Christopher Brown Movies

Two brothers are caught on differing sides of the battle for Irish freedom in this politically minded historical drama from veteran British filmmaker Ken Loach. It's 1920, and Damien O'Donovan (Cillian Murphy) has recently graduated from medical school. Damien plans to leave the small village in Ireland where he was born to take a job in London, much to the annoyance of his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney), who is an Irish loyalist and wants to see the British stripped of their rule of his land. While visiting Peggy (Mary Riordan), a longtime friend of the family, Damien and Teddy witness a visit by "Black and Tans," British soldiers who supposedly keep the peace in Ireland; the soldiers turn violent and murder Michaeil (Lawrence Barry), Peggy's grandson, when they discover he only speaks Gaelic. Damien is radicalized by the event, and with Teddy joins the local chapter of the Irish Republican Army, who use violence to drive British troops out of the country. While the IRA is a poor and ill-equipped fighting force, their willingness to give their lives for their cause is taken very seriously by the British, who step up their reprisals against the locals; the Black and Tans even begin directing their violence and torture against women and children, including Damien's girlfriend, Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald). In 1921, Britain attempts to end the violence in Ireland by creating the Irish Free State, a compromise government which will give the Irish greater autonomy while Great Britain still retains final political control of the nation. Teddy sees this as a victory and believes it's an important first step to a truly free Ireland, but Damien sees the IRA's goal as nothing short of complete independence, and the brothers and allies soon become rivals in a battle neither side can win. The Wind That Shakes the Barley received the Golden Palm award as Best Picture at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmed with the usual meticulous attention to period and detail of films from Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The Remains of the Day is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, the "perfect" butler to a prosperous British household of the 1930s. He is so unswervingly devoted to serving his master, a well-meaning but callow British lord (James Fox), that he shuts himself off from all emotions and familial relationships. New housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) tries to warm him up and awaken his humanity. But when duty calls, Stevens won't even attend his own dying father's last moments on earth. The butler also refuses to acknowledge the fact that his master is showing signs of pro-Nazi sentiments. Disillusioned by Hitler's duplicity, the master dies an embittered man, and only then does Stevens come to realize how his own silence has helped bring about this sad situation. Years later, regretting his lost opportunities in life, he tries once more to make contact with Miss Kenton, the only person who'd ever cared enough to seek out the human being inside the butler's cold veneer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this slow-paced (until the end), low-budget thriller with an excellent cast, Rosemary (Annie Whittle) is a normal mother involved in cross-country racing, who decides to leave her husband and two older children for six months to live in a remote section of the New Zealand coast, photographing and writing about penguins. Her family visits her on the weekends, and Francis, one of her friends, comes by fairly often as well. The problem is that Rosemary's two neighbors do not really want her around, and soon her beach shack is vandalized. When blood is smeared on her family photos, Rosemary has no doubt that someone is seriously out to do her harm unless she leaves -- but her work is not yet finished. Rosemary's isolation in the shack and her ominous neighbors build up to an exciting finale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In the second episode of the four-part story "Enlightenment," the Doctor (Peter Davison) finds himself on board an Edwardian-style yacht, presently engaged in a race through space. The prize is the titular "Enlightenment," an element coveted by the Eternals, an alien civilization which survives by syphoning off the thoughts and emotions of its prisoners. Also figuring into the action is the Doctor's old enemy, the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall). Written by Barbara Clegg, "Enlightenment, Episode 2" first aired on March 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the conclusion of the four-part story "Enlightenment," the Doctor (Peter Davison) races against the evil Captain Wrack (Lynda Baron) to win a yachting competition in space, the prize of which would prove disastrous should it fall into the wrong hands. The Doctor's old enemy the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall) attempts to determine the race's outcome, but he eventually faces defeat from an unexpected source. With this episode, Mark Strickson officially becomes a regular in the role of Turlough. Written by Barbara Clegg, "Enlightenment, Episode 4" first aired on March 9, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was the first English-language project of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses). In tune with his previous filmic essays on racism and brutality, Merry Christmas concentrates on a war of wills between rebellious POW David Bowie and camp commandant Ryuichi Sakomoto. Assuming that his other prisoners' unwillingness to protest their cruel treatment is a sign of weakness, Sakomoto is most impressed by Bowie's enigmatic defiance. While Bowie and Sakomoto seem to be operating on a high spiritual and intellectual plane, bilingual prisoner Tom Conti (the "Mr. Lawrence" of the title) engages in a more standard adversarial relationship with sadistic sergeant Takeshi Kitano. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi