Eva Birthistle Movies

Filmmaker Peter Greenaway explored the life and work of the celebrated Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn in his 2007 drama Nightwatching, and he returns to this theme in the documentary Rembrandt's J'Accuse, in which he presents an in-depth analysis of one of Rembrandt's best-known paintings, 1642's "The Night Watch." With Greenaway offering an onscreen narration through much of the film, the director presents an illustrated lecture on the artist, the painting, and the many circumstances behind it -- the culture and politics of Holland in the 17th century, the real-life figures depicted in the painting (among them Capt. Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburgh), the controversy that surrounded these men, and the subtle suggestions Rembrandt's representation advanced -- and why some believe backlash over "The Night Watch" brought Rembrandt's career to a premature end. In addition to paintings and text, Greenaway also features several actors who are "interviewed" as key figures in the story: Martin Freeman appears as Rembrandt (as he did in Nightwatching), Eva Birthistle portrays his wife, Saskia, and Emily Holmes and Jodhi May impersonate their household servants. Rembrandt's J'Accuse was an official selection at Toronto's 2009 Hot Docs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Benedict Cumberbatch, Max Beesley, and Anamaria Marinca headline this chilling "Masterpiece" production concerning a brilliant mathematician, who is inadvertently drawn into becoming the public face of a massive database designed to track and control the citizens of England. Stephen Ezard is working in China when he receives word that his brother Michael, a benevolent aid worker, has been killed in Afghanistan by a landmine. Returning to England to attend Michael's funeral, Stephen is deeply disturbed to discover just how much his home country has changed since he left to work abroad many years ago. Over the course of those years, Stephen and Michael grew apart, and now the discovery that London has become a police state causes the reclusive genius to wonder just what the world is coming to. After falling in love with his brother's widow Yasim, Stephen is recruited by the government to be the spokesperson for a massive super-database designed to help the government follow the actions and movements of every man, woman, and child in England. As the conspiracy winds ever deeper, and Stephen's paranoia swells, he begins to suspect that no one is who they seem to be. His ability to trust completely eroded, Stephen realizes that it's too late for turning back, and that personal freedom is little more than a distant memory. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Peter Greenaway explores the life of Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt in a biographical feature that uses the 1642 painting "Night Watch" as a launching point to explore the 17th Century artist's life from an entirely new perspective. British film and television star Martin Henderson assumes the role of the prolific painter, with Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May, and Emily Holmes assuming the roles of his wife and mistresses respectively. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Brian Kirk's gothic thriller Middletown excoriates the actions and attitudes of the Irish Catholic clergy by honing in on one psychotically deranged fire-and-brimstone preacher. Matthew MacFadyen is Gabriel Hunter, a priest fresh from missions work in Africa. After 15 years of service in the field, Gabriel returns to his hometown in Ireland to occupy the now-vacant pulpit. Once there, he re-encounters three members of his working-class brood: his father, Bill Hunter (Gerard McSorley); his younger brother, the service station attendant Jim (Daniel Mays); and Jim's expectant wife Caroline (Eva Birthistle), who runs the local speakeasy. The family welcomes Gabriel home, but from the first moments of his arrival, he projects a violent, hair-trigger temper; relentless, psychopathic bursts of unchecked anger; and a sadistic obsession with inflicting pain and cruelty on everything and everyone around him -- from squelching live mice beneath his heels to strangling the neck of a chicken that he seizes during a cockfight. From the pulpit, Gabriel uses sermons to relentlessly damn the members of his congregation for their sins, including all activity at the local pub, which he perceives as a den of iniquity. When Gabriel hears Caroline's refusal to have her child baptized, the statement pushes him completely over the edge and triggers a string of increasingly violent acts that will bring the entire community to its knees -- and threaten the lives and safety of Bill, Jim, Caroline, and the newborn baby. Daragh Carville authored the script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

An Irish boy becomes an emotional and sexual outcast as the 1960s fade into the 1970s in this period drama from director Neil Jordan. When he was just a baby in the early '60s, Patrick Braden (Conor McEvoy) was abandoned by his mother and left on the doorstep of a church overseen by Father Bernard (Liam Neeson). Placed in a foster home, sensitive Patrick doesn't much care for the emotionally chilly attitude of his new "family," and psychologically buffers himself against the world by writing stories that make fun of Father Bernard and the other authority figures in his life. As he grows into adulthood, Patrick (played as an adult by Cillian Murphy) also discovers that he enjoys dressing in women's clothes and prefers the company of men, and as a teenager he falls into an affair with Billy Hatchet (Gavin Friday), a nightclub performer who also runs guns for the Irish Republican Army. In the early '70s, Patrick -- who has since taken on the drag name "Kitten" -- makes his way to London, where he becomes involved with Bertie (Stephen Rea), a small-time nightclub magician who gives the young man a place to say, a sense of security, and a job as his on-stage assistant. However, Patrick's idyllic life with Bertie proves short-lived when his old friends come to town on IRA "business." Breakfast on Pluto also features a supporting performance from former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Charles McDougall's Sunday is one of two films (the other being Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday) that were made in 2002 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of January 30, 1972, a date commonly known as Bloody Sunday. Originally aired on BBC television network, the film attempts to give a fact-based portrayal of the events, which began as a civil rights protest in response to some Catholic leaders being jailed without due process and ended in a gruesome massacre, with 14 Catholics shot dead and 14 others injured at the hands of the British military. After its television debut, Sunday went on to win the top prize at the 2002 Method Fest Independent Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Brendan Behan's famous memoir about his troubled youth formed the basis of this drama. Brendan (Shawn Hatosy) is a 16-year-old boy from Ireland who loathes the British and is eager to do something about it. Brendan sails into Liverpool, but is discovered to be carrying the makings of a bomb; he's soon placed under arrest and thrown into a borstal (British reform school), where he finds himself surrounded by a collection of tough-as-nails English delinquents. While his political beliefs don't change, Brendan learns to become more tolerant of others as he makes friends with a few of his fellow inmates, including Charlie (Danny Dyer), who dreams of sailing away some day, and Scottish Jock (Robin Laing). Brendan also has to deal with the pains of first love when he becomes infatuated with Liz (Eva Birthistle), the daughter of the school's master (Michael York). Borstal Boy marked the film debut of stage director Peter Sheridan, the brother of noted Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi