Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Dillane’

The Uprising

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Jamie Bell, Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Donal Finn, Cosmo Jarvis, Woody Norman

Running Time: 2 hours and 8 minutes.

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

When Edward III’s son, Edward the Black Prince died before his father leaving a young son Richard to inherit the throne, Richard II become King of England in 1377. In 1381 there was a widespread peasant’s revolt in which the commoners decided to rise up against the throne and demand better working conditions with minimal taxes. This was medieval England in the 14^th century during the plague when nearly a third of the nation’s population was killed.

Within this historical context, Captain Philips and News of the World director Paul Greengrass tackles the peasants revolt in his new film The Uprising starring Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick, Tick…Boom!) as a lowly ploughman whose entire family is wiped out in the plague.

Ploughman as he is referred to in the film stops a local taxman from taxing the poor villagers even harder and an uprising develops fuelled by the formation and encouragement of local churchman John Ball played by Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, The Eagle, All of Us Strangers). The pair are soon joined by groups of disgruntled villagers from Kent and other counties in England as they decide to march to London to gain the King’s attention.

King Richard II played by Woody Norman is portrayed in this film as older than he historically was during the civil unrest but it does show a boy controlled by villainous old men Archbishop of Sudbury played by Stephen Dillane (The Hours) and Tom Hollander (Gosford Park, Pride and Prejudice) as Treasurer Hales.

All through the unrest, King Richard II is watched by his beautiful and regal mother played by the fabulous Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) resplendent in ermine fur and intricate hairstyles, representing her status as mother of the king and countess of Kent. As the most powerful woman in medieval England all she wants is for King Richard II to reign benevolently.

When the peasants led by the ploughman and John Ball eventually meet the king on a barge outside London, their demands are not initially met as Sudbury and Treasurer Hales wrongly advise the king to retreat to the Tower of London while hoping the peasants anger will dissipate.

While screenwriter and director Paul Greengrass does take historical liberties, he does craft a screen narrative which is both fascinating and compelling as the King sees the peasants’ revolt as an opportunity to rid himself of these tired old advisers and establish himself as a monarch whose power must be restored ruthlessly.

The Uprising is a clever tale of worker grievances and the vanity of those in power who take their position for granted. Rebellions never just disappear but fester to haunt those that seek to quell them.

Aesthetically, with costumes by Toth Andrias Daniel and production design by Nikolaj Danielsen, The Uprising is incredibly well imagined assisted by brilliant music by Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front).

With the exception of Katherine Waterston who is brilliant as the Countess, the acting is not fantastic but the film itself is interesting especially for history buffs and includes a surprising plot twist.

The peasants are portrayed as illiterate people trying to survive in a land in which all odds are stacked against them. The royalty are portrayed as wealthy scheming rulers who will sacrifice anybody to retain their power.

The Uprising gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is recommended viewing for film fans of Medieval English History. It’s violent, bloody and unrelenting.

Darkest Hour

Director: Joe Wright

Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, Samuel West, David Schofield, Joe Armstrong, David Strathairn

Oscar nominee Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) gives an Oscar worthy performance in his nuanced portrayal of cantankerous British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill whose face is completely transformed to look like Churchill thanks to the superb makeup and prosthetic by Kazuhiro Tsuji.

Acclaimed director of Atonement Joe Wright is the perfect candidate to steer this compelling political war drama Darkest Hour as the story meticulously tracks the events from Churchill’s inauguration as prime minister, including a particularly refined scene between the PM and King George VI wonderfully played by Ben Mendelsohn to the anxious events leading up to the ingenuous evacuation of British troops from the beaches at Dunkirk, successfully anticipated and engineered by Churchill himself and the British sea going public.

If Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Dunkirk is a stunning depiction of that crucial maritime military evacuation, then Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour is the companion film showing the political and administrative events which lead to that escape from the invading Nazi forces which were aggressively sweeping across the European continent in May 1940.

The fact that both Dunkirk and Darkest Hour are vying for Best Picture at the 90^th Oscars is a testament to how exceptional both films are made. Joe Wright should have got an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

At the heart of Darkest Hour is Gary Oldman’s finest onscreen performance, a superb acting tour-de-force in which he completely embodies every aspect of Winston Churchill from his unconventional drinking habits to his affectionate if often tumultuous relationship with his level headed wife Clementine superbly played by Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient).

Oldman’s performance rarely falters and actually improves as Darkest Hour progresses, a performance with such gusto and insight that all audiences will see is Winston Churchill, a seasoned politician, a risk taker and a man who had the entire fate of the British nation in his sometimes shaky hands, yet who realized the gravity of the approaching invasion of the Germans at the beginning of World War II.

Churchill’s doubt about whether the British must fight Hitler to the bitter end or sue for an untrustworthy peace is conveyed in an extremely relevant scene between him and the king who politely suggests that perhaps as prime minister, Churchill should seek advice from the British public, encapsulated in a jingoistic scene whereby he discusses the grave decision with commuters on the London underground before stepping off at Westminster.

Aided by theatrical costumes by Oscar winner Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina) and a sumptuous production design, Darkest Hour is an epic film made all the more riveting by a staggering performance by Gary Oldman who must surely get the long awaited recognition he deserves for his limitless acting talent and his pivotal contribution to world cinema.

Darkest Hour gets a Film rating: 9.5 out of 10 and is highly recommended for viewers that love historical biographies such as The King’s Speech and The Iron Lady.

2007 Toronto International Film Festival Winners

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) takes place every year in September in Toronto, Canada.
Films which premiere at Toronto are often nominated for Academy Awards the following year.

TIFF does not hand out individual prizes for Best Actor or Actress but focuses on amongst others the following awards:
People’s Choice Award & Best Canadian Feature Film

Opening Night Film: Fugitive Pieces directed by Jeremy Podeswa, starring Robbie Kay, Monika Schurmann, Nina Dobrev, Stephen Dillane, Rosamund Pike & Rade Serbedzija

People’s Choice Award: Eastern Promises directed by David Cronenberg starring Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl & Sinead Cusack

Best Canadian Feature Film: My Winnipeg A Documentary directed by Guy Maddin, starring Ann Savage, Louis Negin, Amy Stewart

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Toronto_International_Film_Festival