2
www.moviesbymills.com
CONTENTS Page 4 5-8
Editorial The Revenant A Frontiersman on a fur trapping expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his hunting team.
9-12
Our Brand is Crisis A battle-hardened American political consultant is sent to help re-elect a controversial president in Bolivia, where she must compete with a long-term rival working for another candidate.
13-16 Spotlight
3 The true story of how The Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local archdiocese.
17-20 Please Release Me Highlighting a film that was screened at the Venice Film Festival but has never had a general theatrical screening. The film: “A Shine of Rainbows”.
21-24 FilmFest Follower: Berlin Movies by Mills recommends films from the forthcoming Berlin Film Festival, the first major European Film Festival of the year.
25-28 Unputdownable - Book Review The first time that this magazine has ever reviewed a book, but the book is based on a documentary that had only one theatrical screening “Rosy-Fingered Dawn a Film on Terrence Malick”.
29–30 BAFTA thNominations
On the 14 February the BAFTA Awards will be presented in London. Here is the list of nominees that MbM believes should win in all the categories.
31– 32–
A Shine of Rainbows The Revenant PHOTO CREDITS: 20th Century Fox 1,5,7,8,32 Warner Bros 9,11,12,28 Entertainment One 2,13,15,16 Elfilm.com 21,23,24,31 Faber & Faber 25
Acknowledgements We would like to thank Premiercomms.com for their invaluable help as always. And to Faber & Faber the publishers of “Terrence Malick – Researching the Unexpected” and the book’s editors Carlo Hintermann & Daniele Villa.
www.moviesbymills.com
3
EDITORIAL One month into the year and ready to be picture-pampered and cinemacomforted? Then you are at the right place. Find your favorite row and seat and relaxxxxxx….the show is about to start. Main features reviewed this month: The Revenant, Our Brand is Crisis, and Spotlight. Feature articles: PLEASE RELEASE ME. An occasional feature that looks at a film that never received a theatrical screening. A Shine of Rainbows is a beautiful film set in Ireland and is now available on DVD. It is a cuddlesome movie that will charm you with its magical story. For the first time Movies by Mills reviews a book because the film on which the book is based once again had only one theatrical showing which was at a film festival. The subject matter of film and book is Terrence Malick, the most unHollywood filmmaker in films today…and if MbM could not review the film then we had to review the book – and what a book it is! It takes you into the world of Malick with comments by actors, crew, and personnel who have worked with him. FilmFest Follower drops in on the Berlin Film Festival, the first major European Showcase of films to whet your appetite for them. Once again we have handpicked ones that we expect to be inspiring, innovative and entertaining. And of course we have the approaching Awards Season with BAFTA on Feb 14 and the Academy Awards on the 28th. We invite our readers to fingerwalk through MbM’s choice of winners for the major categories from the nominees. So pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea and flip the pages of your favourite film read and please send a comment to us on what you like about the magazine and if you think or know of a film or filmmaker that you may feel we have overlooked. Thank you. Enjoy the read.
Brian Mills
MAGAZINE EDITOR
4
Paul Ridler
MAGAZINE DESIGNER
www.moviesbymills.com
THE REVENANT
The film is about survival – whether you will be able to survive its 156 minutes! * Spoiler Alert *
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio. Tom Hardy. Domhnall Gleeson. Di Caprio is odds-on favourite to win the Academy Award for his endurance as the character Hugh Glass a frontiersman and fur trapper, but audiences may come away from watching his experience empty-hearted and emotionless for the star of this film is not Di Caprio but the frozen landscapes of snow and ice. The story is set in the 1820s and follows Glass after he has been left for dead by his colleagues after being mauled by a grizzly bear. These scenes are extremely realistic and all CGI. Glass sets out to haunt those that deserted him across plains and valleys and through forests and rivers. He survives by using moss to cauterise his wounds, flint to light fires, and satisfies his hunger by eating raw fish, bison liver and squirrels – quite the Boy Scout; but it is all nauseatingly noxious and hard to believe because we know we are watching Di Caprio the star not a character named Hugh Glass. The fault lies equally with the screenplay and direction. It has all been done before ‘another revenge movie’, and at times you may wish you had chosen another film to watch. Does that mean that there is nothing about it that is inspiring or even uplifting? No, and the name is not Leonardo Di Caprio or Tom Hardy or Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu but Emmanuel Lubezki – the award winning cinematographer who lifts the film to being watchable as only he can; his is the highest credit the film has, without him the film would have had few artistic merits and would probably only be seen by Di Caprio’s screaming fans and Tom Hardy’s admirers. Lubezki has been the chosen cinematographer of Terrence Malick since New World, perfectly matching the artistic www.moviesbymills.com
5
visions of the great director in this and likewise in The Tree of Life, To The Wonder and the soon to be seen Knight of Cups. Inarritu, to his credit, has assembled a film that is well edited, which is not as some would have you believe after the director’s Birdman which was filmed in a way that suggested continual sequences without an edit. It required the actors to perform up to fifteen pages of dialogue at one time. So appearing in The Revenant actors had to adhere to the director’s rigorous style of shooting which makes it look interesting but not necessarily a crowd-pleaser.
But added to the way The Revenant looks is the one other name that needs to be mentioned: Jack Fisk, production designer. You will read a little more about Jack in this issue of MbM in the book review of “Terrence Malick – Rehearsing the Unexpected”. For like Lubezki, he has worked with Malick too: The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life, To The Wonder, Knight of Cups and the yet untitled Terrence Malick Project. Fisk, who is married to actress Sissy Spacek, has also work with David Lynch on The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive and with the Coen Brothers on There Will Be Blood. On Oscar night there will be a bevy of statuettes lined up expectedly for The Revenant: Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, but will it reprise the embarrassing moment of last year’s event when Michael Keaton was caught on camera as he prepared to leave his seat when they announced the Best Actor Award - which went to Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything. All eyes will be on Leonardo Di Caprio at that precise moment…but will we care if his name is not read out? What do you think? Hugh Glass, we know all the time that no matter what is ahead of him – he can take it, he is a fighter, a gutsy furcoated hunter that has regardless traipsed through the bitterness of winters, peopled by the angriest of men, while his mind hallucinates. Sorry, Leo, but like your character’s name, we can see you through you and though you are physically moving there is no emotion. But don’t worry, you’ll survive.
6/10 6
www.moviesbymills.com
Leonardo Di Caprio in The Revenant
Leonardo Di Caprio in The Revenant
www.moviesbymills.com
7
Leonardo Di Caprio
in The Revenant
Tom Hardy in The Revenant 8
www.moviesbymills.com
OUR BRAND IS CRISIS * Spoiler Alert *
Directed by David Gordon Green Starring: Sandra Bullock. Billy Bob Thornton. Anthony Mackie. Joaquin de Almeida. Ann Dowd. Scoot McNairy. Zoe Kazan. You like to pretend that you’re not one of us. If you fight with monsters too long, you become a monster. - Pat Candy. The film reveals the cynical machinations and private battles of world class political consultants for whom nothing is sacred and winning is all that matters. A Bolivian presidential candidate failing badly in the polls enlists the firepower of an elite American management team, led by the deeply damaged but still brilliant strategist “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock). In self-imposed retirement following a scandal that rocked her to her core, is coaxed back into the game for the chance to beat her professional nemesis, the loathsome Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), now coaching the opposition? The infamous campaign fixer is in seclusion when the film opens. She’s not quite ready to return to the fray when a former associates Ben (Anthony Mackie) and Nell (Ann Dowd) come calling in hopes that Jane can help turn things around for a hugely unpopular presidential candidate in Bolivia, named Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) The thing I loved about this role was that there didn’t seem to be any rules or boundaries, whether emotionally or in in the tone, and that was indicative of the whole story, which I feel represents life in that there is no such thing as all drama or all laughs in day-today events. Even serious stories can have painfully funny www.moviesbymills.com
9
elements and you can find drama and tragedy in funny moments, and I was drawn to this character and this film because of those complexities. – Sandra Bullock The film is based on the documentary of the same name and the part which Sandra Bullock plays was originally intended for a male. The strongest elements lie in the sequences involving Jane and Pat. There is a humour here and though she has faced Pat before in campaigns and lost every time, Jane believes this opportune moment is a challenge that she cannot pass up of finally beating him. There is also a hint that at one time their relationship was more than just business. Billy Bob Thornton’s take on the story: I imagine political consultants are, in a lot of ways, like actors. Sometimes you do things because it’s something you really love and are passionate about and other times – hopefully not too often – you do it because you’re a professional and you’re getting paid, so you go in there and turn it on in that moment.
There is a sequence in which two campaign busses street race each other on a winding mountain road and is the funniest moment in the film, but the storyline unfortunately crashes when Eddie (Reynaldo Pacheco)a passionate supporter of Castillo, because he remembers being held in his arms as a baby, suddenly changes his attitude and uncharacteristically betrays him. It is overdone, overplayed, and should have ended on the cutting room floor. But the film is entertaining and a saving grace to the story and its threadbare screenplay is the character of LeBlanc (Zoe Kazan). She is introduced to Pat by Jane as her secret weapon to research and uncover the underbelly of these candidates, not just the opposition but also their own. She’s there to dig up dirt. It’s not necessarily the worst information you could imagine, but it could be enough if it’s used the right way. – Zoe Kazan Zoe Kazan, a very talented writer, actress and film director, steals every scene she is in, and is the saving grace to the film. Director David Gordon Green always has sympathy for his characters but not always enough for his audiences. 10
www.moviesbymills.com
Zoe Kazan, Ann Dowd, Sandra Bullock, Anthony Mackie in Our Brand is Crisis
Billy Bob Thornton and Sandra Bullock in Our Brand is Crisis.
www.moviesbymills.com
11
Joaquim de Almeida, Dominic Flores, Sandra Bullock, Anthony Mackie in Our Brand is Crisis.
Sandra Bullock and Ann Dowd in Our Brand is Crisis. 12
www.moviesbymills.com
SPOTLIGHT Directed by Thomas McCarthy Starring: Mark Ruffalo. Michael Keaton. Rachel McAdams. Liev Schreiber. John Slattery. Stanley Tucci. We need to focus on the institution not the individual priests. Practice and policy. Show me the Church manipulated the system so that the guys wouldn’t have to face charges. Show me that they put those same priests back into parishes time and time again. Show me that this was systemic from the top down. – Marty Baron In 2002 The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team of journalists investigated a church cover-up of child abuse by Catholic priests. A cover-up that soon reveals the abuse stretches back centuries and straight to the Vatican. Outraged reporter Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) vociferously evokes the call to expose the culprits at all costs and follow the remit set by his news editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schrieber). The rest of the team: Robby Robinson (Michael Keaton), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams, Matty Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) are equally motivated to locate and bring the priests to justice. It is news journalism at its best that will and does make headlines. They will report their findings to managing editor Ben Bradlee, Jr (John Slattery). Spotlight soon learns that scores of claims against the Church have been privately settled by the Church’s attorney, Eric MacLeish (Billy Crudup), outside of the legal system. They follow leads, interview victims and parishioners. They are helped in their mission by lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci), who is tracked down by Michael Rezendes. There is a poignant moment when Sarah Pfeiffer has a priest she is investigating call on her. www.moviesbymills.com
13
It is a strong cast ensemble of which Mark Ruffalo excels with his sincerity as a reporter with conscience and integrity. It is great to see a film about old style journalism once again and yes, it will echo All the Presidents Men and Zodiac, but its subject matter reflects other child abuse movies like Deliver Us From Evil, a documentary on Oliver O’Grady, a defrocked priest who admitted molesting twenty -five boys and girls in California in the 1970s to 1991. He was deported to Ireland in 2000 after spending seven years in jail. The Boys of Vincent focused on a ten-yesr-old orphan Kevin Reevey who was sexually abused by the Head of the orphanage, Brother Peter Lavin. Hand of God exposed the effects of child-abuse on a family. Filmmaker Joe Cultrera relates the story of his brother Paul’s investigation into the Boston archdiocese’s mishandling of his accused molester, Father Joseph Birmingham. While Twist of Faith was about firefighter Tony Comes dealing with his adolescent sexual abuse after he and his young family moved into a house which was five doors down from the home of his alleged abuser, former priest Dennis Gray. A sequence which reverberated through my mind while seeing Spotlight was in the Wachowski Brothers’s V For Vendetta when Evey Hammond(Natalie Portman) is called in to pleasure a priest played by John Standing. He is told by a fawning flunky that the girl is a little older than he normally has, but when he sees her, he is very pleased as she is dressed to his liking as a child and for him seductively enticing. What he doesn’t know is that it is a set-up for V played by Hugh Jackman to kill him. Actually Evey tells the priest that she has been kidnapped by V, a man dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, and who is determined to bring those down who disfigured his face and committed to bring down those who caused the atrocities that led to Britain being in the shape that it is in. The priest disbelieves her, foolishly thinks that the ‘child’ is playing a game, In this one scene, the film exposes the Roman Catholic Church and its penchant for child abuse. As for Spotlight it is a well-crafted film and has already been shortlisted for an Oscar. It is a film that rightly shows the power of investigative reporting. 14
www.moviesbymills.com
Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d'Arcy James, Michael Keaton, John Slattery in Spotlight
Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams in Spotlight.
www.moviesbymills.com
15
Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight.
Stanley Tucci and Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight. 16
www.moviesbymills.com
PLEASE RELEASE ME A SHINE OF RAINBOWS Directed by Vic Sarin Starring: Aidan Quinn. Connie Nielsen. John Bell. If I could call you Mum, I might believe it. - Thomas. Then why not call me Mum. I’d like that. - Maire
Despite opening at the Toronto Film Festival in 2009, and consequently at London Film Festival, this magical film only had a limited screening in Canada and the USA and has never received a theatrical screening in Europe. Proof again that if you miss a film at a film festival you may never see it again in a cinema. It is an enchanting tale about the power of love, finding acceptance, discovering ourselves, and realizing that rainbows are all around us – and within us too. When Maire O’Donnell (Connie Nielsen) adopts Tomas (John Bell) a shy 8 year old orphan, she brings him home to Corrie, a remote island off the coast of Ireland, where he meets her husband Alec (Aidan Quinn). He can’t hide his disappointment at Tomas’ timidity and hesitant speech, but undiscouraged, Maire shares with Tomas the secret of the seals and teaches him that you can find magic anywhere – if you really look. In this rugged and inspiring world, Tomas thrives, but when tragedy strikes, he is faced with his greatest challenge, for he’ll lose everything unless he can find and share the magic that’s inside him. The whole crux of the film was dependent on finding the boy to play Tomas and it became a wide casting search. Casting director Ross Hubband got a call from director Vic Sarin to say that he had just seen a boy, David Bell, in London and was so excited about him and she asked
www.moviesbymills.com
17
Vic to send her his tape. She had to admit that when she looked at the boy’s resume he had no experience, but called him in for the audition. But as soon as the audition started I think we all knew that we had someone special here. – Ross Hubband. And that goes for the film too. Vic Sarin, cinematographer, director and writer began his career in Australia making documentaries that he produced, wrote, directed and shot, while working for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a cameraman. He then emigrated to Canada. Prior to making A Shine of Rainbows he made Partition. During the turmoil and violence of Partition, a Sikh ex-soldier, haunted by the war, offers shelter to a young Muslim woman who has been separated from her family. The film really established Sarin as a master of cinematography and a brilliant filmmaker. At present he is filming a documentary on revered cinematographers called Keepers of the Magic, featuring Roger Deakins, Vittorio Storaro, Gordon Willis, Bruno Delbonnel and Cesar Charlone.
The film is certain to be picked up by an international film festival and when released will be reviewed in Movies by Mills. CONNIE NIELSEN is a Danish actress and also a trained singer and dancer and is fluent in English, German, Danish, Swedish, French and Italian. She resides in New York. She catapulted to international success with her role as Princess Lucilla in Gladiator opposite Russell Crowe. Among the many stars that she has shared top billing are Robin Williams, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Paulson, Keenu Reeves, Sharon Stone and Al Pacino. She will soon be seen in the Italian thriller La Confessioni. AIDAN QUINN has made over fifty feature films and really became noticed in his second film Desperately Seeking Susan. His stand-out performance came in 1993 opposite Johnny Depp in the wonderfully inspiring and imaginative Benny and Joon. Other notable films have been The Mission, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Legends of the Fall, Michael Collins, Sarah’s Key, and Unknown.
He has just completed filming an Untitled Dianne Dreyer Project.
18
www.moviesbymills.com
John Bell and Connie Nielsen in A Shine of Rainbows.
John Bell in A Shine of Rainbows.
www.moviesbymills.com
19
John Bell and Connie Nielsen in A Shine of Rainbows.
Tara Alice Scully, John Bell, Kieran Lagan in A Shine of Rainbows. 20
www.moviesbymills.com
FILM FEST FOLLOWER BERLIN February 14 – 21 2016 MbM Recommends
Opening Film HAIL, CAESAR
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring: George Clooney. Scarlett Johansson. Josh Brolin. Jonah Hill. Ralph Fiennes. Frances McDormand. Channing Tatum. Tilda Swinton. Alden Ehrenreich. The comedy follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.
World Premieres GENIUS Directed by Michael Grandage Starring: Colin Firth. Jude Law. Nicole Kidman. Laura Linney. Guy Pearce. Dominic West. A chronicle of Max Perkins’s time as the book editor of Scribner, where he oversaw works by Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and others.
THINGS TO COME
Directed by Mia Hansen-Love Starring: Isabelle Huppert. Roman Kolina. Edith Scob. Andre Marcon. Nathalie teaches philosophy at a high school in Paris. She is passionate about her job and particularly enjoys passing on the pleasure of thinking. Married with two children, she divides her time between her family, former students and her very possessive mother. One day, Nathalie’s husband announces he is leaving her for another woman. With freedom thrust upon her, Nathalie must reinvent her life.
BEING 17 Directed by Andre Techine Starring: Sandrine Kiberlain. Kacey Mott-Klein Corentin. Alexis Loret. Kiberlain’s character focuses on the relationship between two teenagers.
DEATH IN SAREJEVO Directed by Danis Tanovic Starring: Jacques Weber. Snezana Vidovic. About the “existential fears”, anxieties and moral dilemma that plague modern European society.
UNITED STATES OF LOVE Directed by Tomasz Wasilewski Starring: Julia Kijowska. Magdalena Cielecka. Poland 1990. The first euphoric year of freedom, but also of uncertainty for the future. Four apparently happy women of different ages decide it’s time to change their lives, and fulfil their desires.
www.moviesbymills.com
21
ALONE IN BERLIN Directed by Vincent Perez Starring: Brendan Gleeson. Emma Thompson. Daniel Bruhl. Mikael Persbrand. Berlin 1940. Working class couple Otto and Anna Quangel receive the news that their only son has lost his life in the battlefield and decide to resist the Nazi regime in their own way. Soon the Gestapo is hunting the threat.
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL Directed by Jeff Nichols Starring: Michael Shannon. Joel Edgerton. Kirsten Dunst. Adam Driver. Sam Shepard. A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.
MAGGIE’S PLAN Directed by Rebecca Miller Starring: Great Gerwig. Julianne Moore. Ethan Hawke. Maggie’s plan to have a baby on her own is derailed when she falls in love with John, a married man, destroying his volatile marriage to the brilliant Georgette.
WAR ON EVERYONE Directed by Michael McDonagh Starring: Michael Pena. Alexander Skarsgard. Theo James. Two corrupt cops in New Mexico set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Things take a sinister turn when they try to intimidate someone who is more dangerous than they are. Or is he?
International Premieres THE FIRST, THE LAST Directed by Bouli Lanners. Starring: Albert Dupontel. Bouli Lanners. On passage to Bayonne, Bouli Lanners confided in the newspaper Sud Quest, on the end of the world!
REMAINDER Directed by Omer Fast Starring: Tom Sturridge. Cush Jumbo. Arsher Ali. Shaun Prendergast. A London man who loses his memory by being struck on the head by a falling object, develops a way to reconstruct his past.
THE COMMUNE Directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Starring: Trine Dyrholm. Ulrich Thomsen. Helene Reingaard Neumann. A story about the clash between desires versus solidarity and tolerance in a Danish commune in the 70s.
22
www.moviesbymills.com
COMPETITION 24 WEEKS Directed by Zohra Berrached Starring: Julia Jentsch. Bjarne Madel. Centred on the dilemma faced by a woman who is already six months pregnant when she learns her unborn child will have Down’s syndrome as well as a serious heart defect.
CROSSCURRENT Directed by Yang Chao Starring: Tan Kai. Jan Hualin.
A complex romantic story set beside the Yangtze River. A sub-plot runs throughout, shown alongside the main action. The two happenings affect each other and link the past and the present together.
HEIDI Directed by Mohammed Ben Attia. Starring: Majd Mastoura. Rym Ben Messaoud. Sarah Bouzouita. *Still in post-production
SOY NERO Directed by Rafi Pitts. Starring: Rory Cochrane. Kyleo Thomas. Michael Harvey. Nero, a deported Mexican returns illegally to the U.S. in search of his identity. He joins the U.S. army as a Green Card soldier, a shortcut to citizenry. Lost in a maze, Nero fights to obtain his nationality.
OUT OF COMPETITION CHI-RAQ Directed by Spike Lee Starring: Nick Cannon. Teyonah Parris. Wesley Snipes. A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.
NEWS FROM PLANET MARS. Directed by Dominik Moll. Comedy. Starring: Francois Damiens as Phiippe Mars. Vincent Macaigne as Jerome. Veerie as Chloe.
THE PATRIARCH. Directed by Lee Tamahori. Starring: Temuera Morrison. Akuhata Keefe. Nancy Brunning. From the author of “The Whale Rider”. A tale of rivalry and reconciliation, set against the stunning backdrop of rural New Zealand in the 1960’s.
www.moviesbymills.com
23
SAINT AMOUR. Directed by Benoit Delepine & Gustave Kervern. Starring: Gerard Depardieu. Benoit Poelvoorde. Vincent Lacoste. A rich broad comedy.
FORUM SPECIAL SCREENINGS CHAMISSO’S SHADOW Directed by Ulrike Ottinger. Documentary. Adelbert von Chamisso accompanied the Romanzov Research Expedition on the Rurik from 1815 to 1818 as a botanist. Inspired by his descriptions as well as those of the other great explorers such as Forster and Anderson with Captain Cook, Steller with with Bering and Humbolt, Ottinger came up with the idea to create a cinematic evocation of these travel experiences, both past and present. NB: The film runs for 12 hours and will be shown at its premiere in its entirety. There will also be at the end of the festival another chance to see the film in three separate sections.
RUDOLF THOME FLOWERS EVERYWHERE Documentary. Directed by Serpil Turhan. This film is a screen biography on German film producer and director Rudolf Thome.
DOOMED LOVE Documentary. Directed by Dominik Graf & Johannes F. Sievert. A journey through German genre films. The filmmakers and those that inspired them.
24
www.moviesbymills.com
UNPUTDOWNABLE TERRENCE MALICK Rehearsing the Unexpected Edited by Carlo Hintermann and Daniele Villa, in collaboration with Luciano Barcaroli and Gerardo Panichi.
Book Review In 2002 at the Venice Film Festival, a documentary was premiered about a legendary filmmaker:”Rosy-fingured Dawn – a Film on Terrence Malick” “This book is not meant to be a biography of Terrence Malick”, states the opening introduction to this fine book on the famous film director. “The purpose behind the book is to introduce readers, and potential filmmakers, to the extraordinary universe of his film-making and to contribute to a further understanding of his work – through the voices of Malick’s closest collaborators”. The first chapter “Formation” begins with the background of Terry Malick by those who came to know him in their early years and leading to working with him. JACOB BRACKMAN: Second Unit Director and Executive Producer on Days of Heaven. GEORGE STEVANS, JR: Executive Producer on The Thin Red Line. STEVAN LARNER: Photography for Badlands. MIKE MEDAVOY: Vice President of International Famous Agency representing Terry. IRVIN KERSHNER: Wrote the original screenplay with Terry for Dirty Harry which was never used. ARTHUR PENN: Director of Bonnie & Clyde. Met Terry prior to becoming a filmmaker and making Badlands.
www.moviesbymills.com
25
*JACK FISK: Art Director on Badlands and Days of Heaven. Production Designer on The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life, To The Wonder, Knight of Cups and Untitled Terrence Malick Project EDWARD PRESSMAN: Executive Producer on Badlands. DIANNE CRITTENDEN: Casting Director for Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. The rest of the book is the most interesting and inspiring because it looks at each of Terry’s films from Badlands to To The Wonder. The comments on these films and the way that Terry works provide a wonderful insight to the man’s uniqueness and approach to filmmaking. BADLANDS. In addition to comments by Jacob Brackman, Arthur Penn, Mike Medavoy, Edward Pressman, Diane Crittenden, Jack Fisk, George Stevens, Jnr, Stevan Larner and Irvin Kershner, we are privileged to have the invaluable comments of the following: SISSY SPACEK: HOLLY in Badlands Married to Jack Fisk who was the Art Director on the film. Sissy was the first one who was cast in the film and was somebody that Terry found or heard about in Texas. On working with Terry. He wanted both Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek to be Texans and Martin is not but Sissy is and had the accent and had all the right qualities: naïve and ingenious. MARTIN SHEEN: KIT in Badlands Originally considered to be too old for the part of Kit, but Diane Crittenden got him to make a video and that was sent along to Terry and he liked it and wanted him for the lead in the film. BILLY WEBER: Uncredited editor on Badlands. He assisted the editor, Robert Estrin, and at that time Billy was the assistant editor on The Candidate, which starred Robert Redford. He relates how Robert Estrin left the movie before it was finished and so he finished the film with Terry. 26
www.moviesbymills.com
SAM SHEPARD: Comments on the genius of Terry Malick and among other things and how he ignores the conventions of how you shoot a movie. GEORGE TIPTON: Composer on Badlands. He describes how he worked with Terry who liked the music from Carl Orff’s “Children School Work”. He had to rearrange the music in the form that he wanted. KENNY HILTON: Set Dresser on Badlands. Started out as a production assistant with Jack Fisk, who liked his work and was recommended for the art department. HASKELL WEXLER: One of the most influential cinematographers in movie history. He tells how Terry began shooting with Brian Probyn but he could not continue, so he suggested his own assistant Tak Fujimoto to Terry. RICHARD GERE: He was totally blown away with the film and told his agent and that he would be interested in working with him.
SEAN PENN: He had never seen anything like it and it was the beginning of him getting interested in directing movies. BEN CHAPLIN Comments on Terry’s love of birds, and he knows a lot about them, and he loves nature. The rest of the book evaluates Malick’s films in the same way with valued comments on them by the actors and crew who worked on them: Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life, and To the Wonder. I found the most valued comments were from *Jack Fisk because he has worked on all of his films and is a very close friend. In conclusion I can honestly say that this is one of the best film books I have ever read. I recommend that if you are a film aficionado or/and an aspiring filmmaker, this book should be studied and treasured as an insight to the greatest filmmaker alive today. Yes, unputdownable, and for the reason that this book has followed the documentary Rosy-figured Dawn, which has not been seen theatrically, I must rate it as if the film had been seen.
www.moviesbymills.com
27
Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen in Badlands.
Martin Sheen in Badlands. 28
www.moviesbymills.com
BAFTA NOMINATIONS 2016 Full list of nominations MbM’s vote for each category is highlighted in red. BEST FILM THE BIG SHORT*BRIDGE OF SPIES*CAROL*THE REVENANT*SPOTLIGHT OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM *45 YEARS*AMY*BROOKLYN*THE DANISH GIRL*EX MACHINA*THE LOBSTER OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER ALEX GARLAND*(director, Ex Machina)DEBBIE TUCKER GREEN(writer, director, Second Coming)NAJI ABU NOWAR(writer/director, Theeb)RUPERT LLOYD (producer, Theeb)SEAN McALLISTER(director/producer, A Syrian Love Story)ELHUM SHAKERIFAR(producer, A Syrian Love Story) BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE THE ASSASSIN*FORCE MAJEURE*THEEB*TIMBUKTU*WILD TALES BEST DOCUMENTARY AMY*CARTEL LAND*HE NAMED ME MALALA*LISTEN TO ME MARLON*SHERPA BEST ANIMATED FILM INSIDE OUT*MINIONS*SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE LEADING ACTOR BRYAN CRANSTON (Trumbo) EDDIE REDMAYNE (The Danish Girl) LEONARDO DI CAPRIO (The Revenant) MATT DAMON (The Martian) MICHAEL FASSBENDER (Steve Jobs) LEADING ACTRESS ALICIA VIKANDER (The Danish Girl) BRIE LARSON (Room) CATE BLANCHETT (Carol) MAGGIE SMITH (The Lady in the Van) SAOIRSE RONAN (Brooklyn) BEST DIRECTOR ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRATU (The Revenant) ADAM McKay (The Big Short) STEVEN SPIELBERG (Bridge of Spies) TODD HAYNES (Carol) RIDLEY SCOTT (The Martian) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR BENICIO DEL TORO (Sicario) MARK RUFFALO (Spotlight) MARK RYLANCE (Bridge of Spies) CHRISTIAN BALE (The Big Short) IDIS ELBA(Beasts of a Nation)
www.moviesbymills.com
29
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ROONEY MARA (Carol) ALICIA VIKANDER (Ex Machina) JENNIFER JASON-LEIGH (The Hated Eight) JULIE WALTERS (Brooklyn) CATE BLANCHETT (Steve Jobs) EE RISING STAR AWARD JOHN BOYEGA TARON EGERTON DAKOTA JOHNSON BRIE LARSON BEL POWLEY CINEMATOGRAPHY BRIDGE OF SPIES – JANUSZ KAMIMSKI CAROL – ED LACHMAN MAD MAX FURY ROAD – JOHN SEALE THE REVENANT – EMMANUEL LUBEZKI SICARIO – ROGER DEAKINS BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY BRIDGE OF SPIES*EX MACHINA*THE HATEFUL EIGHT*INSIDE OUT*SPOTLIGHT BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY THE BIG SHORT*BROOKLYN*CAROL*ROOM*STEVE JOBS BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC BRIDGE OF SPIES*THE HATEFUL EIGHT*THE REVENANT*SICARIO *STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS BEST EDITING THE BIG SHORT*BRIDGE OF SPIES*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD*THE MARTIAN *THE REVENANT BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN BRIDGE OF SPIES*CAROL*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD*THE MARTIAN *STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS BEST COSTUME DESIGN BROOKLYN*CAROL*CINDERELLA*THE DANISH GIRL*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIR BROOKLYN*CAROL*THE DANISH GIRL*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD*THE REVENANT BEST SOUND BRIDGE OF SPIES*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD*THE MARTIAN*THE REVENANT *STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS ANT-MAN*EX MACHINA*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD*THE MARTIAN *STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS BEST BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION EDMOND*MANOMAN*PROLOGUE BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM ELEPHANT*MINING POEMS OR ODES*OPERATOR*OVER*SAMUEL-613 30
www.moviesbymills.com
www.moviesbymills.com
31
Movies by Mills is an independent production for the promotion of Art House Movies around the world.
For more information about Movies by Mills please contact us. Also if you have any information about Art House Movies or you would like to advertise with us. Please use the email address below. You could of course Tweet: or Facebook: bajmills@facebook.com info@movies-by-mills.co.uk www.moviesbymills.com