Janine Duvitski Movies

A destitute but determined young woman living in turn-of-the-century England ascends the social ranks after authoring a series of successful romantic novels in French writer/director François Ozon's first English-language feature. Romola Garai takes on the title role in a French and Belgian co-production co-starring Sam Neill, Charlotte Rampling, and Michael Fassbender and financed by Fidélité Films, Canal+, Celluliod Dreams, France 2, and Pan-Européenne. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Based on Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The Madness of George III, The Madness of King George takes a dark-humored look at the mental decline of King George III of England. The film's story begins nearly three decades into George's reign, in 1788, as the unstable king (Nigel Hawthorne, reprising his stage role) begins to show signs of increasing dementia, from violent fits of foul language to bouts of forgetfulness. This weakness seems like the perfect chance to overthrow the unpopular George, whom many blamed for the loss of the American colonies, in favor of the Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett), but the king's prime minister William Pitt (Julian Wadham) and his wife Queen Charlotte (Helen Mirren) are determined to protect the throne. Doctors are brought in, but the archaic treatments of the time prove of little value. In desperation, they turn to Dr. Willis (Ian Holm), a harsh, unconventional specialist whose unusual methods recall modern psychiatry. Willis struggles to break through to the mad king, treating him with an anger and haughtiness George has never before experienced. Stressing the absurdity of the entire situation, Bennett's witty screenplay emphasizes dry humor over tragedy, even utilizing references to King Lear for comic effect. Hawthorne's fiery yet vulnerable performance received much critical praise, including Best Actor at the British Academy Awards and a nomination for the same at the Oscars. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Peter Greenaway wrote and directed this typically surreal and iconoclastic black comedy. Three generations of women who share the same name -- 63-year-old Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright), her daughter Cissie Colpitts II (Juliet Stevenson), and granddaughter Cissie Colpitts III (Joely Richardson) -- have all discovered the same way of dealing with their marital problems. The senior Cissie has drowned her husband Jake (Bryan Pringle) in the bathtub, her daughter sent her spouse Hardy (Trevor Cooper) to a watery grave in the ocean, and the youngest Cissie sent her husband Bellamy (David Morrissey) down in a swimming pool. Needless to say, local coroner Henry Madgett (Barnard Hill) has some questions about this sudden rash of drownings among the Colpitts husbands, and again all three women respond in the same way: they promise to sleep with Henry in exchange for recording the deaths as accidental (though none of the Cissies make good on this promise). When the local gossip mill begins working overtime about this sudden rash of water-related deaths, Henry's teenage son Smut (Jason Edwards) comes to the aid of the Cissies and organizes a tug-of-war, with he and the Colpitts women on one side and the doubting townspeople on the other (and, of course, a river in the middle). Along the way, Greenaway often stops to contemplate his obsessions with literature, astronomy, and numbers. Drowning by Numbers was released in Europe in 1988, but didn't find its way to American screens until 1991, following the success of Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Made for British television by filmmaker Mike Leigh, Grown Ups is a detailed slice-of-life drama about a married, working-class couple in Canterbury, England. The film begins with the young couple, Dick and Mandy, moving to a new, rather small home and becoming neighbors to Mr. Butcher, an abrasive, ill-humored man who they once had as a schoolteacher. This rather awkward living situation soon becomes even more uncomfortable, thanks to the near-constant presence of Mandy's older sister, Gloria. (Gloria is portrayed by Brenda Blethyn, who 17 years later would win recognition and an Oscar nomination for her work in Leigh's Secrets and Lies.) Gloria's eccentricity and desperate, child-like neediness leads her to become increasingly dependent on the young couple, showing up at all hours and rarely leaving. Her behavior grates on the already sour Dick and comes to test Mandy's patience as well. When Mandy's efforts to politely discourage her sister's visits prove fruitless, the extended family is forced into a painful, emotionally charged confrontation. Leigh purposefully alternates the film's more immediate dramatic elements with careful, real-time portraits of daily life, giving equal weight to both traumatic arguments and extended conversations about home decor and vacuum cleaners. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

In the late '70s, Frank Langella starred in the hit Broadway play Dracula, written by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. Langella's charisma and the surreal, black-and-white sets designed by cartoonist Edward Gorey were the chief outstanding features of the play, which was otherwise undistinguished. While this film production of the play boasts performances by stage veterans Lord Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance, as well as Frank Langella as the suavest of counts, it was neither a critical nor a box-office success, doubtlessly because expectations ran too high. One highlight of this production is its skillful use of special effects. The standard story of Bram Stoker's original novel is re-created here: the undead count arranges to move from his home in Transylvania to Whitby, and once there, a reign of terror begins. He is opposed by the canny Doctor Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier), who eventually triumphs. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi