Stephen Poliakoff Movies

A woman makes a surprising discovery with dangerous consequences in this period suspense thriller, set in 1939. Anne Keyes (Romola Garai) is an attractive young woman who is enjoying modest success as a film actress; she's also the adopted daughter of Alexander Keyes (Bill Nighy), a career politician and member of Parliament. Anne still lives in the family home with her father, mother Maud (Jenny Agutter), budding diplomat brother Ralph (Eddie Redmayne) and socialite sister Celia (Juno Temple). One night, Hector (David Tennant), one of Alexander's friends, stops by for dinner and during a heated conversation makes no secret of his disapproval of prime minister Neville Chamberlain and his efforts to appease Adolph Hitler's Nazi regime. Another dinner guest, Balcombe (Jeremy Northam) doesn't care for what Hector has to say, and later that evening, Hector is found dead, an apparent suicide. Anne, however, begins to suspect foul play when she finds a set of phonograph records that document conversations of men discussing state intelligence secrets. When Anne ties to share this discovery with others, they're soon found dead, and she's no longer certain what she should do with these deadly secrets. Glorious 39 was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

British helmer Stephen Poliakoff, the man responsible for 2003's acclaimed The Lost Prince (about a young British monarch whom the regents locked away to hide his epileptic fits), returns with the feature Friends and Crocodiles, starring Damian Lewis (An Unfinished Life), Jodhi May (The House of Mirth), and Robert Lindsay (Bert Rigby, You're a Fool). The film opens in the early '80s, with Lewis as Paul Reynolds, a slightly indulgent succès d'estime in the business world who presides over a mansion full of hyper-eccentric artistes. Reynolds hires a secretary, Lizzie (May), to manage his affairs and keep his houseguests in reasonable order. The drama then traces the emotional landscape of Paul and Lizzie's employer/employee relationship (their ups and downs) over the following two decades, which myopically reflect the changes in the larger British corporate landscape. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This historical drama from director Stephen Poliakoff was produced for and originally aired on the BBC. Miranda Richardson and Tom Hollander star as Queen Mary and King George V. After discovering that their son Prince John (Daniel Williams and Matthew Thomas) suffers from epilepsy and learning disabilities, the royals have the boy sent off to be raised in a rural farmhouse, lest he tarnish the family's image of superiority. Removed from the public eye and the attention of his parents, Prince John forms a loving bond with his nurse, Lalla (Gina McKee). ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

This 1999 British film pits idealistic overseers of a London photography collection against a pragmatic American entrepreneur exercising his right to evict them from a mansion he has purchased. The photo collection is one of the world's largest, containing ten million pictures which the staff files, maintains, and rents to various media. From an aesthetic standpoint, the collection -- dating all the way back to the beginning of photography in the 19th century -- is priceless. The key question is what will happen to it, for wealthy American businessman Christopher Anderson (Liam Cunningham) owns not only the building, but also the collection itself. After announcing plans to remodel the mansion into a state-of-the-art business school, he threatens to destroy all but the most valuable photographs because there's no time, according to his rat-race schedule, to find a new repository for them. Feisty curator Marilyn Truman (Lindsay Duncan) and her eccentric assistant, Oswald Bates (Timothy Spall), then hatch plots to thwart his plans. First, they "mislay" a selection of highly valuable photographs. When that stratagem doesn't work, Truman persuades Anderson to look at several stacks of the ordinary, less valuable photographs. These photographs turn out to be extraordinary. One set tells the poignant story of a Jewish family victimized by the holocaust. The images impress Anderson, but he refuses to alter his plans. Then Bates launches an ingenious scheme. Using his incredible "photographic" memory, he selects a few startling photos from among the millions -- photos that have a connection to Anderson's past. These photographs, and the secrets they hold, stun Anderson while demonstrating the variety and vastness of the collection. Will he alter his plans to save the collection? Meanwhile, Bates, believing his scheme has failed, attempts suicide, and the final moments of the film reveal whether Bates and the photos will survive. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

In this British-French co-production, assistant bank manager Alex (Richard E. Grant), a part-time theater instructor, decides to contact the original cast of a Twelfth Night production he directed years previously in a small English village. Alex plans to restage the production, and old romances are rekindled in the process. Shown at the 1997 Edinburgh and La Baule film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Set in Great Britain in the late 1980s -- in the midst of Margaret Thatcher's controversial tenure as Prime Minister -- this drama examines the strange relationship between two siblings. Richard (Clive Owen) has given up a well-paying job in the private sector to take a position with a government agency that oversees real estate development. While Richard has always been emotionally secure and well-adjusted, his sister Natalie (Saskia Reeves) is nervous and unsure of how to deal with her life, even after marrying Sinclair (Alan Rickman), a successful financial analyst who can afford a posh home on the River Thames. Natalie and Richard don't see each other often, and their relationship has long had an odd cast to it, as Natalie often seems to flirt with her brother. One day, Richard meets Natalie and Sinclair over lunch, and Richard finds himself strongly attracted to his sister. In time, a mutual interest evolves into a full-blown incestuous affair. Natalie realizes that this sort of relationship can't go on and tries to break it off with Richard, but he becomes irrational, attempting suicide and threatening violence. While dealing openly with the sexual nature of its story, Close My Eyes also uses incest as a metaphor for moral and political irresponsibility. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

James Richards is an ordinary middle-class man living a very comfortable and orderly life in London, working as a statistician. In this drama, he discovers that his safe and cozy world is rife with hidden corners and unimagined dangers. He first discovers that things are not as they seem when, through a client, he learns of a special film that has been suppressed by the British government. His search for that film leads him into the labyrinth of underground tunnels and offices which were built under the city during World War II, and he is pitted against an organized government conspiracy. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The "Bloody" in Bloody Kids is meant in both its scatological in literal sense. Two restless teens (Derrick O'Connor and Gary Holton) from the South End of London go on a Saturday-night spree. When girls and booze lose their appeal, the boys add murder to their itinerary. A surreal, high-energy film about life and death on the streets, the film has some intelligent social criticism, but its ultra-violent subject matter and unusual visual style caused controversy. The most noteworthy aspect of Bloody Kids may well be its treatment upon release. Considered too bloody for British theatrical exposure, the film went directly to television -- an intriguing reversal of the American procedure. Bloody Kids was director Stephen Frears' second feature, foreshadowing his later highly acclaimed The Grifters which also featured grim subject matter but with classic film-noir grace and sensibility, a sensibility lacking in Bloody Kids. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this provocative British drama, a young Yorkshire woman discovers a radioactive leak at the nuclear power plant where she works. At first, her lover encourages her make public her find, but when the resulting pressure gets too strong, he leaves her to fight alone. Despite her pleas and insistence, no one believes her story. The frustration eventually causes the crusading woman to go insane. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi