Bernard Hill Movies
When producers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy needed an actor of eminence and power to play King Théoden in the second and third films, they went fishing and reeled in a prize catch: Bernard Hill. It was Hill who portrayed Captain E.J. Smith in the 1997 box-office blockbuster Titanic. By sinking to the bottom as the stiff-upper-lipped commanding officer of the doomed ship, Hill rose to new heights in his profession, receiving international recognition for his acting skill. Although Titanic was mediocre artistically, audiences loved it for its soapy melodrama, special effects, and strong performances from veteran actors like Hill. But who was Hill? When fans checked into his background, they discovered that he was among Britain's most accomplished actors. In the 1980s, he earned critical acclaim for roles in stage and television productions of Shakespeare's plays and won Britain's Press Guild award for Achievement of the Decade for his performance in the TV miniseries Boys From the Blackstuff. In 1994, he received a British Academy award for his starring role in Skallagrigg. Further research revealed that Hill had portrayed Gratus in what was unquestionably one of the top three or four TV miniseries of all time -- I, Claudius (1976) -- and Sergeant Putnam in the 1982 Academy Award-winning biodrama Gandhi.Hill was born on December 17, 1944, in Manchester, England, and eventually resided with his own family in Suffolk. Since the early '70s, he has acted in television and film, as well as theater. Hill has appeared in TV adaptations of such classics as The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame; and Antigone by Sophocles. Hill accepted roles in a string of films with offbeat names: Besides Skallagrigg, he appeared in Madagascar Skin (1995), Drug-Taking and the Arts (1994), Dirtysomething (1993), Drowning by Numbers (1988), Bellman and True (1987), Milwr Bychan (1986), Squaring the Circle (1984), The Spongers (1978), and Pit Strike (1977). In the Lord of the Rings films, Hill plays white-haired Théoden Ednew, the 17th king of Rohan and a defender of Middle-earth. Made old and decrepit beyond his chronological age by the machinations of Grima Wormtongue and Saruman, Théoden regains his vigor through the intervention of Gandalf and rides his horse, Snowmane, to battlefield glory. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi
- 2007
Nineteenth-century Spanish copper miners working in deplorable conditions rise up against their British employers. Based on a true story. ~ Jim Feeley, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sienna Guillory, (more)
- 2005
Three residents of a 1950s-era U.K. town experience apocalyptic events that transport them 50 years into the future, where they encounter a trio of time travelers who inform them that their entire lives were a work of fiction created by a popular comedy troupe called The League of Gentlemen. Saucy German Herr Lipp (Steve Pemberton), psychotic butcher Hilary Briss (Mark Gatiss), and unassuming businessman Geoff Tipps (Reece Shearsmith) were fleeing fireballs in fictional Royston Vasey when they ran into a church crypt, and emerged a half-century later in the real town of Hadfield. Later, as the hapless time travelers struggle to get their bearings, they encounter posh zookeeper Edward (Shearsmith), mysterious Tubbs (Pemberton), and imposing voodoo chief Papa Lazarou (Shearsmith) - who shock them with the news that they and their hometown are, in fact, entirely fictional. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, (more)
- 2000
A biographical drama about the life of great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein), Eisenstein stars Simon McBurney as its eponymous protagonist. Beginning in 1922, when the young Eisenstein, a former Red Army engineer, became the protégé of avant-garde theatre director Meyerhold (Jonathan Hyde), the film covers Eisenstein's life, work, and political struggles through three decades, set in such disparate locales as the Ukraine and Mexico. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Simon McBurney, Raymond Coulthard, (more)
- 1998
Tom Roberts, an Emmy-winner for Mother Russia's Children, directed this documentary about Josef Stalin's efforts to build an 800-mile railroad in the Arctic Circle during the late 1940s and early 1950s, to provide a defense of the northern borders of the Soviet Union. The huge work force (drawn from the gulag prison system) faced brutal conditions (starvation, freezing cold, dysentery), and many died. After 500 miles of track was in place, the project was abandoned 20 days after Stalin's death in 1953. Archival footage is intercut with survivor interviews. Filmed across Siberia, this is the second in HBO Signature's "Double Take" series, launched with Diary of a Terrorist: Mikdad, and it premiered November 8, 1998 on HBO Signature. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Georgii Byenkin, Boris Stachikov, (more)
Graham Theakston directed this Hugh Stoddart adaptation of the 1860 George Eliot novel about the strong bond between Maggie Tulliver (Emily Watson) and her brother Tom (Ifan Meredith) of Dorlcote Mill on the river Floss. The mill has been in their family for 300 years, but their father, Edward Tulliver (Bernard Hill), loses it to shrewd businessman Lawyer Wakem (Nicholas Gecks). His son, sensitive, deformed Philip Wakem (James Frain), loves Maggie. Tom opposes the relationship, and the emotional Maggie, who adores her brother, yields to his authority. Her cousin Lucy Deane (Lucy Whybrow) is engaged to the charming Stephen Guest (James Weber-Brown). On a visit, Stephen and Maggie are immediately attracted to each other, creating a scandal during a boating expedition and prompting Tom to throw her out of the house. Events then lead toward a tragic conclusion. Earlier film versions were released in 1915 and 1937. Shown at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, this movie had its U.S. premiere 10/12/97 on PBS as part of Masterpiece Theatre. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Ifan Meredith, (more)
- 1994
This film offers a glimpse into the abuse of disabled people in residential homes while also offering a look into the human spirit. The Skallagrigg is said to be "the mythical protector of disabled people," and 16 year old Esther who suffers from cerebral palsy wants to find him. Esther had lived most of her life in a rehab center for the handicapped. When her widowed father John, finally comes to take her out, Esther is bitter until she convinces him to help her quest for the Skallagrigg. They are accompanied by Esther's friends Raj, a cynical young man in a wheelchair, and Tom who suffers from Down's syndrome. Esther and John become closer as they discover that the Skallagrigg is a really a palsied fellow named Arthur who has been horribly abused in a nursing home. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bernard Hill, Kerry Noble, (more)
- 1993
Set in 1956 during the Suez crisis, this Dennis Potter-scripted musical comedy is about two young British servicemen, Francis Francis (Giles Thomas) and Mick Hopper (Ewan McGregor), stationed as Russian translators at the War Office. Francis, who stays with his aunt and uncle, develops a crush on his beautiful neighbor, Sylvia (Louise Germaine), who happens to be married to Francis' bullying superior, Corporal Berry (Douglas Henshall). Mick, who loves rock & roll and dreams of becoming a professional drummer, falls for Lisa (Kymberley Huffman), the niece of Lt. Colonel Trekker (Shane Rimmer), the American liaison at the office. The movie employs Potter's usual device of the characters lip-synching to the popular songs of the period. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Starring:
- Giles Thomas, Louise Germaine, (more)
- 1992
A vacation in Scotland turns into hard work for Michael Cooper, a former Chicago policeman, when he runs into an engaging but nervous Englishman who appears as out of place as the American in a little Scottish fishing village. After the two become friendly, the ex-policeman learns the cause of the other man's nervousness: his daughter has been kidnapped by a criminal gang which is hoping to use her abduction in order to find the old man, who has been on the run from them for some time. Before long, Michael charges in to the rescue. This fairly tame action drama offers old-time fans of comic Norman Wisdom a chance to see him in a "straight" role. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Norman Wisdom, William Katt, (more)
- 1987
In flashback, we learn how nerdish computer whiz Bernard Hill has gotten himself involved with nasty gang boss Richard Hope. When Hill's wife leaves him and his stepson, he gets drunk and loses his job; before he cleans out his desk, he sells one of his "worthless" computer tapes to Hope. The latter kidnaps Hill's son, forcing the computer geek to do a printout of the tape. The information contained therein turns out to be a map of the National General Bank security system. From this point onward, be prepared for lots of twists, double-crosses and surprises. The question posed by Bellman & Ture: will Bernard Hill, sucked into the criminal gang, retain his own honesty despite big-money temptation? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bernard Hill, Kieran O'Brien, (more)
- 1986
Filmed for British television in 1986, The New World made it to American shores in 1988. Bernard Hill and James Fox star in this dramatization of the founding of the Plymouth Colony. The dramatic thrust of the film is a power struggle between two self-appointed pilgrim leaders. Betsy Brantley co-stars as the romantic bone of contention between the antagonists. The New World was seen on American cable TV through the facilities of the Disney Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Fox, Bernard Hill, (more)
- 1985
As Children's Rebellion demonstrates, the Americans have no monopoly on fact-based TV movies. Eileen Atkins stars in this British tale of populism triumphant. Atkins plays one of two teachers, fired for a variety of contradictory reasons by their local school board. Incensed, the young students-some of them very young-stage a protest march, demanding that their favorite teachers be reinstated. First telecast in 1985, Children's Rebellion made its American TV bow the following year, courtesy of the A&E cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1984
Playwright Tom Stoppard, best known for such works as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Arcadia, turned his attention to recent Polish history in this television film about the early 1980s formation of the Solidarity movement. Filmed just two years after the actual events, Squaring the Circle initially focuses on the inner workings of the Politburo and their reactions to the strikes led by deeply dissatisfied workers. When the strikes become more prominent and unified, with demands for independent trade unions, the film's attention shifts to the leaders of the workers, especially the charismatic Lech Walesa. For a brief period, the workers and the Politburo make a doomed attempt to come to an acceptable compromise in order to avoid internal violence and prevent the intervention of Russian troops. Stoppard addresses the complexities of dramatizing recent history by telling his tale through an unreliable narrator, who is occasionally interrupted and corrected by a native Pole regarding certain historical and political facts. Originally made for British television by director Michael Hodges, the film underwent a number of unauthorized changes in the hands of the American co-producers; the detrimental effects of these changes are detailed in Stoppard's introduction to the published script. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- 1982
Part of a television series entitled "The Shakespeare Plays," this is the conclusion of the Henry VI chronicles, which ends with the Duke of Gloucester's plan to murder Henry VI. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1978
Based on a novel by David Garnett, Sailor's Return is a British Victorian-era domestic drama, with plenty of domesticity and precious little drama. Tom Bell stars as a sailor who returns to his home village with his new bride (Shope Soleinde). The bride is black; the village is aghast. Struggling against the prejudice of the townsfolk and his own doubts about the wisdom of his union, Bell opens a pub. No distributor wanted to have anything to do with Sailor's Return, a dilemma due less to the film's subject matter than to its production ineptitudes. The film finally got its first showing on British television, two years after its completion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Bell, Shope Shodeinde, (more)
- 1976
A former policeman investigates a series of murders by centering on an organization which re-creates medieval battles. ~ John Bush, Rovi
Mrs. Thornley (Liz Smith) leads a rather miserable existence in Salford. She lives with her husband, Jim (Clifford Kershaw), a night custodian at a toy factory, and their grown daughter, Ann (Polly Hemingway). Mrs. Thornley is a maid who works for an imperious upper-middle class woman, Mrs. Stone (Vanessa Harris). Between her work and her home life, it seems like Mrs. Thornley is always cooking, cleaning, and fielding complaints. Jim spends most of his spare time at the pub, and is pretty cold to his wife, drunkenly demanding sex from her once a week on the night he's not working. Jim's efforts to ingratiate himself to his supervisor, Mr. Shaw (Keith Washington), are met with a stony lecture about dressing properly on the job. Ann, meanwhile, has been spending her time trying to arrange an abortion for her friend Julie (Linda Beckett) with the help of a friendly Pakistani taxi driver, Naseem (an early turn by Ben Kingsley). The couple's son, Edward (Bernard Hill, who would later play Théoden in Lord of the Rings) seems to care about his mum, but his wife, Veronica (Alison Steadman, in the first of many performances for writer/director Mike Leigh), is a snob who constantly harangues him about his manners and looks down on his family. Mrs. Thornley, beaten down by her wearying existence, eventually seeks solace from a local priest. Hard Labour, Leigh's follow-up to Bleak Moments, was originally produced for the BBC's Play for Today series. It features an appearance by Alan Erasmus (who would become a major figure in the Manchester pop scene), portrayed by Lennie James in Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liz Smith, Alison Steadman, (more)
Director/screenwriter Gerald McMorrow makes his feature debut with this ambitious psychological sci-fi drama set between contemporary London and the dystopic Meanwhile City, where the separation between church and state has been obliterated to make way for a religion-dominated society. As atheist vigilante Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillippe) prepares to seek revenge against Meanwhile City's powerful leader, privileged artist Emilia (Eva Green) finds her cynicism and depression accelerated by the difficult relationship she shares with her mother. Meanwhile, sensitive Milo (Sam Riley) attempts to recover from a recent heartache, just as deeply religious Peter (Bernard Hill) arrives in London to search for his missing son, a haunted Gulf War veteran. As the narrative shifts between the real and imaginary worlds, McMorrow explores the complex relationships between fantasy, faith, and love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, (more)
A woman is taken on a voyage to the other side of sanity in this moody thriller. Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is a clinical psychologist who works alongside her husband, Dr. Doug Grey (Charles S. Dutton), in the mental ward of a top security prison, where Miranda has been devoting much of her attention to a clever but deeply disturbed murderer named Chloe (Penélope Cruz), who shares gruesome tales of torture and violence that may or may not be based in fact. One night, Miranda has a hideous nightmare in which a chance meeting with a strange young girl leads to a terrifying journey into madness. Once she wakes, however, Miranda discovers that the real horror has just begun -- Doug has been brutally murdered, and the evidence points to Miranda as the prime suspect. She soon finds herself a patient in the same facility where she once treated others, and finds that her claims of innocence and sanity do little to convince Dr. Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.), the psychologist assigned to her case. Gothika marked the American debut of acclaimed and controversial French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Jr., (more)
In this gritty crime drama, Jasper (Steven Mackintosh) is drinking in a pub one evening when he meets a beautiful woman named Sarah (Natasha Little), who after some conversation, seems quite willing to go back to Jasper's apartment. Later that same evening, a pair of cops, White (Holly Aird) and Walker (Bernard Hill), are called to investigate a noise complaint, arriving at Jasper's flat to discover Sarah has been murdered. Jasper insists he had nothing to do with the crime and that a hooligan broke into his apartment and killed the woman. The police are skeptical, but they lack sufficient evidence to hold him, so Jasper is released, with White assigned to follow him. As Jasper tries to track down evidence that would clear his name, other murders fall into his path, and he soon realizes that someone is taking great pains to frame him. The Criminal also features popular British comedian Eddie Izzard -- well known for his drag stand-up act -- in a rare non-humorous role as Peter, a forensics expert with the police. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steven Mackintosh, Bernard Hill, (more)
Investigative reporter Steve Everett (Clint Eastwood) has just relocated to the west coast after getting fired from the New York Times. Thanks to his old friend, Alan Mann (James Woods), the editor-in-chief of The Oakland Tribune, Everett still has a job, but that's hardly the end of his problems. An alcoholic and a womanizer, he's been sober for two months and his marriage to Barbara (Diane Venora) is in as bad a shape as his car. Everett has also earned the hatred of city editor Bob Findley (Denis Leary), and not without reason -- Everett has been sleeping with his wife. One day, when another reporter dies in an automobile accident, Findley asks Everett to take over her assignment -- the final interview of condemned murderer Frank Beachum (Isaiah Washington). Everett researches the case before the interview, and finds Beachum was convicted of a robbery and homicide in an Oakland convenience store. But the reporter finds several discrepancies in the story, and a visit to death row only confirms Everett's suspicions that Beachum was not the killer. The reporter begins a hurried search for information that will stay the execution. Plagued by his inner demons, the reporter has 12 hours left to save the life of a man he knows is innocent. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, (more)
Director Mike Figgis, creator of the Academy award-winning Leaving Las Vegas, presented this film's world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The story is made up of non-linear, interconnected episodes about a man at different stages of his life, all of which explicate thematically the film's title. The film also juxtaposes a retelling of the classic biblical fall-from-grace tale of Adam and Eve. We see the leading character, Nic, at 5 years old as a boy in colonial Kenya, at age 16 in swinging London in the '60s, and as a grown man working as a film ethnographer. Each sequence shows how he lost some degree of his sexual innocence, whether it be through love, puberty, or masturbation. Shot all over the world, including Tunisia, Italy, and England, the film is an exploration of sex and loss through the life of one individual. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Saffron Burrows, (more)
A man bringing modern transportation to the ancient jungles of Africa discovers one of man's oldest enemies lays in wait for him in this period adventure drama. John Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is the owner of a British railroad firm who is building a rail line through Uganda. A bridge is needed so that the tracks may cross a large river, and engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) is summoned to the African nation to supervise construction. While Beaumont has placed Patterson under a strict deadline, the bridge designer is certain that with his guidance, the local laborers will be able to complete the job in time. However, when several workers are killed in an attack by a lion, Patterson is forced to deal with the animal; while he bags a lion who invades the work site one evening, it soon becomes obvious that there's more than one predator in the nearby jungle. The lion attacks continue, eventually claiming the lives of 130 men, and Patterson and Beaumont finally agree to call in Charles Remmington (Michael Douglas), an expert hunter who understands the nature of the man-eaters and knows how to lure them into his trap. The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a true story, which was previously brought to the screen in 1953, in Arch Oboler's pioneering 3-D adventure Bwana Devil. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, (more)
Director Bob Rafelson fulfilled a lifelong dream when he finally received backing to complete Mountains of the Moon. The film recreates the exploratory adventures of 19th century visionaries Sir Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin) and John Henning Speke (Iain Glen). The heart of the film is the effort by Burton and Speke to discover the true source of the Nile river. This occurs well into the film, after several torturous scenes involving the injuries sustained by the protagonists during other expeditions and their growing friendship (which, the film intimates, goes far beyond friendship). Rafaelson's fascination with this story, and his insistence upon painstaking historical accuracy, unfortunately compromises his ability to make an interesting film. There are so many starts and stops during the first half that we sincerely hope Burton and Speke will chuck it all and set up a pub in Bristol or something. What saves Mountains of the Moon is the rapport between its stars and the brilliant, epic-like cinematography of Roger Deakins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, (more)
Since its London and Broadway stage debut, playwright Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine has proven an excellent showcase for any number of talented actresses (Loretta Swit won the 1989 Sarah Siddons Award for her work in the Chicago production). In the film version of Shirley Valentine, Pauline Collins re-creates the role that had previously brought her theatrical fame and a Tony Award. Spending the bulk of the film speaking directly to the audience, the titular Shirley (Collins), a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, reveals her innermost thoughts and fears in a manner that is both insouciant and poignant. Once an incorrigible anti-establishment rebel, Shirley now chafes under the plodding insensitivity of her husband, Joe (Bernard Hill). Her life enters a new and exciting phase when, after her best friend, Jane (Alison Steadman), wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece, Shirley is given the opportunity to travel to faraway places without her husband. Shirley Valentine represents the second felicitous collaboration between playwright Willy Russell and director Lewis Gilbert; the first was Educating Rita (1983). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, (more)
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