Mike Figgis Movies
Born in England and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, director Mike Figgis studied music in London, where he helped form a rhythm and blues group called the Gas Board that included amongst its members a young Bryan Ferry. Figgis' roots as a musician would later be made readily apparent in his screen work, as he has scored several of his films. Following his tenure with the Gas Board, he went on to work with an experimental British comedy/variety group known as The People Show. After being turned down by the National Film School, Figgis bankrolled his own 60-minute TV movie, The House (1976), gaining an entree into mainstream filmmaking.In 1988, Figgis made his feature directorial and screenwriting debut with Stormy Monday. A moody character study set against the backdrop of the jazz and crime worlds, it received a moderately strong reception. Earning probably his greatest recognition for his successful direction of Richard Gere in Internal Affairs (1990) and the near-surrealistic Mr. Jones (1993), Figgis attracted strong notices for his 1994 remake of The Browning Version. However, it was with his highly acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas (1995) that the director really hit the big time. A somber, resolutely unsentimental portrait of the last days of a writer determined to drink himself to death, the film earned Figgis Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director Academy Award nominations, and provided Nicolas Cage with an Oscar for Best Actor. Figgis followed up this success two years later with One Night Stand; an ensemble drama centering on the repercussions of adultery, it received only a lukewarm critical reception. Figgis rebounded in 1999, releasing two films that year. The first, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, was a story revolving around a young man's sexual evolution, while the second, Miss Julie, was an adaptation of August Strindberg's play about an illicit love affair between a titled young woman (Saffron Burrows) and her servant (Peter Mullan). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2012
Sebastian Koch and Lotte Verbeek head-up the cast of Mike Figgis' psychological thriller centered on a screenwriter and professor who becomes the prime suspect in a perplexing murder case. Julian Sands, Rebecca Night, and Eoin Macken co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Created by Dave Erickson and co-produced by actor Denis Leary, the weekly, 60-minute legal drama Canterbury's Law starred Juliana Margulies as Elizabeth Canterbury, a tough, ruthless Providence (R.I.) attorney who specialized in defending such "controversial" clients as accused child murderers and pedophiles. Yelling at everyone within earshot and playing fast and loose with ethics, Elizabeth was not by any stretch of the imagination an admirable character, but her abrasive personality was somewhat justified by the fact that she sincerely believed in the innocence of her clients. One of many "flawed" TV heroines of the early 21st century (vide The Closer), Elizabeth battled innumerable personal demons and an alcohol problem which partially stemmed from the loss of her son, who had disappeared without a trace a year or so before the series got under way. Other regulars included Ben Shenkman as Elizabeth's legal partner Russell Krauss, who'd been passed over for a D.A.'s job after clashing with his corrupt boss; Keith Robinson as cocky attorney Chester Grant, a congressman's son who had turned his back on his dad's conformist politicis; Trieste Dunn as fearless attorney Molly McConnell, one of the few people who could stand up to Elizabeth without emerging bloody and bowed; and Aidan Quinn as Elizabeth's college-professor husband Matt Furey, on whom the restless Ms. Canterbury cheated shamelessly. Originally intended as a series about a male attorney, Canterbury's Law switched genders once Juliana Margulies signed onto the project. Though the pilot was filmed in early 2007, the series itself was not added to the Fox network lineup until March 10, 2008, having shed a couple of the original regulars (Jocko Sims as Chester, Linus Roache as Matt) along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julianna Margulies, Ben Shenkman, (more)
- 2008
Maverick director Mike Figgis once again offers a look at the grim underside of human relationships in this short feature. Darren (Daniel Lapaine) is a wealthy amateur racecar driver from London who has come to Istanbul to take part in the Gumball Rally, an annual underground road race. Darren is married, but he's hoping to find some action on the side while away from home, and he meets Rachel (Sophie Winkleman), an attractive woman who also comes from England. Darren gives her an invitation to a party for the Gumball racers and later lures her back to his hotel room, but what he doesn't know is that Rachel is suffering from severe depression and has decided to kill herself. While composing a suicide note, Rachel decides she wants one final night of decadence before taking her own life, which has led her to this assignation with Darren. However, Darren is self-centered enough that he barely acknowledges her enough to take her body when it's offered to him. Love Live Long was shot and written spontaneously while Figgis was himself in Istanbul for the Gumball Rally; the final product received its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sophie Winkleman, Daniel Lapaine, (more)
- 2008
- NR
Director Gideon Koppel transforms the ordinary into the sublime in this documentary that describes the current issues facing the Wales farming community. As the population ages, the schools face closure, and the mobile library signals a resistance to move into the 21st century, Koppel's camera stands as a silent observer and the music of Aphex Twin washes over the viewer. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
How can a nation of nearly 24 million people hold up one of the world's most infamous despots as a hero? In most of the world, Kim Jong-Il, president of North Korea, is either feared or despised; he's displayed an open willingness to use nuclear weapons on his enemies, free speech and other basic human rights are all but unknown under his rule, and while a tiny handful of people enjoy wealth in North Korea, a famine claimed the lives of over three million in the nation in the 1990s, with little improvement since. But at home, Kim Jong-Il is all but worshiped by the vast majority of his subjects, who celebrate him in song and legend, and one admirer has even bred a special begonia in his honor, which is named "Kimjongilia" and said to celebrate "wisdom, justice, love, and peace." Dancer-turned-filmmaker N.C. Heikin examines both sides of Kim Jong-Il's public persona in the documentary Kimjongilia, which compares and contrasts interviews with North Koreans who speak with awe and admiration of their president (alongside unintentionally comic state-produced propaganda films) with shocking testimony from South Korean exiles who suffered at the hands of Kim's police and spent years in his prisons. Kimjongilia received its North American premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2007
Axel Schill's non-fiction work The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo joins Light Keeps Me Company, Tell Them Who You Are, and other recent documentaries in paying homage to one of the world's great cinematographers. Active from the early 1960s until just before his death in early 2001, Alonzo beat the odds as a young man by migrating to the U.S. as a Mexican farmer's son and then working his way up to ultimately qualify as one of the most revered cinematographers in the American film industry. Among other accomplishments, he lit a string of contemporary classics including Harold and Maude (1971), The Bad News Bears (1976), Scarface (1983), and Steel Magnolias (1989). Schill cuts together interviews with such Alonzo collaborators as Richard Dreyfuss, Sally Field, and Michael Crichton, and illustrates many of their observations with clips from the esteemed director of photography's finest work. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sid Levin, Andy Sidaris, (more)
- 2004
The documentary COMA follows a handful of aspiring filmmakers who are tasked with making a movie in a single week without even a screenplay to get them started. COMA's directors present the work created, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the trials, tribulations, fights, and struggles that played out within the group as they toiled away on their difficult assignment. Filmed primarily in a studio in Slovenia, Coma was co-directed by Mike Figgis. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Part of The Blues documentary film series on PBS, Red, White & Blues is directed by British filmmaker Mike Figgis. This installment explores the impact of black American blues music on mostly white audiences in the U.K., who then reintroduced the style to mainstream America during the British invasion of the early '60s. Kids from London, Birmingham, Manchester, and other parts of England were heavily influenced by the "race music" that middle-class white America largely ignored. Figgis himself was involved in the British blues music scene in one of Bryan Ferry's early bands. Tom Jones, Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, and Lulu come together for a live improvised recording session at Abbey Road Studios. Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Mick Fleetwood, and Steve Winwood offer commentary in interview segments. Red, White & Blues was originally broadcast by PBS on October 3, 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
New Yorkers get a crash course in the more dangerous aspects of moving to the country and buying a "handyman's special" in this thriller from award-winning director Mike Figgis. Cooper and Leah Tilson (Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone) are a wealthy couple who have grown tired of the high stress of life in New York City and are looking to move to someplace with more breathing room. Upstate, they find a mansion in the village of Cold Creek which has fallen into disrepair after it was repossessed. Convinced the house has great possibilities, The Tilsons buy it, and with a little hard work Cooper, Leah, and their two children are soon living in their dream home. Unknown to The Tilsons, the house used to belong to a lifelong Cold Creek resident named Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), a ne'er-do-well who ended up behind bars. After he's released from prison, Massie makes it clear to the new owners that he wants his home back, and before long Cooper and Leah begin learning the disturbing truth about the history of the mansion -- and that many Cold Creek residents don't take kindly to new arrivals. Cold Creek Manor also stars Juliette Lewis and Christopher Plummer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, (more)
- 2002
Eight master directors of world cinema combine forces for this omnibus film that focuses cumulatively on the subject of time. Bookended by cello interludes, Ten Minutes Older: The Cello presents just one parameter to each of its filmmakers: no final entry can be more or less than ten minutes long. The resulting films run the gamut of styles and moods, beginning with Bernardo Bertolucci's Histoire d'Eaux, which presents an Indian fable about a mentor's impatience. In Mike Figgis' entry About Time 2, the director continues with the experimental structure he pioneered in Timecode; similarly, Jean-Luc Godard uses his time allotment to present a fractured series of clips on youth, death, and love. Another non-narrative entry, Volker Schlöndorff's The Enlightenment presents a series of images on racism. Claire Denis' effort Vers Nancy chronicles a philosophical discussion on time between a teacher and student on a train ride; in Jirí Menzel's Ten Minutes After, the effects of time on aging Czech actor Rudolf Hrusinsky are documented. In perhaps the film's most narrative-oriented segment, director Michael Radford offers up a sci-fi vision of an astronaut returning to earth to find that his son has aged faster than he has. Ten Minutes Older: The Cello is a companion piece to 2002's Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet, which aired in the U.S. on the Showtime cable network. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amit Arroz, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, (more)
Following up on his innovative work Timecode, which featured four stories being told in real time simultaneously, Mike Figgis returns to a modified form of his technique in this film about the tourists, the prostitutes, the tour guides, a killer, and a film crew who frequent the Hungarian Palace Hotel in Venice, Italy. A corrupt Eastern European politician and his moll are visiting the city to complete a shady business deal while Sophie is a high-priced call girl who makes an office in one of the hotel's suites. The film crew is attempting to shoot a Dogma 95-style adaptation of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi only to run into one problem after another. Magic is a professional assassin with a very odd kink -- he must have sex immediately after completing a job. Quintus, who abandoned his attempts to get fame and fortune as an actor, is a tour guide with an unusual secret. And then there is maid who not only has the skeleton key to the hotel, but also a habit of snooping. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rhys Ifans, Saffron Burrows, (more)
Director Mike Figgis helmed this ground-breaking experimental feature, filmed with four synchronized digital video cameras in four separate locations. The story, outlined in advance but otherwise improvised, was enacted in a single continuous take, like a stage play, with the unedited images from all four locations presented on the screen at once. Figgis and his crew chose the best single run-through, and the result is the film's final release version. The story focuses on four main characters around the casting sessions for a film called Bitch of Louisiana to be directed by Lester Moore (Richard Edson): Alex Green (Stellan Skarsgard), the studio executive overseeing Moore's project; his wife Emma (Saffron Burrows); gangster Lauren Hathaway (Jeanne Tripplehorn); and her unfaithful lover Rose (Salma Hayek). These characters' paths cross as murder, infidelity, and dirty dealings are interrupted by an earthquake and its aftershocks. Time Code 2000 also features Kyle MacLachlan, Holly Hunter, Julian Sands, Steven Weber, Danny Huston, Viveka Davis, and Laurie Metcalf. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Xander Berkeley, Golden Brooks, (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)
August Strindberg's once-controversial play is brought to the screen in this adaptation directed and co-written by Mike Figgis. Miss Julie is set on the estate of a wealthy Swedish family in 1894, where the servants live a life of uncomfortable poverty while the masters of the house enjoy their riches. On Midsummer's Eve, the servants and the local peasants have gathered for their traditional celebration, while one of the household cooks, Christine (Maria Doyle Kennedy), is waiting for her fiancé, a footman named Jean (Peter Mullan). However, Jean is intercepted by Miss Julie (Saffron Burrows), whose family owns the estate (and pays Jean's salary). She instructs Jean to change into a formal suit (which Miss Julie has borrowed from her father) and dance with her. Jean has little choice but to accept, and he finds himself slipping into an affair that both questions and affirms the traditional relationship between mistress and servant. This was the third screen translation of Miss Julie, following versions released in 1951 and 1972; it was also Figgis's second film of 1999, following the release of his experimental feature The Loss of Sexual Innocence. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Saffron Burrows, Peter Mullan, (more)
- 1998
This documentary, by British filmmaker Mike Figgis, is a look at the passionate world of flamenco dancing. In the film, five female flamenco dancers are preparing for a performance on short notice. The urgency of their task adds to the excitement of the dance form itself. With many shots of the fancy footwork that are the signature of flamenco dancing, the women polish their act. Most of the sequences come during rehearsals, as the dancers work together with the musicians to choreograph their routines. The viewer follows the women through the creative process to the finale, with excerpts from the actual performance. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, Rovi
A man's brief fling threatens to ruin what he values most in life in this drama. Max Carlyle (Wesley Snipes) lives in California, where he has a successful career directing television commercials and is happily married to Mimi (Ming-Na Wen), with whom he has two children. While visiting New York City, Max meets Karen (Nastassja Kinski) by chance after missing a flight; circumstances keep bringing them together over the course of the evening, and they end up spending the night making love. When he returns home, Max seems distant and unhappy, though Mimi can't tell why and Max won't say. A year later, Max and Mimi fly to New York to visit his close friend Charlie (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is in the last stages of an AIDS-related illness. Max meets Charlie's brother Vernon (Kyle MacLachlan) and is introduced to his new wife -- Karen. Facing Karen sends Max into an emotional tailspin, and he realizes that he must tell Mimi the truth about his indiscretion. Writer/director Mike Figgis adapted One Night Stand from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas, though Figgis' changes were so extensive that Eszterhas chose to remove his name from the project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
Loosely based on the book Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates, this film is about four high-school girls, dissimilar in every other way, who find that they are all being made to perform sexually with their biology teacher. This discovery leads them to become allies and friends. Shortly afterward, they exact revenge on their teacher at the cost of being expelled from school. Taking up residence in an abandoned house in the woods, they practice some rather sexy bonding rituals between themselves. Thanks to the efforts of their ringleader Legs to get drug rehab money for one of the girls, they find themselves on the wrong side of the law, and the chase begins. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hedy Burress, Angelina Jolie, (more)
Mike Figgis' grim drama documents a romantic triangle of sorts involving prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue), failed Hollywood screenwriter Ben (Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage), and the constant flow of booze which he loves more dearly than life itself. Arriving in Las Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death, Ben meets Sera, and they gradually begin falling for one another. From the outset, however, Ben warns Sera that no matter what, she can never ask him to quit drinking, a condition to which she grudgingly agrees. A darkly comic tragedy, Leaving Las Vegas charts the brief romantic convergence of two desperately needy people who together find a brief flicker of happiness. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Forty-three years after the first screen treatment of Terence Rattigan's play about a teacher facing the end of his career, Albert Finney takes on the role of Mr. Crocker-Harris, the Latin teacher forced into early retirement by a heart condition. After teaching in a public school for twenty years, Crocker-Harris is being put out to pasture in a less stressful job teaching English to foreigners. Meanwhile, his home life is also falling apart: his wife (Greta Scacchi) is having an affair with the American chemistry teacher (Matthew Modine), who nevertheless admires Crocker-Harris for his dignity and decency. Through it all, Crocker-Harris hides his pain behind his stiff British reserve. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Greta Scacchi, (more)
The title character, a manic depressive prone to very irrational behavior (Richard Gere), is hospitalized for treatment. While there, the psychiatrist responsible for his rehabilitation (Lena Olin) becomes involved with him and cannot stand to allow his check-out. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lena Olin, (more)
- 1991
Women and Men 2 is the second installment of HBO's short-story anthology series. In the first episode, Carson McCuller's "A Domestic Dilemma," Ray Liotta plays a husband who has to cut back on his work in order to care for his children, since his alcoholic wife (Andie MacDowell) cannot be trusted. In Irwin Shaw's "Return to Kansas City," a boxer (Matt Dillon) is unwilling to take risks in order to win love. In Henry Miller's "Mara," Scott Glenn plays Miller in a story about his love for a Parisian prostitute. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
Liebestraum is a moody, stylish suspense thriller written and directed by British director Mike Figgis. Nick (Kevin Anderson) is an architectural writer who goes home to be with his dying mother, Mrs. Anderssen (Kim Novak) from whom he was separated as a baby. There he meets an old friend and has an affair with the friend's wife, who was herself adopted after her mother went insane. Through a series of coincidences and a good deal of investigation Nick learns some terrible truths concerning everyone. The film, while beautiful to look at, and with a wonderful score composed by Figgis, is more interested in style and emotion rather than cogent explanations for the actions of the characters, however, taken for what it is, a mood piece, Liebestraum succeeds beautifully. Figgis has beautiful technique and is greatly aided by Juan Ruiz-Anchia's stark and evocative images. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Anderson, Pam Gidley, (more)
- 1990
- R
Innocent Victim is a psychological thriller based on the Ruth Rendell novel Tree of Hands. London based, best-selling author, Benet (Helen Shaver), who has just written a controversial novel, lives alone with her young son. Benet's mother, Marsha (Lauren Becall), visiting from the United States, is a manic-depressive who has psychotic episodes. When Benet's young son dies, Marsha kidnaps a local child to serve as a substitute. Benet believes she should return the child but upon investigation she finds out that the child has been severely abused by his parents. After the child's disappearance, the parents are charged with the murder. A more skillful filmmaker might have dealt, as the novel does, with the moral issues of guilt and responsibility and the terrible moral dilemma faced by Benet. Instead, director Giles Foster presents the film in a rather straightforward, nonjudgmental fashion which allows for little character growth and diminishes the impact of what should be an ironic and disturbing ending. Innocent Victim, while at times compelling, and based on an interesting premise, would have been a memorable film if Foster had taken more chances and pushed his actors to give the performances that they are capable of but here are only hinted at. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helen Shaver, Lauren Bacall, (more)
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