mariane Pearl's life took a grim and unanticipated turn that no one could have seen coming. The South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, was in Pakistan with his pregnant wife, Mariane, when he set out to conduct one last interview for an upcoming article; the pair were due to fly back home to the U.S. shortly thereafter. By all accounts, it was the same type of interview he had conducted a hundred times before, and though the only concern that Daniel had voiced beforehand was that he might be a bit late for dinner, it would soon become obvious that something had gone horribly awry. Later, in an attempt to rise above the seething vengeance and cycle of violence that the post-9/11 world has fallen into and familiarize her newborn son with the father he will never know, Mariane penned A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl. The remarkable true story behind the murder that shook the entire world, Mariane's deeply personal novel is adapted for the screen by the BAFTA award-winning director of The Road to Guantanamo. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, (more)
An ex-convict is mysteriously drawn to two intriguing women after becoming involved in a car accident while passing through a sleepy Ontario town in director Marc Evans' enigmatic drama. Invited into the home of high-functioning autistic Linda (Sigourney Weaver) after getting into a car accident that involved Linda's daughter, ex-con Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) does his best to gracefully accept Linda's selfless generosity. His situation grows increasingly complicated, however, when Alex finds the seductive allure of town sexpot Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss) too powerful to resist. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, (more)
Winner of the Silver Bear at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, uses interviews, news footage, and reenactments to tell the story of the Tipton Three, young British men of Pakistani descent who were detained for over two years without charges at Guantanamo Bay by the American military. Shafiq (played by Riz Ahmed in the reenactments), Ruhel (Farhad Harun), Asif (Arfan Usman), and Monir (Waqar Siddiqui) traveled to Pakistan to take part in Asif's wedding to a Pakistani girl. Once in Pakistan, they hooked up with Zahid (Shahid Iqbal), Shafiq's cousin, and they all met in Karachi. There, they attended a mosque, where the imam urged worshipers to help those in need in Afghanistan, and where an inexpensive bus trip over the border was organized. Out of a sense of charity, or perhaps a naïve lust for adventure, the young men decided to travel to Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign begins shortly after they arrive. While trying to get back over the border, they find themselves in the Taliban stronghold of Konduz, where they are captured by the Northern Alliance during the Taliban surrender. At this point, Monir is separated from the group, and they never see him again. Shafiq, Ruhel, and Asif are brought to Sheberghan prison, where they are detained under miserable conditions, until the Americans discover that they are British. At that point, their journey to Guantanamo begins. Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed, and Shafiq Rasul describe their ordeal at the hands of American and British intelligence, who were determined to get them to confess their nonexistent links to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, while the brutal scenes are reenacted onscreen. The Road to Guantanamo was shown at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rizwan Ahmed, Farhad Harun, (more)
- 2005
- R
- Add Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story to Queue Add Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story to top of Queue
A group of actors and filmmakers set out to adapt an "unfilmable" classic novel -- but find that their own petty concerns get in the way -- in this satirical comedy. Laurence Sterne's 18th century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman told the story of its priggish title character from the moment of conception onward, with a bevy of digressions, distractions, and unfinished anecdotes. In adapting the work for the screen, director Michael Winterbottom chose to stay true to its anarchic spirit: the film begins as a mostly straightforward adaptation of events in Sterne's writings, and then veers into a tale about the making of the film itself. Steve Coogan plays Tristram Shandy, who narrates his own life story, beginning with his slightly botched birth, overseen by an addled doctor (Dylan Moran) and his reticent father, Walter (also played by Coogan). Constantly quarreling with his battle-scarred brother, Toby (Rob Brydon), Walter Shandy has an epiphany when he holds his newborn son; however, before that moment can occur, the film switches into the present day, where Coogan and Brydon, playing themselves, bicker over costuming and the size of their roles in the film. The rest of the film's crew has their own concerns. Director Mark (Jeremy Northam) is trying to figure out how to secure a big Hollywood star for a supporting role and shoot a battle scene on a budget. The film's brainy production assistant Jennie (Naomie Harris) worries that their adaptation is leaving out the best parts of the book, as she nurses a crush on one of the cast members. All the while, Coogan tries to deflect a tabloid reporter's inquiry into his strip-club escapades, and attempts to pacify the concerns of his wife, Jenny (Kelly MacDonald). Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, (more)
A relationship between a British scientist and an American student is chronicled through the concerts they saw and the love they made in this highly personal romantic drama from director Michael Winterbottom. Matt (Kieran O'Brien) works with the British Antarctic Survey team, and as he travels to the South Pole and ponders the vast plains of snow and ice, his mind drifts back to his short-lived romance with Lisa (Margo Stilley), a free-spirited girl from the United States. Matt and Lisa met at a rock concert, and afterward the two went back to his flat and made love; as Matt relives their relationship in his mind, their time together is reduced to a few meals, bits of conversation, and nine concerts they attended together, punctuated by their sessions in the bedroom. Described by several critics as the most sexually explicit film produced to date by a noted international director, 9 Songs was a labor of love for Michael Winterbottom. Primarily improvised, self-financed, and shot using digital video equipment with a three-person skeleton crew, 9 Songs includes performances by Primal Scream, the Von Bondies, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Franz Ferdinand, Super Furry Animals, the Dandy Warhols, Elbow, and Michael Nyman. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margo Stilley, Kieran O'Brien, (more)
British writer/actor Stephen Fry makes his feature-film debut with the witty, sophisticated comedy Bright Young Things, adapted from Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel Vile Bodies. Set in London during the '30s, this stylish period film follows an ensemble cast of well-dressed and highly literate partygoers. Aspiring writer Adam Fenwick-Symes (stage actor Stephen Campbell Moore) loses the manuscript of his first novel when traveling through customs. He then sets out to raise enough money to marry his sweetheart, Nina Blount (Emily Mortimer), the daughter of a colonel (Peter O'Toole). All in the name of love, Adam seeks funding through a constant stream of parties, meetings, and conversations with eccentric acquaintances. Cameo appearances are made by the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Simon Callow, and Stockard Channing. Bright Young Things was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, (more)
In the not-so-distant future, a married man investigates a counterfeiter and ends up the perpetrator of an ethical crime in Code 46, the latest film from prolific British director Michael Winterbottom. Set against the backdrop of a technologically advanced Shanghai, where people are only allowed to travel between countries with official passports called "papelles," the film charts the efforts of Seattle native William (Tim Robbins) to get to the bottom of a contraband-papelle operation within the walls of a high-tech company that manufactures them. There he finds Maria (Samantha Morton), an enigmatic young woman who may or may not be selling the passports on the black market. William has a brief affair with Maria, which, despite his attempts to return home, causes him to become embroiled in an even bigger controversy in Shanghai. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, (more)
Damien O'Donnell's Heartlands stars Michael Sheen as a man on a mission. Colin (Sheen) is a simple man who is stunned to learn that his wife has taken up with the captain of his dart team. Upon learning that the two are headed to a big dart competition in Blackpool, Colin hops on his moped and pursues her. Along the way he meets an assortment of colorful individuals. Eventually, Colin is given the chance to confront his wife and her lover. Heartlands was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Sheen, Mark Addy, (more)
Prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom adds to his impressively diverse oeuvre with this harrowing account of two Afghan refugees' passage to the West in search of a better life. The movie opens at a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, where Afghans have sought refuge in the wake of the U.S. military campaign in their country following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The story follows Jamal, an orphaned teenager, and Enayat, his older companion, as they make their way from Pakistan to London. Traveling in the back of trucks, by bus, and on foot, the two cross Central Asia in an arduous journey punctuated by encounters with hostile border guards and shady smugglers. Even more traumatic is the ocean voyage from Turkey to Italy, during which Jamal and Enayat are forced to hide in a shipping container with other asylum seekers, including a terrified infant. Winterbottom shot the movie vérité-style on digital video, and the smudgy look and quick cutting betray the movie's guerrilla roots. Enhancing its raw veneer is Winterbottom's reliance on improvised dialogue and non-actors. A stirring work of advocacy, this flawed but wrenching film won the Golden Bear at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jamal Udin Torabi, Enayatullah, (more)
This digital-video biopic uses the life of journalist, record mogul and club owner Tony Wilson to frame the story of the Manchester, England, music scene from the heyday of punk through the late-'80s "Madchester" era. As the founder of staunchly independent Factory Records, Wilson (Steve Coogan) shepherded the careers of doomed post-punk combo Joy Division, synth-pop superstars New Order and hedonistic louts the Happy Mondays. Along the way, he helped bring rave culture to Britain under the aegis of the legendary Hacienda nightclub. 24 Hour Party People follows Wilson from his conversion to punk at a seminal Sex Pistols concert through the suicide of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, the overwhelming success of New Order and the eventual dissolution of the Factory empire thanks to bad business decisions, underworld ties and the hedonistic excess of the Happy Mondays. Directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by frequent collaborator Frank Cottrell Boyce, 24 Hour Party People features cameos from a large number of Manchester music luminaries. The supporting cast includes Shirley Henderson and John Simm, both of whom appeared in Winterbottom's Wonderland, while the film's title comes from a Happy Mondays song. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, (more)
One man's small empire threatens to collapse under the weight of his greed and deceit in this drama that transplants the story of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge to 19th century America. In 1867, Dillon (Peter Mullan) is an Irish immigrant who settled in California during the Gold Rush of '49 and has done quite well for himself. Dillon owns nearly every business of consequence in the town of Kingdom Come; if someone wants to dig for gold, rent a room, open a bank account, or even order a drink, they have to go to Dillon to do it. One of the few profitable enterprises in town that he doesn't own is the brothel, which is operated by Lucia (Milla Jovovich), Dillon's lover. Circumstances change somewhat when Dalglish - a surveyor with the Central Pacific Railroad - turns up and expresses his plans to implement a railroad in the area. Dillon, sensing a great opportunity afoot, travels well out of his way to ensure that the line is run through Kingdom Come, to enhance the town's commercial prospects. Also arriving in town the same time as Dalglish are two women, the beautiful but ailing Elena (Nastassja Kinski) and her lovely teenage daughter Hope (Sarah Polley); their presence is deeply troubling for Dillon, for they are the keys to a dark secret Dillon has kept from the people of Kingdom Come. The Claim is Michael Winterbottom's second adaptation of the works of Thomas Hardy; his 1996 feature Jude was adapted from Hardy's final novel, Jude the Obscure. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Mullan, Wes Bentley, (more)
The members of a British working-class family see their lives starting to come apart as the Nation prepares to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (named for an anarchist who tried to blow up Parliament) in Michael Winterbottom's drama Wonderland. Eileen (Kika Markham) and Bill (Jack Shepherd) are a married couple with four grown children. Bill has lost his job and is drifting through life, unsure of what to do. He's also having sexual problems with Eileen, who is being driven insane by their noisy neighbors. Neither Bill nor Eileen have seen their son Darren (Enzo Cilenti) for a long time, and his birthday is a heartbreaking experience for them. (Darren, on the other hand, would prefer to celebrate his birthday by spending the night in a hotel with his girlfriend rather than seeing his parents.) Bill and Eileen also have three daughters, Nadia (Gina McKee), Debbie (Shirley Henderson) and Molly (Molly Parker). Nadia works in a cafe and has trouble meeting men; she's signed up with a dating agency, but has yet to meet anyone she likes. Debbie is suddenly a single mother after separating from her drunken lout of a husband. Debbie drowns her sorrows in a series of meaningless one-night-stands, while her husband flies into uncontrollable rages and their son is left with no one to turn to on either side. And while Molly's story seems happy on the surface -- she's soon to give birth to her first child and her husband has done well in kitchen sales -- she's suddenly thrown into instability when she finds her husband has quit his job, without telling her, to follow his dream of becoming a chef. Wonderland received enthusiastic reviews for its ensemble cast when shown at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shirley Henderson, Gina McKee, (more)
- 1998
Old New Borrowed Blue is a bittersweet love story of modern times. Rosie and Vincent are desperately trying to have a baby, but this is causing an unavoidable stress on their sex life. When Benoit, a French postal worker and teenage pen pal of Rosie's, arrives on their doorstep with romantic intentions, Vincent is not as thrilled as Rosie. Having found out that his over-the-channel sweetheart is now married, Benoit settles in as her houseguest. Vincent is unhappy with the arrangement and tries to cure his wounded ego in an affair with his old flame, the local hairdresser, Cathy. Rosie and Vincent find themselves facing choices they had never imagined they would have to make. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Eccleston, Dervla Kirwan, (more)
- 1998
- R
This neo-noir British crime drama, set at a decaying English beach resort, begins with a body dropped from a pier. Hairdresser Helen (Rachel Weisz) goes with local deejay Bob (Ben Daniels), but mute bicyclist Honda (Luka Petrusic), who secretly tapes people's conversations, meets Helen at the beachfront and begins sending her flowers. Honda's sad nympho sister Smokey (Macedonian-born Labina Mitevska) sings at a local club. A figure from Helen's past, the enigmatic, mysterious Martin (Alessandro Nivola) checks out Helen but keeps his distance. Irritated that Helen won't sleep with him, Honda plans a way to embarrass Bob with the secret tapes, while Martin and Helen renew their relationship. Polish cinematographer Slawomir Idziak, famed for his filtered filming for Krzysztof Kieslowski's (Blue), captures the dark, visual tone of obsessive love, while Elvis Costello's 1986 song I Want You is heard throughout. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rachel Weisz, Alessandro Nivola, (more)
A startling examination of the Bosnian war of the mid-1990s and the role of journalists in covering it, this film was based on real-life journalist Michael Nicholson's book Natasha's Story. Like Nicholson, cynical journalist Henderson (Stephen Dillane) is one of the rat pack of reporters looking for gore in the streets of besieged Sarajevo. He is outraged when grandstanding reporter Flynn (Woody Harrelson) helps local citizens remove the corpse of a mother gunned down on a family outing. But the next day, Henderson is among the journalist vultures at a grisly scene, and he has to tell a little girl that both her parents were killed. When his story is demoted by his television network in favor of a celebrity puff piece, Henderson is angry. At the behest of his producer, Jane Carson (Kerry Fox), he visits a local orphanage. Henderson becomes deeply involved with the plight of the children and starts documenting their individual stories even as his employers express increasing disinterest. Henderson campaigns to get the kids out of Yugoslavia, with the help of an American aid worker, Nina (Marisa Tomei). He promises a girl named Emira (Emira Nusevic) that he'll take her back to his home in England. To make good on his vow, he must risk both his career and his life. He adopts the child and she is happy in England. But he must return to war-torn Sarajevo when her birth mother, who had abandoned her, demands her daughter back. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, (more)
- 1997
- R
Eoin McNamee based the screenplay for this drama on his own novel, which was itself based on real-life Protestant paramilitaries known as "The Shankill Butchers," who used the cover of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland to mask their often homicidal crimes. Set in Northern Ireland of 1975, the story opens with a killing by young psycho Victor Kelly (Stuart Townsend) and his gang, known as the Resurrection Men. The city lives in fear, and TV coverage perks the interest of journalist Ryan (James Nesbitt) and his associate Coppinger (James Ellis). Older hood McLure (Sean McGinley) hires Victor and his gang to do some dirty work, but local cop Herbie (Derek Thompson) enters the picture to put pressure on gang member Hascksaw (B.J. Hogg). As Victor's wildness escalates, Ryan uses words to weave a media myth around Victor's behavior. Meanwhile, McLure makes plans to destroy Victor. The Irish settings for this film actually were shot in Manchester, Warringon, and Liverpool. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stuart Townsend, Geraldine O'Rawe, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.