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Voice of America has a lengthy article on "My Name is Rachel Corrie."
Georgiana (off to London to visit the Tricycle with Claire)
Seattle - Sunday, December 31, 2006
Alan is doing a Q&A at the Tricycle Theatre, London after a showing of the film Perfume on Wednesday 3rd January.
Claire
- Thursday, December 28, 2006
Amidst a slew (or is that slough?) of mostly leukwarm reviews--most, but not all, finding favor with Mr. Rickman's performance--comes a positive one from Lou Lumenick of the New York Post.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Toronto cancels "Rachel Corrie," so the next North American showing will be in Seattle this spring.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, December 26, 2006
A Rickman-positive, otherwise negative review of Snowcake in today's Calgary Herald. Features a photo I haven't seen before.
[relevant text]:
Review: Snow Cake
Katherine Monk
CanWest News Service
Friday, December 15, 2006
If you like Alan Rickman, you may find Snow Cake offers one of his finer performances to date -- and given the man's catalogue of dry-witted tearjerkers and pathos-laden comedies, that's saying a lot.
Too bad director Marc Evans couldn't find a nicer frame for Rickman's portrait of a broken man learning to mend through tragedy, because his Canadian-shot Snow Cake never quite gels.
The problem, primarily, is the high sap quotient.
A movie that opens with the death of a young woman in a car accident, then goes on to explore the impact of her death on her autistic mother -- as well as the guilt-ridden driver who escaped injury -- Snow Cake is packed with downer material that could easily suck the air out of every scene, and suffocate an actor's ability to offer nuance.
If the script picks up the sledgehammer, and flattens the characters even further, even the most talented actor could end up looking like Wile E. Coyote after an encounter with a falling anvil.
Rickman plays Alex Hughes, a role written specifically for him by British screenwriter Angela Pell.
Alex is just passing through Wawa on a personal mission when he's stopped in his tracks by a semi-trailer. This is more than metaphor. Pell pulls out the hammer and makes it happen in the opening act.
Alex survives the horror, but his passenger does not. A young woman named Vivienne (Emily Hampshire) is killed, leaving Alex to deal with even more baggage than he already arrived with -- and that was plenty.
Alex tries to cleanse himself by spending time with Vivienne's autistic mother -- played as a highly-functioning, child-like grump by Sigourney Weaver -- but his attempts at playing confessor fail to inspire any trust.
The only person who prompts Alex to linger in town, and remain emotionally accessible, is Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss).
The two form a solid, grown-up bond that allows them to share deep thoughts -- and, in turn, put into words all the complex emotions about love and loss that would make most poets whimper in fear.
Profound loss and the finding the will to heal are states of mind that transcend words as they tap into the primal human experience.
A great actor can communicate the many moods and layers of survival guilt and suicidal urges without saying a thing.
Unfortunately, Rickman and his co-stars are left to do a lot of talking -- and swing a lot of sledgehammers -- in this poorly directed, poorly scripted and yet wonderfully acted film.
Snow Cake clearly has admirable intent and a sincere heart, but there's no flow. No matter how hard Evans pushes, he can't find the sweet spot in a single scene.
Rickman seems to sense Evans's inability and every once in a while, you can see the Coyote grimace flash over his face as he slinks away from yet another disastrous dramatic moment that doesn't click.
Weaver's talent is undeniable, but she never disappears into the role and somewhere along the way, thoughts of The Miracle Worker crossed my mind -- and not in the best way -- leaving this drama lost in a world of its own.
****
There's a more positive review in this week's free local paper, but it doesn't seem to be online yet. See also the article about Perfume
[relevant text]:
'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' a creepy feast for all the senses
Christy Lemire
Canadian Press
Friday, December 22, 2006
(AP) - Think of "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" as an olfactory version of "The Silence of the Lambs": a perfume maker becomes a serial killer - or perhaps it's the other way around - to capture women's scents.
It's a fabulously twisted idea, based on the novel by Patrick Suskind and sensuously rendered in a fashion that's totally different from German director Tom Tykwer's best-known film, the vibrant "Run Lola Run."
The film is fluidly crafted in Tykwer's style, though - you especially notice it at the beginning when the future killer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is born on the floor of an 18th-century Paris fish market, landing on the ground with a splat amid the guts and blood, grime and stench. It's all as disgusting as it sounds, but the dazzling way it's edited makes the moment strangely beautiful.
Even though "Perfume" is primarily about how things (and more importantly, people) smell, it manages to be a feast for all the senses: the way a woman's curls fall down her back, how the crinkle of fine fabric sounds, the sensation of holding a piece of fruit in your hand.
Grenouille (played by British newcomer Ben Whishaw) doesn't notice all of that, of course; he merely follows his nose. With his wiry frame and intense eyes, Whishaw could be a modern-day Anthony Perkins as he methodically prowls for young girls and tests various methods of turning their essences into the finest perfume.
It's not that Grenouille has any sexual interest in them - he's just entranced and obsessed by scent, having been blessed from birth with an unusually powerful proboscis. And we know he's trouble early on from the way the other kids at the orphanage regard him.
"It was not that the other children hated him," we're told in a voiceover from John Hurt. "They felt unnerved by him."
He's both ardent and eerie, appreciative and predatory. His focus is enviable; his drive unflappable. And with a childlike enthusiasm, he doesn't seem to think that what he's doing is wrong. Which would make him a sociopath - and the ideal figure around whom to centre such a visceral thriller. (Tykwer co-wrote the script with Andrew Birkin and Bernd Eichinger.)
And because he's so serene as he goes about his business, Grenouille makes the supporting players seem even more colourful by comparison.
Dustin Hoffman gets to chew the scenery as Guiseppe Baldini, his perfumer mentor. Once the toast of Paris, Baldini has since fallen out of fashion, though he still carries himself with the bravado of a power player. (Hoffman also makes you believe the character's paranoia and insecurity beneath the surface.)
Alan Rickman is typically formidable as the father of the stunning redhead Grenouille seeks most, who will go to whatever lengths he must to protect his little girl when women start dropping at an alarming rate.
But it's the sweet, virginal Laura, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood ("Peter Pan"), who is the ultimate object of Grenouille's affection - the one he believes will make his cannibalized cologne complete.
What he does with this concoction - and the effect it has on those who smell it - is ridiculously over-the-top. It is not only completely unbelievable, even for such a fractured fantasy, but it also takes way too long. ("Perfume" is yet another movie during this bloated season that could have done with about 20 minutes of trimming.)
For a film that had been delightfully sinister up until this point, the ending is just plain silly. It still looks great, though - and probably would smell even better.
Three stars out of four.
Julia
Canada - Saturday, December 23, 2006
The title of the 7th and last book - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Renie
- Saturday, December 23, 2006
Harry Potter and the Chamberpot of Azerbaijan (Full Version) includes Jeremy Irons sending up AR as Snape. The 17 minute spoof was made for the Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2003 <--Weird date.
Not confirmed but I understand it's to be broadcast at 9pm tonight on BBC1 Northern Ireland (which is available in Northern Ireland itself obviously and on digital tv throughout the UK ), but not on the main BBC1 channel.
Renie
Thanks to Hester and Jude for this info., - Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Article from Metro:
December 18, 2006
Actor maintained ignorance about autism for Snow Cake
Rickman chose not to research disorder before filming
chris atchison/metro toronto
[photo] Actor Alan Rickman stars in the movie Snow Cake, now in theatres.
Ask a group of people what they know about autism and you’ll likely be greeted with a round of shrugs and blank stares, or a wealth of incorrect information.
The causes and effects of the neurological condition —which can take many forms, but typically affects social interaction — are widely misunderstood among the general public and the few that think they know a great deal about it, save those with autistic family members, probably don’t.
Emmy Award-winning actor Alan Rickman (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Love Actually) placed himself in the autism-ignorant category prior to taking on the role of Alex Hughes in the new film Snow Cake, then purposely chose not to learn about the disorder.
The film follows Hughes after a tragic accident makes him the bearer of bad news which he’s forced to deliver to Linda Freeman (Sigourney Weaver), a middle-aged, functional autistic woman living in Wawa, Ont.
"I stayed as ignorant as possible, but that matched my own ignorance," Rickman explains of his lack of research during a recent interview in Toronto. "I suppose the biggest thing that will hit most people is autism, oh yeah, that (affects) children. But those children grow up and what happens to them?"
In the film, a guilt-ridden Hughes decides to stay with Freeman for a time to help her overcome the loss of a loved one, but he extends his stay after entering into a relationship with her next door neighbour Maggie (Canadian star of the Matrix series Carrie-Anne Moss) and begins seeing the world differently with the help of his new autistic acquaintance.
As director Marc Evans explains, Snow Cake writer Angela Pell, who has an autistic son, set out to demonstrate in her script that valuable lessons can be learned from those with developmental disorders.
"There’s positive things to say about the way autistic people live in the world," Evans says. "They’re not hypocritical in the way they deal with people. There’s this degree of honesty that neuro-typical people kind of envy. These are the things (Pell) was really concerned about portraying."
Rickman began to understand that brand of brutal honesty as he took to the set and began learning more about the condition.
"The sense of other people’s feelings or taking offence themselves, it just doesn’t mean anything to them," he explains. "You can’t get upset."
Snow Cake in now playing in theatres.
Click link to see photo
Slope
Canada - Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Mesmer is released REGION 2 on 29th January 2007 - about time too!
Claire
UK - Monday, December 18, 2006
Article from Now magazine:
Sigourney sounds off
Snowcake actor talks about autism, aliens and defending Mel Gibson
By GLENN SUMI
SNOWCAKE directed by Marc Evans, written by Angela Pell, with Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Ann Moss. An Alliance Atlantis release. 112 minutes. Opens Friday (December 15). For venues and times, see Movies, page 99.
Most film actors seem much smaller in person. Not Sigourney Weaver. When she rises to reveal all 5 feet and 11 inches of her fit, mid-50s self and heartily holds out her hand, it feels more like you're meeting a head of state than a movie star. The patrician style is as carefully groomed and understated; the words as intelligently thought out. Only when she dashes off to the washroom does she reveal a wicked wink of vaudevillian fun unknown to most politicos.
"I need a john break!" she announces, singsong-style, patting her stomach.
Weaver's at the Film Festival promoting Snowcake, the small indie in which she plays an autistic woman living in Wawa, Ontario, whose daughter has just been killed in a car accident. Alan Rickman plays the man who was giving the daughter a lift.
"The movie's not about autism," says Weaver, when I bring up the possibility that the film will be tagged "the Sigourney Weaver autism film," Rain Woman to Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man.
"Autism is part of one of the characters, and it's just presented as a fact. It's not the subject. The subject is really connecting versus not connecting."
She pauses. "In a way, I don't know how you'd sell this film. It's such an original story. The writer, Angela Pell, has a son with autism, and she said living with someone with the condition is heaven and hell. I want people to see the heaven, but I also want them to see what hell is for the person."
As for Hoffman, Weaver graciously admits his performance was brilliant. "But there was a real desire on everyone's part that there should be more depictions out there than just Rain Man."
Weaver did tons of research before filming started, and met lots of autistic people, including Ros Raft, a fully functional autistic living in England. Weaver phoned her many times ("She doesn't sleep," explains the actor) from Wawa with questions.
"She's so insightful, I'd work on other scripts with her," says Weaver. "In the movie, when a woman says to Linda, "I'm so sorry you lost your daughter,' I say, "I didn't lose her, she's dead.' That's straight out of Ros's mouth. It's that logic, unassailable and completely unsentimental."
The key to the character, says Weaver, was finding her inner autistic person. In the film, Linda is enchanted by sparkly objects and putting cakes of snow in her mouth. She craves order and routine and can't stand dealing with garbage.
"I really learned how to play and look around me," says Weaver. "Who's to say that our obsession with the Blackberry is more valuable than their obsession with sparkly things? We think we're accomplishing something, but I'm not sure that's so true."
Casting her as a woman who needs to be in control was a smart move. Nobody communicates power like Weaver. (Don't forget that before Streep strapped on her Prada gear to play the boss from hell, Weaver stepped all over Melanie Griffith's Working Girl.)
Rickman brought the script to her, but the multiple Oscar-nominated actor still had to pursue it.
"I was amazed that people thought of me for this. Most people have no imagination they just want me to play Ripley forever, no matter how many other things I do."
She long ago came to terms with the fact that the Alien movie franchise has made her name yet also possibly limited her range in the industry.
"It's so hard to get an independent film seen and bought. The fact that people know me from those Alien movies helps get distributors around the world. It's the same thing for Alan and the Harry Potter films."
The two worked on the sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest, a film that's won a cult fan base but wasn't properly marketed. She doesn't hold back about her thoughts on the final product.
"It was even better before they recut it at the last minute to put it up against Stuart Little," she says. "They recut it as a kids' film. There was stuff, especially with Alan, that was very sophisticated and adult, that made it even wittier."
No bullshitter, Weaver was also one of the few people to defend Mel Gibson's character when her former Year Of Living Dangerously co-star broke down.
"I spent months and months with him back then, and I never saw any bigotry. Then again, I didn't know his father. To grow up with a man who doesn't believe in the Holocaust? How could you not have, deep down, some confusion?"
**
SNOWCAKE (Marc Evans)
Rating: NNN
Snowcake offers up the bizarre sight of Sigourney Weaver not only playing an autistic woman, but one who lives in Wawa, Ontario (!).
High-functioning autistic Linda's (Weaver) spirited, nonconformist daughter has been killed in a car accident while hitchhiking; the man who gave her daughter a lift (Alan Rickman) comes to apologize but stays on to help Linda out.
The contrived odd-couple premise draws us in for two reasons: we want to see if sadness or grief can reach Linda, who lives only in the moment and is one helluva neatness freak.
And we want to see if Rickman's icy character (who's also carrying tons of baggage) can melt.
Weaver, one of cinema's strongest onscreen presences, is eerily effective, without relying on Rain Man-nerisms, while it's good to see cold fish Rickman generate some heat as a quasi-romantic lead.
Snowcake is worth seeing for the two stars and for the wonderful, imaginative Scrabble scene. But the sections involving a fun-loving neighbour (Carrie-Anne Moss) are underdeveloped.
Click here to go to the article and listen to the sound bytes
Slope
Canada - Saturday, December 16, 2006
Article from Canoe:
December 14, 2006
'Snowcake' blessing for Alan Rickman
By BRUCE KIRKLAND -- Toronto Sun
What a surprise! For Alan Rickman, the crusty, urbane and sublimely talented English actor, getting sent to Wawa, Ontario, was a pleasure, not a curse.
"I just thought, 'Whoa, what an adventure!' " the 60-year-old Rickman enthuses in a recent Toronto visit. Rickman, who was born in Hammersmith, London, of Irish and Welsh parents immediately after World War II, had never heard of the Northern Ontario town of Wawa. But he thought it sounded like a unique opportunity when the film Snowcake became a British-Canadian co-production and Wawa, with its giant Canada Goose, became the location for the story.
"You have to go somewhere and I like working in small communities, (although) I feel guilty, a bit, because films tend to colonize where they are."
Some filmmakers are arrogant, he admits, citing absurd examples: "Cut those six trees down, they're ruining our eyeline. Does that house have to be there? Kill that person!"
But the Snowcake shoot under Welsh director Marc Evans, with his Galaxy Quest pal Sigourney Weaver and Canadian Carrie-Anne Moss as co-stars, turned out to be a blessing. In Wawa, no trees were cut, no houses removed and no citizens killed. The biggest problem was not enough snow in early April, but locals even hoarded snow in their garages, out of the sun's gaze, for the filmmakers to use on set.
"In this case, I think it was a very happy coming-together," says Rickman. "And you're not making some crazy action movie in a town; you're actually making a film about a small-town community. I like the middle of nowhere. It's very focusing and everybody's energies get concentrated. You're really thinking about the work and it's good to get away."
The cast and crew stayed in chalets at the Wawa Motor Inn. "That hotel, along that line of chalets, is where Glenn Gould used to come to get away from it all," Rickman says of the now legendary and eccentric Toronto pianist who once revolutionized classical music. "It's got mystery."
The movie Snowcake has mystery, too, an inner power that glows from its central characters: an autistic adult (Weaver), her feisty neighbour (Moss) and a stranger (Rickman) who arrives in town because of a terrible tragedy.
Rickman was the first to sign on when he read British writer Angela Pell's screenplay. Pell has experience with autism, through her 10-year-old son. Snowcake transforms Pell's reality into a moving fiction about adult autism.
It was so powerful, and such beautiful writing, he could not resist, Rickman says.
"You leap at it. It's like water on a desert, in the refreshing sense that her imagination is so open and that she writes something that is so uncircumscribed.
"It was hard to get it done for all sorts of practical and, obviously, financial reasons. So there is a very real sense of achievement that, at a certain point in one's working life, if you really roll up your sleeves, you walk into the unknown, and you get on with it.
"We got on with it. We did it and it's there and I think everybody involved with it is proud of it."
Rickman has a surprising answer to the "Why this story?" question: "Because the world's come off its hinges. And, unless we can fight hard to tell stories that, on some level, are saying: 'This is who we were, this is who we've become, this is who we could be, this is what we shouldn't be!' ... "
Rickman does not complete the "unless" part of his sentence. Instead, he re-frames his answer: "We tell stories about each other to each other. That's all I am. I'm part of a storytelling chain. I'm an element in that, as an actor and sometimes as a director.
"Otherwise, I don't have a function. Otherwise, it's just showing off or selling clothes and magazines. And that's fiddling while Rome burns -- and Rome is burning!"
'Snowcake' blessing for Alan Rickman
Slope
Canada - Friday, December 15, 2006
Article from the National Post:
They came for goose, but Stayed For Buttered Tarts; Snowcake
Chris Knight
National Post
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
(photo) CREDIT: Brent Foster, National Post Wawa, Ont., casts no shadow on Alan Rickman; in fact, the actor took a shining to the small town's "seriously good hamburgers."
Like an army, a film crew travels on its stomach, and by all accounts the making of Snow Cake in Wawa, Ont., was very good to the stomachs of all involved. In separate interviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie had its Canadian premiere in September, actress Sigourney Weaver and director Marc Evans raved about the quality of the food to be found at J.D.D.'s Diner, a gas-pump-and-eatery about 30 kilometres outside the small town on the northeast shore of Lake Superior.
(The film also makes use of Wawa's nine-metre statue of a Canada Goose. Weaver said she laughs when people ask why the filmmakers built a huge goose for the movie. "It's just there," she says.)
Back in Toronto two weeks ago to promote the film, which opens Friday, Alan Rickman was still going on about "the seriously good hamburgers, amazing pies and the buttered tarts" --a Canadian delicacy he'd never encountered before. Asked if there was anything the London-born actor missed, filming 1,000 km up the Trans- Canada from Toronto, Rickman said no. At night he would retire to his room at the Wawa Motor Inn, "make a log fire, eat incredibly fattening food and watch TV."
Snow Cake, an odd but entrancing little movie, features Rickman as an Englishman taking a long drive through Northern Ontario (Timmins and Winnipeg looked closer on the map; an easy mistake). He is thrown together with Linda, a high-functioning autistic woman (Weaver) who has just lost her daughter. Reluctantly putting his trip on hold to help her out, Rickman finds himself drawn to Linda's neighbour (Carrie-Anne Moss), who offers Darjeeling tea and a come-hither look.
Rickman and Weaver are good friends, having worked together in 1999's Galaxy Quest, as well as through Weaver's husband, Jim Simpson, who runs New York's Flea Theater. But Rickman says knowing his co-star so well helped him act opposite Weaver as- autistic. "You trust each other and therefore you take risks," he said. "It makes the job easier rather than more difficult."
For her part, Weaver said, "I always wanted Alan to know I was there for him even though Linda's in her own world." Her character seldom makes eye contact and has little interest in the people around her, even those she relies on for help.
Good eats aside, Weaver said working on location and far from family and friends in Wawa helped her get into character. "I did keep one foot in it at all times," she said, to the point where she had to purge herself of some of Linda's quirky habits after the film wrapped. (The character has eclectic musical tastes and a crowlike fondness for sparkly things.)
"Living with someone with autism is heaven and hell," said the actress, who spent time with autistic women as part of her research. (First-time screenwriter Angela Pell also has a eight-year old son with autism.) "I want the audience to feel the heaven of being with someone because they're so much fun and original and they play a lot, but also to show that it can be hell."
Both Rickman and Weaver said the town (population 4,000) was delighted to have a film crew with them. Weaver said they went so far as to save snow in their garages when the weather turned warm just before production began, for which she was most grateful. "What if I'd had to imagine all the snow that would be added in later?"
Rickman called the experience of shooting in a small town "very levelling. You become part of their lives; they become part of yours." (As do their pastries.) He also noted, "I found it incredibly encouraging that here was a part that didn't have a label round its neck." Rickman's character is at first a reluctant participant in Linda's life. "He has to become a doer."
Rickman, who turned 60 this year, appears next in the thriller Perfume (based on the novel by Patrick Suskind), which opens next month. He's also making his fifth turn as professor Severus Snape in the next Harry Potter movie, opening in July. But since coming to the attention of North American audiences as villain Hans Gruber in 1988's Die Hard, Rickman's roles have been a smorgasbord, including an avenging angel in Kevin Smith's Dogma, a ghost in Truly, Madly, Deeply, a bumpy-headed alien in Galaxy Quest and several costumed roles in period dramas. He never knows who he'll get recognized as next, although he's safe from Potter fans "unless I go out wearing a big black wig."
At the customs desk entering Canada, Rickman said the agent brought up one of his lesser known roles as a heart surgeon opposite Mos Def in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made. "Anything that registers or where they find a personal connection," he said, is fine with him. "I?m just glad they're watching."
- Snow Cake opens this Friday.
Click for article and photo
Slope
Canada - Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Did we know this? "Snowcake is available to buy on DVD from 5th February 2007, RRP £15.99." Is it going straight to video without a proper commercial run in theaters?
Renie
- Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Ha! I was doing a search for Snow Cake US distributors, release dates, etc. and found the Movie Entertainment interview which I assume aired yesterday in Canada (did anyone see and/or record it?), up and running at Sympatico msn Video! It's fantastic and over six minutes long. He talked mostly about SC (some very interesting and funny bits), but also a little about Perfume and Nobel Son.
And again, I know some of you have trouble with streaming video or just like to save the files on your computer (all the better to play over and over again!), so I captured and uploaded the video to my server:
Movie Entertainment Interview (Movie-Entertainment-12-9-06.wmv, 40.6MB, 6 min, 23 sec)
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Tuesday, December 12, 2006
This is not my discovery, but I thought I would share it with you all. The animated film Help! I'm a Fish! in which AR does the voice of the evil fish, Joe, and gets to sing the song, "Intelligence", has been released in Region 1 format under the unimaginative title of A Fish Tale. You can learn more about it on Amazon , (and other online sources, I'm sure). Hope it includes all the juicy extras that the Region 2 one did.
Ali-Pat <http://home.earthlink.net/~sa.pe/APLhome.htmlfoo>
Dayton, OH USA - Tuesday, December 12, 2006
I don't know about the U.S. release for Snowcake but it will play at the James Bridges Theater(trying link without “”) in Los Angeles on Tuesday Dec 12. It's free to the public. Anybody in that area?
Amy
- Friday, December 08, 2006
Here's the lowdown on Sweeney Todd: Barbershop Duet
[relevant text]:
Thursday, December 7th, 2006
Alan Rickman is getting in touch in touch with his musical self.
In a story from Screen Daily, the actor is set to play Judge Turpin in Tim Burton's big screen version of Sweeney Todd.
In the film, Johnny Depp will star as the titular Demon Barber of Fleet Street from the award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical thriller.
The Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, with Sondheim's music and lyrics and a book by Hugh Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond, opened in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Its mix of the comic, the dramatic and the macabre held together by Sondheim's movie-like score has had hundreds of productions throughout the world. A highly acclaimed revival is now playing in New York.
The story of Sweeney Todd is of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him. The plot is foreshadowed in the first lines of the opening number: "Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd./His skin was pale and his eye was odd./He shaved the faces of gentlemen/Who never thereafter were heard of again."
The film is scheduled to be released sometime in 2007 from Paramount Pictures.
I know a lot of you have trouble with streaming video, so if you couldn't get the video to play all the way through (or couldn't find it in your cashe), here are the two versions you can download:
Oh, and Renie, thanks for the Playbill link! The line that caught my eye was, "Seattle Repertory Theatre has already scheduled the play for March 15-April 22, 2007" Coming your way, Georgiana. :-) Thanks BTW, G, for all the articles on the News Page! Here are two more articles about MNiRC closing:
And thank you, Glowbox, for the AIDS testing link. I received two more links from Viola (thank you!): In London? Teri Hart is interviewing him here on The Movie Network this Saturday. I tell ya, teh man can fly! Or maybe it was taped when he was here. At any rate,
here are the details
[relevant text] Alan's back in London! At the premiere of "Perfume" a day before yesterday along with Tim Burton, his new director. wireimage has a few photos. But
Alexandra has the photos ENLARGED and without watermarks.
From Playbill
"The controversial play My Name Is Rachel Corrie will close at the Off-Broadway Minetta Lane Theatre on Dec. 17. It will have played nine previews and 71 regular performances. The play was originally scheduled to close Dec. 30."
Copyright 2006 Brunico Communications, Inc. Copyright 2006 VNU Business Media, Inc. Copyright 2006 The Seattle Times Company Our Man has been up to more good works: HIV testing
According to The Hour interview, Alan Rickman's next project will be Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. He said that in the film he will be singing a duet with Johnny Depp. I received an e-mail from Claire and Paul, the Producer and Associate Producer of The Hour, in which they confermed that AR will be on tonight. And provided a direct link to the full interview which will be available on their website tomorrow morning (Dec. 1st):
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1216
Thank you, Claire and Paul, we really appreciate it! Thanks so much, Susan, for the DVD info, Lana (and Carolyn) and Heather for “The Hour" and Autism Ontario news!
VCR Alert!
They also report that the ABC Family Channel will air a HP-OotP preview on Sunday, Dec. 3rd. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get to see more Snape scenes.
I talked with the people at the Charlie Rose organization. If you want the complete AR interview, buy the DVD on which it's combined with the Stephen L. Carter interview. (The Bridges/AR combination was a rebroadcast, edited due to time constraints.) Amazon.USA sells the DVD.
Carolyn at Claudia's wrote --
According to the site,
the George Stroumboulopoulos show, "The Hour", (which is broadcast in Canada at 11PM, Sundays to Thursdays) will be taping one of its shows on Thursday, November 30 at the CBC Broadcasting Centre in Toronto from 4:30-6PM before a live audience. According to the site, tix are sold out, but occasionally they do have some tix left right before the show. The guest that day is........none other than Mr. Rickman himself.
I don't know the date the show will be aired, though and on the site, they do have video clips from prior shows so maybe this one, as well, will be on their site.
According to the " Autism Ontario" web page, Mr. Rickman will be attending a benefit screening of "Snow Cake" on Tuesday, November 28 (in two days!) in Ontario.
HEREare the details
Thanks, mwbashful18, for the HP-OotP HBO first look info! I checked The Leaky Cauldron and they have a Windows Media (and iPod) downloadable version
And here's some Film Festival dates:
Hope everyone in the US had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi again all, long time gone, I know. College life. Happy Thanksgiving to any Americans on here! So . . . the official HPatOotP teaser trailer, the quality version online, can be found by going to the Happy Feet website. It's a small screen but the quality in picture is by far better than what YouTube can provide. Furthermore, as I've watched in nearly 30 times now, I can attest that Snape has two primary bits in it. First, the immediate shot of them during Occlumency is Snape voice over saying, "You won't last two seconds if he invades your mind." Harry follows with "I'm NOT weak." Then the shot of Snape saying "Then PROVE it." Later, during the quick flashes of other scenes, we briefly see the camera going through the doorway of Snape's office and Snape is in the middle of casting a spell. There is also an HBO firtlook thing on HPANA.com wich shows Snape a few more times including what looks like a brief showing of Snape just before he is about to throw Harry from his office. I say this because Harry is backed against the wall looking nervous and the camera is like underneath Snape's arm and away so it's a tad menacing. But I'm not sure. But yeah, the HBO first look is best because it has the teaser in perfect quality plus LOADS of extra scenes including Bellatrix! Thanks, Amy, for the HP teaser trailer links! Pia Susanna, do you mean the full length teaser trailer (or did I miss something?)? Yep, the first one was the teaser to the teaser. LOL Anyway, looks good. I can not wait for those occlumency lessons!
I downloaded the best version of each file type (watch it full screen!) from the HappyFeet site, so if you have a hard time with streaming video or just want to save it, here ya go:
Also, The Epoch Times has the following article and photo:
[text of article]:
By Ward Morehouse III
Director and Actor Alan Rickman poses in New York City on Oct. 15. (Rob Loud/Getty Images)
NEW YORK—Actor Alan Rickman, who was twice nominated for Broadway's coveted Tony Award, and whose first major film role was in "Die Hard" (1988), recently attended the Make A Wish annual gala at Broadway's Hudson Theatre, where he told The Epoch Times that "I'm figuring out whether I can come back to New York and do a play... I'm hoping to be able to do a play."
Rickman co-starred in the 2002 Broadway revival of Noel Coward's comedy "Private Lives."
The Make a Wish organization is devoted to sending professional actors to help brighten the lives of children in hospitals. Former talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford, who is in the revival of "Annie" in New York, and is one of the charity's biggest supporters, was master of ceremonies. Donny Osmond, currently starring in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway, was one of the evening's featured entertainers.
The New York Post I assume someone posted that Mr. Rickman is doing a Q&A aftr MNiRC tonight? AR is doing radio ads for the show on WQXR, the radio station of the New York Times. You can listen on their website, www.wqxr.com I've heard the ad around midnight, give or take 20 minutes. That voice was made for midnight. But it probably airs at other times. London National Portrait Gallery may not have the AR portrait up, or a cheap postcard, but you can still buy a copy in their shop, use their computer to search for the Trevor Leighton photo. There's a quicktime teaser trailer of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix HERE It's short but miracle of miracles, Alan Rickman is in it with a speaking part. Woo-hoo!!! The full length trailer can be viewed at HappyFeetmovie.com (don't ask me why) this Monday at 3 p.m. EST.
Alan went to see Carla Gugino (JUDAS KISS) last night in "Suddenly Last Summer." Here's a link to the article and photo:
And a nice review of MNiRC from earlier this month:
[text of review]:
By Judd Hollander
The loss of idealism and the struggle not to surrender to despair are at the heart of My Name is Rachel Corrie; an involving (if somewhat flawed) tale of one woman's ultimate journey from idealism to bitter reality.
Corrie, a 23 year-old American activist (played by Megan Dodds, who created the role on the London stage) was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent the destruction of Palestine homes in Gaza.
At the time of her death, she was working with the International Solidarity Movement, an "organization set up to support Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel's military occupation," according to the press notes.
Wisely, the show (using a script fashioned from Corrie's letters, diaries and emails to her friends and family and edited by Katharine Viner and Alan Rickman-who also directed) doesn't attempt to delve into the right and wrong of the matter, instead focusing on Corrie herself and how this idealistic girl from Olympia, Washington, ended up in working under the most life-threatening of conditions. (Despite the hoopla from some quarters, the work is hardly what one would call controversial, with political statements limited to under a half-dozen, none of which could be considered "inflammatory.")
The play's first person narrative, so to speak, allows the audience to follow in Corrie's steps and experience the passions and ideals which shaped her life-and later watch them unravel (such as in a heartfelt email to her parents; when she realizes she won't make nearly as much of a difference as she originally hoped (something many of us have probably felt at one time or another).
However at the same time, the play's source material also limits the work's overall scope. We see and feel Corrie's immense drive (which began as early as age 10), as well her more reflective side (i.e. making a list of people she would like to hang out with in eternity); yet at the same time, the characterization feels somehow incomplete.
The uneven pacing of the show (and the too-often monotone quality of Dodd's speech) is such that we're never given the chance to connect with the character on stage. As a result, we sympathize more with the situation than with the person portrayed. Finding a way to work in comments (not correspondence) from some of the people who knew Corrie would also have been nice.
Hildegard Bechtler's set is nicely functional and lighting by Johanna Town and sound and video design by Emma Laxton are very good. This is a show which can be classified is a "thinking persons' drama." One which, despite some slow going, still has something important to say.
My Name is Rachel Corrie alan rickman made the list of salon.com's sexiest men!! that's RIGHT, salon.com! wooooooooo!!
[text of AR portion]:
Who: Alan Rickman
Age: 60
Know him as: Actor
Maybe it's the voice, that low British hum so intimate you find yourself leaning forward when you hear it -- which might be the point. Maybe it's the profile -- unmistakably distinctive and defiantly not hewn from the pretty-boy block. Maybe it's the way he can play good guys and bad guys, and guys whose allegiances you can't quite determine, with equal gusto. Or maybe there's just something about the man that's smart and complicated and tender and a little dangerous that makes your mind start wandering into filthy corners while you're sitting there, innocently trying to watch a "Harry Potter" movie with your kids or something. Whatever it is, Alan Rickman's got it. And at age 60, he seems to have no intention of letting it go anytime soon.
While the classically trained London stage actor gained his first big breakthroughs playing heavies in "Die Hard" and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," it's his performance in 1991's "Truly, Madly, Deeply" that guaranteed Rickman's seemingly bottomless supply of slavish admirers. As Jamie, his ghostly cello player is so appealing, so utterly romantic and so inconveniently dead, you can understand why his girlfriend is reluctant to let him fully shuffle off the mortal coil. Frankly, a spectral Alan Rickman still beats out a vast percentage of mere mortals most days of the week.
In ensuing years, he's buttoned up in Jane Austen and been a reluctant space hero in a Tim Allen comedy. But whether he's playing a businessman in the throes of marital temptation in "Love, Actually" or a fiery Éamon de Valera in "Michael Collins," Rickman may be the only actor to make a certain world-weary sadness ridiculously hot. It's a soulfulness that hints of deep fires below, a reserve that smolders like crazy, and damn if it doesn't keep getting sexier with every passing year.
-- Mary Elizabeth Williams
Rickman reference in this month's In Britain magazine. There is a new Robin Hood series on BBC and among the referneces to past RH's is the a statment about the best sheriff ever being AR. It's also in large bold letters at the beginning of the article. There is a survey for your favorite RH, but none for the sheriff, I guess because they've already acknowleged that! Osmond and Morton Only Make Believe! Nov. 6; Song List Announced
By Andrew Gans
Several theatre favorites are scheduled to take part in the sixth annual benefit for Only Make Believe, the charity that brings musical theatre to ill children.
The Nov. 6 concert, simply titled Only Make Believe, will boast the talents of Donny Osmond, Euan Morton, Felicia P. Fields, Liz McCartney, Merle Dandridge, David Bryan, Christine Pedi and world-renowned acrobats KENiMATTix with direction by Joe DiPietro and musical direction by Jason Debord. The 7:30 PM evening at the Millennium Hotel's Hudson Theatre, hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford, will also feature the presentation of the 2006 James Hammerstein Award to Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley.
The repertoire for the evening follows:
Those scheduled to attend include Julia Stiles, Alan Rickman and Megan Dodds.
Only Make Believe was founded in October 1999 at Rusk Institute's Pediatric Unit of the NYU Hospitals Center as a project of the James and Dena Hammerstein Foundation. Since its debut, the project has already provided hundreds of workshops for children in New York City medical facilities.
The Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Hotel is located at 145 West 44th Street. Tickets, priced $25-$300, are available by calling (646) 336-1500. (There are $25 tickets still available.) For more information visit www.onlymakebelieve.org.
Photo Coverage: Only Make Believe Benefit After-Party
Hi all- Long time listener, first time caller. Or something along those lines. Anyhow, too bad Georgiana is off to London just this particular week, because there is a Seattle screening of PERFUME tomorrow, Wed. Nov. 8th, at 7pm at the Pacific Place downtown with the Director in attendance. To sign up, you'll need to join thewarrenreport.com, which is well worth it anyway if you live in the area. I'll be checking people in at tomorrow's event. I'll be (probably the only one) hyperventilating by the entrance. Join me, please! Obsession is more fun with cohorts! From USA Today: hello all, just a quick note
if anyone in Ottawa is near a place that has the BYETOWN cinema newspaper, you should pick up the latest copy November/December issue.
On page 6 there is a review of Snow Cake and there's two pick of OUR MAN Mr. Rickman , very yummy. Just thought you should all know. take care. Photos from Masquerade Awards Copyright 2006 Village Voice, LLC Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company Copyright 2006 The New York Observer, L.P. Copyright 2006 The Financial Times Limited Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Playbill reports that MNiRC has extended its New York run through December 30.
Also from Yahoo News today comes one of--to me--the most spot-on reviews of the play I have seen, this one from Gay City News, which I invite you to read. And here is a new, not very nice, article
Source: Playbill.com
[Text of article]:
By Ernio Hernandez
A planned revival of Harold Pinter's Old Times with Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan to be presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company has been postponed according to the New York Times.
The New York daily cited casting problems as the reason the show — which had never officially been announced — would not see the Studio 54 stage in January, as per Roundabout artistic director Todd Haimes. A Roundabout spokesperson confirmed to Playbill.com that the work would not be part of this season. No word on whether the work would resurface in the next season.
Pinter, who garnered the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, is known for his plays The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, No Man's Land, A Kind of Alaska and Betrayal. His Celebration and The Room recently played Off Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company.
In other Pinter news, Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel — the producing team behind the revivals of Glengarry Glen Ross and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial — are still planning on bringing The Homecoming to Broadway next season. Richards told the New York Times Daniel Sullivan has signed on to direct. No cast has been officially announced for the production.
Pinter is also currently at work on the screenplay adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's play Sleuth which will star Michael Caine and Jude Law under the direction of Kenneth Branagh.
Opening night MNIRC: Photocall AR lookiing very serious. Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc. Copyright 2006 Associated Press Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Here's No.One Getty Pix from MNiRC Opening Night Has this already been posted? Bloomberg News is reporting the following in its blurb about MNiRC:
Here is smth curious
New York Post-theater: Calling for a Doctor
[relevant text]: Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. The October 2006 (vol. 16, iss. 10) of The British Film Institute's (BFI) Sight and Sound magazine contains a review of Snowcake, as well as complete credits (for those asking about the soundtrack, and a SPOILERIFIC synopsis. I have scanned it into text for your reading pleasure. Sorry about the formatting, that's the way the scanner did it.
Snow Cake
Canada/United Kingdom/ Netherlands 2006 Director: Marc Evans With Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss
Midway through Snow Cake, a neighbour of highfunctioning autistic woman Linda Freeman (Sigourney Weaver) says: "I know all about autism. I've seen that movie." The reference, surely, is to Hollywood's most famous dalliance with the condition, Barry Levinson's Rain Man. Snow Cake, directed by Marc Evans from a first screenplay by Angela Pell, mocks such faith in cinema's ability to ameliorate ignorance about complex medical conditions, but simultaneously strives to provide such a service itself. The film-makers attempt to have their cake and eat it. Snow Cake begins amid the dazzle of white light streaming through a cabin window of the plane in which Englishman Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) pensively watches the cloudscapes high over Canada. Journeying to meet the mother of a son he never met, who has been killed in a road accident, Alex's lingering grief is limned in Rickman's haggard features, his ebbing spirit externalised in the blanched northern skies and melting snow. In a schematic early twist, a truck crashes into his car, killing a young hitchhiking passenger, Vivienne, and Alex takes a detour to the small town of Wawa to console Vivienne's mother, Linda. Reminiscent of The Sweet Hereafter and Insomnia in its use of a wintry backdrop to its protagonist's corrosive guilt, it more closely resembles Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground, in which an embittered cop finds spiritual renewal in snowy upstate New York when he meets a blind woman whose simple faith restores his humanity. Vivienne's mother offers similar salvation for Alex: he is by turns alarmed and amused by Linda's childlike behaviour, neurotic preoccupations and apparent indifference to her daughter's death. But, in a process neatly, though not always subtly, mirrored in the snow thawing around Wawa, Alex warms to Linda, seeing in her emotional forthrightness and euphoric outbursts an alternative to his own morose wallowing. Weaver captures Linda's polar modes of agitation and entrancement with striking verisimilitude. One scene in which she and Alex play "comic-book Scrabble", taking turns to invent a word and then use it in an improvised sentence, is delightful. Weaver holds the viewer spellbound as Linda coins "dazlious" to trump Alex's lacklustre effort, and her spontaneous sentence is a liquid, spiralling flight of fancy that testifies to her extraordinary mental dexterity. But Weaver's performance can seem too studied an impersonation, a work of mimicry that feels at times like a starry jaunt through an autistic tick list. The film's ploy is to make Alex seem at home in a strange town - he is quickly prized by Wawa's community for his English accent and all but jumped upon by another of Linda's neighbours, Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss) - but a stranger in Linda's autistic world, where he has to fumble around for a binding logic. He makes a better job of the latter than some of the bit parts, who stand around citing familiar suppositions about autism or bemoaning Linda's social etiquette ("this is a wake!" cries one lady at Vivienne's funeral, aghast at Linda's lack of solemnity). But the script falls foul of cliche itself, attributing an innate innocence to Linda that sentimentalises her condition. Teetering into whimsy when Linda imagines escaping the dreary funeral reception for a posthumous dance with Vivienne, Snow Cake ultimately collapses around its own soft centre.
CREDITS
CAST
. SYNOPSIS Ticketmaster is offering a limited-time discount on My Name Is Rachael Corrie tickets. http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1042842 I have just had a letter from Melanie Parker today. She has written to confirm that Alan Rickman will be doing a Q&A session after the charity screening of "Snow Cake".
The event is to be held on the 28th September at BAFTA and is being organised by Treehouse. Tickets are £50 each (but it is a charity fundraiser), you can phone for tickets 020 8815 5433, ask for Caroline or Dawn.
For those who are in the UK and can get to Chichester, New Park Cinema
will screen "Snow Cake" for a week from 29th September.
Here's a short SC review I don't think I've seen posted yet from the Harold:
Sunday Harold, Scotland
Snow Cake is a reflection on loss, and how to deal with it. Set in Canada, it centres on the relationship between Alex (Alan Rickman), an Englishman who has just survived a car accident which killed the young hitchhiker he picked up; and Linda (Sigourney Weaver), the girl’s mother, whose autism leads her to care about her daughter’s death much less than the man who barely knew her.
Traumatised and feeling responsible, Alex calls on Linda to offer support. All she requires is that he keep his wet feet off her carpet and empty the trash. “You’re very unreasonable,” he complains. “I’m autistic,” is her defiant reply. He decides to stay, compelled by a woman whose indifference forces him to deal with his reserve. The attentions of warm-blooded neighbour, Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss), also plays its part in thawing this damaged man.
This is a surprising venture for director Marc Evan, whose previous films were the horror movies My Little Eye and Trauma. He and screenwriter Angela Pell provide a pleasing, if unremarkable chamber piece, without too much cliché or false sentiment. Weaver keeps the tics at bay, while Rickman, with that wonderful way of speaking as though in fear of losing his teeth, keeps our attention.
Hey girls!
[text of review]:
Movie Review: Snow Cake at the Toronto International Film Festival
Last night, I went to the TIFF screening of Snow Cake, which deals a great deal with the idea of loneliness, need, and internal life. I fell in love, as always, with Alan Rickman (who was not, it would seem, in attendance), and his ability to give so much depth to a character with an eyebrow, a twitch, a clenching of the jaw, a modulation of the voice. Alan Rickman is a writer's dream, because if your character is only an outline, he will fill it in like a colouring book. You can get away with pretty crappy writing if Alan Rickman is going to inhabit it.
Not that the writing in Snow Cake is crappy. The story was surprisingly funny. I was expecting something a lot more depressing, but this is a movie about accepting your demons, not about battling with them. Rickman, as Alex Hughes, would seem to be karmically unlucky, one of those people who seems to invite fate's dramatic action repeatedly. Theoretically, what I am about to say is a spoiler, but the script is conventional enough, and foreshadowy enough, that I don't think knowing these things would spoil the movie. So, Alex Hughes is just out of jail when he reluctantly picks up a vivacious young hitchhiker who singles him out as the loneliest man in the room. He is trying to get to Winnipeg; she is headed home to Wawa. He confesses to her:
"I just got out of jail."
"Fraud?"
"I killed a man."
She asks about his family, and we know from the opening scene, where he is examining a strip of photo booth pictures, that he must have once had a child, but that something bad happened. Just as Alex is warming up to Vivienne, there is an accident. A trucker drives straight into Alex's car, with a horrifying vividness. (I reflexively closed my eyes.) He drives into the passenger side. Alex crawls out, mostly unhurt. Vivienne is dead. Consumed with guilt — though intellectually aware that it is not his fault — Alex decides to visit Vivienne's mother, getting the address by snooping in a conveniently unattended copy of the police report. When he arrives, he discovers that there is something wrong with Linda, Vivienne's mother, and he instinctively feels the need to stay to make sure she is okay.
This turns into an arrangement wherein he agrees to stay for a week, to help plan the funeral, and to take out the trash on Tuesday. In that week, he falls for the woman next door (played by Carrie-Anne Moss), who he has mistaken for a prostitute, this being the only reason he initially allows himself to make a connection), and forms a friendship with the wounded Linda, one that is based on the fact that they each respect the other's boundaries, mostly.
Linda, as a high functioning autistic, is a metaphor for Alex in many ways. She doesn't need people. People frighten her. Disorder frightens her. When she asks if it is compulsory to cry at funerals, she is glad when Alex says it isn't, because she is not sure she will. In another scene, when Alex says "I know how you feel; I lost a son..." she protests. How could you possibly know how I feel, she says, when I don't even know most of the time? Though Linda is autistic, her struggle with emotions is a fundamentally human one.
Sigourney Weaver is mesmerizing as Linda. (And incredibly pretty in person.) Whether the portrait is accurate is something I cannot attest to, but the character is fascinating to watch. There is a sense that this a woman who is trying very hard to stay on the surface; on the surface, she can understand things. She knows to make tea for a guest, but not that the dog should be fed something other than a frozen banana. She knows that Alex isn't to blame for the accident, but she doesn't quite know what to do with the knowledge that Vivienne is completely gone. Both Alex and Linda are trapped within themselves, comfortable with the predictability of that arrangement; by the end, they are still insular, but they are aware of it, and they have challenged themselves, even if only temporarily.
Throughout the film, there are allusions to Alex's past. Why is he going to Winnipeg? What happened to his son? How did this seemingly controlled man kill someone? When the driver of the truck shows up on Linda's doorstep, we see the potential of Alex's rage, and we see his fear of it. He confronts the driver (played by Callum Keith Rennie), warns the driver to leave, and then Alex runs. He bolts away, clearly afraid of what his anger could do. Yet, by the film's end, having told the whole story to the not-prostitute next door, he is able to make a kind of peace with the driver, a man who is clearly as broken as he is.
Snow Cake is not a revolutionary movie. In many ways, it is deeply conventional. But with its beautiful, chilly Northern Ontario setting and the strong performances (not just of Rickman and Weaver, but also of supporting cast members, particularly Jayne Eastwood, as Linda's mother), the movie is disarmingly delightful. A movie about grief, guilt, and loneliness, the film is life-affirming and optimistic. Hopeful. Twice in his life, cars hurtled into Alex's world, abruptly removing potential. The potential of the son he never had the chance to meet. The potential of Vivienne who was so full of creative energy. Yet, as the final music comes up (a haunting soundtrack composed by Broken Social Scene), it is Alex who is behind the wheel, with a road ahead of him. He is driving, and he is ready to go forward.
****** TIFF: It seems that Al didn't make it to the Toronto premiere of "Snow Cake", which is good because neither did I! :p
I did see footage of the red carpet arrivals with Marc Evans and Sigourney Weaver, but alas, no Alan. They showed a few clips from the movie too.
Robert Cushman (former Brit theatre critic) wrote an editorial in the National Post: When Alan Rickman played the barmaid
[text of editorial]:
Robert Cushman
The films that most interest me at the Toronto International Film Festival are Canadian, or part Canadian, but there are things about them, and people within them, that reach beyond our borders.
I have an unprofessional stake in the Anglo-Canadian Snow Cake: The extras include three members of my own family, one of whom -- I am told on good authority -- gets a close-up. (I shan't dare blink.) But I'm intrigued too by the story and setting: The relationship between a haunted man, recently out of prison, and the autistic woman whom he befriends after being involved in her daughter's death in a car crash. The mother lives up in Wawa, Ont., and it sounds like an ideal meeting of psychological and meteorological extremes. (Filming in Wawa proved to be no piece of any kind of cake. Much of the film was shot in Toronto.)
What really hooks me is the casting. The stars are Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, in a set-up about as far removed as possible from their previous teaming in Galaxy Quest. I've been a fan of Weaver's for years, and I suspect that her snow woman will prove a more enlightening and less Hollywooden study of autism than Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man.
I've been a fan of Rickman for even more years; to be precise since 1962, when I was in my last year at a West London grammar school and nabbed the title role in a production -- well, a rehearsed reading -- of the modern cult classic Serjeant Musgrave's Dance. Playing Annie, the barmaid (it was an all-boys school) was a younger boy whom I'd never met before. I'd like to say that I immediately knew myself to be in the presence of a future star, but I was probably thinking more along the lines of unfair competition. Looking back, though, I realize that many of the qualities that have contributed to that stardom -- the aquiline face and voice, the irony, the authority, the all-pervading mournfulness -- were already present, and served him just as well when playing an angry, vulnerable young woman as they did in his more familiar later guises of decadent aristocrat or sneering villain. In fact, some of his adult performances that I've most liked (and Snow Cake may well turn out to be another of them) have fallen outside those categories: his courteous gentleman in Sense and Sensibility and, in a surprisingly successful Irish transplant of Chekhov's The Seagull at London's Royal Court Theatre, his world-weary novelist formerly known as Trigorin.
That's one screen performance and one on stage; and it both interests and impresses me that, though it's obviously the films that have made him famous, he's managed to maintain a foot in both. Maybe it's because of my job, maybe it's because of our old association and my subsequent witnessing of his stage career which, after a late start, took off steadily and fast, but I think of him as a theatre actor who also does movies. If you want to do this, it helps to be British, since Britain has a theatrical culture and something of a film industry; Americans, under pressure both commercial and geographic, usually have to choose between.
Compare Rickman's career with Weaver's; she trained at the Yale Drama School (her resume includes being one of the original chorus of amphibians in Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs) but she is stamped as a film actress, just like her fellow Yalie Meryl Streep. Streep does do stage from time to time -- she's doing Mother Courage in Central Park at the moment -- but it always seems at best a diversion, at worst a gesture.
In Canada, of course, the option hardly arises, or only in a stark form; you want a big movie career, you leave the country: to live, like Christopher Plummer, or just to work, like Colm Feore. Otherwise there's stage leavened by TV, with the chance of an occasional movie, homegrown, visiting or -- as in this case -- both. The supporting cast of Snow Cake includes such pillars of Toronto acting as David Fox and -- cast as a couple -- the two writer-performers of Slings & Arrows, Mark McKinney and Susan Coyne. McKinney became a Canadian star in TV and stand-up comedy, Coyne in classic and contemporary drama. It's a pleasant convergence.
Sarah Polley is something else, a child star on stage and TV who grew up to become an all-rounder: a valued actress in Canadian (read small-budget) movies, a political activist, a director in her own right. Away from Her, her first feature in that capacity, has impeccable Canadian credentials: Atom Egoyan, no less, as executive producer, an Alice Munro story as source. And it is crammed with Canadian acting talent. Some are resident: the veteran-bordering-on-iconic Gordon Pinsent; Toronto theatre's cherished Kristen Thomson; Michael Murphy, whose sardonic judge was my favourite thing on This is Wonderland.
What is most surprising about stage-to-screen transitions is the ease with which certain apparently un-starlike British actors have made homes for themselves in American movies: the tough clowns like Bob Hoskins and Alfred Molina, and even less expectedly, the sensitive neurotics like Pete Postlethwaite and Tom Wilkinson. Some of them have even achieved that Holy Grail of British actors: being cast in American movies as Americans. Rickman bridges the two traditions; he's a character man but he's also a romantic, or rather an anti-romantic so intense that he ends up romantic. I feel rather proud to have been in at the start.
Rickman typifies British aptitude for theatre/movie crossover.
robert.cushman@hotmail.com
Oh, I adore such reviews! Here is new one
Swiss backers scent Perfume success
More than 20 years after Patrick Süskind's Perfume became a global best seller, the story has finally made it onto the big screen ? with Swiss financial backing.
The film is released in Switzerland on Thursday.
The billionaire president of Basel football club, Gigi Oeri, has ploughed around SFr10 million ($8 million) into the movie, which at ?50 million (SFr79 million) is the most expensive German film ever made.
Speaking at the film's premiere in Munich earlier this week, Oeri, who is named as a co:producer in the credits, said she was more than a little nervous.
"You never know how it's going to turn out... but it's a healthy and happy nervousness," she told Swiss:German television.
Oeri, who is better known in Switzerland for mixing with mud:caked footballers than rubbing shoulders with Hollywood glitterati, became involved in the project through her friend Bernard Burgener.
Burgener is the chairman of Pratteln:based Highlight Communications, which holds a majority stake in Constantin Film, the company that produced Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
Needless to say the deal to bring Oeri on board was clinched at Basel's St Jakob Park stadium.
Also present was the film's producer Bernd Eichinger, whose credits include The Name of the Rose, The House of the Spirits and Downfall, the acclaimed portrayal of Adolf Hitler's last days.
"I know the [Oeri] family very well and Gigi had told me she would love to take part in the production of a movie," Burgener told swissinfo.
"At the time I didn't have anything available but in December 2004, when we were close to the green light for Perfume, we asked her at a match in Basel to be co:producer. She said she loved the book and the same evening she signed a contract," Burgener told swissinfo.
On location
At the Munich premiere actor Ben Whishaw, who plays the lead role in the film, paid tribute to Oeri's support for the film.
"I think she's wonderful. The film couldn't have happened without her," he told Swiss:German television.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer features a stellar cast, with Oscar:winner Dustin Hoffman and British actor Alan Rickman in supporting roles.
The dark tale tells the story of Jean:Baptiste Grenouille, an amoral loner born in 1738 in a Paris fish market who has a remarkable sense of smell.
He becomes a perfume maker and develops an obsession with creating the perfect scent. This, he decides, can only be distilled from young virgins and sees him embark on a killing spree.
15 million sold
But Süskind, who is something of a recluse, originally refused to sell the rights to his novel before finally giving in to Eichinger in 2000.
"I think Patrick [Süskind] will see the film at some point ? he will probably put on a false beard and a wig so no one recognises him," said Eichinger.
Reviews of the film have so far been varied, with some critics arguing that it has failed to bring to the silver screen Süskind's wonderful evocation of scents and fragrances.
But Burgener disagrees. He says that in the same way as the author's sensual imagery enabled readers to "smell" the book, the film can do the same for audiences through sound and vision.
"In the book, smell is evoked by words and your imagination; in the movie, Tom Tykwer [the director] has tried to do the same in pictures to describe the smell and the dirt of Paris in the 18th century," said Burgener. "From my point of view it's perfect and I hope we have a big success with this."
Here is an article about Snow Cake www.mirror.co.uk
8 September 2006
EVER since Raymond Babbitt shuffled onto the big screen in 1988’s Rain Man, nobody has come close to capturing the essence of autism better than Dustin Hoffman.
That’s all about to change with this gentle comedy drama in which Sigourney Weaver more than gives Hoffers a run for his money. In an Oscar-baiting performance, she plays autistic mum Linda whose daughter is killed in a car crash after hitching a lift with middle-aged Alex (Alan Rickman). Although the accident wasn’t his fault, the guilt-stricken Alex takes it upon himself to visit the girl’s mother and temporarily take care of her until her parents come back. During his visit, he also ends up falling for her neighbour Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss of The Matrix fame).
The Canada-set Snow Cake is clearly meant to be Weaver’s movie, and people with first-hand knowledge of autism say it’s the most convincing depiction they’ve ever seen.
Yet for all the passion she pours into the role, the stand-out is Rickman who injects a very funny sense of world-weariness, emotional detachment and droll humour into proceedings so that he, improbably, steals every scene from Weaver. To quote Linda, the whole thing’s quite simply -dazzlius”.
IF YOU LIKED... Children Of A Lesser God, The Sweet Hereafter... YOU’LL LIKE THIS.
Below is a very good review by the way! It was found online at www.musicOMH.com ! A UK-Canadian co-production, Snow Cake is a poignantly funny movie about how the warmth of human companionship can thaw frozen emotions. Without resorting to melodrama or sentimentality, this low-budget, well-crafted film, boasting outstanding performances from Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, is a refreshing change from the relentless in-your-face style of so much contemporary cinema. Directed by Welshman Marc Evans and scripted by first-time screenwriter Angela Pell, Snow Cake is set in Ontario, where the icy weather conditions mirror the emotional states of the protagonists. The reserved and taciturn Alex Hughes (Rickman) is persuaded against his better judgement to give a lift to kooky 19-year-old hitchhiker Vivienne (Emily Hampshire), who is then killed in a collision with a truck through no fault of his own. Nonetheless, driven by shock and guilt, Alex decides to call on Vivienne's mother Linda in snowbound Wawa, her intended destination, to explain exactly what has happened. Linda (Weaver) turns out to be a high-functioning autistic, who seems to accept the news of her daughter's death with extraordinary equanimity. Alex stays to give her practical help, but then forms a relationship with her attractive, independent neighbour Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss). But before too long, Maggie's ex-boyfriend, the jealous local law-enforcement officer Clyde (James Allodi), appears to discover a dark secret in Alex's past which could explain the original reason for his journey. Evans' unobtrusive but highly effective direction allows the subtleties of the relationships in Pell's story to develop naturally. The focus is very much on how Alex, by learning to fit in with Linda's rigid routine where everything has to be done in a certain way and everything belongs in a certain place, is forced to look outside of himself and question his own control-freakery, slowly coming to terms with the trauma which haunts him. Weaver (in a role she apparently researched for a year) is highly convincing as the eccentric Linda, producing a less showy performance than Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man. Inhabiting her own social bubble, she rarely makes eye contact with those around her, but shows a childlike talent for living in the present and retaining a sense of wonder at the world. Carrie-Anne Moss also impresses as Maggie, the free-spirited and warm-hearted vamp somehow stuck in conventional Wawa, who, with the aid of some sexual healing, helps to bring Alex in from the cold. But it's Rickman who really stands out. His understated portrayal of Alex is a joy to watch, by turns touched and exasperated by Linda's behaviour as he struggles to exorcise his own demons. His dry, ironic humour comes across as a self-defence mechanism while his world-weariness suggests a man who has come to a crossroads in his life. A genuinely moving drama about how people learn to live with and without each other. - Neil Dowden
Hoping to spread the word as much as possible. I just now happened to see that comment someone posted about Rickman being for small films and making sure they get known. I find myself trying to do that to people about Snow Cake. I don't want the formula films that run the awards shows and the box office to always win while the quality small stuff gets ignored because the director wasn't a name or the studio wasn't putting TONS of money into it. Why should any of that matter when the film and acting especially is brilliant? I should think the acting at least should be honored, even if it's not a huge studio film! Wawa will be holding a premiere screening of Snowcake on Sunday, September 17th. Seating is limited with only 2 showings of 300 each. This should be a wonderful event. Charity Presentation of Snowcake with Alan Rickman in attendance is to be held at BAFTA, Central London at 6pm on Thursday 28th September. Tickets £50.
Further details at Treehouse
Snowcake reviews from London papers:
[text of review]:
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Let’s get the obvious comparison out the way. Rain Man – the film that set Dustin Hoffman on the way to an Oscar and Tom Cruise on the way to couch-jumping - was about autism. So is Snow Cake. But the comparison ends there.
Looking back, Hoffman’s robo dance mannerisms were Mork-and-Mindy subtle – the kid was going for an Oscar: you knew it, I knew it. But what if that “mental” – here played by Sigourney Weaver – was even more unsentimental than Hoffman’s depiction? What if you underlined her chemically-stunted, emotionally-vacant state by showing her greeting the news of her daughter’s death with all the distress of someone whose pizza is five minutes late?
That, essentially, is the premise of Snow Cake. Rickman’s Brit-out-of-water sad-sack (“I don’t have baggage, I have haulage”) then stays with Weaver after feeling responsible for the death of her daughter.
It’s a credit to first-time screenwriter Angela Pell – who draws on experience with her own autistic child – that this never droops into schmaltz.
It’s probably one of the most awkward moments in cinema as Weaver delights in the “sparkly lights” at her daughter’s funeral while her parents sit next to her weeping – but also one of the most daring.
OK, so we do get a token love-story (a brief fling with neighbour Carrie Anne-Moss) but then the film need some humanity to hook to. As Weaver’s neighbour puts it – “I know about autism. I’ve seen that film.” She doesn’t.
[text of reviews]
Xan Brooks
Ludicrous pairing... Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver in Snow Cake
Snow Cake kicks off with a car crash and the rest of the film soon follows suit. This Canadian-set drama from British director Marc Evans offers a mesmerising bonfire of the vanities, crowned by the ludicrous pairing of Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver as a depressed murderer and a live-wire autistic woman who likes bouncing on trampolines. "Despite our faults we work quite well together, don't we?" chuckles Rickman at one stage. Perhaps Snow Cake will blossom into a lucrative comedy franchise, with a bevy of sequels involving more odd-couple escapades, more romantic misadventures. More trampolines.
Until then we are left with a sanctimonious little affair that deposits Rickman's doleful ex-con at Weaver's home in the run-up to her daughter's funeral. Despite mooching around town like the saddest camel on earth, Rickman improbably attracts the attentions of every woman he meets. A middle-aged busybody accosts him on the street to explain that she is a divorcee. The beautiful next-door neighbour (Carrie-Anne Moss) promptly drags him into bed. Even the cute veterinarian's assistant appears all set to fellate him by the rabbit hutch at a moment's notice.
If Rickman suffers these indignities like a man with his mind on other things, he's probably just shell-shocked by the antics of his co-star. Weaver's performance is so extravagantly awful, you can't take your eyes off it. When she is happy she gurgles, gurns and waves her arms like a demented mime. When she is upset, she flaps them in a fury, frets over the housework and shrilly orders Rickman to take out the trash. "I don't do garbage!" she roars, although in this case she has gallantly made an exception.
The Observer
Snow Cake is a contrived Anglo-Canadian co-production exuding a self-conscious sensitivity and starring Alan Rickman as a lonely, middle-aged Englishman making a sentimental journey across wintry Canada for a reunion with the woman who 20 years before bore him a son he's never seen. He gives a lift to a kookie teenage hitchhiker who's killed beside him in a crash and he's stuck for several days in a small town, where he tracks down the girl's autistic mother (Sigourney Weaver).
As he copes with and cares for her, he has an affair with a liberated woman (Carrie-Anne Moss) and as the snow melts, he thaws emotionally. It's dull, unrevealing, well acted and gives Weaver one of those roles as a handicapped person with special gifts and insights that begs for and frequently receives Oscar nominations.
[text of review]:
Snow Cake has interesting stars, a smart director (My Little Eye's Marc Evans) and good intentions coming out of its ears. So why does this small-town drama about tragedy in Northern Ontario feel so intolerably precious?
Alan Rickman, OK in an unlovably constipated role, is the lonely Brit trying to console autistic Linda (Sigourney Weaver) following her daughter's death in a car crash. He ends up staying, and while their rapport, or lack of it, may have you rapidly craving other people's company, it won't be Carrie-Anne Moss's as the "sassy" next-door neighbour who might be a prostitute.
Weaver has clearly done her homework and handles Linda's functional qualities quite persuasively, but all the childlike gurning gets pretty excruciating, and Evans takes the lazy way out with unearned touches of magic realism. Angela Pell's first script needed beefier handling than this.
[text of review]:
According to the poster for Snow Cake, “stopping is sometimes the most important part of the journey”. When his female hitch-hiker is killed in a car crash that leaves him unscathed, Alex (Alan Rickman), a guilt-ridden, ex-con Englishman, visits her mother in a gossipy little town in wintry northern Ontario. She’s Linda (Sigourney Weaver), a “high-functioning” autistic woman with a child-like emotional directness and an obsession for order. Invited to stay with her for the funeral, he ends up having an unlikely affair with her neighbour, Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss).
Marc Evans, having tortured psyches in the thrillers My Little Eye and Trauma, now heals them in this low-key chamber piece in which Alex’s burdened soul (“I don’t have baggage, I have haulage”) is lightened. Considering the cast, it’s disappointing how the film becomes so straightforward and predictable. Rickman’s sardonic prickliness and Weaver’s innocence and tics make up self-conscious turns, with only Moss possessing the kind of naturalness lacking elsewhere; even the snow melts on cue as Alex begins to thaw out.
IAN JOHNS
[text of review]:
By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 07.09.06
Derek Malcolm's rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Sigourney Weaver stars in Snow Cake
On the whole, though, Sigourney Weaver triumphs here as Linda, an obsessive-compulsive, autistic woman who lives in the little town of Wawa, in Canada.
She takes in Alex (Alan Rickman), a troubled stranger who tells her that her daughter has died in a car accident. There are, we discover, other mysteries in his life.
The two seem to need each other - even when Alex falls impossibly for an extrovert neighbour (Carrie-Anne Moss). Linda wants company, though she won't admit it, and he, though sometimes exasperated, is able to mask his guilt and grief in her presence.
Marc Evans, who made My Little Eye and Trauma, here tries his hand at more sensitive subject matter and more oblique emotions. It doesn't always work and there are dull patches, mostly due to somewhat flat direction.
But Rickman's quietly subtle performance and Weaver's well-researched approximation of autism, which is never afraid to provide laughs, paints the ultimately moving microcosm of a small world colliding with the tragedy of death and disappointed dreams.
That's enough for now. Although the IMDb says Snowcake will be shown at the AFI Film Festival in November, the AFI staff member who answered my query said Snowcake was not on their schedule. I received an e-mail from Nancy (thank you!) with the following article about Perfume:
September 8, 2006
PERFUME THE FILM
Worth the Wait?
By Urs Jenny
Over the next months Perfume, a film based on the internationally acclaimed novel by German author Patrick Süskind, will be shown in cinemas around the world. Already sparking controversial debate as it premieres in German theaters, its €50 million budget makes it one of the most expensive German films ever made. Was it worth the effort?
When 'Perfume. The Story of a Murderer' has its debut in 700 German theaters next week, millions of devoted readers will finally get what they have supposedly been eagerly awaiting for the last 10 or even 20 years. Produced by Bernd Eichinger and directed by Tom Tykwer, the film is then scheduled to premier in rapid succession in almost a dozen other European countries. It will quickly become apparent whether the readers of the novel, published in 1985 and the most successful German novel, among both German and international readers, since Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" - 15 million copies published worldwide -- will rush out in droves to see the film and whether Süskind's loyal readers, many with only a fading memory of the book, will in fact appreciate the film version.
When the almost two-hour film, which is certainly entertaining but by no means light-hearted, reaches its climax, viewers experience how the young protagonist mounts a platform on the small town market square to be executed, but instead the crowd, high on an erotically imbued narcotic (the "perfume"), erupts into a frenzy of uninhibited embraces.
The tabloids would call it an "orgy" while the classically trained prefer to see it as a "bacchanal." As the camera pans deliriously and dizzyingly over the crowd, a euphoric rain shower bursts from the sky and slow motion film techniques distort a mob scene into something deliciously festive. The camera zooms in on the boy who instigated the whole thing, his face revealing three emotions in rapid succession: astonishment, delight and, finally, disgust. Some might see this performance as messianic; others as satanic or perhaps Dionysian. Most of all, however, it reveals the filmmakers' eagerness and to obtain a PG rating and yet still go down in cinematic history.
"Perfume" is the partly real, partly imaginary life story of a puny, unpleasant character who has been kicked around by fate but who, as a result of an entirely paranormal ability, suddenly becomes a sensation. With its protagonist an amoral and both brilliantly and dangerously obstinate outsider, the novel bears some similarity to two other German bestsellers published in the last two decades that were also made into films: Günter Grass's "The Tin Drum" (whose message may have encouraged Süskind) and ''Brother of Sleep" by Robert Schneider (who clearly drew some of his inspiration from "Perfume"). The film versions of these two novels also highlighted the difficulty convincing viewers to empathize and even like an unlikable protagonist, a task "Perfume" attempts to accomplish to the point of exhaustion. Although the film version of "Perfume" will never measure up to director Volker Schlöndorff's "The Tin Drum," which triumphed precisely because of its sheer lack of respect, it certainly holds its own with director Joseph Vilsmaier's "Brother of Sleep."
The Education of a Murderer
In a magnificent novel that's plainly bursting with life, Süskind tells the story -- in the manner of the classics but with an entirely contemporary sense of irony -- of a bastard who is born in the mid-18th century on the filthiest street corner of a stinking metropolis, Paris, and is literally left in the gutter by his mother. The boy ends up in an orphanage, where he is baptized Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and discovers that his lack of body odor makes him an object of hatred for the other children (who cannot smell him, which in Süskind's original German is a play on words, meaning they cannot stand him). But he also discovers that he has an unusually strong sense of smell and memory for odors -- a gift not unlike photographic memory or the ability of the autistic to remember pieces of music or mathematical problems.
Although the reader is unlikely to treat any of the anomalous traits of this clumsy, shy little fellow as "believable" in a realistic sense, Süskind, a seductive and virtuosic storyteller, develops his protagonist into a character who, in his disconcerting oddness, has managed to irresistibly capture the hearts of millions of readers. The story follows Grenouille, who not only lacks a sense of smell but is also apparently asexual, as he works his way through a training position in Paris and, almost self-taught, becomes a gifted creator of perfumes. Years later in Grasse, the French perfume capital in Provence, he carries out his dastardly and secret project.
With childlike innocence Grenouille murders 25 beautiful virgins without spilling a drop of their blood and then, like some alchemist of aroma, uses the artificially preserved smell of the corpses (reduced to 13 in the film) to distill a perfume that will delight and intoxicate whoever smells it, transporting them into erotic ecstasy. In his triumphant moment, Grenouille unleashes the "greatest bacchanal the world has seen since the second century B.C." on a crowd of 10,000 people.
Süskind's Subplot
If ambitious producer Bernd Eichinger had had his way, the world would have been able to marvel at his film version of the novel almost 20 years ago. But in 1985, when "Perfume" was at the top of SPIEGEL's bestseller list, the author was apparently utterly uninterested in a film project, despite the fact that Süskind and Eichinger were acquaintances and regulars at the same Italian restaurant in Munich's swank Schwabing district. Süskind appeared to refuse on principal. It had nothing to do with any aversion to film -- after all, Süskind, 36 at the time, first made a name for himself as a screenwriter (for Helmut Dietl's TV series titled "Monaco Franze") -- nor was it a result of the book's speedy and phenomenal success, which enabled its author to achieve financial independence.
The real reason behind Süskind's refusal to sell the film rights to his novel was that he was completely averse to the kind of publicity other successful young authors normally crave, publicity that entails being photographed and interviewed, giving readings, appearing on TV talk shows and commenting on current events. In a sense, all Süskind really wanted was to disappear, unnoticed, into the shadow of his work, an artist who would shun rather than seek the public eye, much like the legendary Bartleby. None of his subsequently published works could even remotely measure up to "Perfume," and his only public comment on a political controversy of any nature happened in 2003, when he wrote a letter of protest against Germany's spelling reform.
More than a decade after the publication of "Perfume," Süskind's resistance to a film project was made the subject of a comedy whose undercurrent of self-parody is neither proclaimed nor disputed by the film's characters. In Helmut Dietl's "Rossini," for which Süskind co-wrote the screenplay, the protagonist is an eccentric, notoriously publicity-shy author of a global bestseller who is even unimpressed by the prospect of a seven-figure Hollywood movie deal. The character's name is Jakob Windisch, and a producer named Reiter, a dead ringer for Eichinger when it comes to ambition, is determined, come hell or high water, to convince the reluctant author to sign a film contract.
Reiter has plans to make a "mega-blockbuster" out of Windisch's bestseller, which a jealous rival calls a "perfumed, pseudo-literary bit of fluff." But for Reiter the novel is "practically a license to print money! The film couldn't possibly be so bad that every asshole wouldn't want to see it!" But in the film Windisch, who normally never gives interviews, is quoted in the New York Times as saying: "As long as I am alive, my book will never be filmed."
One should never say never. No one knows why, but in 2000 Süskind abandoned his resistance to a filming of his novel, as if suddenly nothing mattered anymore. Some say that he had secretly been holding out for an offer from director Stanley Kubrick, who died in March 1999. Of course, Eichinger was eventually the one who seized the opportunity. The producer hasn't denied rumors that he spent €10 million of his own money for the film rights (a sensational amount that demonstrates his enthusiasm for the work), nor would anyone dispute that he cut no corners in the production, which, at an official price tag of €50 million, was filmed mainly in and around Barcelona.
Souvenirs, Kitsch and Kubrick
A special edition of the novel is being published in time to coincide with the film's release, along with an audio book version, two books about the film itself and, finally, a CD of the film's bombastic score, performed by none less than the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. But the real piece de resistance has to be an item that couldn't possibly be interpreted as anything but a parody of the usual marketing paraphernalia. It's an exclusive "Thierry Mugler toiletry bag of the finest red velour," which contains 15 delicate little bottles of an "olfactory interpretation of the film." Unfortunately, the item isn't available at movie theaters, but only in "authorized perfumeries." The filming of the book, apparently, has led to its theme being used to market perfume.
Bernd Eichinger can't stand the term "filming," because he, mistakenly so, sees it as disparaging. Where would film history be without the filming of great literary works? They can be as glittering as "Gone With the Wind" or as paltry as "The Da Vinci Code," which has nonetheless proved to be nothing short of a license to make money. Of course, there are rarer cases of films that are such unique and compelling works of art in their own right that their literary precursors are only of interest to specialists. One such work (to remain within the genre of films set in the 18th century) is Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon."
Bernd Eichinger has earned his reputation as an important European producer mainly through his solidly crafted film versions of sophisticated bestsellers, including "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco, "The House of the Spirits," by Isabelle Allende, Danish author Peter Hoeg's "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and, most recently "Elementary Particles," based on the novel by Michel Houellebecq. "Perfume" fits easily within this genre. But in choosing as his director the brooding and difficult Tom Tykwer, whose only hit to date has been "Run Lola Run", Eichinger demonstrated a willingness to take risks, as well as a sense of sophistication and consistency.
An Impossible Task
Tykwer's fondness for expressive images gives the film energy and style and a sort of ornamental bravura, but the fact that Tykwer has to struggle with its weightiness is a result of the constraints imposed by the need to remain true to the original literary work. There are too many instances where images parading past in a succeesion of fireworks illustrates piecemeal what the booming voice of the narrator (Otto Sander) then brings into context. As a result, the production rarely manages to liberate itself from the constraints of someone else's fantasy.
In its most dramatic and spectacular moments the film is gripping, inventive, richly detailed, consistently lives up to its high standards and is almost lovingly indulgent in portraying the craft and milieu of perfume production. Dustin Hoffman delivers a theatrical, tragicomic and thoroughly brilliant performance in the role of the aging, worn-out perfumer Baldini, Grenouille's teacher during his apprenticeship in Paris. During Grenouille's period as a journeyman in Grass, Alan Rickman plays the protagonist's most dangerous adversary and the delicate, porcelain-like Rachel Hurd-Wood the most intimate target of his murderous intentions.
The problem that the film's three screenwriters (Eichinger, Tykwer and Briton Andrew Birkin) are simply unable to solve lies in the fundamental nature of the protagonist who, of course, can only be portrayed on the screen as the world sees him. His obsession with himself makes Grenouille come across as the most radical of loners, a man who remains taciturn even in the face of the most gruesome torture. To clarify the problem, Eichinger calls him "a protagonist whose soul is inaccessible because he has no feelings."
No feelings? For heaven's sake! Although this characterization is more or less true in the film, it's completely off the mark when it comes to the novel. In his work, Süskind uses page after intoxicating page of lyrical, vibrating language to describe the process in which the protagonist, after inhaling the tiniest molecule of aroma, experiences the immeasurable wonders of a garden or the curls of a young girl. But the camera has no access to this enormous inner universe beyond Grenouille's constantly sniffing nostrils. We only get the occasional glimpse into his inner world through the voice of the narrator and the heavy, tumultuous and symphonic score (composed by Tom Tykwer).
As he follows his nose southward on his journey from Paris to Grasse, Grenouille pauses on a peak in the French Massif Central mountains, the "magnetic pole of the greatest possible loneliness," to escape from himself. The film, understandably so, takes little time to pause in places where there is no significant action, but in doing so it glosses over key elements of the book.
In the novel this interlude, the story's ironic core, spans a period of seven years in which Grenouille lives in a cave in the mountains and, like another version of Oblomov, the protagonist of the eponymous novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, often spends "upwards of twenty hours a day dreaming into space, in complete darkness, complete stillness and complete immobility." His dreams run the gamut from sweet visions of paradise to dizzying fantasies of omnipotence to horrible fears, a true bacchanal of the imagination. These are the years in which Grenouille matures into an artist, and in which he realizes that he must use his art to "relinquish his inner life, which he believed was more wonderful than anything the outside world had to offer." Perfume is his message.
Now that this film exists, Süskind's Grenouille has a face, a rustically coarse, big-nosed, big-eared and expressive face -- a face that is not easy to love. Who knows what young British actor Ben Whishaw would have been able to do with the role of Grenouille if the film had deliberately opened itself up to the dimension of fantasy? Instead, the protagonist, who is meant to exude an air of seduction and fascination, remains distant. The viewer is left to imagine -- but not experience -- his satanic, messianic or Dionysian side.
Never Say Never
There are readers who adore the cinema and yet make a wide berth around the filming of their favorite works of literature. There are writers (from Thomas Mann and Max Frisch to Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass) who have accepted troubling compromises in the filming of their works. And then there are those who reject the very notion of their novels being committed to celluloid as a "coarse, narcissistic insult."
One of these writers once explained, expressing his own feelings and perhaps also those of his readers, that he was simply against the whole thing. In his words, he was "fundamentally opposed to the idea that imagined characters can be transformed into roles, that roles must be played, that actors will play these roles, essentially occupying them and making them their own, the end result being something else that is occupied and possessed once and for all, and that one's own imagination is embodied by the clearly delineated figure of a real person."
Those were the words of Patrick Süskind -- ten years ago.
Translated from German by Christopher Sultan.
Here are some new pictures of Alan Rickman, they were taken at the Munich premiere of "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer". Getty Images
This might be slightly old news but I found this at timesonline.co.uk/ while googling today which apparently took place at hte Edinburgh Festival a couple of weeks ago;
It’s good to know that A-list celebrities are not immune from alcoholic excesses. I have it on good authority that Alan Rickman, Steve Coogan and friends drank themselves silly on Tuesday evening, a night that culminated with Coogan launching into a string of impressions and then chip butties all round at 3am. A few sore heads were reported the next morning.
I didn't know Alan and Steve were good friends! I loved Steve in Around the World in 80 Days.
Also from around the same time is this interview from channel4.com about Snow Cake;
Alan Rickman And Marc Evans On Snowcake
Hungover in Edinburgh, the star and director of this drama about autism discuss Sigourney Weaver, Super Furry Animals and not making Rainman II
"I'm drinking a bloody Mary. I'm told it will do me some good."
It's midday in a hotel lounge and Marc Evans is hungover. This is
forgivable, as last night saw the UK premiere of his new movie,
Snowcake, the wine was flowing at the party afterwards and he
ended up drinking with Steve Coogan until 5am. And, goddamit, this
is the sixtieth Edinburgh International Film Festival: it's practically
illegal not to have booze for breakfast.
"It's a fantastic festival, one of my favourites," he enthuses,
eyes sparkling as the vodka works its magic. "And
Edinburgh's great anyway. I'm very proud to be Welsh but I'm
very jealous Scotland has got such an amazing capital city."
If Alan Rickman is feeling any ill effects from the party, he's
certainly hiding it well. Immaculately dressed in a dark grey
suit, he is as sombre and intimidating as he is on screen. The
part he plays in Snowcake - a dour curmudgeon with a nice
line in sarcastic put-downs - was written with him in mind.
Does he ever worry that the public's perception of him is, well,
pretty close to Phil Cornwell's impersonation of him in 'Dead
Ringers'?
"I don't watch 'Dead Ringers'," he rumbles in what seems like
irritation but, thankfully, is followed up by an amused laugh.
"Public perceptions are what they are and you can't think
about it. I'm sure anybody who has any kind of public persona
would say that it's not a lot to do with the real person. I just
get on with it really."
Just getting on with it, Rickman turns in yet another masterful
performance in Snowcake. Without giving too much away, he plays
a British man who, just out of prison in Canada, winds up staying in
a small town in Northern Ontario where he takes a lover
(Carrie-Anne Moss) and moves in with Alice, an acutely autistic
woman played by Sigourney Weaver. It's quite a departure for
Evans, best known for dark and doomy fare like My Little Eye,
House Of America and Resurrection Man.
"It wasn't a conscious decision to change," says Evans. "It was
more having the opportunity to get to do something different
and fresh. What was nice about this was that I was offered the
project because Baby Cow, Steve Coogan and Henry Normal's
production company, were involved. I have to be really thankful
to them for that because I wouldn't have been sent that script
normally because you get typecast. People think I just do dark
stuff."
As well as being a challenge for Evans, for Rickman it meant
acting opposite Weaver who, having immersed herself in the
role of Alice, unnervingly refused to look him in the eye.
"Actually, I think it made it easier," Rickman explains. "It was like
being with a real autistic person and she has rules that you
have to abide by. But it was a learning thing basically - I was
the happy recipient of all of Sigourney's hard work."
Both Evans and Rickman are full of praise for Weaver, who
worked flat out to get her performance perfect. But
comparisons with that other autistic movie, Rainman, jokingly
referenced in Snowcake, must have been a source of worry.
"No," claims Evans. "I felt really safe. Angela [Pell], who wrote
the script, has an autistic kid, a little boy called Johnny, and
she did something really smart by not making it a film about
an autistic child. By transferring it to an adult setting she
could get a little distance. And Sigourney, as you'd expect,
came to the film with this massive desire to get it right. So, in
a way, the autism was taken care of for me."
He's still aware, though, that autism might be difficult for
audiences to accept.
"If Al Pacino plays blind, everybody knows what blindness is," is
his way of putting it. "I'm not saying there's no complexity to being
blind, I'm just saying that you can recognise it as an audience.
But if someone plays an autistic character, there's a spectrum.
They could be the Rainman-style savant or completely
dysfunctional or everything in between. I think what you have to
do is latch onto a specific character and that's what we did."
To help Weaver find the character, Evans employed an autistic
woman called Roz Blackburn.
"She's an amazing person. She has autism but is able to
comment on autism, which is rare. She's happy with the film
and, basically, if Roz thinks it's okay, then that's good enough
for me."
Another essential ingredient to the movie is its Canadian
setting which, for once, isn't standing in for the USA. Filming
took place in the town of Wawa, where the cast and crew
stayed for the entire 27-day shoot. Rickman was especially
pleased to be in Canada, a country he describes as his second
home.
"It's an incredibly beautiful country but then so are many places
in the world," he says. "It's just that I have very close friends
and a goddaughter in Toronto. But I'd certainly never been to
Northern Ontario before. We had a great time after we finished
because we went across to Victoria and Vancouver Island."
For Evans, Canada was a mystery, especially when it came to
the music. Sheepishly, he admits to placing a track by Welsh
band The Super Furry Animals pride of place on the
soundtrack. Fellow countrymen The Stereophonics also
feature.
"The Stereophonics were in the script," he insists. "Angela is a
vinyl junkie like myself and she was very specific about some of
the music. But the Super Furries track I was responsible for. It
just seemed the perfect song for Alex's state of mind, letting in
the sunshine and all that."
In his defence, Evans did ask Emily Hampshire, who plays
Alice's teenage daughter, to compile a CD of Canadian bands.
"On that CD was 'Anthem For A Seventeen Year Old Girl' by
Broken Social Scene," he says. "So that song was in the film
from a very early stage because I loved it so much. When we
were looking to do the score, John Cale [Welsh member of The
Velvet Underground who has featured in two documentaries by
Evans] suggested asking Broken Social Scene, so I do feel that
I paid my respects to Canadian music too."
It is a fantastic soundtrack (and it provides a hilarious scene
where Rickman wails along to the Stereophonics on
headphones). Though dealing with disability and grief,
Snowcake manages to be uplifting without becoming mawkish.
Evans is quick to praise his actors and the first-rate screenplay
from Pell.
"Angela has great way of looking at her son's condition. Autism
is a horrible condition but she latches onto the positives of it as
well, because if you have an autistic child then you have to. At
the centre of the film there's a kind of optimism which rubs off
on Alan's character. People might think it's going to depress
the hell out of them but it's not depressing at all."
Rickman concurs, evidently pleased to have been involved in
such a good movie. Does he think he might, finally, get an
Oscar nomination?
"Oh, I don't think about that side of things. It's very nice if
people want to give you a piece of metal to put on your shelf
and it helps sell the film. But it's a little crazy too: there's a
whole world going on out there."
Alan will attend the Toronto Film Festival for the screening of "Snow Cake" as confirmed here: The 31st Toronto International Film Festival Welcomes Stellar Lineup of International Stars and Special Guests! The London Evening Standard had an article in yesterday's paper about "Perfume." Here is the online article. I read the book years ago. I can't wait to see this one.
[Text of article]:
The sweet smell of success
Perfume was the book they said could never be a movie. Yet, come this December, the novel that Stanley Kubrick dreamed of making but eventually branded "unfilmable" will finally hit the screens. With a starstudded cast that includes Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and newcomer Ben Whishaw, this tale of murder and obsession in 18th-century France is certain to be the cinema hit of the year.
From its ghastly, fetid beginnings in squalid Paris to the rolling hills of Provence and its outrageously erotic ending, the film of Patrick S¸skind's novel is breathtaking. The climactic scene, for which the book is renowned, is carried off with unexpected panache.
It's been a long hard struggle to bring it to the screen, spanning the 20 years since Perfume was first published in Germany. The book captures the imagination of all who encounter it. It spent nigh on 500 consecutive weeks in the German bestseller charts and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Translated into 45 languages, it has legions of devoted fans, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who cited it as his favourite book, and wrote Scentless Apprentice in its honour.
The irresistible allure of the novel - and now film - stems from the grotesque and vivid depiction of both its era and its principal character, Jean- Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw). He is the central focus, an anti-hero born into the stench of the Paris fish market. As the tale progresses, we realise he has a strangely enhanced sense of smell, but no odour himself, which becomes an obsession. He turns perfumier - and roams France seeking to distil the smell of anything, from doorknob, to pure beauty. This becomes his downfall.
Some of the world's finest directors have lined up to take the project on, only to be defeated. Kubrick pondered the project for years before finally passing on it. Martin Scorsese and Amadeus mastermind Milos Forman also expressed interest; Ridley Scott was attached for the project for some years and most recently, Tim Burton was mooted to be involved. But it fell to the relatively unknown German director Tom Tykwer to succeed where the big guns had failed.
Part of the problem was the author's reluctance to release the rights to the novel. S¸skind was 40 when Perfume was published and already a successful writer for stage and TV. He eschewed the celebrity status that the book's popularity afforded him and, now reclusive, insisted he didn't want to be involved in the film project.
"I don't think S¸skind could imagine anyone who could adapt this material," says Tykwer. It took a friend of the author - film producer Bernd Eichinger - until 2001, and a reported sum of 710 million to persuade him to release the rights. Eichinger is a man with clout and a taste for producing literary fiction.
He's not afraid of controversy, having produced Downfall (about Hitler's last days in the bunker), or adaptations of difficult or ambitious works. Nor did he baulk at the daunting task of having to write the complicated script.
"It was a similar case with The Name of the Rose when Umberto Eco didn't want to participate in the film project," says Eichinger. "But we were finally able to reach an agreement."
So began the task of transposing the insular, brooding text to screen. Astonishingly, the director completed the film within a year. An able hand - as he proved with his energetic and award-winning Run Lola Run (1998) - he tames the unorthodox plot.
The essence of the novel is captured in bone-chilling manner, all subtlety and simmering rage. And though the stellar cast helps, it is Ben Whishaw's pivotal performance that truly shines.
He's already known by theatregoers for his portrayal of Hamlet at the Old Vic - for which he won an Evening Standard award two years ago - but Whishaw's otherworldly portrayal of Grenouille is bound to prove his big-screen breakthrough. We watch him, an obsessive figure of detached dementia throughout, skin-crawlingly blank, only showing emotion when the power of scent takes fiendish hold.
And although his fellow cast members are painfully distinguished, they play their supporting roles with deference. Hoffman - snared by Tykwer with the currency from Run Lola Run, a film the actor championed - is all bumbling brilliance in the cameo role of Guiseppe Baldini, a once-great perfumier who tutors Grenouille in the art of blending scents.
Rickman lends his charisma as Antoine Richis, a wealthy merchant from the perfume-producing town of Grasse, deep in the hills of Provence. Grenouille has travelled there to learn the secrets of perfume, but once there hatches far more sinister plans. These involve Richis's daughter Laure, played by another ascending London star, Rachel Hurd-Wood. The result is a series of mysterious murders which sends the city into hysteria.
As with any screen adaptation, the complex novel has been radically distilled. The book's pivotal section - when Grenouille retreats alone to a cave in the Massif Central where he comes to the devastating conclusion that he has no scent of his own - is abridged to just one scene.
It's left to John Hurt's gravel-throated rumble to take on the task of bridging the gaps. Whishaw is occasionally stifled by these interruptions, but they do add a storybook quality.
Armies of extras are choreographed to conjure bustling cities and writhing ecstasies. And it's all underpinned by a score co-written by the director. But can a film about something as "unfilmable" as smell be a success? Devotees of the book should at least be reassured that Tykwer has been assiduously faithful to S¸skind's original vision and that the film evokes a fascinated revulsion. Meanwhile, a whole new generation of fans may be about to wake up and smell the perfume.
AR interviewed about Snowcake on BBC Radio 4. Listen again Copyright 2006 EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS Copyright 2006 Midland Independent Newspapers plc Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd. Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited Copyright 2006Guardian Unlimited (© Guardian Newspapers Limited) Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information Copyright 2006 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd. "Snow Cake" will be screened at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Here are the screening dates: More info on the film here: name of link
From the New York Times: In today's Observer, MNRC is mentioned as one of the ten best shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. (The large "Fringe" section of the Festival is supposed to be a bit more experimental, daring, "progressive" . . . than the rest.) I could only count NINE shows on the top list, though, but it doesn't really matter. MNRC is summed up as "Alan Rickman's triumphant drama-doc." NEWS from Alan:
Alan is expected on 8 September in Berlin for the premiere of "Perfume".
Source: http://www.welt.de/data/2006/08/18/1001733.html (Die WELT, Newspaper)
Snow Cake will be screened at the Toronto Film Festival this year. More info here: name of link
Also new Minghella film "Breaking and Entering" starring Jude Law with support from Juliet Stevenson; and gala premiere for "Infamous" about Capote (yes, again) and also with support from Juliet Stevenson. The Official SNOWCAKE Website is now up HERE From Variety
A new "Old Times" is in the works at the Roundabout, with Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan primed to star in Harold Pinter's 1970 play at Studio 54 this fall.
Nothing's confirmed yet, but if things work out, the Broadway revival of "Old Times" would join a Roundabout season that includes an Off Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly, Last Summer," starring Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino, that's set for the fall.
One factor holding back "Old Times": Production has not yet secured an actress to play the third role in Pinter's ambiguous tale about a married couple visited by an old friend. It's said Lena Olin passed, and there's also talk of Duncan changing her mind about which female role she wants to play.
Rickman's last foray on the Rialto, the Roundabout's 2002 revival of "Private Lives," also co-starred Duncan ("Rome"), who won a Tony for her perf. The duo starred together in both the original London production and the 1987 Broadway stint of Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," a revival on the Roundabout's Broadway slate for the American Airlines Theater in the spring.
A fall run of "Old Times" would have Rickman onstage in Gotham around the same time as his upcoming Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," based on the diaries of a young woman who died protesting Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes. Rickman is co-adaptor of the "Rachel Corrie" script and will also direct the controversial show, which originated at the Royal Court in London in 2005 and bows at the Minetta Lane on Oct. 15.
Helmed by Mark Brokaw, "Suddenly, Last Summer" begins perfs at the Laura Pels Theater on Oct. 20 for a Nov. 15 opening. Danner stars as a widow mourning the mysterious death of her son, while Gugino plays a cousin who makes shocking allegations.
After "Suddenly," the Pels will see the Doug Hughes-helmed production of Patrick Marber's "Howard Katz," starring Alfred Molina, beginning Feb. 2 for a March 8 opening. That will be followed by director Joe Dowling's production of the latest from Brian Friel, "The Home Place," in the late spring/summer.
Along with "Liaisons," the Roundabout's Broadway slate includes "Heartbreak House" this fall at the American Airlines, plus the tuner "110 in the Shade," starring Audra McDonald, skedded for spring at Studio 54.
Date in print: Tue., Aug. 22, 2006, Gotham
There's a video of Rickman walking and talking on the red carpet et the snow cake premiere in Edinburgh. CLICK HERE and scroll down to "day two: snow cake."
Sue, what an amazing interview! Thanks so much for making it and posting it! I know "yousendit" expires after awhile, so I have uploaded it to my server and you can also download it here: The Edinburgh Show Cool beans! But what happened to the English trailer? Wasn't it there before or am I dreaming? Thanks Greta. I saw a translation of taht interview on Vera's live journal yesterday. Sounds as if his character will have a larger part in the movie than in the book which makes me very happy. I'll paste the interview here also............................................................
You play the merchant Antoine Richis. What can you tell us about your character?
The most important fact about him is that he’s the father of a daughter. Actually, he’s father and mother to Laure because his wife has died. As a rich merchant he leads a privileged life, living in a big house. But his main characteristic is that he’s too protective of his daughter. As he always says, “She is everything I have.”
What happens to his daughter during the film?
Everything that happens in the film is related to the story of Grenouille. Richis will personally meet the main character only at the end, though. Until then he only knows that there’s a serial killer in the vicinity who kills beautiful young girls. Since Richis’ daughter is among the most beautiful girls of the town, he assumes - quite rightfully - that his daughter is in danger. And so he becomes a Sherlock Holmes of sorts. The other influential men in town only react to the danger by making a fuss. Only Richis does use his head and try to outwit the unknown, lethal power.
Can you sympathise with Grenouille’s strange inclination to find the all-dominant perfume by all means?
Actually, I can, but the situation gets problematic when Grenouille turns into a murderer. Then it becomes impossible for someone to justify their inclination. But I think that generally one should try to put oneself into a serial killer’s psyche in order to understand why the react this and not that way. If not, such a person would remain incomprehensible to us. Most certainly society influences an offender as well. The character in our story was left on his own as a baby and misused during his childhood. Therefore he doesn’t have another choice than to develop an inclination that he, as the greatest expert, is absolutely convinced of. It doesn’t surprise me really that a person like Grenouille, who lives in his own reality only, gets obsessed by an fixed idea.
What impressed you most about the plot?
I can only speak about the script because I haven’t read the novel. But when I heard that Tom Tykwer would do the film, I instantly wanted to be a part of it. I like stories about obsessed people. (laughs) And I think that Richis - like Grenouille - shows a kind of obsession, aiming to protect his daughter from the eerie murderer.
Did you actually know Tom Tykwer’s previous films?
Of course, I did my homework! (laughs) Almost everyone knows Run, Lola, Run. I’ve only missed The Princess and the Warrior. And then there’s this wonderful short film True, which I liked very much. Tykwer is a remarkable film-maker, who not only controls every detail (of the picture) but every millisecond within. He’s understood it to make use of this short optical power that only lasts for a blink - when the eye is opened and closed again right away. This fast-paced technique is part of his mode of narrating. Therefore, for an actor it’s always exciting again to completely trust such a film-maker.
Therefore, would you describe him as an actors’ director?
He’s very certain in the way how he realises what he has come up with in his imagination. He already has it all in his mind, each shot, each scene, yes the entire film. That doesn’t mean, though, that it wouldn’t be possible to change things. He has a sunny disposition, as we Englishmen say. This is rather rare in this business, particularly in a film director who suffers from an enormous pressure due to the budget and the limited production time. To have someone on the set who smiles even in the most stressful moments is very special and provides a lot of power for all staff members.
What was the collaboration with Bernd Eichinger like?
I would say Bernd lives in constant danger of bursting one day because he’s so passionate about film-making. He’s so enthusiastic, and even more so with such a huge production like this. But he fought so hard for the film that it can only be a success. Apart from that, I witnessed how amicably he and Tom interacted with each other so that Tom could feel very supported. Therefore, Bernd’s presence was noticeable even when he wasn’t at the set for once.
The set designers did everything to make the film look as authentic as possible. Contemporary furniture was used; costume and other accessoires were recreated. How did you feel among these “antique” pieces?
I think that above everyone else the set designers did a incredibly god job. But I have to point out that when the film was shot everything around us looked slightly different than it will look like on the screen. Especially the fish market, which was recreated in Barcelona, looked awful with all this waste. And one pan shot to the side, you suddenly were in this beautiful house with this nice marble floor, where Richis and Laure live. The set designers just had to paint the walls, erect incredibly valuable old furniture and finally see to that special kind of film magic so that a fascinated member of the audience will ask himself, “To whom belongs this enchanting place?” Everything a rich man needed in the 18th century was there: a beautiful terrace for the birthday scene and right beside a maze, where Laure could get lost in. That definitely was a little miracle!
The Perfume website was updated recently. There is now a picture of Alan on the TRAILER page and an interview on the CREDITS page. I will translate if you like me to. As Sue posted elsewhere, the IMDb now lists these release dates for Snowcake:
UK--8 September 2006; Sorry, I got used to Liveournal automatically making links!! You can down load it HERE I recorded last night's The Edinburgh Show which had an interview with Alan from Tuesday night. posted elsewhere by Suzyred:
Alan Rickman flutters into Everyman for 'Snow Cake'
Award-winning actor Alan Rickman and director Marc Evans present a charity preview screening of their latest film 'Snow Cake' followed by a Q&A session on 5 September 2006 to raise funds for St Stephen's in Hampstead.
Nominated for the top prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival, Rickman plays the tight-lipped, spiritually lost Englishman Alex Hughes who forges an unexpected bond with an autistic woman, Linda, following his arrival in small-town Canada. He becomes increasingly involved in Linda's life and forms a relationship with her sassy independent neighbour Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss). When Alex finally gets back on the road he has exorcised his inner demons, and the town he leaves behind has also been transformed.
"It's those small releases of emotion that happen in real life that you notice in a really well-written script," Rickman says, adding "It's going to be an education to people on one level, but it's hugely entertaining and very funny and touching as well."
The screening will raise funds for St Stephen's situated at the junction of Rosslyn Hill and Pond Street, NW3. Built in 1869, St Stephen's is Grade 1 listed with remarkable interior and is the major London work of notable English architect Samuel Teulon who specialised in the Victorian style of Gothic churches. After many years of neglect, a public fundraising scheme is underway to restore the landmark site and once again bring it back to the community for both public and private events.
'Snow Cake' Charity Preview followed by Alan Rickman Q&A takes place on Tuesday 5 September at 8.45pm
Tickets £20 with proceeds to St Steven's, Hampstead – to book, please visit www.everymancinema.com or call the Box Office on 0870 066 4777.
It looks like Alan WILL be (or likely already is) in Edinburgh. Here's a snippet from yesterday's Edinburgh Festival website
Lauded drama Snow Cake gets its UK premiere on day two of the EIFF and director Marc Evans will be accompanied by the incomparable Alan Rickman and Reel Life interviewee Sigourney Weaver.
The Film Programme on BBC Radio 4 is to air an interview with Alan Rickman on Friday 1st September 4:30pm to 5pm. Details: Chris Tookey talks to Alan Rickman about his role in Snow Cake, a powerful drama in which he plays a road accident survivor who befriends an autistic woman.
Those of you outside of the UK will be able to listen online at Film Programme The programme also holds the interviews for a little while so if you can't get to a computer at the time you can always listen to it later. Momentum Picures have poster and 8th September release date for Snowcake.(Click on Cinema > Coming Soon>) A great scene from Snowcake:
Snowcake Sound Clip 1
Snowcake Sound Clip 2 LARGE Snowcake photos. I think this site was mentioned before but a lot of new pictures were added that I haven't seen before. Especially new to me are close up (WOW), smile (WOW again), doorway?, scrabble, fence Amazon.com is listing 'Return of the Native' as being available on CD on January 28, 2007!!! Goody goody gum drop! AR interview: http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1092402006
[text of interview]:
Scotland on Sunday
A man for all seasons
FIGHTING through the crowds spewing out of Sloane Square tube station, I spy Harry Potter's nemesis, Professor Severus Snape, sloping by in the sunshine, chewing on a sandwich. And this, I promise Alan Rickman a few minutes later, will be the only reference to those films and that role over the next hour or so. For, sighs the aquiline-profiled actor, who has graced films such as Dogma, Truly Madly Deeply and Sense and Sensibility, and who is famously lusted after by women of a certain age for his effortless ability to exude languorous sensuality, all anyone ever wants to talk to him about is what it's like being a wizard.
Nonetheless, it must make a change from forever being asked how come he's so good at being bad - Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the BBC's Barchester Chronicles, in which he was the slithery Obadiah Slope, a seductive serpent in a cassock. Or, indeed, whether there's any truth in his co-star Lindsay Duncan's claim that audiences used to leave the theatre after seeing him in Les Liaisons Dangereuses wanting to have sex. "And preferably with Alan Rickman."
"Oh, God, it's years since I played the villain," says Rickman wearily. "I haven't played a baddie for ages."
Clearly, the 'best baddie' persona and the sultry sex symbol image bore him to tears and bear no relation to the man himself, who comes across as seriously intelligent, thoughtful and amusing, with a nice line in sarcasm. The wickedest man in Britain? It's only acting, ladies, so stop sending him all those mildly obscene fan letters. "I am a feminist, so I don't understand how you can have this effect on me..." is typical.
The bad news for all who write to him in a similar vein is that Rickman is a one-woman man. He has had the same girlfriend for more than 40 years - Rima Horton, an economics lecturer at Kingston University. Clever, very chic, she has stood twice as a Labour candidate for parliament and lost, unsurprisingly, in cast-iron Tory seats. She also lost her place on Kensington and Chelsea's council in May's local government elections. "She was part of the national shift, so she's a free woman - a dangerous thought," says Rickman, flashing a smile.
They met when they were students at Chelsea School of Art. He was 19; Horton a year younger. She was his first girlfriend, to whom he has remained steadfastly faithful, although they've never married or had children. He carefully guards the sanctity of his private life and that of his many close friends, among them the actors Ruby Wax, Juliet Stevenson, Geraldine McEwan and Richard Wilson. Interviews with him, therefore, are few and far between.
Today is an exception, though, because he has both a play and a film coming to Edinburgh next month. And he and I have met before, years ago, when he starred in Tango at the End of Winter at the Festival. As he shakes my hand - with a grip so firm it makes my fingers ache - he mentions that meeting, out of sheer good manners, I'm sure.
So here we are, at the stage door of the Royal Court Theatre, where, looking elegantly rumpled in jeans, navy pinstripe jacket and black shirt, Rickman is still chomping on his toasted panini. He offers me half - which I politely refuse, although certain women of my acquaintance would have accepted and preserved the crumbs like a piece of the true cross.
He charms the stage doorkeeper into making me a cup of coffee - he has brought his own - and finds us a large, empty rehearsal room, where we talk about the play, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, and his new film, Snowcake. This is not bad going, given the fact that he later tells me, somewhat mournfully and sounding very Eeyoreish, that every day he looks in the shaving mirror and waves goodbye to yet another major role in theatre or film. "Suddenly, you're 20 years too old for all those roles you planned to do."
He was 60 in February. He has always been guarded about his age, since he was a late-starter - he worked as a graphic artist until he was 25, before going to RADA. In 1991, for example, he told me he thought he was "far too old" for Hamlet. (He went on to play the gloomy prince on the London stage the following year for the legendary Russian director Robert Sturua.) When I asked how old he was then, he refused to tell me, snorting, "It's ridiculous; I don't know why there is this fascination with age. 'Alan Rickman, blah, blah,' in brackets..."
The years may be advancing, but he shouldn't moan. The dark-blond hair may be silvering, but not only does he still get big, meaty roles in movies (he has made three in rapid succession, and in Snowcake he even gets bedded by a vampish young woman), he directs too. His critically acclaimed, pitch-perfect production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, the story of a young American peace activist who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, is tipped to be one of the must-see plays on this year's Fringe. He has refused all interview requests about the play, which is superbly designed by Hildegard Bechtler, the wife of Bill Paterson. It has already had a successful run in London, after the original off-Broadway production was dramatically derailed in New York.
Meanwhile, Snowcake, in which he plays opposite Sigourney Weaver (as an autistic woman) and The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss (as the aforementioned vamp), brings Hollywood glamour to the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Weaver - an old friend of the actor since they made the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest together - will be jetting in to promote it with him.
All this, plus the release this autumn of a film of Patrick Suskind's bestselling masterpiece Perfume, in which Rickman stars alongside Dustin Hoffman. He has also made a low-budget American indie movie, Nobel Son, a darkly comic tale of a dysfunctional family in which he plays a Nobel prize-winning American physicist. "He's an egomaniac beyond belief. It was terribly enjoyable to play, like going back to panto. All I knew was I needed wonky teeth, so I got my dentist to make me a set. I got on the plane with no character and a set of overlapping teeth."
Currently, though, Rickman is rehearsing the Edinburgh production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, which he has re-cast with 22-year-old Josephine Taylor, fresh out of drama school. Taylor was chosen in March to understudy the Californian-born actress Megan Dodds, who debuted in the role. (Dodds will play Rachel again when the play transfers to New York in October.) "I've never spoken before about My Name Is Rachel Corrie because it's not about me, and I've always been fiercely protective of Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig, and of Rachel," says Rickman.
He edited Corrie's writings with Katharine Viner, a journalist on The Guardian, the newspaper that published the 23-year-old's e-mail messages home following her tragic death in March 2003. A middle-class student from Olympia, Washington, Rachel joined the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza. Barely two months later she was run over and killed as she attempted to stop an Israeli army bulldozer destroying a Palestinian home.
On the morning we meet, the headlines are dominated by the crisis in the Middle East, so the issues raised by this passionate, poignant piece of theatre could not be more timely. "This terrible situation simply proves that the play needs to be seen, and to go on being seen," he says quietly, "because it comes from a very human perspective and it's not about taking sides at all."
Does he not find it ironic, then, that the original production, at New York Theater Workshop, was "postponed" by artistic director James Nicola, "because of the edgy situation", citing the fact that the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, had recently slipped into a coma and Hamas had been elected? Surely, ironically, the theatre was taking sides? "I don't think so," replies Rickman, who makes no secret of the fact that he is politically involved, a Labour party supporter.
"The real irony for me was that we had a situation where two independent theatres were in some kind of conflict, which, given the world we are living in, was a great pity. I hope that it's resolved now." Nonetheless, when the play goes back to New York, it will be to another theatre, with new producers.
Rickman was quoted as saying that the cancellation of the production was due to "censorship born out of fear", after Nicola revealed the vehement response of Jewish friends and advisers to the play, some of whom regarded it as "a piece of anti-Israeli agit-prop". "Well, I had to say that about censorship, didn't I?" replies Rickman in measured tones, circumflexing an eyebrow. "We can only guess at the sort of political pressure they were under. I don't feel anything but understanding of their problems. In any case, one of the new producers, Dena Hammerstein, is Jewish herself. Who knows? More rocks may still be thrown in our path, because the subject-matter is a hot potato."
Nicola's decision was condemned by Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and Vanessa Redgrave, a longtime supporter of Palestinian rights. Now Rickman only wants the play to be seen by as many people as possible. "There are times when a piece of work attaches itself to you in a very deep way. For this important play to be turned into a personality thing would be inappropriate; that's why it's not about me."
Rickman read Rachel's e-mails in the newspaper. "Two things stick in my mind: one was that the writing didn't feel as if it wanted to be trapped on a page for ever, it wanted to be spoken. The second is, I might not have read that paper, just as I haven't got round to reading one today - I might not have known," he says, trying to imagine the unimaginable.
Immediately, he left his home in west London and went to the Royal Court to suggest to Ian Rickson, the artistic director, that they should do something with it. "Then Rachel's parents arrived in London. They were a bit dazed, not just by what had happened to their daughter, but because this theatre was saying, 'We want to do a play based on her writings.' But they are remarkable people. There was never any bitterness or anger, only reasonableness and a desire for justice - because there has never been an investigation into Rachel's death."
The Corries gave Rickman "everything" - Rachel's school notebooks, jottings, diaries, poems. "We got 182 pages, from the time she was 12 up to the Gaza e-mails. I went to the Corries' home, in Washington, and spent time with them. 'Don't put her on a pedestal,' they said to me. But I was always concerned that this would not be a 90-minute polemic. You come, you make up your own mind," he says. "Of course, when Cindy and Craig saw the play, they were like human waterfalls."
When I saw the production, I veered between wanting to shake Rachel for her naivety and wanting to embrace this "scattered and deviant and loud" young woman for her intelligence, spirit, honesty and courage.
"I'm so glad you felt that, because that's exactly how I hope audiences will feel," responds Rickman. "This isn't a play about Palestine or Israel, it's about being a citizen of the world."
The play ends with a video of a ten-year-old Rachel galvanising her schoolmates with a speech about world hunger. "People say to Craig and Cindy, 'Who wrote that for her?' Unbelievable! But that's not as bad as the person who said at one after-show discussion, 'It's just a pity you couldn't get a better actress for the video at the end.'
"The crucial thing for me about the play is that it corrects the slanders on the internet about Rachel and the way she has been demonised - such as, 'Did you know she was a member of Hamas?' She was just this normal, all-American girl who cared. Do I know her? I go to their home - what Rachel called 'a doll's house, floral world' - and I realise I don't know the half of it. There are all those family photographs on the piano - another life.
"I know Rachel only as I know any character, the way I know Alex Hughes, say, the man I play in Snowcake, who is probably more like me than anyone I've ever played. He's very close to me, because I enjoy playing somebody who is just doing his best - that's me."
If Rickman is Alex, he's also an honourable man with an enormous hinterland of grief and guilt. A kind man - as Carrie-Anne Moss tells him in the low-budget Canadian film, which opened this year's Berlin film festival - who has "a face with interesting baggage". Or, as Alex responds drily, "In my case, haulage."
Rickman asks me not to give away how he ends up caring for the autistic mother - Weaver's character - of a young hitchhiker. But you'll need the Kleenex as the frozen wastes of Alex's heart thaw and Weaver enjoys the orgiastic pleasures of snow. "I love that movie; I hope people get it," he says. "It's funny, full of light and hope. Great friendships were made on it. By the time the money needed to make it was eventually raised, it had stopped snowing in Wawa, in northern Ontario, where it's set, but the locals saved snow for us in their sheds and garages."
With Rickman bespectacled and in an anorak, it's all a far cry from the lace cuffs of the vulpine Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, or indeed the truly madly creepy Professor Severus Snape.
HE may have aristocratic looks, but Alan Rickman was raised on a council estate in Acton, London. Of Irish-Welsh parentage, he is the second of four children. His father, Bernard, a painter and decorator, died of cancer when his son was eight. That silkily sexy, languid tone and delivery are the result of a speech impediment he was born with - the award-winning actor cannot move his jaw properly, which gives him a voice unlike anyone else's.
At 12, he won a scholarship to Latymer Upper, a private school in Hammersmith (the alma mater of Hugh Grant and Mel Smith), where his interest in acting was piqued. He and Rima did am-dram shows together until Rickman finally applied to RADA. One of his first major roles was at the Citizens Theatre, in Glasgow, where he was in Giles Havergal's renowned 1980 production of Brecht's Fears and Miseries of the Third Reich. "Layers of authoritarian corruption are laid bare with merciless economy and real glee," wrote one critic of Rickman's performance. "I can't tell you what it meant to know that the Citizens would give you an audition if you asked - and, if they thought you were pretty enough, a job. I miss it. They changed all our lives," Rickman says, adding that he is planning a return to the stage soon. "It's still under discussion," he says, adding that it will be the first piece of theatre he has done since Private Lives, in the West End in 2001.
In the past year, Rickman has worked and travelled incessantly. Perfume, directed by Tom Tykwer, who made Run Lola Run, was filmed in Barcelona, on a budget of £35 million. "The malodorous world of 18th-century Paris is brilliantly conjured up in the film, which is very beautiful," he says. "I love perfumes. Every morning when my girlfriend and I come down to the courtyard in our block of flats we're assailed by the most delicious scent - jasmine round a doorway. It almost makes me swoon."
There, I think, you have the contradiction that is Rickman: an actor who can do bad-smell-under-the-nose disdain to the manner born and a guy who makes time to sniff the posies. But, ladies, I beg of you, do not bombard him with bouquets of jasmine. Just carry on lusting in the privacy of a darkened auditorium.
• My Name Is Rachel Corrie, Pleasance Grand, August 5-28; previews August 3 and 4 (www.edfringe.com); Snowcake, Dominion, August 15; Cameo, August 17 (www.edfilmfest.org.uk)
The ALA poster is finally on their site to order HERE Here we have it!!!!!!! The READ poster! He looks very tanned. But it is lovely, isn't it!!!? Yippeee!!! The Rickman ALA poster is now available to order by phone! Call 1-866-SHOPALA to place an order. The poster is not on the ALA site yet, but will be there next week. Don't pass this one up--it is a beautiful portrait. How many people guessed that he would be holding The Catcher in the Rye as his favorite book? I didn't! Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information Copyright 2006 The Irish Times Front cover of the Scotland on Sunday magazine with the interview (already on ebay!!) Snowcake is to open the Sudbury Cinefest, Ontario,which runs from 16th September to 24th September. Article HERE.
Sudbury is about 330 miles from Wawa so I guess in Canadian terms it can be called a "local Premiere"!! Copyright 2006 NewsQuest Media Group Limited New Hi-re pic from Perfume HERE I received two wonderful e-mails yesterday! The first from AFNH (thank you!). She sent scans from a UK magazine for the Edinburgh Festival of a two page interview with Sigourney Weaver about Snowcake, including photos of AR as Alex. I resized them for two different monitor resolutions, so if your monitor is set at a higher resolution and it's too small to read, please let me know (if your browser automatically resizes images to fit your window, just click the arrow symbol on the bottom, right-hand corner of the photo to enlarge it to its actual size):
Carrie-Anne Moss and Alan Rickman
The second e-mail is from Susan (thank you!), with a link to a short article from Mark Adler, the co-composer of Nobel Son. It includes a small photo of AR, which I believe is the first we've seen from this film (enlarged/brightened version :-) ).
And many thanks to Sue and Georgiana!
Copyright 2006 The Scotsman Publications Ltd. Some extra hi-res Snowcake photos on Outnow.ch. All seen before except THIS one. I received e-mail from Steve today with an interesting Q&A (below) from the Ohio Beacon. It looks like Snow Cake has U.S. distribution! He also said he saw the film at Tribeca the night AR and SW attended. He says "it's a gem of a film." :-)
Q: Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver starred in a movie titled ``Snowcake'' that I believe was made in Canada and was released earlier this year. Do you know if it will be released in U.S. theaters or at least be made available on DVD? -- Sue O., Montana
A: Once again, we have a movie with a great cast. Weaver portrays a highly functional autistic woman who becomes involved with Rickman's character, the survivor of a car accident in this drama. It's a British film, and Harvey and Bob Weinstein of the Weinstein Co. purchased the American distribution rights, according to Revolution Films. I have no word of a release date yet, but if it's as good as they say -- it won raves at this year's Berlin Film Festival -- look to an end-of-the-year release.
The American Library Association also sells their "Celebrity READ" posters on line. Mr. Rickman's is not up yet, but there are a whole host of others. You can view them here. For fellow German fans out there, "Snow Cake" will be playing at the Freiburg Filmfest between July 14 and 23. Details here.
And it will also be playing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 15 and 17. Details here.
Check this out! I finally have something to contribute. At W*E*N*N there are 3 nice large photos of Alan Rickman arriving at the Cipriani restaurant in London on July 8th. MSN calls Galaxy Quest Required Viewing Alan will be on Read Poster in August. Sorry if this is a repeat; it was posted at the Leaky Cauldron. Read to the end of the article to see how to obtain poster.
Juliana
Posters help youth to read
By Libbie Messina
Parents often come to me exasperated over trying to help their children select reading material. Even after several suggestions, I too, am often unable to find a book that lights up the eyes of the young reader. After showing the young reader title after title, our suggestions just don't make the cut.
Why not? Studies have shown, and continue to confirm, that the media stars children see on television and in the movies influence them more than family members (and perhaps their librarian). As a result, the American Library Association (ALA) began a bold new READ poster campaign to reach reluctant readers.
In 1985, the ALA produced its first READ poster. It depicted Bill Cosby with his favorite book, “Treasure Island.” That initial poster led the way to reading endorsements by hundreds of movie stars, singers, sports heroes and even the Muppets. Today, celebrities continue to donate their time and the use of their photograph. They also select the book they hold in their pictures.
In library circles, getting your picture on a READ poster is comparable to making the cover of Time or Newsweek. Librarians anxiously wait to see who will be added to the collection next. This summer's catalog included Indy Car driver, Dancia Patrick as the newest addition to the celebrity list. Dancia chose to be photographed with James Patterson's book, “Sam's Letters to Jennifer.” Posters of Alan Rickman, Ben Roethlisberger and the New York Rangers will appear in August.
I admit that I don't always recognize the person on the poster. Thanks to the READ campaign, I discovered Ani DiFranco, a feminist folksinger and songwriter/performer who grew up in Buffalo. She started her own record company (Righteous Babe) at 19 and has been on the cover of SPIN and Ms. Ani is pictured with the biography of one of her heroes, Woody Guthrie. Another celebrity with whom I was unfamiliar is Jamie Kennedy from the “Scream” movies. Although I am not an avid fan of his movies, I agree with his choice of a fun book. On his brightly colored READ poster, Jami touts “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.
Two very different celebrities chose another of my favorite books. Both Enrique Iglesisa and Bill Gates selected Ernest Hemingway's “The Old Man and The Sea.” Who would have guessed those two men would have had that book in common?
The latest trend in READ posters is to make your own. The ALA has developed a CD that contains several pre-designed backgrounds so that users can create their own promotional materials. Communities have used local police officers, firefighters, politicians, teachers and students to encourage reading and community involvement. The posters with familiar faces then appear in local schools, government offices and businesses.
The Finger Lakes Library System has recently purchased a CD and will be making it available to member libraries.
READ posters aren't just for libraries and librarians. Anyone can obtain a READ poster for his or her home. You can request a catalog by calling the ALA's toll free number (866) SHOP-ALA.
Libbie Messina is a librarian at Stewart Lang Memorial Library in Cato Here's a new review from The Star Online of "Something the Lord Made" with a photo.
Mos Def is far from heaven
AS IF Mos Def hasn’t made enough waves by portraying a poor black kid who makes a washed-up white cop come around to the injustices being perpetrated by his colleagues in the now-in-cinemas 16 Blocks, the chap is now set to do the same – er, similar – on HBO Asia next week.
The cable channel’s July 4 Original Movie offering Something the Lord Made (11pm, ASTRO Channel 40) will partner him with another chap famous for playing a lawman – although his was even shadier yet - in another story involving gross inequality. We’re talking none other than Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ very own Sheriff of Nottingham, Alan Rickman.
In the movie, a wealthy white doctor and a poor black lab assistant form an unlikely partnership that defies racial boundaries and blazes bold trails in cardiac surgery.
Based on a true incident from the 1940s, Something tells of wealthy surgeon Blalock (Rickman) who hires Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) as a lab assistant. The latter’s work proves invaluable to the doctor’s practice, and he soon becomes more than a mere helper.
Their new surgical process saves thousands of lives on the frontlines of World War II, and they also discover the procedure to perform open-heart surgery on “blue” babies.
Yet for all the accolades and wealth that this discovery brings, it is Blalock who receives it all while Thomas slogs on unrecognised and underpaid – even though he is frequently the real brains behind the operation.
This emotionally-charged presentation won three Emmys in 2004 for Outstanding made-for-TV Movie, Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing.
It is directed by Joseph Sargent from a script by Peter Siilverman and Robert Caswell. Check it out for what has been described as a tearjerking but emotionally uplifting portrayal of dedication and passion in the face of crushing injustice.
[Published: 30-Jun-2006]
Article and photo Google Alert: From today's What's on Stage:
- by Terri Paddock
30th June 2006 - First Night Photos
Lord Richard Attenborough and Dame Judi Dench led a renaming ceremony at the West End’s freshly minted Noël Coward Theatre this afternoon (See News, 23 May 2005). Following a multi-million pound refurbishment, the 870-seat theatre on St Martin’s Lane, formerly the Albery, has been rechristened in honour of the late British playwright, actor, musician and wit.
Today’s champagne event, hosted by theatre owner and impresario Cameron Mackintosh, was attended by many other theatrical dignitaries including Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan (who famously appeared in a multi award-winning revival of Coward’s Private Lives at the then Albery in 2001), June Whitfield, Donald Sinden, Belinda Lang, Adam Godley, Simon Callow, Janie Dee, Sheridan Morley, Ned Sherrin, Patricia Hodge, Twiggy and, currently appearing with Dench in Sir Peter Hall’s revival of Coward’s Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Peter Bowles, Dan Stevens and Kim Medcalf as well as other producers, directors and industry figures.
Click the above link to read the rest of the article below the photos. But here are the larger versions of the two AR photos:
Alan Rickman Thank you, Georgiana and Sue, for the MNiRC News! MNiRC in New York at last!
Here's another article from Playbill.com:
by Robert Simonson
Controversy finally has a New York address.
Ever since New York Theatre Workshop and the Royal Court Theatre got into a trans-Atlantic war of words last spring over the former's decision to not present the latter's hit production of the political solo play My Name Is Rachel Corrie, theatre watchers have been waiting and watching to see which Gotham company or producer would pounce on the headline-grabbing title. This week the answer came. And the champions of free speech, or gluttons for punishment (take your pick) are: Dena Hammerstein and Pam Pariseau for James Hammerstein Productions. They will present the work at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre Oct. 15 for a limited engagement of (count 'em) 48 performances. Actor Alan Rickman, who is one of the authors of the piece, will direct.
The London solo drama is about the death of the titular American protestor, who was killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer. The tragic occurrence has drawn wrath from both sides of the politically fueled fence — some saying the death was accidental and others contending it was not. The text is concocted using her journals and emails. Copyright 2006 The Vancouver Sun, a division of CanWes Controversial Mideast play to be performed in NY My Name is Rachel Corrie to come to New York
New York Times
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
After an Off Broadway production was derailed, resulting in a theatrical uproar, "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," the solo show about an American demonstrator for Palestinian rights who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, has found another New York theater.
Pam Pariseau and Dena Hammerstein, partners in James Hammerstein Productions, are bringing the play, critically acclaimed in London, to the Minetta Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. Previews are to begin on Oct. 5, with an opening scheduled for Oct. 15. The play is to run for 48 performances, closing on Nov. 19.
"We both saw the play and both responded to it very strongly," Ms. Hammerstein said in a telephone interview yesterday. "We identified with the material in terms of being mothers and were struck by the production and the theatricality."
Ms. Hammerstein, a daughter-in-law of Oscar Hammerstein II, is a longtime friend of the actor Alan Rickman, who created the play with Katharine Viner, an editor for The Guardian, the London newspaper. They put the play together from Ms. Corrie's journal entries and e-mail messages before her death in March 2003. It ran for two seasons at the Royal Court Theater in London.
"I'm just really looking forward to engaging people on it, an engagement which can only happen, obviously, if the play is on," Ms. Viner said.
The play had originally been scheduled to start performances on March 22 at the nonprofit New York Theater Workshop in the East Village. What happened next is a matter of debate.
James C. Nicola, its artistic director, said the workshop decided to postpone the show to the next season, as he later wrote in a letter to The Los Angeles Times, "when we discovered how deeply ingrained the attitudes were on all sides and what a marketing and contextualizing challenge this posed."
The Royal Court quickly issued a statement saying that the dates for the play had been definite, plane tickets to bring over the London cast and crew had been bought, and the production schedule had been finalized. Ms. Viner, in an opinion article in The Guardian, said she interpreted the workshop's action as a cancellation.
Artistic directors at other Off Broadway theaters took sides in the uproar. The playwrights Harold Pinter and Tony Kushner and the actress Vanessa Redgrave, known for her longtime support of Palestinian rights, criticized the workshop, the original home of "Rent" and Mr. Kushner's "Homebody/Kabul," saying it had caved in to political pressure.
The Royal Court quickly moved "Rachel Corrie" to the Playhouse Theater in the West End for a nine-week run that ended May 20. Several American theaters offered to put on the show, including the Seattle Repertory Theater, but the plan all along was to bring it to New York first.
"From the moment we read it, it's something that we've always wanted, to bring it to America," said Ewan Thomson, a spokesman for the Royal Court. "It feels like that's its rightful home, and we're obviously delighted that things are once again moving in that direction."
After reading the play, Ms. Hammerstein and Mr. Pariseau, associate producers of the current London production of "Sunday in the Park With George," attended a performance at the Playhouse in mid-April.
"We went out to dinner afterwards with a whole bunch of friends, and we talked about it for two hours," Ms. Pariseau said. "We responded to that and thought, 'God, it would be so amazing to present that Off Broadway so that New York theatergoers would have that same experience.' "
Mr. Rickman is to direct, as he did in London, and the producers are in negotiations to bring over Megan Dodds, who starred in the Royal Court production. In London the play did not generate much controversy; the debate seems to have been less about the play and more about the decision at the New York Theater Workshop, which has insisted all along that it never canceled "Rachel Corrie."
"Although the Royal Court and its collaborators have decided to produce 'My Name Is Rachel Corrie' commercially, the New York Theater Workshop is pleased to learn that New York audiences will have an opportunity to see this powerful play," Richard Kornberg, a spokesman for the workshop, said yesterday. "We're especially pleased that Dena Hammerstein is the producer because she produced in London one of the workshop's biggest hits, 'Dirty Blonde.' "
Neither Ms. Hammerstein nor Ms. Pariseau said they were concerned about inviting any kind of firestorm.
"On reading it, our initial thoughts were about the play and about her writing, and not about any of the controversy," Ms. Pariseau said. "Our hope is that people will form an opinion based on that, as opposed to all the other stuff surrounding it."
Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver won 1st Runner Up for Best Actor and Actress at the Seattle Film Festival. See the winners HERE. Amazon.USA is selling new copies of AR reading The Return of the Native for $28.32; their usual price is $44.95. Jan at Claudia's found a cool video clip from the Tribeca Film Festival (scroll down and click on "take 5") and INTJ made a download ver. with just Alan's bits!
MNiRC is scheduled to be at Ireland's GALWAY Art's Festival from July 24th to 30th. Click on the link for more information and to buy tickets.
And I found this positive but short "Snow Cake" review from the Seattle Film Festival on June 7th.
SNOW CAKE (Canada/United Kingdom): An under layer of grief and melancholy is offset by eccentricity and an intrinsic belief in the human need to connect despite the propensity to make mistakes in Welsh director Marc Evans' offbeat movie. A middle-age man, Alex Hughes, gives a lift to a spirited young stranger named Vivienne (channeling Ally Sheedy in "The Breakfast Club"), who is on her way home to see her mother. An accident ensues in the winter ice and it revives issues for Alex and unites him with a small town that is, as one woman states, "a judgmental town this, the emphasis being on mental." Three very intelligent actors -- Alan Rickman, Carrie-Anne Moss and Sigourney Weaver as the girl's autistic, obsessive-compulsive mother -- elevate what could have been mawkishness into something better than the script's idiosyncrasies. (P.N.) Grade: B And from the Fringe wesite: MNiRC dates
From today's BBC entertainment website: MNiRC at Edinburgh Fringe The official "Perfume" website has now the English version of the trailer! It is good to hear Alan's real voice. http://www.parfum.film.de/ In case anybody didn't see this in google news, The Scotsman reports that AR "is expected to be" directing MNiRC at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Not exactly a for sure confirmation Thanks, Renie! And Lisa sent me an e-mail (thank you!) with a link to three photos of AR at the preview on Tuesday, from Photo Link.
From www.whatsonstage.com May 24 2006
"Sunday in the Park with George" transferred to the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre where star Daniel Evans was joined by new leading lady Jenna Russell - and both were watched by a heavily star-studded first night audience. Amongst those attending the performance at Wyndham’s were David Hare, Nicole Farhi, Patrick Stewart, Lisa Dillon, Mel Smith, Les Dennis, Patrick Marber, Alan Rickman, Brian Cox, Cameron Mackintosh, Simon Russell Beale, Lindsay Posner, Anthony Page, Claudia Shear and Nicholas Le Prevos.
According to an article in the May 12, 2006 Calgary Herald, Mr. Rickman is an "avid fan" of a Canadian rock group named The Most Serene Republic. Some reviews of Perfume at Aint It Cool News
caution as there are major Spoilers
Snow Cake has two showings at Cannes. (Scroll down to the bottom of the Fortissimo at Cannes page.) Um, one was yesterday, and the other is on Saturday. Those of you in the south of France, hop on over. In fact, I don't think anyone can just get a ticket to see s film there, but at least the film is getting seen. Snow Cake in Seattle! I received an e-mail from Rebecca (thank you!) saying that Snow Cake will be at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 1st and 7th. She also says, and I quote:
The festival this year is expanding across Lake Washington to Bellevue, which will not make it any easier for out-of-towners to catch both showings (Sound Transit bus #550 from downtown Seattle is the best bet. I'm a transit expert if people need that kind of information.)
No word as to whether AR will be here or not, or at least none that I have heard. Will pass on anything that I can find."
The bids are already over $1,000 and still a week to go! Fantastic!
The official "Perfume" website has a new trailer! It looks very good, very dark and creepy. But it's dubbed in German. I wll never get used to hearing Alan speak in German (and inferior voice!). http://www.parfum.film.de/
Did anybody notice the terrific video clip from the Snow Cake press conference on the right side of the page of that CBS News review (thanks, Georgiana!)?! Here's the downloadable version:
CBS News: Snow Cake press conference at Tribeca (CBS-News-SCpc-Tribeca-5-06.wmv, 15.4 MB, 2 minutes, 48 seconds)
And I received an e-mail from Jane (thank you!) with the following link. It seems that the Theatre Museum in Convent Garden is in danger of being closed, so there's going to be an event to raise support on May 16th, which AR is scheduled to attend:
[text of article]:
May 12, 2006 - by BWW News Desk
With the fate of London's famed Theatre Museum uncertain, a long list of celebrated stars of the British Theater will host an awareness-raising event at the Covent Garden venue on Tuesday evening, May 16th, in order to galvanize support for the venerable institution. Among those scheduled to attend are the Redgraves (Corin, Jemma, Lynn and Vanessa), Sir Trevor Nunn, Alan Rickman, Miriam Margolyes, and Suzanne Bertish, among others.
The theater luminaries who have lent their strong support to the cause include such luminaries as Dame Eileen Atkins, Michael Blakemore, Sir Peter Hall, Sir David Hare, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Joan Plowright, Dame Diana Rigg, Martin Sherman, Rita Tushingham and Franco Zeffirelli, among many others.
The Theatre Museum is Britain's first permanent home dedicated to celebrating the performing arts. The Covent Garden venue has been its home for more than 20 years, but now, due to a lack of funds, the Museum is in jeopardy of losing its original home and being incorporated back into the V&A Museum in South London.
Lynn Redgrave (who will fly to London immediately following her final performance in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sunday) said, "The Theatre Museum is an extraordinary resource for any young person interested in learning more about the performing arts. It would be almost unthinkable for this beacon to lose its home in the heart of theatreland, and a terrible blow to the theater world."
The Redgrave family has enjoyed a long association with the Theatre Museum, going back more than three decades to when Sir Michael Redgrave was instrumental in securing the Covent Garden home. The museum currently houses a permanent exhibition of the family's contribution to 20th century theater.
For more information visit: www.theatremuseum.org.uk.
Short blurb on MNiRC from the Ilford Recorder, with a photo of Megan Dodds.
Those Tribeca Getty photos are quite nice. (If you missed them, try the links off this HP news site.)
Wonder if AR's found the right NYC venue for the play--I guess we'll know soon.
From OhMyNews, Michael J Armijo, reviewing the 34 films he saw (in 11 days) at the TriBeCa film festival, had this to say about "Snow Cake":
CBS News liked "Snow Cake," calling it 'a treat.' Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd. See election results for the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea here. Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. There are some nice pics of Alan Rickman from Tribeca at CORBIS just put his name in the search box. Also some at ISIFA and WireImage just sneaking in to tell that mugglenet.com has some nice pictures of the tribeca event. Thanks to everyone who shared their Alan Rickman encounters of the first kind!!! And the photos too! While I was doing my regular daily reading of my favorite Harry Potter sites, I found lots of big beautiful photos from the Snow Cake premiere at Tribeca (sorry if my links don't work!) at
HPANA and
The Leaky Cauldron
I tried to find out when it will be out at theaters but found zilch. But I did find the release dates for Perfume at the imdb and it will be Dec. 8 for the U.S. Yeah! Nice little early x-mas present. It doesn't list the UK release but Total Film says it's Dec. 1. And it says on the imdb message board that there was an early screening of Perfume (2 1/2 hours long!) in Munich on April 26, along with some reviews. There's not a lot about Alan Rickman except that he played the girl's father and did a good job but interesting nonetheless. You might have to be a member to read hte message board but here is the link
I'm enjoying all the new posts. Finally something to look forward to this year. Why is it that so much time goes by with nothing new and then all of a sudden *SNAPE* he's doing tons at the same time? Not that I'm complaining. lol I normally have little to contribute but I found a few reviews that I didn't see here before.
"Snow Cake" from The Hollywood Reporter
By Kirk Honeycutt
Feb. 10, 2006
Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- "Snow Cake" tries to wring intimate drama and sweet epiphanies from a collection of oddball characters, peculiar circumstances and doubtful coincidences in a middle-of-nowhere Canadian town. The mental and physical landscape would do justice to an Atom Egoyan film, but in this film, written by Angela Pell and directed by Marc Evans, the key dramatic moments feel as forced as they are predictable.
This low-key Canadian-British production, the opening-night selection for the Berlin International Film Festival, has a chance at art house exposure with its cast of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss, but theatrical opportunities will be limited.
Mostly, Pell presents characters out of sync with their lives, uncomfortable in their bodies and overly protective of their emotions. There is one live wire, but she must die early for these people to connect at all.
Young and over-caffeinated Vivienne (Emily Hampshire) is the sacrificial lamb in this fiction, a gregarious and talkative hitchhiker who is grudgingly picked up by the sour-faced and incommunicative Alex (Rickman), whose entire body sags under the weight of the baggage of his past.
As the two near her destination, a terrible car accident claims her life but leaves Alex with barely a scratch. Overwhelmed with remorse and guilt, even though the accident was not his fault, Alex seeks out Vivienne's mother, Linda (Weaver), who scarcely reacts to her daughter's death. This, he soon learns, is due to her autism. Only it's the kind of literary autism that allows her to make sagacious observations and funny remarks.
Linda does persuade Alex to stay the night, which turns into several more nights. It's enough time for Alex to begin an unlikely affair with beautiful neighbor Maggie (Moss), who is no more out of place in this environment than a three-star restaurant. And, wouldn't you know it, Maggie, too, has a past.
Everyone's past, none of which is nearly as interesting as the filmmakers seem to believe, gets chewed over in the coming days. Then there's a local cop (James Allodi), smitten with unrequited affection for Maggie, lurking ominously in the background, jealously festering over her swift embrace of this lonely drifter. It's a plot line without a payoff.
Performances here feel like performances. Rickman and Weaver have so carefully thought through their roles in such minute physical details that nothing feels spontaneous. By contrast, Moss is warm and natural, but her urban character is so underwritten and alarmingly out of place in this small town that all Maggie can do is act as a catalyst for other people's healing.
Cinematographer Steve Cosens often keeps the camera close as if the world were hemming in these characters. He and designer Matthew Davies make the dusty, snowy town feel as desolate as their lives while Canadian rock band Broken Social Scene supplies a restless musical accompaniment.
Bottom line: Artificial situations and predictability dog this brief encounter among a trio of odd personalities.
SNOW CAKE
"Rickman Fans May Warm to It" from the New York Times
Reviewer: indiemaven
This odd little "dramedy" from Canada/UK, had its North American premiere last night at the Tribeca Film festival. The through-the-looking-glass story structure presents an opportunity, through Alan Rickman's character, to observe situations and behavior not common on screen. Unfortunately, that kind of storytelling can give the audience the once-removed feeling of watching someone stroll through a petting zoo. The animal, in this case, is a high-functioning autistic woman played by Sigourney Weaver. Weaver does her best to immerse herself in the character, but there are moments when she overdoes what are meant to be childlike gestures and pierces a hole in an otherwise believable rendering. The film runs a good fifteen minutes too long - a couple of near-useless scenes are ideal candidates for removal. Sad to say, the scene that works least well is a key scene - during the history of filmmaking, we've seen thousands of funeral scenes - some are poignant, some are hilarious - this one is just unbearably cheesy, and the amateurish direction doesn't help. Alan Rickman rarely gets to show his considerable comic chops on screen, and without his charming portrayal of this largely-unwritten character the film would have been barely watchable. If American distributors are considering picking this one up, they would have to ask themselves if there are enough Alan Rickman fans here to make it a commercially viable option.
"Gala Opening Launches Berlin Film Festival" from monstersandcritics.com
Follows the friendship between an autistic woman (Weaver) and a shy man (Rickman) badly effected by a fatal car crash.
Berlin - A drama starring Sigourney Weaver as an autistic woman opened this year's Berlin Film Festival setting the stage for a stream of movies to be shown at the Berlinale exploring the often gritty and unexpected side of everyday life.
Set against the backdrop of small-town Canada, Snow Cake by British director Marc Evans stars Britain's Alan Rickman, 59, and America's Sigourney Weaver, 56, who plays Linda.
Rickman's character, a taciturn Englishman called Alex, finds himself stumbling into the world of autism after Linda's daughter was killed after a juggernaut hit the car he was driving.
Included in the programme for the gala opening of the Berlinale, which is one of the world's top three movie festivals, was the premiere of Snow Cake. Both Rickman and Weaver were among the stars attending the opening.
Indeed, Snow Cake is one of 19 films vying this year for the Berlinale's prestigious Golden and Silver Bear top prizes, which are expected to be awarded at the end of the festival by an international jury headed by British actress Charlotte Rampling.
It took Weaver a year to prepare for her role, meeting a number of autistic people and trying to get to grips with their intense sense of order and the preoccupations that are often a feature of their lives.
'There are so many misconceptions about autism. We have to see it as a gift,' she said at a press conference in Berlin.
'What I perceived was that they have a lot of problems in common. But they are all unique,' said Weaver, whose acting career includes Alien, Gorillas in the Mist and The Ice Storm.
Spending time with autistic people meant, she said, that 'you learn how to play, you learn how to see things, you learn how to experience things and how jarring the world is.'
But Weaver insists that Snow Cake is not necessarily about autism. 'I wanted to do a movie that was not about autism. But about a unique woman, who was also autistic.'
The script for Snow Cake was written by Angela Pell, who herself has an autistic son and who she said has been a source of inspiration for many of the events that unfold in the movie.
'I wanted to write a film that showed that sometimes living with autism can be a pain but that actually most of the time it's really good fun,' she said.
Music often plays an important part in the life of many autistic people as it does for Linda, with Evans using music throughout his film.
'Every time I think about the film I think about music,' Evans said.
Evans believes that the surprise and what seems to be the sense of absurdity in how people with autism helped to inject a sense of almost comical relief into what is a tragic story.
Rickman said the challenge for his character is 'coming to terms with a sudden loss to him and trying to figure out what loss it is to this woman.'
Already suffering from the death of his son, Linda helps Alex to regain his bearings and to find himself.
"Snow Cake" from Variety.com
Alex Hughes - Alan Rickman
By DEREK ELLEY
The dramatic icing is spread pretty thin over "Snow Cake," a small-scale, minutely observed yarn about a buttoned-up Brit and hyperactive autistic woman thrown together in a wintry Canadian township. Boosted by a delish performance from Carrie-Anne MossCarrie-Anne Moss as a local vamp who helps unthaw the Englishman, but holed beneath the waterline by a gratingly miscast Sigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver as the persnickety autistic, modest item looks set for equally modest B.O.B.O. Choice as the opening night film of the 56th Berlinale is surprising, to say the least.
Enjoying a quiet read in a Northern Ontario roadside diner, middle-aged Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) grudgingly shares his table with a 19-year-old motormouth, Vivienne (Emily Hampshire). He's on his way to Winnipeg, and she's looking for a ride to her hometown, Wawa. Agreeing to take her along -- one of several niggling implausibilities in first-timer Angela Pell's script -- Alex finds Vivienne isn't fazed even when he says he's just gotten out of prison. "I killed someone," he adds. "O.K.," she replies.
On the plus side, the sheer unlikelihood of two such people ever sharing a car together does decoy the audience's attention prior to a smartly edited shock, as a large truck plows into the vehicle. Vivienne is killed instantly, but Alex survives. Though still woozy, he feels the need to tell Vivienne's mother face to face and takes a bus into Wawa.
Alex's second surprise of the day is that the teen's mom, Linda (Weaver), takes the news hardly missing a beat. Divorced of regular emotions, and obsessively tidy and logical, Linda is a "high functioning" autistic. The far more traumatized Alex ends up sleeping over at Linda's and soon finds himself drawn into her life as a temporary housemate until the funeral a few days later.
Even allowing for Linda's affliction, there's so little chemistry between the two protags that it's a relief when Alex bumps into Linda's foxy neighbor, Maggie (Moss). Maggie invites Alex to dinner, but they end up skipping the food in favor of a roll in the hay.
It's this relationship that becomes the pic's emotional core. But Maggie is essentially a supporting character and, however well she's played by Moss, it can't compensate for the yawning gap at what should be the movie's center.
Lack of dramatic intensity is all the more surprising considering the emotional clout of helmer Marc EvansMarc Evans' two best movies, the chilling "Resurrection Man""Resurrection Man" and scarefest "My Little Eye."
Screenwriter Pell, whose background is largely in sitcoms, has an autistic young son, and Weaver has all the small obsessions of her character down pat; but neither she nor the script give Linda much room to maneuver. Rickman, a cool actor at the best of times, takes a while to deliver a rounded perfperf as a guy saddled with two deaths for which he feels responsible. He does, however, rise to the script's occasional moments of wry humor, more of which would have been welcome.
It's Moss, however, who makes the picture worth seeing. Canuck thesp is aces as Maggie, without overplaying either the seductress or the lonely small-town femme. Her natural chemistry with Rickman pays dividends in their final scene, which delivers the only real emotional oomph in the movie.
Tech package is clean and composed, with Steve Cosens' photography of Wawa and Michipicoten township blending seamlessly with Toronto studio interiors. Running time could easily lose 10 minutes, and pic may play even better on the small screen.
Camera (color), Steve Cosens; editor, Marguerite Arnold; music, Broken Social Scene; production designer, Matthew Davies; art director, Peter Emmink; costume desinger, Debra Hanson; sound (Dolby Digital), Rob Fletcher, Paul Cotterell; associate producers, Larry Weinstein, Barbara Willis Sweete; assistant director, Laurie Mirsky; casting, John Buchan. Reviewed at CFC preview theater, London, Jan. 25, 2006. (In Berlin Film Festival, opener, competing.) Running time: 111 MIN. Ha, I did it! I converted the Snow Cake trailer (downloadable Windows Media Ver., 48.3MB) into an .AVI file and was able to get some caps (#10 is my favorite *sigh*). So here ya go. :-)
Copyright 2006 EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS All Rights Reserved Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
April 28, 2006 Friday Anna sent me an e-mail (thank you!) with a link to a website that has a photo album with some fantastic color stills from Perfume! Go to page 2 to see two photos of AR. Or click the links below for my slightly edited versions. :-)
Perfume 1 Steve sent me an e-mail (thank you!) with this amazing six+ minute Snow Cake trailer (beware, lots of spoilers).
Hello, agian!
In this article they mention, that they try to premiere "The Nobel Son" at "Toronto International Film Festival" in September.
CU, Ravanna
From today's Pandora column in The Independent: From ContactMusic.com: Copyright 2006 Coventry Newspapers Limited Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited Copyright 2006 Bristol United Press You can read about Toronto's "secret" reading of MNiRC here. I see no mention of this here, so here you are
stars back charity hat auction
From DarkHorizons.com:
Rickman & Thomas Buy A "Villa"
UK thesps and "Play" stars Alan Rickman and Kristin Scott Thomas are re-teaming for "The Villa Golitsyn", a film adaptation of Piers Paul Read's psychological drama novel set in the South of France reports Production Weekly.
In the story, diplomat Simon Milson arrives in Nice to stay with friends Willy and Priscilla Ludley (Rickman & Thomas) but soon discovers their French idyll about to fall apart. Willy is drinking himself to death, and Priss appears powerless to stop him. Despite being lulled by wine, sun and his old friend Willy's charm and affection, Simon has been charged by his superiors with an important mission. He has to establish if it was Willy's treachery that led to the brutal torture and murder of a fellow foreign office colleague in Borneo.
Further distractions are provided by fellow guest Charlie and his new American fiancée and the charming and naive runaway school girl Helen, who has mysteriously attached herself to them all. Simon is also surprised to find himself falling in love with Priss and even supporting her in her belief that Helen will provide Willy's salvation. But it soon becomes frighteningly clear that there is indeed something about his past that is tormenting Willy, and as events lead to a startling and incredible revelation, there is nothing that any of them can do to avert the awaiting tragedy.
Shooting takes place from June 5th to July 28th under the helm of Peter Medaks ("The Krays", "Romeo Is Bleeding", "The Changeling").
Copyright 2006 National Post The National Portrait Gallery now has a listing for the Stuart Pearson Wright portrait of Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, which is item number NPG 6758. It is dated 2004-2005. Alas, no web image is as yet posted. Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC From the Sunday Telegraph: Alan Puts Hugh To Shame All together now: "Awwwwww..."
[text of article]:
Alan puts Hugh to shame
Hugh Grant delighted the staff and pupils at Latymer Upper School, in west London, by trumpeting his plans to set up a bursary to help children from less well-off families attend his alma mater.
Four years on, not a penny has materialised from the notoriously parsimonious star of Four Weddings and a Funeral, but others, who didn't feel the need to make a song and dance about doing their bit for the school, have been generous with both their time and money.
First Mel Smith donated £1.5 million to establish a charitable trust for the school of the kind that Grant had talked about… and now another Old Latymerian, Alan Rickman, has pitched in with an offer of practical help for its budding thespians.
"Alan is currently filming his part as Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and when he dropped by to address A-level drama students the other day he said he would try to get a couple of them work on the next film in the series as extras," says my man at the blackboard.
"And he has also agreed to put two stage and set design students in contact with designers from the Royal Court Theatre."
Actions speak louder than words, Hugh.
There's a new clip from Snow Cake here on imdb. Is anybody going to see it in New York at the Tribeca Festival? If so, please report. (Not to mention those going to MNiRC on April 28!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DSiC3TghTo&search=carrie-anne%20moss If you look at the Ticketmaster.co.uk site, it lists tickets on sale for "My Name is Rachel Corrie" through 7 May.
However, if you go to the Ambassador Theatre group site, "My Name is Rachel Corrie" page, and click "more" at the bottom of the left-hand list of performance dates, it takes you to what appears to be a Ticketmaster.co.uk page for the play, at the Playhouse, under the Ambassador Theatre Group. Clicking "next" a time or two shows that tickets are in fact available now through 21 May, and there are 'currently not on sale' slots through 28 May. There is quite a lengthy thought piece in the Los Angeles Times occasioned by the debate over "My Name is Rachel Corrie," entitled "Uncomfortable in Our Seats". Copyright 2006 People's Press Printing Society Ltd Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. A San Deigo theater called Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company is now trying to acquire the rights to MNiRC. Seema Sueko, the founding Artistic Director, is the author of Remains. Why she's seeking "the rights" when this play is currently running is a mystery to me.
Looking forward to seeing it in Seattle. Wish I could take advantage of the discount tickets in London! Meeressternchen has already had the pleasure of seeing the new portrait at the National Gallery and shared a photo of it. So for all those that won't be able to get to London to see it.....here it is! Many many thanks to Meeressternchen for her generosity!!! According to Stuart Pearson Wright's website, "Most People Are Other People," (as an art historian, I find the premise of a show that claims that sitters posing for portraits aren't acting somewhat fallacious...) the exhibition of drawings of actors, consists of 40 portraits, split over two venues: The National Portrait Gallery, Room 37a, 28 Jan - 11 June 2006, and The National Theatre, 10th April - 20th May 2006. More information at Pearson Wright's website. The NPG already has a portrait of AR in his collection, which is the photograph used on the cover of the Maureen Paton unauthorised biography. It is available here: AR Portrait. The National Portrait Gallery in London has bought drawings of actors by artist Stuart Pearson Wright including that of Alan Rickman Alison Steadman, Jeremy Irons and Daniel Radcliffe. Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Telegraph Group Limited The Hollywood Reporter Hello to Germany!
I just found this in the WWW:
Have a nice sunday, A new Megan Dodds interview on Rachel Corrie - top price seats Tuesday to Friday to May 7th are now being discounted to £20 quote *Celebrate the City* offer to the Playhouse Box office 0870 060 6631 Copyright 2006 The Financial Times Limited Some screencaps from BBC South Today News coverage of Beckett event. Daily Telegraph
First seen in May last year at the Royal Court, this monologue is undeniably a hot potato. Rachel Corrie was a middle-class American student, who in January 2003 joined the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza, where, among other things, she acted as a human shield against the Israelis. Less than two months after arriving there, she was run over and killed by an Israeli bulldozer as she attempted to stop it destroying a Palestinian home. She was 23.
The play, culled from Corrie's own journals, letters and e-mails, which have been edited by Rickman and Katharine Viner, offers a powerful portrait of youthful idealism. But no one could call it a balanced piece of reportage on the desperately vexed nature of Israeli-Palestinian relations. And those relations have become still more difficult in recent weeks, following Sharon's coma and the Palestinian election of Hamas.
Corrie's assertion to her mother that "the vast majority of Palestinians right now are engaging in Gandhian non-violent resistance" strikes an especially hollow note, entirely ducking the question of Palestinian suicide bombers. And, when I reviewed the play last year, I received a poignant letter from a reader, appending a list of other young women called Rachel, all of them innocent Israeli victims of the Palestinian bombers.
For some, Rachel Corrie has become a heroine and martyr. Others view her as a dangerously naïve young woman who took sides in a conflict she didn't fully understand. Some even assert that the house she was trying to protect in Ramah concealed a tunnel used for running weapons in from Egypt.
There is, however, no law which states that theatre must be fair and even-handed. Quarrelling with Corrie's opinions becomes part of the dramatic engagement, and you don't need to be persuaded of the rightness of her views in order to be moved by her ardour.
In fact, what this play, and in particular Megan Dodds's passionately intense performance, captures most movingly is the sheer aliveness of the young woman.
Corrie appears to have been an astonishing mix: self-obsessed and insecure - "scattered and deviant and loud" in her own characteristically vivid words - but also someone who couldn't perceive a wrong without wanting to right it. At the close, we are shown a film of the golden-haired girl aged 10, outlining her dream of ending world poverty by the year 2000.
Corrie wrote with candour and precision on everything from boyfriend troubles to the suffering and endurance she witnessed in Gaza. In Dodds's performance, she can seem both a self-righteous pain in the bum, and winningly engaged, funny and vulnerable - sometimes at the very same time.
Rickman's production powerfully captures her journey from privileged student to the raw, real world of the Middle East, with the help of Hildegard Bechtler's remarkable design of blasted concrete and dust that powerfully captures the devastation of Gaza.
One leaves the theatre mourning not only Rachel Corrie's death but also the death of the idealism and ardour of one's own distant youth, those far-off days when everything seemed to matter so intensely
Sheena has some lovely screen cap photos of AR from the Beckett event that he attended yesterday (thank you for sharing, Sheena!):
Beckett event 1 Copyright 2006 The West Briton Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited S P O I L E R S
From a film site:
The Villa Golitsyn
When diplomat Simon Milson arrives in Nice to stay with Willy and Priscilla Ludley he finds their French idyll about to fall apart. Willy is drinking himself to death, and Priss appears powerless to stop him. Despite being lulled by wine, sun and his old friend Willy’s charm and affection, Simon has been charged by his superiors with an important mission. He has to establish if it was Willy’s treachery that led to the brutal torture and murder of a fellow foreign office colleague in Borneo.
Further distractions are provided by fellow guest Charlie and his new American fiancée and the charming and naive runaway school girl Helen, who has mysteriously attached herself to them all.
Simon is also surprised to find himself falling in love with Priss and even supporting her in her belief that Helen will provide Willy’s salvation.
But it soon becomes frighteningly clear that there is indeed something about his past that is tormenting Willy, and as events lead to a startling and incredible revelation, there is nothing that any of them can do to avert the awaiting tragedy.
‘The Villa Golitsyn is adapted from the book of the same name by Piers Paul Read and as the Time Magazine review noted. “The novel keeps exploding. Like Graham Greene, Read mixes espionage and religion, dishonesty and faith’” The Olympian (Olympia, Washington) has an article about MNiRC opening in the West End on the front page of its "Living" section. Mr. Rickman is listed as a supporter of the Scottish Youth Theatre in an article linked here. MNiRC at the Playhouse Press Review
[text of article]
Rachel Corrie comes to life in London play
By Laura Potts -- The Arab American News:
LONDON - It is fleeting and seemingly unremarkable, but a brief snapshot of life in Hi Salam says everything about American peace activist Rachel Corrie's passion for Palestinian justice.
In an e-mail to her mother, the 23-year-old recounts "being in this big puddle of blankets with this family watching ... Saturday morning cartoons." She and the entire family had slept in one bedroom, bullet holes rendering the rest of the house uninhabitable. But for a few minutes, watching an American cartoon dubbed into Arabic, the children had a taste of the kind of carefree adolescence Ms. Corrie had enjoyed in Olympia, Washington. It may have been one of Ms. Corrie's last moments of true bliss, but it represented her lifelong desire for all children to have safe, happy, and fear-free lives.
More than three years after Ms. Corrie was killed when an Israeli bulldozer ran over her as she stood between it and a Palestinian home, the writings of the waifish, blonde idealist have been turned into a provocative one-woman play in London's West End.
In its debut Thursday at London's Playhouse Theatre, "My Name is Rachel Corrie" drew an audience whose own leanings likely tended toward political activism and peace and justice advocacy. Leaflets about a bike ride to Jerusalem for peace were readily grabbed, and the pre-performance chatter focused more than a usual opening night on the intricacies of Israeli-Palestinian issues, the Iraq war, and the Church of England considering disinvestment from Caterpillar, Inc.
Which is why the audience probably wasn't expecting Ms. Corrie's sprightly musings on topics ranging from "Five People To Hang Out With In Eternity" to her hilarious recollection of arranging a feigned collision with her two-timing ex-boyfriend.
"I decided I would run into Colin and his new hoochie-ass girlfriend. ... 'Fun life,' I say, 'Fun life.' I imagine I live in a Mountain Dew commercial. I am always on the beach with a bevy of sinewed friends and we're always dancing. ... He pronounces his words like rubber bands stretched and snapping. I perform a dance beneath the conversation ... He's uncomfortable. I grin, sunshine on the apples of my cheeks."
In her portrayal of Ms. Corrie, a spunky Megan Dodds captures the livewire witticisms and sass of a woman who described herself as "scattered and deviant and too loud." As Ms. Corrie, Ms. Dodds fizzes with energy and a joie de vivre that's unexpected from someone who was so consumed with righting the world's wrongs. In a particularly evocative moment, Ms. Dodds launches into a sweetly twangy acapella in the Washington woods, before she sets off for a land about which she knows little but feels deeply.
Taken entirely from 184 pages of Ms. Corrie's writing, "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" was edited by Katherine Viner, features editor of The Guardian newspaper, and directed by Alan Rickman. It was set to open in New York in March, but has been postponed, prompting outrage from supporters who argued Ms. Corrie's story should not be silenced in America.
Buzz about the play's funny, poignant and subtly charged message has prompted requests on The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice Web site from interested Americans who want to find an outlet for "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" in the United States.
In London, the audience was enraptured by Ms. Corrie's abstract reflections on her role as a daughter, sibling, friend, student and activist. In her writing, she races between manic list-making, poetic hopes for things such as "a garden with pumpkins," and her empathy for suffering in the world combined with her perceived, indirect contribution to it as a privileged, educated American. She struggles with class guilt and a concern that her efforts on Palestinian issues will mark her as an anti-Semite. She worries for her family - a deeply involved mother and somewhat befuddled dad - writing, "I know I scare you, Mom. I'm sorry I scare you. But I want to write and I want to see. And what would I write about if I only stayed within the doll's house, the flower-world I grew up in? You gave me potential. Let me fight my monsters. You made me."
Interspersed throughout the dialogue are Ms. Dodd's interpretations of e-mails sent to Ms. Corrie, and conversations she had with friends in Rafah. She writes: "In Dr. Samir's garden. Fig tree with small buds. Dill, lettuce, garlic. Two bulldozers, tanks. ... A soldier came with a sledgehammer. The tank started firing. I played with the children to distract them. ... Dr. Samir says, 'I have no gun in my house, nothing. Thirty years collecting money for house. Three hours, they can destroy house. I look at my garden. I ask myself, "This year will you eat from these trees like other years?" I trust in my God - so no problem.'"
As her unease grows, Ms. Corrie recalls an amusing - if somewhat fictionalized - account of her time as a drop-in coordinator for mental health clients in Washington. She writes about the stilted language and clinical terms meant to soothe the agitated clients as they blame her for their ice-cream cones melting during a trip to the Dairy Queen, and one gets the sense that she was longing for someone to arm her with those kinds of tools for coping as she witnessed destruction of Palestinian lives around her. As a peace activist, she is irrepressible even as she finds herself conflicted with taut fears and guilt about eventually abandoning her Palestinian friends. All the while, the knowledge that she didn't make the decision about when to depart hangs over the audience, though the only acknowledgment the play makes is through a recording of a friend who witnessed Ms. Corrie's death, which plays after Ms. Dodds has left the stage.
In London, the response was palpable. Ms. Dodds received a long and ringing ovation, as audience members wiped tears from their cheeks. What began as an almost silly glimpse into Ms. Corrie's chaotic student life evolved into her harrowing appreciation for the struggles of Palestinian people - reinforced through the use of sparse set design, uncomfortable lighting, and the intimate setting of the small Playhouse Theatre.
Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited sue found this review for MNiRC and according to LurkingFairy, its quite unusual for this particular writer to be kind to AR. A 4* review from Benedict Nightingale (!) TO SAY that all eyes are now on Israel and the Palestinian territories is as much a truism as saying the Sun is looking at the Earth. But with Kadima having just won one election and Hamas another, a Prime Minister in a coma, the Iranian President calling for Israel’s destruction, and settlement removal and boundary changes in prospect, the theatre could hardly focus its gaze in more timely a way than in My Name Is Rachel Corrie. David Hare gave us Israel in macrocosm in his fine Via Dolorosa. Here, we have a microcosm, the one-woman play that Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner have constructed from the diaries and e-mails of the 23-year-old American who felt restless in safe, privileged Washington State, joined the peace activists resisting the demolition of houses in the Gaza Strip and, in March 2003, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. Would the conclusion Rachel reached, that she is witnessing “true evil”, have been modified if she had seen a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv? Doesn’t her growing suspicion that armed Palestinian struggle is justified sit oddly with her admiration of Gandhi, who never dispatched boys with explosives to civilian enclaves? Perhaps. But that doesn’t alter her evidence or transform two wrongs into a right. Can we doubt that ordinary Palestinians are being harassed, made homeless, deprived of their livelihoods, shot at and killed in reprisal for others’ terrorism? I feared that Megan Dodds’s slight, vital Rachel would come across as a naive idealist; but she doesn’t. From the moment we meet her in her adolescent’s bedroom, she exudes sophistication, wry humour and articulate intelligence as well as burning decency. What, she asks, is happening “the other end of our tax money”? And then her cosy room is replaced by pock-marked concrete, and she’s discovering about curfews, checkpoints, snipers, corpses, tanks, destroyed greenhouses, impoverished lives, wrecked houses — and, fatally, bulldozers. There’s no need to say that Rachel would have done well as a writer, which was one of her hoped-for professions, because she already was exactly that. She could sustain a fierce yet cool argument. She could also bring to life the experience of sharing a blanket with a girl who, with the rest of her family, had been forced into a back room by the disintegration of their front ones, or of watching Tom and Jerry with children while bullets and sledgehammers hit their house.
Rickman’s production ends with a video of the ten-year-old Rachel talking of eradicating world hunger. No, it isn’t sentimental. You leave the theatre thinking: what a loss to humanity she was; and shouldn’t we heed what she said? And then Emily found a new photo from WireImages from last night's after show party! Daydreamer shared an almost life size version of the pic! Thanks to everyone for finding and sharing all the news!
Copyright 2006 Time Out Group Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company Copyright 2006 Associated Press Copyright 2006 EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS Copyright 2006 VNU Business Media, Inc. LAW TO HONOUR BECKETT Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Time Out Group Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 2006 Telegraph Group Limited Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited Yes, 'tis true. Seattle Rep steps up to the plate and announces is will produce "My Name is Rachel Corrie." It simply had to be. Oh that was from The Independent BTW! Jewish pressure drives Gaza play out of New York
The West End in London is to receive the transfer of a play about a pro-Palestinian American activist after it was pulled from a theatre in New York amid controversy over its content.
My Name is Rachel Corrie, about a 23-year-old woman who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza three years ago, was originally produced by the Royal Court in London, where it had two sell-out runs and was due to move on to the New York Theatre Workshop.
Alan Rickman, the actor who co-edited the script from Ms Corrie's own writings and directed the production, had cleared space from his filming schedule to take the work to America with its original star, Megan Dodds. But the Workshop got cold feet over the play, amid suggestions of pressure from New York's Jewish community, in a decision that has provoked a backlash.
A public meeting attended by the activist's parents on Wednesday at a New York church brought messages of support from the writers Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, Mariam Said, wife of the late Dr Edward Said, and the actors Vanessa Redgrave and Eve Ensler. By video, Patti Smith performed Peaceable Kingdom, dedicated to Ms Corrie.
James Nicola, the New York Theatre Workshop's director, has been forced to post a public explanation of his decision to put off the play on the company's website. After committing to presenting the piece, the company had carried out "our routine pre-production research that includes exploring the social, political and cultural issues raised by the play", he said.
"In researching My Name is Rachel Corrie, we found many distorted accounts of the actual circumstances of Rachel's death that had resulted in a highly charged, vituperative and passionate controversy. While our commitment to the play did not waver, our responsibility was not just to produce it, but to produce it in such a way as to prevent false and tangential back-and-forth arguments from interfering with Rachel's voice."
He denied that it was his talks with the Jewish community which had prompted the postponement. "As we listened to various opinions, we realised we needed to find ways to let Rachel's words rise above the polemics," he said.
His explanation failed to satisfy either those involved with the play or supporters of Rachel Corrie and her actions in Gaza. A website, rachelswords.com, has been set up, dedicated to co-ordinating a protest against the theatre's decision.
Alan Rickman told The New York Times: "I can only guess at the pressures of funding an independent theatre company in New York, but calling this production 'postponed' does not disguise the fact that it has been cancelled. This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers."
David Johnson, one of the producers, who had secured financial backing from, among others, the film-maker Michael Moore, for the New York production, said everyone had felt it should be seen in America.
But it was decided to go ahead with 36 performances at the Playhouse Theatre in London, starting Tuesday. A regional tour will follow later in the year.
"It's normally quite hard to raise money for these shows, but we've got angels [theatrical backers] who really are being angels," he said. "I think it's a colossal piece of work and a very important work about something that is deeply topical." He said he was sure it would be seen in New York at some point. "The groundswell of opinion in America is just crazy," he said.
The West End in London is to receive the transfer of a play about a pro-Palestinian American activist after it was pulled from a theatre in New York amid controversy over its content.
My Name is Rachel Corrie, about a 23-year-old woman who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza three years ago, was originally produced by the Royal Court in London, where it had two sell-out runs and was due to move on to the New York Theatre Workshop.
Alan Rickman, the actor who co-edited the script from Ms Corrie's own writings and directed the production, had cleared space from his filming schedule to take the work to America with its original star, Megan Dodds. But the Workshop got cold feet over the play, amid suggestions of pressure from New York's Jewish community, in a decision that has provoked a backlash.
A public meeting attended by the activist's parents on Wednesday at a New York church brought messages of support from the writers Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, Mariam Said, wife of the late Dr Edward Said, and the actors Vanessa Redgrave and Eve Ensler. By video, Patti Smith performed Peaceable Kingdom, dedicated to Ms Corrie.
James Nicola, the New York Theatre Workshop's director, has been forced to post a public explanation of his decision to put off the play on the company's website. After committing to presenting the piece, the company had carried out "our routine pre-production research that includes exploring the social, political and cultural issues raised by the play", he said.
"In researching My Name is Rachel Corrie, we found many distorted accounts of the actual circumstances of Rachel's death that had resulted in a highly charged, vituperative and passionate controversy. While our commitment to the play did not waver, our responsibility was not just to produce it, but to produce it in such a way as to prevent false and tangential back-and-forth arguments from interfering with Rachel's voice."
He denied that it was his talks with the Jewish community which had prompted the postponement. "As we listened to various opinions, we realised we needed to find ways to let Rachel's words rise above the polemics," he said.
His explanation failed to satisfy either those involved with the play or supporters of Rachel Corrie and her actions in Gaza. A website, rachelswords.com, has been set up, dedicated to co-ordinating a protest against the theatre's decision.
Alan Rickman told The New York Times: "I can only guess at the pressures of funding an independent theatre company in New York, but calling this production 'postponed' does not disguise the fact that it has been cancelled. This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers."
David Johnson, one of the producers, who had secured financial backing from, among others, the film-maker Michael Moore, for the New York production, said everyone had felt it should be seen in America.
But it was decided to go ahead with 36 performances at the Playhouse Theatre in London, starting Tuesday. A regional tour will follow later in the year.
"It's normally quite hard to raise money for these shows, but we've got angels [theatrical backers] who really are being angels," he said. "I think it's a colossal piece of work and a very important work about something that is deeply topical." He said he was sure it would be seen in New York at some point. "The groundswell of opinion in America is just crazy," he said.
Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Good news for those of us in the NYC area!! Snowcake is listed for the Tribeca Film Festival which runs 4/25 - 5/7.
No exact schedule yet, tho'.
Copyright 2006 V V Publishing Corporation More food for thought: Here is an "Open Letter to James Nicola" from The Brooklyn Rail, calling for NYTW to present the play. While some parts do come across as inflammatory, I also believe it's accurate as to the "climate of fear" which troubles many artists/thinkers and average citizens here in the US. From the New York Times:
Theater Addresses Tension Over Play
Today is the third anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old from Washington State who was killed by an Israeli Army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip as she tried to protect a Palestinian home. But the focus of many of the commemorations scheduled by supporters around the world is a small nonprofit stage, the New York Theater Workshop, that recently delayed a production of a British play based on her e-mail messages and diary entries, "My Name Is Rachel Corrie."
Criticized by celebrities like Harold Pinter, Tony Kushner , Vanessa Redgrave and lesser-known theater artists for censorship and artistic cowardice, the leaders of the workshop blame the entire brouhaha on a simple misunderstanding. In an interview this week James C. Nicola, the workshop's artistic director, and Lynn Moffat, its managing director, insisted that they wanted only to postpone, not cancel, the show — despite declarations by the authors and the Royal Court Theater, the London troupe that initially produced the award-winning play, that the workshop pulled the plug on a done deal.
Neither Mr. Nicola nor Ms. Moffat had seen the play in London and neither would say exactly who they spoke to before they decided to delay the show. Mr. Nicola originally said that he had spoken to "religious leaders" in making his decision; this week he said that the workshop did a "wide reaching out into the complexity of the community of New York" that included reading Palestinian views on Web sites. Mr. Nicola did say he had had a conversation with one board member who said that his rabbi had concerns about the play. An old friend, who is Jewish, also questioned the play's message.
Ms. Moffat said that she and Mr. Nicola — who are not Jewish — took advice from members of their in-house artistic staff, as well as "colleagues and colleagues of colleagues."
Given the sharply divided opinions of Ms. Corrie — idealistic or recklessly naïve, depending on one's political point of view — Mr. Nicola said on Monday that the workshop needed "more time to learn more and figure a way to proceed."
Whether a misunderstanding or not, how the workshop, an artistically bold and popular company, found itself in such an embarrassing public jam still baffles Mr. Nicola and Ms. Moffat, who said they did not know the extent of the public relations damage and financial cost.
But Ms. Moffat was adamant that no outside force — including donors, artists or potential business partners — had threatened the company. "Not one person said to us, 'Don't do the play,' " Ms. Moffat said.
Although some details remain murky, what is certain is that discussions between the workshop and the actor Alan Rickman, who assembled the play with Katharine Viner, an editor at The Guardian in London, began late last year. Mr. Nicola said that he read the play in December and was impressed.
"I read what I think the authors intended for me to read, which was that this life, in her own words, was an example to Americans, who are in some fog of avoidance right now," Mr. Nicola said, adding, "I thought that this, in the voice of this young, pure, innocent woman, was a very powerful thing to say right now."
Meanwhile in January, the political situation in the Middle East intensified after a stroke suffered by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon , and electoral victories by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group. At the same time, Mr. Nicola said his company's dramaturge raised some red flags about the symbolism of Ms. Corrie's tale.
Said Ms. Moffat, "As we went deeper and deeper into it, we discovered what we didn't know was getting to be too great a burden."
Stephen Graham, the founding trustee on the theater's board, said that one or two board members raised questions in mid-January. "We asked, 'Was it biased?,' and Jim said, "It's an important piece,' and we said 'O.K.,' " Mr. Graham recalled yesterday.
Wayne S. Kabak, president of the board, said Mr. Nicola was asked whether the play's production had a political agenda and that he said no. "There was no pressure from the board on the theater whether to produce the play," Mr. Kabak said. "That's how this theater works."
Still, by February Mr. Nicola and Ms. Moffat decided that the workshop might need to organize nightly postshow talk-backs to provide context as it had done with plays like Mr. Kushner's "Homebody/Kabul."
Mr. Nicola said that they soon realized there was not enough time to work out the concerns and complete the general artistic process and informed the Royal Court on Feb. 17 that the workshop would delay the production. Mr. Nicola said that he had not heard from anyone at the Royal Court since.
The Royal Court, which issued a statement in last week, offers a different account, saying the deal was definite, an opinion Ms. Viner seconded yesterday. "They read the play and liked it," Ms. Viner said. "And then they changed their mind." The play is running in the West End in London until May 7.
Criticism of the workshop started slowly and gained momentum. Mr. Nicola, who had traveled to Italy to work on a project, returned to New York. The tenor was also raised when Mr. Nicola made vague comments about the delay's cause. Subsequently, other groups in New York have offered to stage the play.
Last night artists were to read excerpts of Ms. Corrie's writing at a bar next to the workshop. Other events are planned. But there is also sympathy for the workshop's plight from other artistic directors who know the difficulty of trying to be artistically and politically relevant — as well as sensitive — amid powerful opinions and constituencies.
Joseph V. Melillo, the executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, described himself as "a walking target," who is in a "vortex of information, constantly being bombarded" by people's views on the academy's work.
Mr. Melillo added that he supported the workshop. "The last time I looked in the dictionary," he said, "postponement did not mean cancellation."
Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, said Mr. Nicola "has a tremendous amount of integrity," but that he also felt the idea of artistic freedom needed to be at the forefront.
"I think it was a mistake for Jim to postpone the show and I'm sorry he did it," Mr. Eustis said. "But I think it's important in this moment that we try to help the workshop and defend the principle that we don't not do work because it's politically provocative."
Mr. Graham, who founded the workshop in 1979, said he lamented the postponement, but understood how it happened. "I can see that every move that happened, step by step, was a rational decision," he said. "But the sum total, I regret."
Copyright 2006 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times Copyright 2006 The Financial Times Limited Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited There is a lovely interview with Noble Lauriat Harold Pinter up at the Guardian, in which he speaks briefly about the travesty that is the New York staging of "Rachel Corrie." Some new images of our guy at Cambridge Jones
Alan Rickman is due to take part in a My Name is Rachel Corriepost-show Q&A session on Friday 28th April. Details HERE Found this interesting take on the MNIRC "postponement": The Play's the Thing" European release dates for Perfume Copyright 2006 The Gazette, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Today's San Francisco Chronicle reprints yesterday's New York Times article under the heading, "As theaters spat over political play, new offer emerges." The Independent Snowcake is due to play at Belfast Film Festival. Details HERE Here it is, the official Royal Court Theatre press release. Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times Copyright 2006 Associated Press Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. The complete Royal Court press release on the "Rachel Corrie" 'postponement' can be seen at the linked site. Fascinating! From "The Playgoer," March 2006. There is extensive discussion of the "Rachel Corrie" events up at Babble, the Rabble.ca discussion forum (I kid you not), including a posting said to be from Vanessa Redgrave in Montreal. Tensions Increase Over Delay of a Play Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited could not find a link to this here. sorry if I missed it The Guardian's review of "My Name is Rachel Corrie," by Michael Billingsley, contains a picture of Megan Dodds on set in the role. Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd. I wrote to the theatre and this is the reply I received: Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited Sure enough, Ticketmaster.co.uk lists ticket sales for "My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the Playhouse Theatre, London, for 6 weeks. Due to the cancellation in NY My Name is Rachel Corrie is going to be performed end of March for 6 weeks at the Playhouse Theatre in London
What's on Stage News Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner’s triple Whatsonstage.com Award-winning My Name Is Rachel Corrie will receive its West End premiere in four weeks’ time. Following the last-minute cancellation of its New York premiere (See The Goss, 28 Feb 2005), the one-woman play, starring Megan Dodds, will transfer instead to London’s Playhouse Theatre, where it is due to open on 30 March 2006 (previews from 28 March) and is initially booking for six weeks only.
Why did a 23-year-old woman leave her comfortable American life to stand between a bulldozer and a Palestinian home? My Name Is Rachel Corrie recounts the real story of “the short life and sudden death of Rachel Corrie, and the words she left behind.”
Alan Rickman took the idea to the Royal Court after reading an email written by Corrie and posthumously published in the Guardian. With the permission of Corrie’s family, he and Guardian journalist Katharine Viner developed the play based on Corrie’s own writings. Megan Dodds starred as Corrie in the 80-minute monologue.
Following its sell-out premiere season in the 80-seat Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, My Name Is Rachel Corrie returned to the Royal Court’s 395-seat Jerwood Theatre Downstairs for a second limited season last October (See News, 3 May 2005). It was due to receive its US premiere at the New York Theatre Workshop in March ahead of a planned international tour.
However, as reported this week in the Guardian, the New York run was cancelled. Workshop artistic director James Nicola told the newspaper that they had never formally announced the play’s run. "In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York, what we heard was that, after Ariel Sharon's illness and the election of Hamas, we had a very edgy situation," he said. "We found that our plan to present a work of art would be seen as us taking a stand in a political conflict, that we didn't want to take."
In response, Rickman issued a statement: “This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers." But New York’s loss is London’s gain as a much wider UK audience will now be able to see the show at the 800-seat Playhouse in the West End.
My Name Is Rachel Corrie was the biggest straight play winner in this year’s Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, triumphing in three categories: Best New Play, Best Solo Performance for Dodds and Best Director for Rickman (See News, 31 Jan 2006) and was also nominated for an Olivier for Outstanding Achievement at an Affiliate Theatre (See News, 18 Jan 2006).
At the time of collecting the production’s Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, Rickman (pictured with Viner and Dodds) told Whatsonstage.com: “The way I feel about My Name Is Rachel Corrie winning these awards is, I think, what I felt every night in the theatre – that the audience somehow owned the play. With the best kind of work, you always feel like you give it away to the audience. As an actor or a director, I’m just there to facilitate that.” He added, with regards to his own personal Best Director win for the play: “Thank you very much indeed. It’s really not about me, it’s about Rachel. You have honoured her and her memory with these awards and now her story goes on.”
Currently at the Playhouse is Bill Bryden’s revival of Sixties psychological thriller The Creeper, starring [Ian Richardson.
- by Terri Paddock
Kindest regards, Hikity Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Limited Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd. Copyright 2006 Aberdeen Press and Journal To me, the NY Times article is more disturbing than the Guardian’s. (Thanks, Sheena!) The Theatre director is quoted as worrying about the reaction, not from people who see the play, but from people who hear about it and judge it without going to see it. What a pity. Last week I heard radio interviews with Muslims protesting the famous Danish cartoons. Almost none of them had seen the cartoons. They were out in the street protesting what they thought the cartoons showed. It’s sad that the director thinks the U.S. public is the same.
[text of article]:
Play About Demonstrator's Death Is Delayed
The New York Times
A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content.
The production, a hit at the Royal Court Theater in London last year, had been tentatively scheduled to start performances at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village on March 22. But yesterday, James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the workshop, said he had decided to postpone the show after polling local Jewish religious and community leaders as to their feelings about the work.
"The uniform answer we got was that the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy," he said.
In particular, the recent electoral upset by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and the sickness of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, had made "this community very defensive and very edgy," Mr. Nicola said, "and that seemed reasonable to me."
The play, which received strong reviews in London, follows the story of Rachel Corrie, an idealistic American demonstrator and Palestinian-rights activist who was crushed to death in March 2003 in the Gaza Strip.
The play was written by the actor Alan Rickman, who directed the piece, and Katherine Viner, a journalist at The Guardian newspaper in London, who pieced together snippets of Ms. Corrie's journals and e-mail messages to create the script. And while the show had not been formally announced, Ms. Viner said yesterday that she and Mr. Rickman had already bought plane tickets to see the production at the workshop.
"I was devastated and really surprised," Ms. Viner said in a telephone interview from London. "And in my view, I think they're misjudging the New York audience. It's a piece of art, not a piece of agitprop."
But Mr. Nicola said he was less worried about those who saw the show than those who simply heard about it.
"I don't think we were worried about the audience," he said. "I think we were more worried that those who had never encountered her writing, never encountered the piece, would be using this as an opportunity to position their arguments."
Mr. Nicola said that he still hoped to produce the play during the 2006-7 season but that he hadn't heard back from the Royal Court yet. A call for comment to the Royal Court's general manager, Diane Borger, was not returned.
"It seemed as though if we proceeded, we would be taking a stand we didn't want to take," he said.
"My Name is Rachel Corrie" is not going to play in New York. From The Guardian I am so sorry that fans in the USA have to miss out on this wonderful play because of censorship. :-(
[text of article]:
Rickman slams 'censorship' of play about US Gaza activist
Julian Borger in Washington
A New York theatre company has put off plans to stage a play about an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza because of the current "political climate" - a decision the play's British director, Alan Rickman, denounced yesterday as "censorship".
James Nicola, the artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop, said it had never formally announced it would be staging the play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, but it had been considering staging it in March.
"In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York, what we heard was that after Ariel Sharon's illness and the election of Hamas, we had a very edgy situation," Mr Nicola said.
"We found that our plan to present a work of art would be seen as us taking a stand in a political conflict, that we didn't want to take."
He said he had suggested a postponement until next year.
Mr Rickman, best known for his film acting roles in Love, Actually and the Harry Potter series and who directed the play at London's Royal Court Theatre, denounced the decision.
"I can only guess at the pressures of funding an independent theatre company in New York, but calling this production "postponed" does not disguise the fact that it has been cancelled," Mr Rickman said in a statement.
"This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers."
Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old activist from Washington state crushed in March 2003 when she put herself between an Israeli army bulldozer and a Palestinian home it was about to demolish in Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
The International Solidarity Movement, of which she was a member, claimed the bulldozer driver ran her over deliberately. The Israeli Defence Forces said it was an accident, and that she was killed by falling debris.
The Israeli government said the demolitions were aimed at creating a "security zone" along the border. The Palestinians say they are a form of collective punishment.
"Rachel Corrie lived in nobody's pocket but her own. Whether one is sympathetic with her or not, her voice is like a clarion in the fog and should be heard," Mr Rickman said.
My Name is Rachel Corrie consists of her diary entries and emails home, edited by Mr Rickman and Katharine Viner, features editor of The Guardian. It won the best new play prize at this year's Theatregoers' Choice Awards in London.
From the Yahoo news page: There's a trailer for Perfume on Ain't-it-Cool-News. Very creepy too.
Window's Media and QuickTiime trailers
Also short article at cinematical.com reports the movie is due for release in Germany in September but, as yet, no US distributor:
2006/02/20/teaser-for-tykwers-perfume/
[text of article]
Teaser for Tykwer's Perfume
Posted Feb 20th 2006 3:04PM by Martha Fischer
We haven't heard much about Tom Tykwer's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer since the cast was announced last March. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, and Ben Whishaw, the film is an adaptation of a German novel of the same name that has been "hailed as one of the most influential works of German literature in the past two decades." The novel tells the unendingly bizarre story of an 18th century man (Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, played by Whishaw) who has remarkably sensitive sense of smell but lacks any discernible personal scent. His career as a perfume artist "take a dark turn" when he becomes obsessed with bottling the scent of "a young virgin." I don't want to spoil anything here, but what with the title and everything, I'm a little worried about the virgin's lifespan.
Out of nowhere, a German teaser for the film has emerged, and it's creepy as hell. Something about the way she pauses before screaming makes it much, much scarier than the normal shrieking any woman would do when she finds she's being sniffed by a random guy she didn't even know was there. Yikes.
The movie opens in Germany in September and in other European territories in the late fall and early winter. There is currently no US distributor.
Here's yet another review of Snow Cake. I would post just the link, but since the article is in French, I'm offering a translation. There's trailer,too, on the original page. Arte review.
[SPOILERS]
Le trailer du film Watch the trailer! Or a trailer.
Marc Evans biography: Born in Cardiff in 1959. Studied at Cambridge and Bristol, made his first short film in 1994. Worked for British television, directed among other works ARTHUR’s DEPARTURE, the first sci-fi comedy in Welsh. Also worked in France and Italy. Broke into the international scene with HOUSE OF AMERICA (1997) and REESURRECTION MAN (1998), two films for the big screen. Noted most recently for his psychological thrillers MY LITTLE EYE (2002) and TRAUMA (2004).
Review: SW and AR are exceptional in the leading roles: SW immerses herself in a highly convincing way in her role as an autistic who lives in her own universe, where only her own rules count. She is pedantic to the extreme and obsessed by cleanliness; she cannot stand having anyone in her kitchen. AR plays the other character who enters against his will into Linda’s universe and does not manage to escape it. In fact, he was on his way to Winnipeg to learn more about the death of his son, whom he never knew, but whom he has not yet mourned. That’s what links him to Linda, whose illness prevents her from expressing her feelings.
Marc Evans achieves a difficult balancing act between the dramatic, tragic moments and those that are funny and liberating. As for example when Linda jumps on her trampoline looking perfectly relaxed or when she eats snow, which creates a true feeling of euphoria in her. Angela Pell, the script writer, did not invent these examples. She is herself the mother of an autistic son who has this type of attitude and who inspired her to write this script. At the end of the film, Alex goes on his way, but he has changed; he has been touched by the unconditional sympathy of a being who has not asked him to justify himself and who believed without restriction in his fundamental goodness. This permits him to overcome his guilt and his demons.
Marc Evans has created magnificent scenes to illustrate Linda’s overflowing imagination, for example when the two main characters play scrabble, but according to Linda’s specific rules: comic book language and invented words are allowed as long as one can tell a personal story related to the word. Linda is transfigured; she tells enthusiastically of a prison escape that ends with the escapee saying with disgust the word “dazlious.”
At the funeral, Linda frees herself by dancing, and in dancing, she manages to establish an unreal contact with Vivienne. At the very end, Alex resumes his trip towards Winnipeg; he takes off his old pair of sunglasses, then, in a deliberately cool gesture, places a pair of sunglasses on his forehead and murmurs, finally, full of hope, “dazlious.” It is a magic formula for those who wish to believe.
by Nana A.T. Rebhan
Reuters says Berlin fest warms up after another cold start. Variety continues to list "Perfume" as filming outside the US. Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. From last Sunday's Parade Magazine, Walter Scott's "Personality Parade": Copyright 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Here's another Berlinale report with some interesting tidbits about AR: Rhubarb pie
[text of article]:
Globe Review
POSTED ON 13/02/06
From Wawa to the Berlinale
Snow Cake, a Brit-Canadian co-production, defeats financial woes to open the Berlin Film Fest
NAOMI BUCK
Special to The Globe and Mail
BERLIN -- The gods were kind to the Berlin Film Festival this year. As daylight fell last Thursday for the opening-night premiere of the British-Canadian co-production Snow Cake, the sky filled with snow.
A second rarity for Berlin: The film's stars, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, showed up for the event, making the ersatz glitterati that have adorned the red carpet in years past unnecessary. Several days later, snowflakes still dancing outside, the actors spoke to a small circle of journalists. The white stuff was a recurring topic.
"We were thrilled there was a little Schnee coming down on us," said Weaver, acknowledging that the word represents the extent of her German. "And that the Berliners came out in it." They did in droves, armed with cameras and the winter accessories of choice, umbrellas.
"To think that a year ago, there was a 50 per cent chance this film wouldn't get financed."
Snow Cake originated in a screenplay by British writer Angela Pell that was largely inspired by her autistic son. Andrew Eaton, co-founder (with Michael Winterbottom) of Revolution Films and a friend of Pell, passed the script on to Welsh director Marc Evans.
Wearing a track suit and 5 o'clock shadow, Evans explained how relieved he was to be offered something other than the "bad horror scripts" that had been coming his way since the success of his horror film My Little Eye (2002).
"The script came from a very true place," said Evans, who knew nothing about autism prior to the film. Pell wrote to Evans that her motivation was to show that "living with autism can be hell, but it gives you glimpses of heaven."
"I found that such an amazingly positive way of seeing something," Evans said.
Snow Cake begins as a morose British man, Alex (Alan Rickman), lands at the airport in Timmins, Ont., on his way to Winnipeg.
Geography is not his strong point, nor is conversation. But when a purple-haired and chatty teenager named Vivienne (Emily Hampshire) latches on to him at a diner and asks him for a ride to Wawa, he doesn't say no. Just as Alex begins to enjoy Vivienne's quirks, an accident on the road puts an end to their nascent friendship and Vivienne's life.
Saddled with feelings of sorrow and guilt, Alex continues to Wawa to convey his condolences to Vivienne's mother. But the woman (Sigourney Weaver) who answers the door is less concerned about her daughter's death than the pool of melted snow accumulating on her carpet at Alex's feet.
As Linda stuffs Alex's clothes into the drier and tosses an unpeeled banana into the dog's dish, he realizes that Linda lives in a different reality and that she'll have a hard time without her daughter. He agrees to stay with her. The film follows the difficult friendship that develops between a man who is lost and a woman who is autistic.
Pell always had Rickman in mind for the role of Alex. "I read the script and said yes," Rickman said. "With some projects, it's that easy."
Best known in recent years as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, Rickman is a distinguished actor and director of the London stage. He became an instrumental force behind the project, bringing Sigourney Weaver, whom he had befriended on the set of Galaxy Quest, on board. He also proposed shooting in Canada, where he has a 22-year-old goddaughter and friends, including former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson.
Pell had not set Snow Cake in Canada, Evans said, but rather in a "generic snowy town, far away." But when Evans landed in Wawa, Ont., at the suggestion of Canadian co-producer Niv Fichman, he discovered a town with so much "texture" it became "a character in the film."
"It's basically a motor inn and a 50-foot goose," Evans said of Wawa. The latter features prominently in the film.
Wawa was also thought to be a sure bet for snow, but the when the film experienced cash-flow problems during preproduction last March, the white began to disappear. Evans described the absurdity of having the stars of Harry Potter, Alien and The Matrix (referring to co-star Carrie-Anne Moss, who plays Linda's seductive neighbour) cooped up in a motel in Wawa, with a production that was hemorrhaging money and snow that was melting.
The good people of Wawa responded supportively. While the actors rehearsed and worked on the script, they shovelled snow from their gardens and the lake into their garages, to save it for when it was needed. When the 22-day shoot finally began in April, the snow reserves were brought by wheelbarrow to the locations.
In the film, Wawa comes across as an exceptionally sunny place with slightly irregular snow distribution. "Not such a perfect landscape," said Rickman, who also encountered problems with melting snow while directing The Winter Guest in 1997.
Fate may in fact have been on their side, he added, referring to one day during the shoot when the thermometer dropped into the typical Wawa winter range. "You can't even speak," he said, appalled. He recalled asking a group of local school children how they survive in such a climate. "If it goes down to minus 48, we don't have to go to school," they said.
Asked if he sees anything particularly Canadian about the film, Rickman retorted, "What is particularly Canadian anyway? I love the fact that there's a record label called Secretly Canadian." Then, referring to the indie rock group that composed the film's score, he said, "Broken Social Scene is particularly Canadian and they're fantastic." (Rickman also raved about his regular visits to JDD's Diner at Hawk Junction: "That woman makes the best rhubarb pie.")
Snow Cake received mixed reviews in the German press. Somewhere along the way, the population of Wawa lost a zero and the town was referred to in print as a "nest of 300 souls in northern Ontario." But there was a consensus among German critics that Snow Cake satisfied the requirements of an opening film -- a fine "eierlegende Wollmilchsau" (literally, an egg-laying woolly dairy pig) that satisfies all without insulting any -- and that it was the "least embarrassing" of the opening films in festival director Dieter Kosslick's five-year tenure.
Weaver sang higher praises of the project. She said Snow Cake is the only film from which she's kept a memento of her character: a sparkly ball. Purchased on the highway to Wawa, it is one of Linda's favourite trinkets in the movie -- a symbol of her world.
The Berlinale ends Sunday.
Here's a good interview from the Berlinale: Weaver and Rickman [source: www.abc.net.au]
Berlinale, Day 3: Sigourney Weaver slams ‘macho America’
By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop in Berlin. Posted: Sunday, February 12 2006 .
Today at the Berlin Film Festival, I’ve spoken to stars Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman and their director Marc Evans after their film, Snow Cake opened the festival.
Seven other reporters and I sat with the team and discussed women and Brits in Hollywood, Weaver’s Alien effects and Rickman’s “instrument”.
I think Rickman still wanted to be out sightseeing but Weaver could have sat there until the cows came in (which might take a while in Berlin) if it wasn’t for her flustered agents.
The film is about the relationship between an autistic mother, Linda, and outsider Alex in the aftermath of a fatal car crash.
The script was written with Rickman in mind and Weaver spent months with people with autism researching her role.
We started with Weaver, who broke boundaries for Hollywood actresses while defending her space ship in the Alien series:
Has your role in Alien made it easier for women to get major parts previously reserved for men?
S.W.: I don’t think so because I think, in an odd way, I was lucky because we really weren’t trying to do a sexy action hero. Not only do you normally have to do your own stunts but you have to be beautiful and sexy the whole time. I think what people responded to in Ripley was that she was a regular person and just very straight. It’s too bad that we haven’t had more of those kinds of women characters - they always have to have a gimmick and I think that’s a shame.
Female-driven films are in a slump at the moment. Why do you think that is?
I don’t think there have been enough women-driven films to know that there is a trend -
But in the 80s when that was much more successful -
Yeah, or in the 30s and 40s, you know. It’s a mystery to me. I think I’d prefer to acknowledge the fact that it’s hard to find a good story, that it’s just as hard for a male star to find an interesting part. There may be more parts but a great part is hard to come by. And it becomes more so the more that they do a big genre film… But I think it’s not so much a sexist world in Hollywood as it is an ageist world and I think that because the baby boomers are going to be such a major part of the audience, we’re going to require movies that we can relate to and I think they’re going to have to respond to us sooner or later.
So does the lack of female roles reflect a tendency in society, or are producers just conservative?
It’s hard to say. For instance, I think Hillary Clinton would make a very good president - I think the reason she’ll lose is because she’s a woman and because she was the first lady, and that’s a shame. America’s in a really weird macho phase right now and I think that’s one reason why all these smaller, more delicate movies like Brokeback Mountain are important. The fact that they’re so popular is sending a nice message. Of course, our president still hasn’t bothered to see Brokeback but he will be continued to be asked about it, I’m sure.
Are you conscious of gender roles when you choose your projects?
I guess I respond to the story and I respond to who the director is. In the case of Snow Cake, I have to say I was very taken by the part, but that’s unusual. Usually it’s like, whatever the part is I’ll work with it and I’ll try to get everything I can out of it. I’m not one of those sorts of people who dreams of playing certain parts, I just like to be a part of good stories.
But you have a screen persona of playing strong, intellectually challenging women. Is it something you look for or does it just happen that way?
But I think women are strong. I think people think that if you’re strong, you can’t be weak and I think everyone is both. And what interested me about Linda was that she’s very strong, I would say fierce, but the most vulnerable as well. But, you know, I thought Ripley was vulnerable.
On that topic, director James Cameron’s sparked new rumours about a new Alien
film. Would you be happy to see one made?
I hope it’s not Alien vs Predator 2… I don’t know how much we can do with that particular creature - I think the creature’s maxed out. But I think the science fiction world actually would be a kind of bomb right now for theatre audiences because we have so many problems here on Earth that it would be nice to get away and go to another planet and worry about their problems for a change.
Since you started out as Ripley, what’s been your most challenging film part?
I have to say maybe this one because I so felt a responsibility to get it right: the physical behaviour, the sense of when you have and don’t have control. I felt a big responsibility not to do anything general and that’s really what I was thinking about - that and how to interact with the other actors without interacting with them, without any eye contact at all.
For a lot of people, Rain Man is the classic film about autism. Was that an obstacle for you in making Snow Cake?
Our story is so different. I think they made a wonderful movie but one of the frustrations I heard expressed very often from anyone on the spectrum [of autism] was they’re tired of Rain Man being the definitive expression of what it is to be an autistic person since every autistic person is so unique… I just think it’s such a big subject. There can certainly be plenty of different stories that reflect on that and there’s time for there to be more. I don’t think it intimidated us because it’s not about autism and that’s not our focus. But I did want to be as accurate as I could be and I was lucky to have a lot of people help me and to find a couple of people who were very like the character.
In the film, your character seems at first to completely lack a sense of grief for her dead daughter. How did you deal with that?
I think there’s a real lack of sentimentality about death in the autistic community… it’s not a lack of feeling but it is a kind of acceptance of it as a fact. It’s not something get, I can’t really understand it, but I tried to play it as accurately as I could. I can’t really get it because in my experience, people with autism do make connections. I have a couple of autistic friends and I talked to one of them yesterday and she said, ‘It’d be really great to get together for a weekend or something,’ and I said, ‘yeah it really would,’ and she said, ‘yeah, and do some serious playing’. And I thought that was so cool because I miss playing - you don’t get a chance to play, you have to really consciously play. That has to be a priority and that isn’t for most neuro-typical people.
Rickman turned up at our table next, looking about as sullen as one of his characters.
One of our Articulate readers, Xavier Ricebury, has asked: After playing a whole host of memorable villains - and doing it so well - was it refreshing to play a more three-dimensional character?
A.R.: You know, I’m lucky to be an actor, I’m lucky to be employed... I like variety like most actors - I work in the theatre, as well, and do some directing… It’s sometimes good fun to just be working in two dimensions occasionally but mostly I prefer to work in three dimensions. Most of all, if one spends half of one’s time playing extraordinary people, it’s very good to play ordinary people and to see that celebrated in film because it’s ordinary people who are going to go watch it. The world is nuts and unless we go to the movies and see ourselves, it’s going to get even worse.
How close is this sort of role to you, as compared to a big extravaganza like Harry Potter?
It’s still me, it’s still my imagination, you just have to use it in a different kind of way. And this was like a sustained release, all day, every day. Other times it’s like, press the ‘go’ button. It’s just a different use of what you might call your instrument… So you just have to learn how to use it and different stories ask for different uses.
So does your acting ‘instrument’ require tuning? Do you need to rehearse in films?
I’d like to persuade producers that it’s productive to rehearse. I think they often don’t know what rehearsals are for because you can’t see anything happening - there are no cameras turning. I remember that with Galaxy Quest we became like this little theatre company and we’d all gather together on these huge sets… in a huddle like a rugby game and they would eventually come out of the shadows looking at their watches, doing this terrible mime. And eventually, I went over and said, ‘What are you doing?’ and they said ‘No, no, nothing, nothing,’ and I said, ‘Look, what where doing is what loosely could be called rehearsing and if you just give us another five minutes, we’ll sort out all of the shots for the day and it’ll all be much more productive’. What we had on Snow Cake was a week in Toronto with Marc and Sigourney and Emily [Hampshire, who plays Weaver’s daughter] and Angela, the writer, and myself in a room just going through every line of the script and just talking it and then Angela going back to the hotel and rewriting bits and that was a luxury but it ought not to be.
Speaking of Galaxy Quest, an anonymous Articulate reader wants to know: You and Weaver worked together in that film. Did it help you form a camaraderie for Snow Cake?
I think she’s fantastic and she hands herself over 100 per cent to everything. To play Linda, it requires a complete lack of vanity. It’s very rare and so I mentioned her name at one point and they whooped, ‘Well if we can get her to do it,’ and then she read it and said yes. So yes, we definitely already had a bond.
What’s your opinion of British film at the moment?
Today there’s Love Actually [which Rickman starred in] and Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and that kind of marriage of what America wants England to be… \I think what worries me is that we lose our own culture… It’s odd because when we went to see it I was thinking, who are all these other people in this movie that Emma Thompson and I were in?
Marc Evans
Finally, director Marc Evans was on the other scale from Rickman - as babbly as Weaver’s character in the film.
Is Snow Cake a film about autism to you or does it have another theme?
You know, I don’t think Rain Man was solely about autism. It was about the 80s, it was about Tom Cruise’s character and his greed. Although, in the same way, autism plays an important part in Snow Cake, it’s not about autism. It does seem to be about grief and dislocation, which seems to be a sort of theme that penetrates a lot of films now. I think it’s to do with our generation not being so hopeful or not having things to hang on to which get you through life, so when something like grief or depression or divorce or any social problems come up, there seems to be less of a network, either social or familial, to get you through it … I think in our end of the world, where you’re not dealing with more visceral problems like poverty or war at the moment, these are concerns of the way that we live our life right now.
The organisers of the Berlinale are touting the festival as being all about political and social issues. Is Snow Cake that sort of film for you?
It depends where you stand because this film is really off the radar for an American studio - it’s about somebody with a mental illness, it’s about somebody who’s grieving, it’s not satisfyingly redemptive at the end… It’s kind of already down the road towards something which is, relatively speaking, political and social… I don’t think we made it for strong political reasons and yet, you can’t make anything without finding a position in the world and it belongs in the Berlin Film Festival for that reason… It’s a film that people can talk about and maybe give a bit of attention to. It’s just a quietly political film.
How important is the Berlinale for the film?
It’s extremely important because, for a start, you want to see a film with an audience, and there’s no better audience than a film festival audience, not because they always like the film but they want to see films. It’s far better to see the film at a festival than with a test audience. I’ve been to Sundance a couple of times with movies and I’ve much preferred my experience in Berlin because it’s maybe not as American-centric. You sort of get a different kind of response. Europe’s an interesting place to make films still. But in Britain - I guess it’s the same in Australia - you’ve got this problem of speaking the same language as the big American empire, so how do you negotiate that? The advantage is you can put actors into the film that the Americans recognise so it has some sort of market value but the disadvantage is that the studios aren’t really interested in the kinds of stories you want to tell. It’s a kind of double-edged game.
So are film industries like Australia’s and Britain’s mired in tat comparison to the US?
Yes, they are. Sometimes if you didn’t have that luxury [of the English language] in a way you could make smaller funded films… There’s something awful about that wannabe American cultural malaise, which is sort of films about nothing but that maybe would get picked up by an American studio… The Brits are always kind of tainted by the question, ‘Will the Americans
buy it?’
Berlinale, Day 1: 'Snow Cake' a bittersweet start [source: www.abc.net.au]
By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop in Berlin. Posted: Friday, February 10 2006 .
Sigourney Weaver in Snow Cake, which has opened the Berlinale.
British movie star Alan Rickman says he'd prefer to be sightseeing than hanging out with frustrating journalists at the Berlin International Film Festival.
With those uplifting words, he and Sigourney Weaver have launched the Berlinale with the world premiere of Snow Cake.
It's a delicate drama for Alien heroine Ripley and Die Hard's deliciously clichéd German terrorist, Hans Gruber.
The film, about the friendship formed between a sullen misanthrope (Rickman) and an autistic mother (Weaver) in the wake of a fatal car crash, has kicked off an event that's being touted here as the most political of the major film festivals.
Meanwhile, the president of the Berlinale jury, actress Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool), has told a gaggle of journos
the festival's reputation convinced her to accept the role.
The premiere had the requisite stars to ignite media attention but avoided the controversy that upcoming films, like docudrama The Road to Guantanamo, oil industry thriller Syriana and Iranian social realist Offside, could bring.
In Snow Cake, Rickman's Alex is greeted by a seeming lack of remorse when he seeks out the autistic mother of a hitchhiker killed in an accident he has survived.
The film could well turn out to be the most forgettable of the movies competing for the Golden Bear, with its conventional style and, at times, forced dialogue and music.
But it's also a moving portrayal of isolated people unfurling their assumptions and overcoming social divides.
Weaver is brilliant as the playful autistic woman, who, as one character cynically puts it, "can talk a glass eye to sleep, can't tie her shoelaces".
She has told a press conference the role took months to prepare.
I'll be interviewing Rickman, Weaver and Evans in Berlin on Saturday night, (local time). If you'd like any questions asked, write to Articulate and we'll select the best to put to the actors.
More SPOILERS from the Evening Standard's review of Snowcake. It's interesting how differently reviewers see this film; can't wait to see it myself.
[text of article]:
British film opens Festival
Snow Cake film review
Welsh director Marc Evans's film almost didn't get made owing to lack of funds. Even when it was finished in the small, wintry town of Wawa, Utah, no one would have imagined it would be the opening competition attraction at the giant, equally wintry, Berlin Festival.
It is certainly a surprising choice with which to open the first of the three major European film festivals. It is a small, expertly acted movie about an introspective and desolate murderer who arrives in Wawa to start a new life after prison, and the autistic woman who puts him up and eventually thaws him out.
The surprise lies in the casting. Alan Rickman plays the man with a lump of guilt on his back and Sigourney Weaver the autistic woman, obsessed with cleaning and totally direct in her reactions to the ex-prisoner.
It is an odd-couple relationship that quietly flourishes precisely because both are wounded souls. Weaver spent nearly a year researching autism, and it shows. There is no grandstanding and no melodrama.
This is a story about a man with a past meeting someone living entirely for the moment.Rickman's performance too is quietly effective as his secret is discovered by the local law and he is told to leave town.
His murderer is not a frightening man, rather one who frightens himself. He grieves two losses - the man he killed and the woman in Wawa (Carrie-Anne Moss) with whom he has an affair but whom he has eventually to leave behind.
The screenplay was written in two days by Angela Pell who is not worried by the comedy of autism. "I did take on my own experience," she says, "because I have lived with autism and it is such a wonderful, surreal experience day by day".
The co-production between the UK's Revolution Films and Canada's Rhombus Media, has moments of uncertainty, when in trying to avoid any obvious drama, it loses its way.
Its intention is to remain in the memory not for any big moments but for the gathering up of many small ones.
Variety review (HUGE SPOILERS concerning the plot):
Variety, Feb. 10
The dramatic icing is spread pretty thin over "Snow Cake," a small-scale, minutely observed yarn about a buttoned-up Brit and hyperactive autistic woman thrown together in a wintry Canadian township. Boosted by a delish performance from Carrie-Anne Moss as a local vamp who helps unthaw the Englishman, but holed beneath the waterline by a gratingly miscast Sigourney Weaver as the persnickety autistic, modest item looks set for equally modest B.O. Choice as the opening night film of the 56th Berlinale is surprising, to say the least.
Enjoying a quiet read in a Northern Ontario roadside diner, middle-aged Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) grudgingly shares his table with a 19-year-old motormouth, Vivienne (Emily Hampshire). He's on his way to Winnipeg, and she's looking for a ride to her hometown, Wawa. Agreeing to take her along -- one of several niggling implausibilities in first-timer Angela Pell's script -- Alex finds Vivienne isn't fazed even when he says he's just gotten out of prison. "I killed someone," he adds. "O.K.," she replies.
On the plus side, the sheer unlikelihood of two such people ever sharing a car together does decoy the audience's attention prior to a smartly edited shock, as a large truck plows into the vehicle. Vivienne is killed instantly, but Alex survives. Though still woozy, he feels the need to tell Vivienne's mother face to face and takes a bus into Wawa.
Alex's second surprise of the day is that the teen's mom, Linda (Weaver), takes the news hardly missing a beat. Divorced of regular emotions, and obsessively tidy and logical, Linda is a "high functioning" autistic. The far more traumatized Alex ends up sleeping over at Linda's and soon finds himself drawn into her life as a temporary housemate until the funeral a few days later.
Even allowing for Linda's affliction, there's so little chemistry between the two protagonists that it's a relief when Alex bumps into Linda's foxy neighbor, Maggie (Moss). Maggie invites Alex to dinner, but they end up skipping the food in favor of a roll in the hay.
It's this relationship that becomes the pic's emotional core. But Maggie is essentially a supporting character and, however well she's played by Moss, it can't compensate for the yawning gap at what should be the movie's center.
Lack of dramatic intensity is all the more surprising considering the emotional clout of helmer Marc Evans' two best movies, the chilling "Resurrection Man" and scarefest "My Little Eye."
Screenwriter Pell, whose background is largely in sitcoms, has an autistic young son, and Weaver has all the small obsessions of her character down pat; but neither she nor the script give Linda much room to maneuver. Rickman, a cool actor at the best of times, takes a while to deliver a rounded performance as a guy saddled with two deaths for which he feels responsible. He does, however, rise to the script's occasional moments of wry humor, more of which would have been welcome.
It's Moss, however, who makes the picture worth seeing. Canuck thespian is aces as Maggie, without overplaying either the seductress or the lonely small-town femme. Her natural chemistry with Rickman pays dividends in their final scene, which delivers the only real emotional oomph in the movie.
Tech package is clean and composed, with Steve Cosens' photography of Wawa and Michipicoten township blending seamlessly with Toronto studio interiors. Running time could easily lose 10 minutes, and pic may play even better on the small screen.
Camera (color), Steve Cosens; editor, Marguerite Arnold; music, Broken Social Scene; production designer, Matthew Davies; art director, Peter Emmink; costume desinger, Debra Hanson; sound (Dolby Digital), Rob Fletcher, Paul Cotterell; associate producers, Larry Weinstein, Barbara Willis Sweete; assistant director, Laurie Mirsky; casting, John Buchan. Reviewed at CFC preview theater, London, Jan. 25, 2006. (In Berlin Film Festival, opener, competing.) Running time: 111 MIN.
With: Janet Van De Graaf, Julie Stewart, Selina Cadell, Callum Keith Rennie, David Fox, Jayne Eastwood, John Bayliss, Jackie Laidlaw, Susan Coyne, Robert Smith Jones.
Posted to Yahoo news: There are images from the Berlinale photo call at a lot of the pro site.Getty, TopFoto, Wenn Enjoy! The Times 9th February 2006
THE opening gala at the Berlin Film Festival, which starts tonight, is a baffling declaration of intent. I’ve never seen anything as modest as the British art-house film Snow Cake taking pole position at a leading festival.
Its earnestness certainly matches the tone of such other Berlin entries as George Clooney’s Middle East thriller Syriana and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the murder-obsessed author in Capote. But why not open with the Oscar-hot Heath Ledger, of Brokeback Mountain fame, as a heroin addict in Candy, or Michael Winterbottom’s The Road to Guantanamo Bay, about three British men at the US detention camp?
Snow Cake, on its world premiere at the festival, has the va-va-voom of an electric milk float. Its two stars are old pros, but neither has driven a hit for years, and it shows.
Alan Rickman is a rusty ex-con called Alex. He crosses the frozen wastes of Canada in a hired car to bury old ghosts. He picks up a young hitch-hiker who can’t stop talking nonsense. Alex pulls up at a T-junction, and the car is promptly demolished by a ten-ton truck. His beautiful passenger is pulled out of the wreck in bits. Rickman emerges without a scratch. Plagued by remorse, he seeks out the girl’s mother, Linda (Sigourney Weaver), and the film starts motoring in earnest.
In fact it’s so worryingly earnest that you begin to doubt the small, clever pleasures. There is humour in Marc Evans’s chamber piece, but you need a lawyer to extract it.
Linda is a lonely, autistic woman in a nosy little town, and Weaver plays the part with manic, bug-eyed ferocity. She tackles the role as if it were an assault course in method acting and mannerisms — it’s a thankless watch. Psychologically, Linda is an eight-year-old girl with a short temper, a dislike of others and an alarming number of anal tics. The cleanliness of her kitchen is the most important feature of her life. The death of her daughter is a tedious and tragic distraction.
Why does this strange man (Rickman) want to help with the funeral? Why doesn’t he just bounce up and down on the trampoline in the back garden? Or make snow cakes that melt in the mouth?
Linda’s child-like grasp of reality, and Alex’s guilt, is the tearful weave. It’s a joy to see Rickman sink his teeth into a complex hero after endless cardboard turns. His mouth is a thing of wonder: it seems to have a droll life of its own. The rest of his face is a quiet, craggy blank. His bumbling relationship with the local siren (Carrie-Anne Moss) is a forgiveable indulgence.
Not so the film. Snow Cake has much to recommend it, not least because it is British. But this is art-house drama in a very minor key. There is a serious lack of big-screen charisma, and precious few bold and daring strokes. It’s astonishing to see an international festival — let alone one as prestigious as Berlin — mislay the sturm und drang quite so early in the day.
(My italics above) New from the BERLINALE website (www.berlinale.de) :
Once again, the Berlinale website is the first place to go for live images of the festival. All press conferences and photo calls and all the buzz surrounding the Red Carpet outside the Berlinale Palast are streamed live on our website. For previous streams please scroll down.
Preview of upcoming Live Streams:
14.30
14.45
19.00 - 19.45
19.45 – 20.30
Other News:
At 6:30 p.m., the invited guests will begin arriving at the red carpet out front of the Berlinale Palast. Marc Evans, the director of Snow Cake, as well as Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickmann, the stars of the film, will also be attending this glamorous event.
Patti Good News! Snow Cake opens Berlin Festival. Article here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4696262.stm Copyright 2006 Newspaper Publishing PLC icWales.co.uk has a long article up about Marc Evans and his film, Snow Cake, which you can read here: Marc's film to open Berlinale Festival. Full report and photos of Whatsonstage awards for My name is Rachel Corrie HERE Copyright 2006 Guardian Newspapers Limited Just to let you know: actor Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) had been nominated for two awards at the What'sOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards. The winners are being announced today in London, and Alan Rickman has won for "Best Director" and "Best New Play" for the production of My Name is Rachel Corrie. Congratulations Alan!
--taken from the Leaky Cauldron site Berlinale site now has a daily program calendar. Snowcake will be shown at 19:45 and 21:00 on Feb. 9 and on Feb. 10 at 12:00, 15:00 and 20:00, not just once! Copyright 2006 Reed Elsevier Inc. Here they are:
A Prairie Home Companion, United States, director Robert Altman. There are 19 films "in competition" in Berlin, including "Snow Cake." Copyright 2006 Gloucestershire Echo Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd. From the AFP's report on the Berlin film festival press conference, entitled Global, sexual politics in focus at 56th Berlinale: festival chief: BERLINALE-News:
The Berlinale provides video streams on their website during the next Berlinale.
All ceremonies in the Berlinale Palast (including the opening and awards ceremony), the arrival of guests to the film premieres in the Competition as well as all press conferences in the press conference room in the Hyatt Hotel will be broadcast LIVE OVER THE INTERNET and archived for later viewing.
Look at www.berlinale.de
(Languages: German & English available) Some (hopefully new) pictures of Alan at The South Bank Show Awards.
Two more photos at Rex Features (near the bottom of the page). Any one has Rex Features accounts and can make those two photos bigger?
The opening of the BERLINALE will be aired LIVE at the German TV:
Channel: 3SAT
I hope to see Alan on TV. ;o)
Petra Tom Tykwer's Website says that Perfume will be released on Sept 14, 2006
Maverick in London DVD, Dragonfly offers a region 1 and 2 version of the film. There is an extra on the region 2 that as of last month was not on the region 1. From Reuters, posted yesterday: Copyright 2006 PR Newswire Europe Limited. Sheena kindly posted a link to a donation form for those wishing to contribute towards the costs of bringing "Rachel Corrie" to New York. Hi All,
I have had a letter today from The Royal Court Theatre, announcing that "My Name is Rachel Corrie" will be in New York (New York Theatre Workshop) during March 2006. However they need to raise £50,000 so they are asking for donations.
If you would like a copy of the letter please email me, I have tried photobucket but it seems to be shrinking it and making it unreadable.
It does say for more information to email Elyse Dodgson elysedodgson@royalcourttheatre.com or phone 020-7565-5041 Failing that the address on the donation form they included with the letter is Chris James chrisjames@royalcourttheatre.com or phone 020-7565-5042.
Con, here's the other two new photos from Snow Cake. They come from the Berlinale site There was also the posting of the same image that appeared in the McLean's magazine last year. Berlinale is only about three weeks away!!! Let's hope the film gets huge reception!
Here is a lovely pic I just found of our Rickman in Snowcake.
Fingers crossed that I don't mess this up!
snowcake
I didn't realize this, but the King's Head documentary was completed, and it looks like it can be ordered in Region 2 format, and for a not so trivial £20, from the Dress Circle, Showbiz Shop in the UK--under "M" for "Maverick." Thanks for the 'tickle' on this one, Renie! First stills from Snow Cake on Berlinale Film Festival Site HERE
Click on red arrow below pix to enlarge. Website for Berlinale 2006, where Snow Cake will premiere, says its sections like Programme will be posted in February. Press conferences and press calls will stream live! Hope some of you us will be watching and capturing. Goblet of Fire on DVD March 7
Source: Warner Home Video January 13, 2006
Experience the magic this spring when the mesmerizing film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire debuts on DVD March 7 (see cover art below) from Warner Home Video. Director Mike Newell (Mona Lisa Smile) and screenwriter Steve Kloves take audiences on a journey from the Quidditch World Cup to Hogwarts and into the thrilling competition of the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will be available on a Single-Disc DVD for $28.98 SRP in full frame and widescreen formats. The 2-Disc Special Edition DVD will be available at $30.97 SRP and the "Harry Potter Special Edition 4-pack" at $73.92 SRP; both in widescreen format only. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will also be available in UMD format for PSP.
The 2-Disc Special Edition includes never-before-seen footage, conversations with the cast, interactive challenges, making-of featurettes and an exclusive look at the film from behind-the-scenes. The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2-Disc Special Edition will thrill audiences with these exhilarating bonus features. “In Production: The King's Head: A Maverick in London
"At 17, Dan Crawford was introduced to the world of the theatre by Robert Ludlam and never turned back. Thirty-four years ago, he founded The King's Head Theatre, London's first pub theatre since the days of Shakespeare and the first dinner theatre in the UK.
Over the years, the King's Head has faced financial troubles, architectural disasters, and imminent closure, but through it all Dan has kept this truly
amazing theatre alive. Not only has he nurtured and developed one of the most outstanding theatres in the country, he has sought out and encouraged some of the greatest theatrical talents of the last thirty years.
The actors whose careers were promoted, launched (or re-launched) at the King's Head range from such theatrical luminaries as Kenneth Branagh, Steven Berkoff and Ben Kingsley, to popular stars Hugh Grant, Richard E Grant, Alan Rickman and Joanna Lumley, and comedians Lily Savage,Ruby Wax and Mel Smith. The writers whose work has been showcased at the King's Head include such great playwrights as Brian Friel, Patrick Marber and Tom Stoppard.
The contributions (of interviewees including Rickman and Branagh) are by turns hilarious, moving and inspiring. Between the many interviewees, the documentary weaves a tapestry which colours in the fascinating history of a theatre kept alive by the sheer willpower and determination of its extraordinary Artistic Director.”
End snip. I didn't know until today that Kate Winslet was to have the part of Nola in Woody Allen's "Match Point" right up to less than 10 days before shooting. Interesting.
This comes from the German magazine Bunte. Special thanks to RickiNicki and MellOe for posting it on the Download Haven Guest Book. AR attending Sting's Christmas party Also, thanks to Assi for partially translating the text that went with the image. The text describing the party is quite interesting. The motto/theme of Sting’s party was “Russian Winternight” and all the guests had to be suitably dressed. I can also read about Balalaika-music, Borscht-soup and a lot, lot, lot of VODKA! *lol* From the "Fairfield County Weekly" article ("The Balcony Scene" on set design for a new "Private Lives": Copyright 2005 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Copyright 2005 MGN Ltd. Copyright 2005 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 2005 Australian Associated Press Pty. Ltd.
moveweb.com
Glowbox
France - Friday, December 08, 2006
Windows Media (TheHour-CBC-11-30-06.wmv, 28.9MB, 15 min, 24 sec)
QuickTime TheHour-CBC-11-30-06.mov, 42.3MB, 15 min, 24 sec)
'Corrie' sets closing date - Producers are touting upcoming stagings in U.S. and internationally from Variety.com
'Rachel Corrie' to Close Dec. 17; More Productions Planned from broadwaywold.com
Celebrities, Politicians, Educators and Students Come Together to be Tested for HIV in Solidarity on World AIDS Day; Screen Star Alan Rickman Shows Support and
Standing up to AIDS
And two photos from the event from Diane (thank you!):
AR & Dignitas International President Dr. James Orbinski
DIGNITAS INTERNATIONAL - World AIDS Day - group photo
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Friday, December 08, 2006
MOVIE ENTERTAINMENT with TERI HART
Airs Every Saturday at 8:40 p.m. (ET)
Also we profile the MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY football drama WE ARE MARSHALL; Teri sits down with ALAN RICKMAN to discuss his new drama SNOW CAKE, and we meet the filmmaker behind the festival hit MONKEY WARFARE.
Cheryl
Canada - Thursday, December 07, 2006
Amy
- Thursday, December 07, 2006
Renie
- Wednesday, December 06, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Playback
November 27, 2006 Monday
SECTION: NEWS; Box Office; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 611 words
HEADLINE: Vivafilm takes on Hollywood holidays
BYLINE: Laura Bracken
Hollywood blockbusters and Oscar hopefuls flood theaters over the holidays, which makes it a risky time to release smaller, homegrown fare on the big screen - except in Quebec, where taking on the major studios has become a tradition.
. . . . . . . . . .
In the English market, holiday releases can be a bit more of a gamble.
"If you're going to go in December, you have to go with a really solid movie. If it's not good it will not stay very long," says Frank Mendicino, VP of marketing and promotion for MPD.
Mendicino is confident, however, that this holiday season is the right time to release Marc Evans' Snow Cake, and not just because Christmas plays a role in the film.
"It's a really heartwarming drama/comedy and they do well at Christmas," says Mendicino. "It's the kind of stuff you want out at Christmas because people are all very sensitive during the holidays."
The Canada/U.K. copro, shot here by Rhombus Media and Revolution Films of London, is about the odd relationship between a man and an autistic woman in rural Ontario and stars Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman.
It opens in select markets Dec. 15 and will expand on Christmas Day. Mendicino hopes the strategy will build momentum and word of mouth.
MPD is currently developing a national promotion campaign with Roots Canada and will also host a benefit for Autism Ontario, which Rickman will attend.
Mendicino is not concerned about competition from Hollywood because, he says, Snow Cake is not after the same audience.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, December 05, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Brandweek
November 27, 2006
SECTION: NEWS; TIE-INS
LENGTH: 486 words
HEADLINE: Tie-ins: Hollywood 'Smells' Murder, Thanks To Perfume Strategy
BYLINE: Laura Blum
HIGHLIGHT:
'It's a book. It's a movie. It's a perfume,' hype reaches U.S. audiences.
In 1960, when the film Scent of Mystery was released, some theaters were rigged with "Smell-O-Vision" devices that pumped scents into the air timed to match scenes in the movie. In 1981, John Waters' Polyester revised that gimmick with "Odorama" scratch-and-sniff cards, which emitted scents when people rubbed specific boxes upon instructions from the movie.
This month, inspired by Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Thierry Mugler Parfums unveiled limited-edition sets of 15 fragrances in the U.S. Slated for domestic release on Dec. 27, Perfume, based on Patrick Süskind's 1985 book, is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an orphan blessed with olfactory genius in 18th century France who turns to murder in his quest to find the ultimate scents. Distributed by Paramount Picture, it stars Ben Wishaw, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman.
Thierry Mugler's "Perfume Coffret," selling at $700 per set, distills a key plot point in each aroma, from the sublime to the slime. International Flavors & Fragrances, New York, created the scents, which follow in narrative sequence. For example, "Baby" conjures the opening scene, "Orgie" the last. The 15th bottle, "Aura," is a potion designed to mix with all 14 of the fragrances.
The tie-in aims to "generate awareness about the cultural heritage of perfumery," said Daphne Leopold, international communications and customer relationship director at Thierry Mugler Parfums, a unit of Clarins, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. It also seeks to rally the film's pre-sold audience: more than 15 million copies have been sold worldwide.
"It's a book. It's a movie. It's a perfume," said Tomas Friedl, president of marketing and distribution at Constantin Film in Munich. Friedl said he approached IFF in 2005 with his perfume line proposal; Thierry Mugler soon signed on.
When the film debuted in Europe in September, the fragrances sparked robust media coverage, said Leopold. "The editorial results were . . . as impactful as, and in some cases more than, for a new product launch," she said. "Germany had more than a million Euros worth of editorial coverage in a month." Word-of-mouth has amplified awareness. "The coffret is being discussed in a lot of Internet forums . . . people want to talk about the idea of a scent for a movie," Friedl said.
Thierry Mugler ran out of its 1,500 specialty coffrets two months after introducing the promotion. Of the total, 400 were available for purchase in selected European stores and on the Thierry Mugler Web site; many of the rest were distributed within the fragrance industry. An English-language site debuted this month at Perfume.thierrymugler.com. No marketing is planned.
To date, the $50 million production has sold more than $80 million in ticket sales, per Friedl. He expects it to break $150 million worldwide. How much is due to the olfactory campaign? Marketing history offers no clues. "Nobody has done it before," said Friedl.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Seattle Times
December 3, 2006 Sunday
Fourth Edition
SECTION: ROP ZONE; Entertainment & the Arts; Pg. K7
LENGTH: 586 words
HEADLINE: One mushy critic's favorite rom-coms
BYLINE: Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times movie critic
. . . . . . . . . .
[No. 8 of 8]
"Sense & Sensibility": Speaking of literate, here's Emma Thompson's smart 1995 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, brought to precise, warmhearted screen life by director Ang Lee. Alan Rickman smolders (and nobody smolders better), Hugh Grant stammers (ditto), Kate Winslet swoons, Thompson wryly observes (except in her beautifully played crying fit, late in the film, that always has me crying too) and a perfectly splendid time is had by all, particularly the audience.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Glowbox
France - Friday, December 01, 2006
Anon
- Friday, December 01, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Friday, December 01, 2006
The Leaky Cauldron reports that Alan Rickman will be on "The Hour" tonight at 11 p.m. (EST)! Can any of our Canadian friends record it? :-)
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Thursday, November 30, 2006
Susan
- Thursday, November 30, 2006
Lana
- Thursday, November 30, 2006
Heather
- Sunday, November 26, 2006
"Snow Cake" at Whistler Film Festival: Closing night - Dec. 3rd
"Perfume" at the Santa Fe Film Festival : Opening night - Dec. 6th
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Friday, November 24, 2006
mwbashful18
USA - Thursday, November 23, 2006
WindowsMedia (HP-OotP-teaser_500.wmv, 7.2MB, 52 secs)
QuickTime (HP_OotP-teaser_500.mov, 9.9MB, 57 secs)
Broadway after Dark: Alan Rickman Shows Up for 'Make A Wish'
Nov 21, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Sightings
Nov. 9, 2006
. . . . . . . . . . NATASHA Richardson lunching with actor Alan Rickman at hot new bistro Chat Noir on East 66th Street . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle (just back from London) - Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Anne/Manhattan
- Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Claire
- Saturday, November 18, 2006
Amy
- Saturday, November 18, 2006
PHOTO CALL: SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER OPENING NIGHT
THEATER REVIEW: "MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE”
Questions of Faith and Loss of Belief
Special to The Epoch Times
Nov 04, 2006
Minetta Lane Theatre
18 Minetta Lane (just off Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village)
Tickets: 212-307-4100, 212-420-8000 or www.ticketmaster.com
******
Patty
- Friday, November 17, 2006
mims <yourdamnmim@yahoo.comfoo>
mimsville, mi usa - Friday, November 17, 2006
kit
pa usa - Tuesday, November 14, 2006
06 Nov 2006
Donny Osmond: "Beauty and the Beast" and "Any Dream Will Do"
Euan Morton: "At This Moment"
Felicia P. Fields: "It Don't Mean a Thing"
Liz McCartney: "My Simple Christmas Wish"
Merle Dandridge: "I Don't Know How to Love Him"
Christine Pedi: "I Will Survive" (as Eartha Kitt, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, etc.)
Kathie Lee Gifford: "I Don't Want" (accompanied by songwriter David Friedman)
Morton, McCartney, Jeffrey Carlson, Felice B. Gajda and Gregory Treco: "Come On in From the Outside"
Performances by David Bryan and KENiMATTix
Johanna <joschroth@gmail.comfoo>
Baton Rouge, LA - Sunday, November 12, 2006
Armenia
Seattle, WA - Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Coming: A flood of films for fall
. . . . . . . . . .
Dec. 27
Perfume. A period drama about a man born with no sense of smell who creates the world's finest perfume. Stars Alan Rickman.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle (off to London on Monday) - Friday, November 03, 2006
Lynn
Ottawa, Canada - Friday, October 27, 2006 at 09:51:20 PM (EDT)
Glowbox
France - Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 09:58:01 AM (EDT)
All Rights Reserved
The Village Voice (New York)
October 18, 2006
LENGTH: 411 words
HEADLINE: Girl, Interrupted;
The controversial life of a young activist finally makes it to New York
BYLINE: NAUTHOR: ALEXIS SOLOSKI
In a journal entry, composed well before Rachel Corrie ever went to the Gaza Strip, she wrote, "If you are concerned with the logic and sequence of things and the crescendo of suspense up to a good shocker of an ending, you'd best be getting back to your video games and your amassing wealth." But peace activist Rachel Corrie did meet a "good shocker of an ending": She was killed by an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer in May 2003. And it's that shocker that led Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner to comb through Corrie's journals and e-mails, crafting My Name Is Rachel Corrie. The play opens with Corrie (the willowy Megan Dodds) musing on her Washington State upbringing, her studies at Evergreen State College, and her awakening to activism. The second act finds her working with the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza, culminating in an audio-eyewitness account of her death.
My Name Is Rachel Corrie incited much debate last spring when New York Theatre Workshop announced a delay in its planned production. Though scheduling concerns, work visas, and conflict with the original producers (the Royal Court Theatre) were eventually cited as causes of the postponement, NYTW artistic director James Nicola stated originally that he had polled Jewish community leaders and discovered "the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy." With the election of Hamas and the illness of Ariel Sharon, he felt the political moment was inopportune for a work that might be perceived as pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli.
Nicola ought to have trusted his audience more. Corrie certainly fails to provide a balanced view of the conflict-in her rubric, Israelis are antagonistic, Palestinians cuddly-but it is very much one woman's view of the situation. This woman, however bright and articulate, is not the most dependable narrator. Self-described as "scattered and deviant and too loud," she's the sort of Pacific Northwest creature who can say with perfect conviction, "The salmon talked me into a lifestyle change." Killed at 23, she was still only a budding writer and thinker; her e-mails from the Middle East vacillate, winningly and irritatingly, between the naive and the astute. So, consequently, does the play, resulting in a slight though moving theatrical work. However poignant and precocious her juvenilia, it doesn't substitute for the dramatic arc of a full life.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
The New York Times
October 22, 2006 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 7; Column 3; Book Review Desk; Pg. 24
LENGTH: 943 words
HEADLINE: The Politico
BYLINE: By MARCEL THEROUX.
Marcel Theroux's new novel, ''A Blow to the Heart,'' has been published in England.
. . . . . . . . . .
Cicero's opponent in the case is Verres, a former Roman governor of Sicily, a man of such decadent tastes and nefarious methods that it's hard to see him as anyone other than Alan Rickman in a toga. Not only is Verres represented in court by Hortensius -- considered the greatest Roman advocate of the time -- but his ill-gotten wealth has given him the means to buy the support of the most powerful Roman citizens.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
New York Observer
October 23, 2006
SECTION: Culture; Heilpern: Theatre; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 1170 words
HEADLINE: Middle East Craziness;
Strikes Again, Belatedly
BYLINE: John Heilpern
The delayed, and most welcome, production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, now at the Minetta Lane Theatre, strikes me as a singular act of love and honor in a world that has lost its reason.
There are two stories to tell here. One is about Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death, age 23, by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza as she was trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home. She was a pro-Palestinian activist who believed quixotically in nonviolence.
The other story is about a 90-minute one-woman play created from Rachel Corrie's letters, journals and e-mails, and edited by its director, the well-known actor Alan Rickman, and a leading British journalist, Katharine Viner. The play premiered in April 2005 at the Royal Court Theatre in London--without protest or incident--and went on to be staged successfully in the West End.
It was due to arrive in March, at the nonprofit New York Theatre Workshop--but the production was "postponed." This usually excellent theater company, mirroring the world, had lost its reason, too: It caved in cravenly to unspecified outside pressure. (There are pro-Israelis who vilify Rachel Corrie and oppose the very idea that her story should be told.) Since then, the Theatre Workshop has changed its story so many times that it ought to rename itself "Dissemble, Spin and Run."
I wrote back in February that we look to our theater to be our independent forum, our pulpit, our truth-teller and witness. Plays written in blood like My Name Is Rachel Corrie are not meant to be "acceptable" or reach "consensus." That is for weaselly politicians. Nor should our theaters be "balanced" like a boring op-ed page. For heaven's sake, I pleaded, give us plays of passion and consequence--not caution, compliance and fear.
After the Theatre Workshop debacle, not a single major nonprofit theater in the city offered to stage My Name Is Rachel Corrie. The production at the Minetta Lane Theatre downtown is backed by James Hammerstein Productions, a commercial outfit. When the compromised commercial theater is prepared to take bigger risks than our nonprofits, we've got trouble.
After all the uproar and bitter controversy that preceded its arrival here, My Name Is Rachel Corrie turns out to be a poignant, modest and humane play about a young American idealist who was trying desperately to make a difference. It's about an unstoppable young woman's search for "bigness"--implying a desire and concern that transcends the unbearable lightness of being. She rejects the small, safe, domesticated life for a life that's held in fragile balance.
The most unexpected and rewarding discovery of the play is that Corrie, a political idealist since she was in fifth grade in Olympia, Wash., was a fine poet in the making.
"It was the same day I decided to be an artist and a writer and I didn't give a shit if I was mediocre," she declares melodramatically of a turning point, "and I didn't give a shit if my whole damn high school turned and pointed and laughed in my face .... I was finally awake, forever and ever."
She can be sardonic: "'Fun life,' I say. 'Fun life.' I imagine I live in a Mountain Dew commercial." She's precociously earnest: "I guess I've grown up a little," she wrote, age 12. "It's all relative anyway." Mercifully, she becomes a normal, sexually hung-up teenager who's mad about the music of Pat Benatar and does her best not to fall in love "with someone who is perpetually leaving you." She will grow prosaic and alarming in an alien world. "Sleep in tent. Gunshot through tent. Start smoking." But it's the natural poetry within her fated life that grabs us most.
"Had a dream about falling," goes her terrible premonition, "falling to my death off something dusty and smooth and crumbling like the cliffs in Utah. But I kept holding on, and when each new foothold or handle of rock broke, I reached out as I fell and grabbed a new one. I didn't have time to think about anything--just react as if I was playing an adrenaline-filled video game. And I heard, 'I can't die, I can't die,' again and again in my head."
Megan Dodds, the American actress, plays Rachel Corrie (Ms. Dodds originated the role in London), and her committed performance takes sustained flight when Corrie arrives in Jerusalem and the hell of Gaza. Mr. Rickman has encouraged her to play the early domestic scenes a shade too giddily young in her bobbing ponytail. (I was uncertain what age she was meant to be.) The deliberate, near-mundane image of Corrie's boinky ordinariness humanizes her, bringing her down to earth from the shaky plateau of martyred saint or demonized symbol of war. But was she ever cute? My hunch is that she was always closer to her own unflinching, unsentimental description of herself as "scattered and deviant and too loud."
During the central scenes in Gaza, Ms. Dodds gains stature and depth, taking us closer into the heart of darkness. The spare, evocative set by Hildegard Bechtler suggesting a bullet-riddled wasteland with plastic chairs and a TV set is exactly right. Corrie looks in astonishment and outrage at "the constant presence of death" all around her. She rescues a dead man on a stretcher as warning shots are fired in front of her from the Israeli army. She pleads in despairing letters to her concerned, fair-minded mother for the justice of the Palestinian cause.
"A lot of the time the kindness of the people here, coupled with the willful destruction of their lives, makes it seem unreal to me. I can't believe that something like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry. It hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be."
As Corrie's involvement in the Palestinian cause grew, she hoped her "international white person privilege" might somehow protect her. The achievement of the play is to present its young heroine as a vulnerable, flawed, idealistic human being. The tragedy that affects us so much is her growing disillusion in the chaos and the absolute inevitability of her death.
Toward her self-prophesied end, Rachel Corrie the born idealist was losing faith. The baseness of the impoverished, violent life she witnessed proved too much for her to bear.
"Anyway I'm rambling," she writes home, exhausted. "Just want to tell my mom that I'm really scared, and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature."
Then she pleads helplessly, "This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop .... This is not the world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you decided to have me. This is not what I meant when I looked at Capitol Lake and said, 'This is the wide world and I'm coming to it.'"
On the Web, someone has written about Rachel Corrie: "Can they dig her up and kill her again please?" To others, she is a hero. It's enough for us that My Name Is Rachel Corrie is the saddening story of a young woman who was killed trying to stop an unending war in the wide, abysmal world.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
Financial Times (London, England)
October 18, 2006 Wednesday
USA Edition 1
SECTION: ARTS; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 311 words
HEADLINE: My Name is Rachel Corrie THE CRITICS
BYLINE: By BRENDAN LEMON
Minetta Lane Theatre New York
On March 16 2003, the 23-year- old American political activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli Army bulldozer preparing to demolish a Palestinian home in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Corrie was immediately hailed by the Palestinian notables Yasir Arafat and Edward Said and just as quickly vilified by some in the pro-Israel camp for her passionate naivety.
This spring another war of words erupted, when off- Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop postponed a production of My Name is Rachel Corrie, a one-woman evening based on her life. London's Royal Court Theatre, where the work premiered in April 2005, and Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, who edited Corrie's writings to create the piece, accused the Theatre Workshop of censorship; the New York troupe claimed it merely wanted to present the play in a climate more hospitable to volatile work.
The show has now opened in a commercial production off- Broadway. I salute Rickman (who directed) and Viner but the production is theatrically inert. Its pulse-slowing quality has little to do with the staging. Rickman and his actor, Megan Dodds, use the space suitably, and the designer Hildegard Bechtler has evoked with admirable simplicity both Corrie's messy American bedroom and the Palestinian walls near which her life ends.
No, the problem is with the text itself. Rickman and Viner have efficiently edited the Corrie story: from her early dreams of being a writer to her university years to her arrival, in January 2003, in Gaza to work with the International Solidarity Movement.
But what might make an excellent short book tracing the development of a young woman's artistic temperament and social conscience does not transfer persuasively to 90 minutes of theatre. Too often I felt talked at rather than talked to, and Dodds's vocal technique lacks variety.
Tel +1 212 307 4100
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Information Bank Abstracts
WALL STREET JOURNAL ABSTRACTS
October 20, 2006 Friday
SECTION: Section W; Column 1; Pg. 9
LENGTH: 33 words
HEADLINE: VIEW/THEATER
BYLINE: TERRY TEACHOUT
Terry Teachout reviews the play 'My Name Is Rachel Corrie,' which was directed and co-written by Alan Rickman; describes it as 'an ill-crafted piece of goopy give-peace-a-chance agitprop'; photo (M)
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
October 23, 2006 - October 29, 2006
SECTION: LEGIT REVIEWS; Off Broadway ; Pg. 40
LENGTH: 985 words
HEADLINE: 'Corrie' puts a face on Palestinian conflict
BYLINE: DAVID ROONEY
HIGHLIGHT:
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
(Minetta Lane Theater; 391 seats; $65 top)
NEW YORK A Dena Hammerstein, Pam Pariseau, James Hammerstein Prods. presentation of the Royal Court production of a play in one act, taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie, edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner. Set and costumes, Hildegard Bechtler; lighting, Johanna Town; sound and video, Emma Laxton; production stage manager, Renee Rimland. Opened Oct. 15, 2006. Reviewed Oct. 11. Running time: 1 HOUR, 30 MIN.
Rachel Corrie ..... Megan Dodds
When plans were shelved to stage "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" as part of New York Theater Workshop's spring season, the resulting uproar and alarmist cries of censorship inevitably fanned expectations for the production, a critical success in London. Now that the solo play about the American activist killed in 2003 by an Israeli Army bulldozer while demonstrating for Palestinian rights has arrived Off Broadway, both its strengths and limitations are apparent. As a portrait of a young idealist finding a focus for the fire in her belly, it's intermittently powerful; as political theater, it's stirring but also naively simplistic in its account of a complex ongoing conflict.
Developed by Alan Rickman (who also directed) and Guardian features editor Katharine Viner from Corrie's college writings, diary entries and emails, the play avoids becoming propaganda. But in attempting to distill drama from the tragedy of Corrie's senseless death at 23, the work is handicapped by a voice that even at its most impassioned was not fully formed. By her own admission, Corrie was "scattered," and it's that quality that intrudes on the piece's searing emotionality.
Even as a 12-year-old, Corrie had the beginnings of a political conscience. "Everyone must feel safe," she wrote. "Safe to be themselves, physically safe to say what they think, just safe. That's the best rule I can think of."
The play is effective in showing how a girl from Olympia, Wash. --- with its oat-bran muffins, cedar-scented woods and post-hippie liberalism --- reacted against the tranquility of her environment, rejecting the guilt of complacency, privilege and safety by recklessly venturing to feel the world's injustices first-hand.
As much as it serves to lay contrasting foundations for her relative maturity and galvanization after she travels to Gaza, the opening section, with Corrie (Megan Dodds) in her bedroom in Olympia, creates a distance from the subject. It's like being forced to digest a full semester's output of a creative writing freshman determined to put a poetic gloss on the familiar college-age sentiments of restless, random militancy.
Indulging in mannered performance-piece touches, Rickman's direction initially feeds this preciousness, setting off warning signals that this will be a very actor-y experience. But the shift in the action to the Middle East, when Corrie travels there with the Intl. Solidarity Movement, brings with it a bracing shift into more arresting theatricality. In Hildegard Bechtler's customarily stark set design, the bright bedroom wall slides away to reveal the ravaged concrete shell of a Gaza Strip building as Emma Laxton's dense soundscape and Johanna Town's supple lighting evoke an unsettling world of danger.
The writing, too, becomes more cogent. In Dodds' nuanced perf, we essentially see a girl grow up before our eyes. Corrie's first impressions are typical of the outside observer in any armed-conflict situation --- focusing on children with holes blown through their bedroom walls or families struggling to stay together and maintain their dignity and humanity in the face of death.
As Corrie's experience deepens and she gains more knowledge, the play acquires some much-needed specificity. The information is sobering, detailing the systematic erasure of Palestinian livelihoods --- the destruction of water supplies or greenhouses in a farming community; places of employment and education rendered inaccessible by checkpoints that transform a 40-minute journey into as much as 12 hours; 60,000 jobs in Israel for people from the city of Rafah reduced to 600 in just two years.
Most effective passage is a final, unbroken monologue, an email from Corrie to her mother, delivered with a harrowing mix of tears and anger and painful questioning by Dodds as she sits beneath the unnatural glow of a fluorescent tube. But moving as this is, it also conveys that even at her most informed, Corrie was driven more by sensitivity toward the central imbalance --- she condenses it at one point to "50-year-old Russian guns and homemade explosives" against "one of the world's largest militaries, backed by the world's only superpower" --- than by a thorough understanding of the issues.
This is theater, not journalism, but in a play that makes a heroic martyr out of a single death --- one of thousands since the first intifada --- greater perspective is necessary. The brief lip service paid to the history of Jewish oppression and to the distinctions between Israeli policy and Jewish policy don't seem enough.
All of this makes the play more insightful as personal than political drama. It's hard to imagine anyone being untouched by this story of a girl full of hope and ideals being sucked into a world of horrors. But Rickman and Viner's elegant cut-and-paste job gives us only Corrie's voice when others are needed.
It's telling that the most heartbreaking part of the piece is not Corrie's writing but an email from her father, expressing his pride and fear, and wishing he could stick his daughter's head in the sand.
It's worth noting the production began unassumingly in the tiny upstairs studio at London's Royal Court and, without the New York Theater Workshop fuss, might have crossed the Atlantic unencumbered by the weight of attendant controversy. This fragile, often penetrating play has been done a disservice by the noise that surrounds it.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, October 26, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, October 20, 2006
Pause for Pinter: Old Times Plans Nixed
October 17, 2006
Um...:-(
Good luck
Yulia Ivaova
- Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Glowbox
France - Tuesday, October 17, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
October 9, 2006 - October 15, 2006
SECTION: FILM REVIEWS; Pg. 65
LENGTH: 1204 words
HEADLINE: PRICEY SCENT SAGA PLAYS FOR FAN BASE
BYLINE: DEREK ELLEY
HIGHLIGHT:
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
(GERMANY-FRANCE-SPAIN)
A Constantin Film (in Germany)/Paramount (in U.S.) release of a Constantin Film presentation of a Constantin Film, VIP Medienfonds 4 (Germany)/Nouvelles Editions de Films (France)/Castelao Producciones (Spain), in association with Rising Star. (International sales: Summit Entertainment, London.) Produced by Bernd Eichinger. Executive producers, Martin Moszkowicz, Andreas Schmid, Andy Grosch, Manuel Malle, Samuel Hadida, Julio Fernandez. Co-producer, Gigi Oeri. Executive in charge of production, Christine Rothe.
Directed by Tom Tykwer. Screenplay, Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tykwer, based on the novel "Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Moerders" by Patrick Suskind. Camera (color, widescreen), Frank Griebe; editor, Alexander Berner; music, Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil; orchestrators, Bronwen Jones, Dana Niu; production designer, Uli Hanisch; art director, Laia Colet; set decorator, Philippe Turlure; costume designer, Pierre-Yves Gayraud; makeup and hair designer, Waldemar Pokromski; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital/SDDS), Roland Winke, Matthias Lempert; sound designers, Frank Kruse, Stefan Busch; visual effects supervisor, Dennis Lowe; visual effects, UPP; assistant director, Sebastian Fahr; second unit director-camera, Martin Fuhrer; casting, Michelle Guish. Reviewed at Soho House preview theater, London, Oct. 4, 2006. Running time: 145 MIN.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille ..... Ben Whishaw
Giuseppe Baldini ..... Dustin Hoffman
Antoine Richis ..... Alan Rickman
Laura Richis ..... Rachel Hurd-Wood
Narrator ..... John Hurt
The Plum Girl ..... Karoline Herfurth
Bishop of Grasse ..... David Calder
Mayor of Grasse ..... Simon Chandler
Mme. Gaillard ..... Sian Thomas
Natalie ..... Jessica Schwarz
Mme. Arnulfi ..... Corinna Harfouch
Dominique Druot ..... Paul Berrondo
Chenier ..... Timothy Davies
Grimal ..... Sam Douglas
Marquis de Montesquieu ..... Harris Gordon
Jeanne ..... Sara Forestier
Marianne ..... Joanna Griffiths
Grenouille's Mother ..... Birgit Minichmayr
With: Alvaro Roque, Franck Lefeuvre, Jaume Montane, Anna Diogene.
(English dialogue)
The seductive, sensory prose of Patrick Suskind's bestseller "Perfume" reaches the screen with loads of visual panache but only intermittent magic in producer Bernd Eichinger and helmer Tom Tykwer's long-awaited pic version. In many respects, it's too faithful to the 1985 novel: an almost impossible-to-adapt reportage-cum-reverie, written from an ironic modern viewpoint, about an 18th-century Paris orphan who turns mass murderer in search of the perfect scent, Love. Euro big-budgeter, shot in English on a reported tab of E50 million ($63.7 million), has a readymade fan base, especially in Europe, among the book's 15 million readers but is more high-end fare in Anglo markets.
Released Sept. 14 in Germany, where it's on its way to hitting a hunky 3 million admissions in its first month, pic has started its three-month rollout across most of the rest of Europe. First test in an Anglophone territory will be Blighty on Dec. 8; Stateside release is skedded for Dec. 27.
Suskind, a reclusive Munich writer, refused to sell the screen rights for many years, finally yielding in 2001 to Eichinger's repeated requests. British writer-director Andrew Birkin worked with Eichinger on the script, and they were then joined by Tykwer ("Run Lola Run"), who finally took over the helming reins.
Tykwer seems the ideal choice, having shown a grasp for contempo magic realism and highly metaphysical material in earlier pics like "Deadly Maria" and "Heaven." Problem with "Perfume" is not so much how to make the audience identify with a largely silent, olfactory-obsessed nerd who turns serial killer, but how to transmit his compulsion in the strictly audiovisual medium of film.
Tykwer's early solution is to lay on the visual grunge of 18th-century Paris. After an opening, in 1766, showing Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) hearing his death sentence read to a braying crowd, pic flashes back 22 years. We see his birth in a stinking fish market, his childhood in an orphanage run by the money-grabbing Mme. Gaillard (Sian Thomas) and his apprenticeship in a filthy tannery under thug-with-boils Grimal (Sam Douglas).
An offscreen narrator (an excellent John Hurt in the English version; Otto Sander in German prints) preserves some of Suskind's irony as he describes Grenouille's growing obsession with "the fleeting world of scent." His olfactory sense becomes so highly tuned that it nullifies all other human qualities, including love, compassion and personal communication.
More than just a killer-thriller or the tale of a man with an exceptional gift, "Perfume" is a skewed love story, of a man who suddenly discovers the "scent of woman" but can't make the jump into real relationships.
Wandering in nighttime Paris, Grenouille catches the scent of a young woman selling plums (Karoline Herfurth). Almost accidentally, he strangles her, and then, in one of the film's most powerful sequences, tries to preserve her bodily scent in his memory by sniffing her naked corpse.
Grenouille's opportunity to develop his obsession arrives when he becomes apprentice to parfumier Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman).
When Grenouille discovers human scent can't be bottled, he sets out to Provence, to the town of Grasse, which specializes in enfleurage, extracting the essence of flowers. Joining a firm run by Mme. Arnulfi (German thesp Corinna Harfouch), and becoming obsessed by the virginal scent of local beauty Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood), daughter of widowed merchant Antoine Richis (Alan Rickman), he turns to mass murder to produce the ultimate femme-scent cocktail.
During its first hour, prior to Provence, film is entertaining on a visual level, with Uli Hanisch's extraordinary production design and Pierre-Yves Gayraud's lived-in costumes giving a real feel for 18th-century Paris without too much exaggeration.
But with far too big a chunk of screen time given to Hoffman's unconvincing perf as the charlatan Baldini, pic is slow-moving. Despite Hurt's tony voiceover, and all the shots of Grenouille's twitching nose and talk of scent manufacture, there's a limit to how well any film can convey the protag's sensory dilemma.
Film really gets under way in the Grasse half, with the brighter, more colorful vistas, and Grenouille finally deciding to show the world he's not a nobody. With Rickman proving a classy combatant as a father seeking to protect his only child, picture starts to grip in human terms. Only during the yarn's final segment, which plays OK in the book but looks daft onscreen, does "Perfume" really lose its bouquet.
Major kudos go to 25-year-old Whishaw for his half-angel, half-devil perf as Grenouille, a difficult role into which the young British thesp throws himself with conviction. Among the many fine supports, Harfouch seems shortchanged in a part that likely suffered from cuts.
Tightening by some 20 minutes would improve the movie dramatically. But pic is, like the novel, an extraordinarily brave, challenging piece of work. If Tykwer & Co. had cut loose a bit more, and gone for the heart rather than the intellect, "Perfume" could have been a fragrant treat indeed.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, October 16, 2006
Newsday (New York)
October 16, 2006 Monday
ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: PART II; Pg. B04
LENGTH: 701 words
HEADLINE: THEATER REVIEW;
Idealist's death not so ideal on stage
BYLINE: BY LINDA WINER. STAFF WRITER
Soon after arriving in the Middle East in 2003, the young activist named Rachel Corrie wrote in her diary: "The scariest thing for non-Jewish Americans in talking about Palestinian self-determination is the fear of being or sounding anti-Semitic."
To that we must add that a problem in reviewing "My Name is Rachel Corrie," is the danger of sounding anti-Palestinian. We're just anti boring theater.
This monologue, based on the late Corrie's journals and e-mails, became a cause celebre last spring when the New York Theater Workshop dropped the Royal Court Theatre transfer from its schedule.
The London playhouse and Alan Rickman, the play's director/co-editor, accused the ordinarily adventurous Off-Broadway center of bowing to real or imagined pressure from New York's Jewish community. The Workshop argued that the play - which had three successful runs in London - had never been formally booked, and that the change was not censorship but a series of misunderstandings.
We deplore censorship, if it happened, and applaud the producers who brought "Rachel Corrie" to the Minetta Lane Theatre last night. How we wish the play, not just the politics, was worth the fight.
Rachel, killed at 23 by an Israeli bulldozer while protecting Palestinian homes in 2003, was obviously a precocious and curious spirit. The girl from a progressive family in Washington State was a passionate writer and humanist. The play, edited from her own words and Internet messages from loved ones, takes its title from the first line of a journal entry from when she was 12.
The most powerful, even inspirational, part of the evening is a video of a "press conference" she gave in fifth grade against world hunger. "We have got to understand that they dream our dreams and we dream theirs," says the adorable 10-year-old with the lisp, "My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000."
That moment, alas, comes at the very end of what feels far longer than its 95 minutes. Until we glimpse the real Rachel, we're meant to be enchanted by the Rachel played here and in London by Megan Dodds. (It's apparently so strenuous that she is spelled by Bree Elrod for weekend matinees.) The American actress has the lanky, fresh-faced blondness of a cover girl for a teen magazine issue on flower children. For reasons unknown, she drops the ends of her words as if Rachel affected a dust-bowl twang.
She bounces around the wide, low set of crumbling concrete walls (designed by Hildegard Bechtler), talking in baroque imagery and making bright lists in her spiral notebook ("Five People to Hang Out With in Eternity"). She stands on a chair and sings Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." She lectures at the audience on peace, injustice and justifications for Palestinian violence - as if no one had ever thought about any of this before. She boasts, without a hint of teenage irony, that she has a fire in her belly.
Like so many restless young idealists, she is full of hope and self-conscious eccentricities. Unlike most, she actually packed away her silver go-go boots and what she calls her "international white-person privilege" to "go to a place and meet people who are on the other end of the portion of my tax money that goes to fund the U.S. and other militaries."
Vivid descriptions of Palestinian families, sniper towers and tanks have the jolt of an eyewitness report. Her observations are not just full of ideas, but so full of herself that we feel pressured to love her at least as much as she loves herself.
Rachel's story is important, but her words alone are not interesting enough to hold the stage. Since a British documentary, "Death of an Idealist," already exists, we question the urgency that her parents, Rickman and co-editor Katharine Viner felt at making Rachel into a drama. Before her death in Gaza, she e-mailed her parents: "Please let me know if you have any idea what I could do with the rest of my life." Obviously, no one would have chosen Martyrdom. We see now that they need not had chosen theater.
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE. Edited by Katharine Viner and director Alan Rickman. Royal Court Theatre production, Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, through Nov. 19. Tickets: $45-$65. Call 212-307-4100.
GRAPHIC: Newsday Photo / Ari Mintz - Megan Dodds stars in "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," about a young American activist killed on the Gaza Strip by an Israeli bulldozer.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, October 16, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
October 16, 2006 Monday 7:15 AM GMT
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL
LENGTH: 483 words
HEADLINE: Earnest portrait of young activist in `My Name is Rachel Corrie'
BYLINE: By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
DATELINE: NEW YORK
"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" is theatrically and politically earnest, an uneven scrapbook drama about an idealistic, some might say naive, young woman trying to do good against the backdrop of the swirling, seemingly insolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The play, which opened Sunday at off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, has arrived here with considerable non-theatrical baggage. Amid charges of censorship, a production planned for last spring by New York Theatre Workshop never happened. It subsequently was picked up for a limited run this fall by other producers.
You can't say "Rachel Corrie" doesn't have a point of view, despite the scattered dramatic trajectory of the evening. "I've had this underlying need to go to a place and meet people who are on the other end of the tax money that goes to fund the U.S. military," Corrie says near the beginning of the 95-minute solo show.
The play, a hit for London's Royal Court Theatre, was put together by British actor Alan Rickman (who also directs this production), and Katherine Viner, features editor of The Guardian newspaper in London. They drew on the diaries, letters and e-mails of Corrie, a 23-year-old activist from Olympia, Wash., who died when struck by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in March 2003 while trying to prevent Israelis from demolishing a Palestinian home. She had gone to the Middle East with the International Solidarity Movement.
The play briefly deals with Corrie's thoughts on the Israelis. With a nod toward the suffering and oppression of Jewish people, she says, "We still have some responsibility for that, but I think it's important to draw a firm distinction between the policies of Israel as a state, and Jewish people."
Yet the heart of the play is about the Palestinians, and its best moments are nonpolitical: Corrie's descriptions, for example, of living in Gaza, her journalistic impressions of ordinary Palestinians and their families.
To get to Gaza, the authors take us through Corrie growing up in Olympia, giving us the story of an imaginative, maybe precocious girl who writes in her notebook that among the people she would like to hang out with in eternity are Rainer Maria Rilke, Jesus, Gertrude Stein, Zelda Fitzgerald and Charlie Chaplin.
It's these moments that strain dramatically, taxing actress Megan Dodds to the fullest. Dodds, with her wholesome blond good looks, never quite connects with the character as a little girl. She gives a distant, oddly detached performance that seems more like an acting exercise than a portrait of a passionate young woman.
That passion comes through most forcefully late in the evening, in a raging e-mail Corrie types about the consequences of doing nothing.
"It is my own selfishness and will to optimism that wants to believe that even people with a great deal of privilege don't just idly sit by and watch," she writes.
Rachel Corrie refused to just watch.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, October 16, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
October 16, 2006 - October 22, 2006
SECTION: LEGIT; Pg. 73
LENGTH: 906 words
HEADLINE: What's in a 'Name'?
BYLINE: GORDON COX
HIGHLIGHT:
'Rachel Corrie' hits N.Y. amid controversy
When "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" opens Off Broadway this week, the big question will be whether a show perceived to have a pro-Palestinian slant can draw audiences in New York.
Based on the writings of the young American activist killed in 2003 while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes, the play will run in a city that's home to the second-largest metropolitan Jewish populace in the world, behind Tel Aviv.
"If you don't appeal to Jewish theatergoers, you've lost a huge chunk of your audience in New York," says one producer not associated with the production.
But the play's producers say it is a gross mischaracterization to call the play pro-Palestinian, and an oversimplification to assume Jewish audiences will automatically shun the production.
Early sales indicators for "Corrie" seem to dispel any worries about the show's prospects: The production currently has the largest advance ever recorded at the Minetta Lane Theater. And, since it's a solo show with a limited Off Broadway run, the financial risk involved isn't enormous.
But still, given the play's political content and the turbulent situation in the Middle East, producers are learning the benefits of treading softly.
Already the production has caused controversy. Last spring, the show's original producer, London's Royal Court Theater, and other people involved (including Alan Rickman, director and co-editor of the script) publicly accused Off Broadway's New York Theater Workshop of yanking the play from its season due to concerns it would anger the Jewish community.
Even if the dispute was less about possible censorship than actually the result of a series of misunderstandings - as some insiders contend was the case - the squabble presented producers Dena Hammerstein and Pam Pariseau with a dilemma: How much should they acknowledge or embrace the controversy?
"We've chosen to ignore it," Pariseau says.
"Neither Dena nor I had a political agenda with this piece," she adds. "When you read the play, it's so far from propaganda."
Print advertisements aim to humanize Corrie with a photo of the activist as a young girl. In a radio spot, Rickman refers only elliptically to the controversy: "Come and see 'My Name Is Rachel Corrie,' and judge for yourself," he says.
The ads also are bolstered by the glowing reviews the production earned both in its original run at the Court and in its West End transfer last spring. (Megan Dodds, the American thesp who played Corrie in London, reprises the role here.)
Still, there were those in the legit industry in New York who couldn't get past the politics. Hammerstein says they encountered a few obstacles to assembling their team of producers and creatives.
"Some people chose not to work with us on this," she says.
As one longtime legit agent explains: "You can't be perceived as saying anything remotely anti-Israel in New York. People jump all over you."
Some observers doubt "Rachel Corrie," or perhaps any play, can do justice to the situation in the Middle East.
"There are very few plays that can capture that complexity," says Emanuel Azenberg, the veteran legit producer who makes regular trips to Israel.
But many people are voicing skepticism based only on preconceived notions and not on the text itself. Which is exactly what Hammerstein and Pariseau are trying to remedy.
"It's amazing to us that there are people who have strong opinions about the show who haven't seen it," Pariseau says.
Although perhaps they shouldn't be much surprised: Such reactions are just a mark of the highly political subject confronted by the play, a subject about which many Americans - and many New Yorkers - hold deeply felt ideas and opinions.
Still, for an Off Broadway show with a typically modest Off Broadway ad budget, the attention the play has received is drawing audiences. "There are people who are coming based on hearing about the controversy," Pariseau says.
Other theatergoers may well avoid any play that they believe voices an opposing political view to their own. But some New Yorkers, both Jewish and gentile, believe the Palestinian viewpoint on the conflict is underrepresented, and so will relish the opportunity to see that dialogue opened up onstage.
"Many Jews care deeply about the human rights of both Israelis and Palestinians," says Brian Walt, exec director of Rabbis for Human Rights. "I don't know if this is a biased play or not, but I would go and find out."
The show's producers are encouraging debate with a series of post-show talkbacks that will include the participation of Rickman; script co-editor Katharine Viner, who is a writer and editor for London daily newspaper the Guardian; members of the Corrie family; and playwrights Tony Kushner and David Hare, among others.
Hammerstein and Pariseau are convinced that once people see "Corrie," any political reservations they might have will disappear.
"It's an emotional stance the show takes, not a political one," says Hammerstein. "This girl just wanted to make the world a better place."
Still, it will be a challenge to convince some Gothamites to get past the impression of anti-Zionism inspired by Corrie's work as a supporter of the Palestinian cause. Take Ed Koch, the former New York mayor who has a long history with the city and its Jewish populace.
"I assume the people who are of the opinion that the show is anti-Israel propaganda won't go," he says. "I happen to be a Zionist. I wouldn't go to see anti-Israel crap."
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, October 16, 2006
sue
- Monday, October 16, 2006
Two
Three
Four
sue
england - Monday, October 16, 2006
Several ``talkbacks'' are scheduled following Tuesday performances. The Corrie family, along with Rickman and Viner, will appear on Oct. 17. Playwrights Tony Kushner and David Hare speak on Nov. 7.
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, October 13, 2006
* The Roundabout Theatre Company is trying to put together a revival of Harold Pinter's "Old Times" starring Alan Rickman, Lindsey Duncan and Laura Linney - although sorting out the stars' schedules is proving a challenge.
Hugs!
Yulia Ivanova <azureinsky_brillianceinlife@yahoo.comfoo>
- Friday, October 13, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
September 29, 2006 Friday
SECTION: ES MAG; Pg. 53
LENGTH: 799 words
HEADLINE: Restaurant Spy
BYLINE: TOBY YOUNG
PORTAL is a restaurant that deserves to be noticed
. . . . . . . . . .
TableTalk
PORTAL
88 St John Street, E1 (020 7253 6950)
Who goes there?
Lawyers, footballers and stockbrokers. Alan Rickman (left) has tested the bacalhau (salt cod).
Why? Portuguese food with a Mediterranean and French twist.
What to order? Begin with gazpacho with fresh goat's cheese and croutons.
For main, try the trio of cod which includes bacalhau confit with sauteed turnip greens, poached cod with alvarino, and bacalhau with a coriander crust and morcilla rosti but this is not for the fainthearted.
Finish off with roast figs and passionfruit ice cream.
Best table Table eight seats two, and has the best view of the restaurant.
Cost Pounds 30-Pounds 45 a head without wine (and don't expect to find Mateus Rose on the list).
Restaurant manager Antonio Correia.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Certificate 15 111m 46s
*Samuel Wigley
Directed by Marc Evans
Produced by Gina Carter, Jessica Daniel, Andrew Eaton, Niv Fichman
Written by Angela Pell
Director of Photography: Steve Cosens
Film Editor: Marguerite Arnold
Production Designer: Matthew Davies
Original Score: Broken Social Scene
@Rhombus Media Inc/Snow Cake Films limited/UK Film Council
Production Companies: UK Film Council and Telefllm Canada present in association with Baby Cow Productions, Alliance Atlantis', BBC Films and 2Entertaln with the participation of The Canadian Television Fund a Revolution Films/Rhombus Media production
A Marc Evans film Produced with the participation of Astral Media - The Harold Greenberg Fund, Canadian Television Fund, Canada The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
Produced in association with CHUM TelevIsion, The Movie Network, Movie Central. Baby Cow Productions. TV A Films With the support of The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation Developed with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Community In association with Fortissimo Film Sales Made with the support of the National Lottery through the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund
Executive Producers: Robert Jones, Michael Winterbottom, David M. Thompson, Henry Normal, Steve Coogan
Production Accountants: Jane Douglas, Rachel James
Production Co-ordinator: Lesley Boylen
Unit Production: Manager Bora Bulajic
Location Managers ; Wawa: Anthony Kadak, Toronto: Don Comelius
Post-production Supervisor: Layla Evans
Assistant Directors 1st: Laurie Mirsky, 2nd: Pierre Ouellet
Script Supervisor: Winnifred Jong
Casting Director: John Buchan
Camera Operator: Perry Hoffman
Gaffer: George Kerr
Visual Effects Artist: Dolores McGinley
Special Effects Co-ordinator: Max Macdonald
Art Director: Peter Emmink
Set Decorator: Rob Hepburn
Co-property Masters: Kenny Meinzinger Andn] Molodecky
Construction Co-ordinator: Dwight Doerksen
Costume Designer: Debra Hanson
Key Make-up Artist: Stephen Lynch
Key Hairstylist: Debra Johnson
Titles by Franki&Jonny Titles
Animation: Dolores McGinley
Broken Social Scene Were: Ohad Benchetnt, Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew, Charles Spearin, Amy Millan, Genevieve Walker
Music Supervisor: Liz Gallacher
Soundtrack: "Alright Now" - Free: "Same Deep Water as Me" - I Am Kloot: "Notteru Ondo" - The Dnfters: "Deep in the Heart of Texas" - Sigoumey Weaver; "Just Looking" - Stereophonics; "Northern Lad" - Tori Amos; "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" - Broken Social Scene: "Let It Die" - Leslie Feist; "Hello Sunshine (Radio Edit)" - Super Furry Animals
Sound Recordist: Rob Fletcher
Re-recording Mixer: Paul Cotterell
Supervising Sound Editor: Peter Baldock
Stunt Co-ordinator: Shelley Cook
Alan Rickman Alex Hughes Sigourney Weaver Linda Freeman Carrie-Anne Moss Maggie Emily Hampshire Vivienne James Allodi Clyde Callum Keith Rennie John Neil David Fox Dirk Jayne Eastwood Ellen Julie Stewart Florence Selina Cadell Diane Wooton Jackie Brown waitress Scott Wickware senior cop Johnny Goltz rookie cop Janet Van De Graaf Meryl Charlie Manlyn the dog Nia Roberts Janet the vet Dov Tiefenbach Jack the optician John Bayliss priest Jackie Laidlaw Louise Susan Coyne Deborah the neighbour Robert Smith Jones Dick the neighbour
Dolby Digital In Colour Prints by Soho Images
Distributor Momentum Pictures
lO,058ft +7 frames
Canada, the present. Alex Hughes arrives in Canada for a road trip to Winnipeg, where he plans to meet a former lover. Alex is tormented by the death of their son, whom he had never met, in a recent road accident. Alex picks up a hitchhiker, Vivienne, who gets Alex to open up to her. A truck drives into the car, killing Vivienne. Alex visits Vivienne's mother, Linda, to offer his condolences and is baffled by her erratic behaviour and nonplussed reaction. Linda persuades Alex to stay, telling him that she needs him to take out the rubbish, as she will not touch garbage. Linda's estranged neighbour, Maggie, explains to Alex that Linda is autistic. Alex gradually accepts Linda's idiosyncrasies and befriends Maggie, with whom he begins a relationship. A policeman warns Maggie that Alex has been in prison for killing a man. The driver who crashed into Alex's car visits Linda, but is confronted by Alex, who holds him responsible for Vivienne's death. The driver later shows up, at Vivienne's funeral and Alex shakes his hand. Alex confesses to Maggie that he attacked the driver involved in the car crash that killed his son, and that this resulted in the man's accidental death. Alex takes to the road again, promising to revisit his new friends. Maggie takes out Linda's rubbish for collection.
Julia
Canada - Sunday, October 01, 2006
Enter code: TMBLAST into Special Offers Box.
Be aware some have entered other locations for discount tickets previously. May want to compair between them.
n/a
- Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire, England - Saturday, September 23, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire, UK - Thursday, September 21, 2006
September 10, 2006
By Demetrios Matheou
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Sunday, September 17, 2006
I made a comment here Cute review after all!
source: Blogcritics.org
September 15, 2006
Bonnie
Bonnie writes about books every Thursday at Fourth-Rate Reader, about everything else at Signifying Nothing, and sometimes she resorts to pictures. She lives in Toronto.
Yulia Ivanova
- Saturday, September 16, 2006
Before Snow Cake, we did theatre together
National Post, Canada
Published: Saturday, September 09, 2006
Slope
Canada - Friday, September 15, 2006
According to Burgener, Oeri has taken an active interest in the project. Of the 67 days spent shooting in Barcelona, Munich and Provence, she was on location for 21 of them.
The book, published in 1985, was the world's best:selling German novel since Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and sold 15 million copies.
That is interesting...
Good luck!
Yulia Ivanova
- Thursday, September 14, 2006
SNOW CAKE
by David Edwards
Cert 15 112mins 4/5
Yulia Ivanova
- Wednesday, September 13, 2006
mwbashful18
USA - Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Brenda <mailwawa@wawa-news.comfoo>
wawa, on canada - Tuesday, September 12, 2006
sue
england - Monday, September 11, 2006
An unsentimental journey of autism
by Stuart McGurk
Release date: 8 September
Director: Marc Evans
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Carrie-Ann Moss
****************************
The Guardian
Friday September 8, 2006
1 out of 5 stars
****************************
Philip French
Sunday September 10, 2006
****************************
Snow Cake (15 cert, 105 min)
9-8-06
****************************
September 07, 2006
3 out of 5 stars
15, 105 mins
****************************
Sweet success for Sigourney
Reader rating: 4 out of 5 stars
When a Hollywood star plays a mentally challenged character, there's always the danger that the acting takes over from them actually feeling the part. That way Oscars may beckon, but truth flies out of the window.
****************************
Julia
Canada - Sunday, September 10, 2006
Susan
- Sunday, September 10, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Sunday, September 10, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire UK - Friday, September 08, 2006
Posted by Wendy Ide on Friday, 18 August 2006 at 12:20 PM
Roxane
CA - Monday, September 04, 2006
Slope
Canada - Sunday, September 03, 2006
By Ben Arnold, Evening Standard 01.09.06
Maggie
UK - Saturday, September 02, 2006
Julia
Canada - Saturday, September 02, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Express
August 16, 2006 Wednesday
Scottish Edition
SECTION: NEWS; 14
LENGTH: 131 words
HEADLINE: Star 's new film role was a piece of cake
ALIENS heroine Sigourney Weaver brought a touch of Hollywood glamour to Edinburgh last night at the UK premiere of her latest movie, Snowcake.
Earlier, she received the first Diamond Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
While best known for battling scary space creatures in four Alien films, the actress described her latest role as one of her most challenging to date.
She plays a highfunctioning autistic woman who befriends Alan Rickman, who is traumatised after a fatal car accident.
"Alan read the script and actually suggested me for the role, " she said. "He even telephoned me and told me I had to read the script." During the winter shoot in Ontario, an unexpected warm snap forced the crew to bring in truckloads of snow and lay fake flakes to maintain continuity.
GRAPHIC: PREMIERE: Sigourney Weaver in Edinburgh yesterday
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Birmingham Evening Mail
August 17, 2006, Thursday
Worcs Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 96 words
HEADLINE: QUIZ OF THE DAY
1. Which Leeds singer has been nominated for three Mobos?
2. Parents collectively spend pounds 129 billion doing what?
3. Who is starring alongside Alan Rickman in a film about autism?
4. What is the biggest brand name in the UK?
Answers: 1. Corinne Bailey Rae, who is in the running for Best UK Female, Best UK Newcomer and Best Song for Put Your Records On. 2. Putting their children through state school, says Norwich Union. 3. Sigourney Weaver, playing the role of a high-functioning autistic woman in Snow Cake. 4. Cereal giant Kelloggs, according to a study from TNS Worldpanel.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
August 18, 2006 Friday
1 Star Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 230 words
HEADLINE: YOUR TOP FIVE... SCI-FI FILMS;
WITH THE RELEASE THIS WEEK OF THE ANIMATED SCI-FI MOVIE A SCANNER DARKLY, BASED ON THE PHILIP K DICK NOVEL, JACKY WESTOBY OF BROUGH, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, SELECTS HER TOP FIVE SCI-FI FILMS
BYLINE: JACKY WESTOBY
1. ALIEN (1979)
"In space no-one can hear you scream" was the tagline, and scream we did at this masterful thriller set aboard a spaceship. Terrific acting, a unique monster and that scene with John Hurt and his tummy ache - never was an actor better named!
2. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
A genuinely uplifting tale about kindly aliens being welcomed to Earth, rather than blasted to death by a gun-happy army. The effects involving the Mother Ship are fantastic, and Richard Dreyfuss is a perfect everyman, caught up in the kind of invasion we all dream about.
3. ET (1982)
Simply the most adorable, genuinely moving family film of the decade, with the most gorgeous little alien you're ever likely to set eyes on. If you don't cry when ET finally gets to go home, leaving poor Elliot behind, you're not normal!
4. GALAXY QUEST (1999)
Absolutely spot-on Star Trek convention/Trekkie-types spoof, with brilliant performances from Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman in the Spock-like role. And it's frighteningly accurate in its portrayal of the fans. Great fun.
5. STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
Yes, I know. The films aren't a patch on the original TV series. The scripts are terrible and the actors look old... But any movie that dares to kill off it's best character, even if temporarily, deserves recognition - and Spock's brave "death" gets my eyes watering!
GRAPHIC: TERRIFIC: Alien' SPACED OUT: Close Encounters (top), ET and Galaxy Quest' BRAVE: Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
August 18, 2006, Friday
SECTION: HOME NEWS; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 111 words
HEADLINE: Alan Rickman and Lord Steel of Aikwood
BYLINE: Hugo Rifkind in Edinburgh
Spotted dining together last night, at the trendy private Hallion Club in Edinburgh, were Alan Rickman (he of eyebrow-raising, laconic drawling and Harry Potter fame) and Lord Steel of Aikwood (he of being a bit smaller than David Owen but also being called "David" fame).
We were not actually at the table, but we are almost certain that the conversation revolved around the Middle East. Lord Steel is a former president of the Medical Aid for Palestinians group. That evening he had just been to see My Name Is Rachel Corrie, about the death in the occupied territories of an American pro Palestinian demonstrator, at the Pleasance Theatre. Rickman is the director.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All rights reserved
Guardian Unlimited
August 22, 2006
LENGTH: 289 words
HEADLINE: My Name is Rachel Corrie
HIGHLIGHT:
3 stars Pleasance Grand
If young American peace activist Rachel Corrie had not been killed by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16 2003 while trying to prevent Palestinian homes from being razed, I think we might still have heard of her. For Corrie's voice was so distinctive and it still sings out with such sweet clarity like a loud, insistent bell that it is hard to believe she might not have eventually become the poet or artist she longed to be. This was a young woman who had a fire in her belly and who wanted "to see. I want to see everything." What she saw made her celebrate and love the world and also gave her the determination to change it.
Based on Corrie's diaries, letter and e-mails - sensitively shaped into a loose narrative by Guardian journalist Katharine Viner and director Alan Rickman - this one-woman show has already played to huge acclaim in London. It deserves its place here on the Fringe, although the barn-like Pleasance Grand certainly doesn't show this intimate piece to best advantage. From the back rows, Josephine Taylor's Rachel seems very small indeed, like a distant star burning itself out.
Taylor - who only graduated from drama school this summer - is exceptionally good, as small and fierce as a terrier, and she has an openness and lack of artifice in her performance that matches Corrie's writing very well. This bittersweet 90 minutes may pack less of an individual wallop than it did in London, but there are consolations. For it is part of an Edinburgh Fringe which this year - like Corrie herself - is in self-reflective mood, questioning the world around us, the politicians who run it and the responsibilities we have to not just stand by and let things happen, but to act.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
August 23, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 15
LENGTH: 1366 words
HEADLINE: Lands of the free?;
Liberal America has seen the way the political wind is blowing - and, judging by the polemical theatre at this year's Fringe, it's very, very angry. Johann Hari reports
BYLINE: Johann Hari
. . . . . . . . . .
It's very hard to criticise a play with an urgent and worthy topic like this without seeming to criticise its subject. But while Rachel Corrie was a brave and brilliant person, this play - directed by Alan Rickman - is an oddly grating disappointment. This should be the story of how a privileged white girl discovered the suffering of the Palestinians and died for them. But on this stage, Corrie barely interacts with any Palestinians. The only ones she mentions are a few children - a very revealing illustration of how the authors infantilise and silence the Palestinians, reducing them to a picturesque backdrop for a white girl's tragedy. This isn't their story - it's the story of a hippie, dippy chick who wants to be a poet and dies young. Rachel Corrie's life was a testimony to internationalism, but this play makes it look like a monument to narcissism.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Europe Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2006 The Sunday Telegraph Source : Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire
The Sunday Telegraph (United Kingdom)
August 27, 2006 Sunday
ACC-NO: A200608283E-12280-GNW
LENGTH: 953 words
HEADLINE: CAN WE HAVE OUR FRINGE BACK, PLEASE?
BYLINE: Natalie Haynes
Halfway through this year's Edinburgh Festival, on a Monday morning at about 2.15am, I watched a gig culminate in its audience conga-ing out of a venue, eagerly following Martin White, an accordionist, who was being carried on the shoulders of a trained gymnast. They had been watching Dirty Book Club (a cabaret show that is infinitely more pleasant to perform in than it is to google), and the last 30 minutes of the gig had been destroyed by the sound of an amplified busker playing Coldplay covers outside.
Book Club, performers and audience alike, refused to take this lying down. Robin Ince, the compere, suggested that we all pile downstairs, singing, to return the favour. Asher Treleaven, a street-theatre artist, led everyone through the venue, outside into the courtyard, and lifted Martin onto his shoulders. Martin played 'Thriller', while the audience sang along. I'm not sure what happened to the busker, and I don't especially care. Edinburgh finally got its Fringe back.
The 2006 Edinburgh Fringe has been a strange festival. I have been coming here since I was a student in 1995; this is the fifth consecutive year that I've performed a solo show. And I can't remember a time when the Fringe felt so darned mainstream. Once upon a time, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead made its debut here. This year, My Name is Rachel Corrie has been the big theatre piece. It has a superstar director in Alan Rickman and was already laden with prizes from a West End run. Shows used to premiere here, then transfer to the West End - the natural order has been reversed.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Sunday Mail
August 27, 2006, Sunday
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 786 words
HEADLINE: LIFESTYLE: ALISON'S DIARY;
IT'S RED FACES ALL ROUND AS CATH ANNOUNCES TO AN ENTIRE THEATRE: 'SEAN CONNERY'S HERE' THEN FIONA TELLS BRIAN DE PALMA TO NAFF OFF
BYLINE: ALISON CRAIG
. . . . . . . . . .
Star spotting is top in Edinburgh at this time of year. Today I spot Gabriel Byrne in George Street - swoon - and later Steve Coogan and Alan Rickman having a bev or three in a bar.
I always think it's good to know that other people go to great lengths, travel miles with big plans and then just stand in a bar and drink heavily which of course they could do anywhere!
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Thursday, September 14 6:00 PM VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)
Saturday, September 16 2:45 PM RYERSON
Slope
Canada - Tuesday, August 29, 2006
London Star to Play Rachel Corrie in New York
Megan Dodds, who performed the title role in “My Name Is Rachel Corrie” in the Royal Court Theater production in London last year, will do a reprise of the role when the critically acclaimed play has its American premiere at the Minetta Lane Theater in Greenwich Village, beginning with previews on Oct. 5 and opening on Oct. 15. The play was compiled from the diaries, letters and e-mail messages of Ms. Corrie, an American demonstrator for Palestinian rights who was 23 when she was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. It was put together by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, features editor of The Guardian. At Saturday and Sunday matinees, the title role will be performed by Bree Elrod.
Renie
back in the USA - Monday, August 28, 2006
pia susanna <susanna.roxman@telia.comfoo>
edinburgh, scotland - Sunday, August 27, 2006
PattiD
Germany - Saturday, August 26, 2006
Slope
Canada - Friday, August 25, 2006
sue
england - Thursday, August 24, 2006
sue
- Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Mary
OR - Sunday, August 20, 2006
And thanks for posting the link to Momentum Picures, too. I don't know if anybody noticed, but the trailer on that site is a bit different than the one we've seen before. And this is the first time I've seen the Snow Cake poster. Thanks again!
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
, TX USA - Sunday, August 20, 2006
Amy
- Sunday, August 20, 2006
Greta
Germany - Sunday, August 20, 2006
Germany--2 November 2006;
USA--12 November 2006 (AFI Film Festival);
Argentina--30 November 2006;
USA--1 December 2006 (Los Angeles, California);
USA--1 December 2006 (New York City, New York);
USA--25 December 2006 (limited);
France--27 December 2006;
Spain--23 March 2007
Susan
- Sunday, August 20, 2006
sue
england - Saturday, August 19, 2006
You can download it here:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4F9F14004923533F
sue
england - Saturday, August 19, 2006
Susan
- Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Emma
- Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Bekshire UK - Monday, August 14, 2006
sue
- Sunday, August 13, 2006
Susan
- Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tracy
- Monday, August 07, 2006
mwbashful18
USA - Monday, July 31, 2006
Sun 30 Jul 2006
Picture: Cambridge Jones/Getty Images
JACKIE MCGLONE
Ellen
- Sunday, July 30, 2006
sue
england - Monday, August 07, 2006
mwbashful18
USA - Friday, August 04, 2006
Ali-Pat
Dayton, OH USA - Thursday, August 03, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Europe Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2006 Irish Independent Source: Financial Times
Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire
Irish Independent
July 27, 2006 Thursday
ACC-NO: A200607275F-11D0C-GNW
HEADLINE: A STIRRING JOURNEY FROM IDEALISM TO ACTIVISM
On March 16, 2003, a 23-year-old American girl became a human shield, protecting a small family home in the Palestinian town of Rafah. Rachel Corrie stood in front of an advancing bulldozer and was crushed to death.
Drawn almost entirely from Rachel's own writings, this play has been compiled by journalist Katherine Viner and actor Alan Rickman, who doubles as the production's director. It is being staged as part of the Galway Arts Festival.
However, this testimonial is not simply about how Rachel died but also about how she lived. And instead of attempting to idealise her, it humanises a tenacious young woman who believed there had to be more to life than this. The result is absolutely must-see theatre.
We first meet a teenage Rachel sitting in her bedroom, with the walls almost obliterated by her postcards, facing that traditional dilemma of what to do with the rest of her life.
From a very young age, Rachel had been a maker of lists - lists of chores to be done, shopping to be bought, global changes to be instigated.
At the age of 10, she was already standing in front of a television camera arguing for the end of world hunger by the year 2000.
Affected by stories she hears of brutality in Palestine, she decides to join the International Solidarity Movement and travels over to participate in non-violent resistance to the occupation.
As she lives among the destroyed Palestinian community, her fervent passion for justice only increases and her soaring adrenaline helps to inoculate her from the annihilation around her.
Her courage is breathtaking and you soon understand why she has exchanged the comfort and safety of her Washington life for the horrors of death and destruction in Gaza.
She isn't a naive idealist attempting to assuage her privileged western guilt but an activist who has maturely considered her actions and the potential repercussions.
In this one-woman show, Josephine Taylor so completely inhabits the part of Rachel that you are taken on a journey from naive earnestness to fierce determination.
As it builds up to its devastating conclusion, it is impossible for the audience to remain emotionally detached from this young woman and her dreams.
Now if only a few of the world's leaders were among the audience giving a prolonged standing ovation . . .
SOPHIE GORMAN
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, July 31, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Irish Times
July 27, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: FEATURES; Other Features; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 805 words
HEADLINE: Galway Arts Festival Reviews
Irish Times writers sample the best of the Galway Arts Festival.
My Name is Rachel Corrie
Black Box Theatre
Lying in her bedroom, fussily assembling her thoughts, her pictures, her memories - in short, her identity - Rachel Corrie predicts a muted, insignificant conclusion to her life story. If we are looking for logic and sequence, she warns us, we had better look elsewhere. Her life will not have "the crescendo of suspense up to a good shocker of an ending". These words - painstakingly assembled from Corrie's journals and e-mails by Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner - are dreadfully poignant. We know precisely how her story will end: in a fatal standoff in Gaza, in 2003, when the 23-year-old American activist stepped between a Palestinian home and an Israeli bulldozer.
That knowledge threatens to recast Corrie, an individual who felt "scattered and deviant and too loud" into a political icon, laden with the logic and sequence of a narrative. Anxious to strike a balance between Corrie the symbol and Corrie the person, the scrupulously objective efforts of Rickman and Viner inevitably lead them to docu-drama.
In essence then, Rachel Corrie has become an unwitting playwright; her correspondences, her obsessive lists and her careful Gaza reportage all signs of an aspiring writer still finding her voice.
This provides Josephine Taylor, in her first professional role, with a tremendous challenge and one she rises to superbly; translating Corrie's fluctuating writing persona into a consistent stage creation. Under Rickman's direction, Taylor finds a constant thread of idealism while allowing us access to the development of a political consciousness. Against the pockmarked walls, the mounds of rubble and mangled steel of Hildegard Bechtler's set, underscored by the steady menace of Emma Laxton's sound design, Corrie struggles continually to understand "the reality of the situation". And, through her, so do we.
It may cause a shiver of discomfort that the everyday tragedies of the Middle East can only be brought home to us by the sacrifice of someone who - sardonically, but truthfully - claims "international white-person privilege". But while Corrie understands that the world does not revolve around her, the world of the play most certainly does.
This may explain why Taylor ultimately leaves the stage and the performance concludes with a video of the real Corrie, aged 10. It's a powerful gesture, met with a standing ovation, but one that abandons the transformative potential of theatre. We are asked to applaud a life rather than to engage with a performance, stunned once more by the shocker of its ending.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, July 31, 2006
HERE
sue
england - Sunday, July 30, 2006
sue
england - Saturday, July 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is The NorthEast
July 24, 2006 Monday
SECTION: NEWS
LENGTH: 318 words
HEADLINE: Muggles get a chance to meet Professor Snape
DATELINE: The Northern Echo
A GROUP of muggle children have had an unexpected meeting with Professor Snape.The aspiring young actors, actresses and stage technicians from Stokesley School, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, had an unscheduled visit with the head of Slytherin while on a visit to London.The pupils and their teacher had been invited to perform the play School Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by writer Daisy Campbell, at London's National Theatre - during the last leg of a drama competition - when they met actor Alan Rickman, who plays the creepy Hogwarts teacher in the films based on JK Rowling's Harry Potter books.Earlier this year, Stokesley School entered the National Theatre Connections Festival.The first round was a performance of the play at their school, watched by representatives from the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, and the National Theatre.The youngsters so impressed their audience that they were invited to the regional finals in Newcastle.They won through to become one of only ten schools invited to perform at the National Theatre - from an initial entry of more than 300 schools.At the National, the pupils took part in workshops and had a dress rehearsal, before the performance of the play on the theatre's famous Olivier stage.The youngsters included a technical team of pupils Heather Tinkler, Will Knox, and Kirsty Duffy, and the cast included Caroline Scott, Faye Curtis, Chloe Cornish, Hannah Wilsdon, Immy Burgess, Emma Lindsay, Alice Wakefield, Gabby Russell, Ellie Coxon, Luke McCabe, Rory Duffy, Jonathan Weatherly, Max Shaw, Will Goldsmith, Jason Bowes and Joseph Home.
Actor Simon Russell Beal presented a trophy, before the group chatted to Alan Rickman.School drama teacher Sarah Robinson said: "It was such a wonderful experience for both them and me. We were delighted to be asked to perform our play at the National. The performance went really well and we got some excellent feedback."
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, July 25, 2006
sue
england - Sunday, July 23, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Saturday, July 22, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Scotsman
July 15, 2006, Saturday
Critique Edition
SECTION: Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1352 words
HEADLINE: Festival Special: Performing with conviction
BYLINE: SUSAN MANSFIELD
My Name is Rachel Corrie Pleasance Courtyard, 3-28 August
THE PHONECALL CAME ON A QUIET SUNDAY afternoon. Cindy Corrie could hear her older daughter, Sarah, fighting back tears. "It's Rachel," she said, as she started sobbing.
And so the Corries learned that their daughter Rachel, aged 23, had died under the wheels of a bulldozer as she tried to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes on the Gaza strip.
But the private tragedy of Rachel's death was being beamed out around the world. Cindy and Craig Corrie could not have guessed how far its ripples would reach, or that three years later, thousands of miles away, they would be watching their daughter's story being told on the West End stage.
After successful runs at the Royal Court, where it was developed under the direction of the actor Alan Rickman, and on the West End, My Name Is Rachel Corrie will run at the Fringe this August, one of several plays which examine the post-9/11 situation in the Middle East. It is one of the most personal and passionate, adapted exclusively from Rachel's own writings, from her childhood journals to her last e-mails written to her family from Gaza.
Cindy Corrie describes her "spontaneous reaction" immediately after Rachel's death, a desire to "get her words out". Two days after she died, extracts from her Gaza e-mails were published in the Guardian, where they were spotted by Rickman. The one-woman play he developed, drawing on a 184-page file compiled by the Corrie family, bubbles with immediacy, an engaging portrait of a young woman poised between adolescence and maturity. "I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my co-workers," she wrote to her family from Gaza. "But I also want this to stop. I think it would be a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making it stop."
Allowing Rachel's early life to be dramatised was a tough decision for the family. At a post-show discussion in the West End, Rickman praised the "enormous amount of trust" the Corries placed in the production. Craig Corrie says: "I was pleased to be able to do it, but it was a certain act of courage, because putting all this out, it might not be what Rachel would have wanted. Most of us wouldn't even want our parents looking at our journal."
"There are lines that aren't particularly flattering about me," says Cindy, smiling. "But they're funny and so honest and I love them. If somebody is physically lost to us, and if they do leave something that is worthy of being remembered, I think there is a desire to have that happen. And also the Gaza words, I knew how much Rachel wanted to get them out, how important that was to her."
Rachel Corrie's death in Gaza on the eve of the Iraq war quickly became a political football. To some she was a martyr, to others, misguided, or worse, a traitor and friend of terrorists. The Corries are glad that the play shifts the focus back to Rachel as a person. "People either demonise Rachel or elevate her," Craig says. "The play has a way of humanising her. She was just a girl who went and acted on some of her convictions."
Cindy says: "Seeing it for the first time was an incredible experience, thrilling and emotional. Even still, just hearing her words I'm thinking about them in new ways, surprised by something I haven't paid close attention to before. For us it's been such a special gift, to allow ourselves to be embraced by Rachel's words."
The play is the story of how a young person - a messy, blonde, chain-smoking fan of Pat Benatar - became an activist, how a college course in Local Knowledge made her active in her own community in Olympia, Washington State, and then helped her connect to the wider world. The imminent US invasion of Iraq prompted her decision to go to Gaza with the Palestinian-led organisation, International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
"I suppose in some ways we were all hoping she wouldn't get her act together to make it happen," says Cindy. "I think we looked for some other things. I even e-mailed off some information to her about a project in India saying, 'This sounds like a good thing to do'. I didn't feel as Rachel's parent that I should dictate. I've never felt I could dictate what my kids should do, I raised them to make their own choices. And I realised very quickly that she was learning a lot, that she was asking all the questions she needed to know before she did something like this. I think as much as anybody can be, she was prepared." She remembers her daughter's first call home from Gaza. "It was at night, and I could hear her voice trembling because there was shelling outside the home she was sleeping in. She kept asking 'Can you hear that?' But through the weeks, her confidence really grew."
Craig, a Vietnam veteran, found his anxiety increasing as he read Rachel's e-mails. "When I envisioned her going there, I envisioned something more like I had in Vietnam. I know the US military did awful things in Vietnam, but I did not witness that. Even out in the jungle, in a place where we were invading Cambodia, where we came across a family living in a small hut, those soldiers were somewhat trying not to step on their vegetable garden.
"Then she started writing about the bulletholes beside the windows in houses, and soldiers shooting at their feet to make them go away. I was taught to shoot that low because when you miss it ricochets and you hit, it enlarges the target. So what she was writing about, I very quickly interpreted it as a military that's somewhat out of control." In her last e-mail from Gaza, to her father, she was talking about travelling home, wondering what to do with the rest of her life. "Don't worry about me too much," she wrote. "Right now I am most concerned that we are not being effective. I still don't feel particularly at risk."
THE FAMILY IS STILL TRYING TO FIND OUTout what happened the day Rachel died. The Israeli government investigated, and exonerated the bulldozer driver. The Corries have pressed for a US investigation, but so far none has taken place. Yet what is most striking about Cindy and Craig is their lack of bitterness. At a press conference, days after Rachel's death, they were dwelling not on their own grief but on the need for peace in Israel.
Immediately before her death, Cindy, who had never marched in her life, joined the anti-war rally at the White House. Her last conversation with Rachel was from a telephone in a railway station, confirming details before lobbying a congressman. She smiles - Rachel would have been pleased.
Then, as they answered requests to give talks and interviews, and attended events in Rachel's memory, their lives changed. Craig gave up his job in life insurance. From middle-class Republicans who had never waved a placard, they became activists. They took Rachel's advice: to "drop everything and make this stop". Now they talk about their "rare opportunity to learn", of being "taken into the fold of people who really cared about this part of the world". They travelled to Gaza and met the Palestinian family whose home Rachel was protecting when she died. Back home, they spread the word and lobby Congress. Yes, it is their way of facing their grief, of remembering their daughter, but it is more. "I feel very fortunate, particularly in the people we have come to know since Rachel was killed," Cindy says. "I would rather have come into this work in a different way, but I'm glad there's a clear response I can make."
I ask about a line in the play from Rachel's journal. "My mother would never admit it but she wanted me exactly how I turned out - scattered and deviant and too loud." Cindy's face crumples into a smile. "You know, in some ways I think she was something I wish I could be. She was really funny and witty and artistic. I'm musical, but I can't paint and draw. I write, but she could imagine and write. I loved all those things about her. I didn't approve of everything that she did, but I absolutely loved the way she looked at life, and how she helped us to see things in a different way."
Tel: 0131-556 6550, www.pleasance.co.uk
Georgiana (great new pix, Sue, thanks)
Seattle - Thursday, July 20, 2006
sue
england - Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Entertainment
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/15036710.htm
Posted on Fri, Jul. 14, 2006
Movie mailbag
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal movie critic
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Monday, July 17, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, July 13, 2006
Greta
Germany - Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Stephanie
UK - Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Julia
Canada - Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Friday, July 7, 2006 9:20 AM EDT
Juliana
- Saturday, July 08, 2006
Marsha
- Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Photos: Stars Attend Noël Coward Renaming Event
Adam Godley, Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Friday, June 30, 2006
23 June 2006
****
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Monday, June 26, 2006
MediaWorks Publication Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
June 21, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
SECTION: ARTS & LIFE; Pg. C1
LENGTH: 843 words
HEADLINE: Volunteer worker killed in Gaza Strip inspires play: Controversial work based on Rachel Corrie's writings will be staged at World Urban Festival
BYLINE: Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun
A little more than three years ago, a young woman named Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer while defending a Palestinian home from destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Corrie, a 23-year-old from Olympia, Wash., was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led group dedicated to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land through non-violent direct action.
Her death could have been nothing more than a tragic but fleeting news story in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it become much more lasting and significant because of the powerful writing Corrie left behind, which has been turned into a controversial play being staged during Earth: The World Urban Festival, the cultural and artistic component to the UN's World Urban Forum in Vancouver.
Called My Name is Rachel Corrie, the work will receive two staged readings at the festival by 10 non-professional actors. The cast includes two 11-year-olds, a Japanese-Canadian in his 60s, a former International Solidarity Movement activist and Canadians of Christian, Jewish and Muslim heritage.
Marcus Youssef, one of the show's five directors, said the work is ideal for the festival because of the story it tells of one person deciding to get involved in what seems like an unsolvable political issue.
"What I want people to hear is this young woman who made a choice to try to engage with a political issue that seems intractable, that's surrounded with ideological positions," Youssef said.
"How can we possibly engage with some of the big conflicts in the world that we have a part of in some way and in another, seem remote from our lives? She's a young woman who actually made an attempt to wrestle with that question."
Youssef said what stands out about My Name is Rachel Corrie is Corrie's unique voice as a writer.
"When you hear this young woman's writing, whatever your ideological or political position on the occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is absolutely no denying the unbelievable humanity and intelligence and self-effacement and just sheer commitment to life that's in her writing," he said.
"She's a brilliant, brilliant writer. Brilliant writers don't come along all the time and you certainly don't expect it from some 23-year-old leftie activist kid from Olympia."
My Name is Rachel Corrie became a play when Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter) and Guardian foreign desk editor Katherine Viner received permission from the Corrie family to edit 184 pages of Corrie's journals, lists and e-mails. The 70-minute, one-woman play premiered at London's Royal Court last spring to sell-out houses and rave reviews.
The play was scheduled for a performance by the New York Theatre Workshop this spring, but that never happened. Theatre artists such as Harold Pinter, Tony Kushner and Vanessa Redgrave criticized the workshop for censorship and artistic cowardice; the workshop said the play was being postponed, not cancelled.
The controversy over the play has also reached into Canada. Youssef said a recent public reading in Toronto was turned into an invitation-only event over concerns about what the play has come to represent in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Youssef, one of three members of the NeWorld artistic producing team, said he found out about the play last year while teaching a course at Concordia University in Montreal. Youssef said that when he read the play, he was devastated by Corrie's story.
What's ironic, Youssef said, is that the rhetoric used to build the ideological positions around the play are completely at odds with Corrie's personal language and self-effacing irony.
The first part of My Name is Rachel Corrie is about Corrie's life growing up in Olympia and the last half is about her experiences in Gaza before she was killed.
My Name is Rachel Corrie, produced by NeWorld Theatre and Judith Marcuse Projects, is a ticketed event being staged Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, June 24 at 6 p.m. at Tent 2 at the festival site at 555 Great Northern Way.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, June 22, 2006
By Claudia Parsons
2 hours, 51 minutes ago
A play about an American human rights activist who died in the Gaza Strip will open in New York in October, six months after it was pulled from the schedule at another theater amid charges of censorship.
"My Name is Rachel Corrie" is a one-woman show based on diaries and e-mails written by the 23-year-old U.S. rights campaigner killed by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, trying to prevent demolition of a Palestinian building.
Producers Dena Hammerstein and Pam Pariseau said in a statement on Thursday the play would open at the off-Broadway Minetta Lane Theater on October 15, for a limited run to November 19.
The play, directed by Alan Rickman, was a hit in London last year and had been scheduled to open in March at the New York Theater Workshop.
But just weeks before it was due to open, the theater told its British partners the production was postponed after discussions with people in the arts, "religious leaders" and "representatives of the Jewish community."
Rickman accused the theater of censorship, and the decision sparked heated debate about politics and freedom of speech in the arts.
Corrie has long been a controversial figure, with critics accusing her of naivete and not giving equal weight to Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks, and supporters praising her for defending Palestinian civilians.
She died after being hit by a bulldozer. An Israeli investigation concluded her death was an accident.
"We were never going to paint Rachel as a golden saint or sentimentalize her, but we also needed to face the fact that she'd been demonized," Rickman said in the statement.
"We wanted to present a balanced portrait. The activist part of her life is absolutely matched by the imaginative part of her life. I've no doubt at all that had she lived there would have been novels and plays pouring out of her."
The play was edited from Corrie's own words and is a highly personal story from childhood through her time in Gaza.
When it opened in London in April 2005, reviews were generally positive, although The Times newspaper said some scenes offered a one-sided portrayal of the Middle East conflict it called "unvarnished propaganda."
_____________________________
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Georgiana (from Gail) [I think 'hit' isn't quite the same as 'run over' or 'crushed'. . . ]
Seattle - Thursday, June 22, 2006
Play About Gaza Death to Reach New York
Published: June 22, 2006
sue
england - Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tracy
- Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Susan
- Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Laura
- Thursday, June 15, 2006
Donna
- Sunday, June 11, 2006
Julia
Canada - Thursday, June 08, 2006
Julia
Canada - Thursday, June 08, 2006
Corina
Germany - Sunday, June 04, 2006
Relevant quote: Mel Smith is said to be playing Winston Churchill at the Assembly Rooms, while Alan Rickman is expected to be directing his play My Name Is Rachel Corrie, about the late pro-Palestinian activist, which was a huge hit in London.
Aurora
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Friday, May 26, 2006
Renie
- Friday, May 26, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 23, 2006
dee
Canada - Friday, May 19, 2006
Aurora
- Friday, May 19, 2006
"If people are coming from out of town and want to get together (as we did for Dark Harbor), they can contact me, if they like, at my non-work e-mail: pixler AT myuv DOT net
Here's a link to buy tickets, etc.
And thanks, mortianna, for the DebRA Charity Hat Auction info! But it is a Love Actually hat. :-) I also received an e-mail from Patti (thank you!) who says there's also a link at the Leaky Cauldron Lounge. Here's a direct link to the auction:
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Monday, May 15, 2006
Corina
Corina
Germany - Monday, May 15, 2006
Redgraves, Etc. to Rally to Aid of Theatre Museum, May 16
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoo>
TX USA - Sunday, May 14, 2006
Renie
- Sunday, May 14, 2006
An Academy Award contender would have to go to Sigourney Weaver for her portrayal as a woman with autism in this U.K./Canadian film called "Snow Cake." Alan Rickman had the lead role that was equally sensational. There was a car accident that practically made me jump from my seat. The subject of autism was new to me. Many words in this story were about loving life and living life. It was a touching film that I would strongly recommend to anyone.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, May 10, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
May 4, 2006 Thursday
3 Star Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 55 words
HEADLINE: 3AM: SURVEILLANCE
BYLINE: KIKI KING, EVA SIMPSON & CAROLINE HEDLEY
MICHELLE Pfeiffer, Alan Rickman and Davina McCall shopping separately at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge... Neil Morrissey shopping at Alexandra Palace Farmers' Market... Charlie Brooks with her baby at the Bentall Centre in Kingston, London... Corrie's Stephen Beckett (aka Dr Matt Ramsden, right) in the Lidl car park in Brighton...
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 09, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
May 4, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: A MERGE; Pg. 15
LENGTH: 87 words
THE Tories have been trumped in the celeb war. They hit on the wheeze of selecting Matthew Palmer, a contestant from the first series of TV's The Apprentice, as their candidate for Charles ward in Kensington and Chelsea.
But one of the Labour candidates, Rima Horton, has hit back by enlisting her boyfriend, actor Alan Rickman, to campaign for her in today's elections.
"Am I bothered though?" asks Palmer. "Does any part of my face look bothered?"
It's hard to see if Palmer's face looks bothered as he is 6ft 8 inches tall.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire UK - Monday, May 08, 2006
mortianna
- Monday, May 08, 2006
Tracy
U.S. - Sunday, May 07, 2006
[text of article]:
Carrie-Anne Moss acts as a catalyst for other people's healing.
Revolution Films/Rhombus Media
*************************
[text of article]
May 5, 2006
*************************
[text of article]
Feb 9, 2006, 19:21 GMT
*************************
[text of article]
Posted: Thurs., Feb. 9, 2006, 2:00pm PT
Linda Freeman - Sigourney Weaver
Maggie - Carrie-Anne Moss
Vivienne - Emily Hampshire
Clyde - James Allodi
Linda
- Sunday, May 07, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.com>
TX USA - Thursday, May 04, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Express
April 27, 2006 Thursday
U.K. 1st Edition
SECTION: COLUMNS; 39
LENGTH: 514 words
HEADLINE: Clar issa's miffed at Beeb snub;
DAY & NIGHT
BYLINE: KATHRYN SPENCER, JULIE CARPENTER & KATE BOHDANOWICZ
. . . . . . . . . .
IN THE middle of making the latest Harry Potter film, can Alan Rickman reveal whether he believes his screen character, the sly and loathsome Professor Severus Snape, will turn out ultimately to be a good or bad guy?
"I never talk about Severus or Harry Potter, " says Rickman, "but I will only say the filming is going very well indeed." Potter creator JK Rowling, whose final Potter book will reveal the truth about Snape, would be proud of his discretion.
Georgiana
Sussex, UK - Monday, May 01, 2006
The Mirror
April 28, 2006 Friday
1 Star Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 11
LENGTH: 203 words
HEADLINE: HOLLYWOOD NEWS
BYLINE: ALUN PALMER
. . . . . . . . . .
Alan Rickman and Kristin Scott Thomas (left) will star together in a movie version of the Piers Paul Reed novel The Villa Golitsyn. Rickman plays a hard-drinking diplomat who could be behind an act of treachery that led to the torture and execution of a Foreign Office official.
Georgiana
Sussex, UK - Monday, May 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
April 28, 2006 Friday
First Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 443 words
HEADLINE: Reviews: You write the reviews...;
SAMUEL BECKETT GALA EVENING The Concert Hal READING *****
BYLINE: David Stockton
Whatever your artistic prejudices, you have to admit that Samuel Beckett (right) was a fertile master of many genres, from novels and dramas to unique one-act plays. Anthony Minghella, no stranger to Beckett's work, celebrated this diversity by assembling a remarkable cast for this gala evening. Some of the performers are already associated with Beckett - chiefly Billie Whitelaw, Barry McGovern, Alan Rickman and Felicity Kendal - while Jude Law and Rosamund Pike are, I believe, newcomers.
The evening opened with the relatively "lighter" and best known of the dramatist's works, Waiting for Godot, once inaccurately described as "a play in which nothing happens. Twice." Vladimir (Jude Law) was the perfect foil to Lee Evans's Estragon, a character profiting from the stand-up's comic pedigree. The funnyman already has some familiarity with Beckett, having starred opposite Michael Gambon in Endgame in 2004, but this was a new experience for Law, who later got to grips with his final piece of the evening, What Is the Word.
In contrast, Beckett's "muse" and long-time associate, Billie Whitelaw, took the proceedings into the darker areas of the playwright's psyche with a passionate Eh Joe and the haunting lyricism of Rockaby. And the contributions of Barry McGovern, another Beckett stalwart with a history of major roles, were an aural joy. Both the poems and the extract from the novel The Unnameable were a wealth of metaphor and vibrant language.
This wonderful use of language reached its peak when Rosamund Pike, Felicity Kendal and Alan Rickman delivered the difficult yet lyrical reading from Play, in which all three characters speak in what Beckett termed a "chorus".
Equally impressive was Rickman's mesmerising reading of Krapp'sLast Tape, in which a man listens to a recording of his memories as he reflects on "that stupid bastard... thirty years ago". There was more wordplay from Kendal as Winnie in Happy Days, who "between the bell for waking and the bell for sleep" kills time with words. Both the language and her performance captured exactly Winnie's insecurity as she careers between optimism, despair and denial.
The evening ended with the voice of Beckett himself. The awe-inspiring, ghostly, disembodied four-minute recording of him reading was a fitting closing moment to a remarkable vening, which also raised more than pounds 20,000 for MacMillan Cancer Relief.
Executive officer, State Veterinary Service, Reading
Sponsored byCROSS
You write the reviews
We're giving aCrossApogee Chrome ballpoint penworth pounds 50 for every reader's reviewwe publish. Email a 500-word review of any arts event to readerreview@independent.co.uk
Georgiana
Sussex, UK - Monday, May 01, 2006
SECTION: A; Pg. 53
LENGTH: 480 words
HEADLINE: CRITIC'S CHOICE TOP FIVE PLAYS
BYLINE: NICHOLAS DE JONGH
. . . . . . . . . .
My Name Is Rachel Corrie In the wake of the recent election triumph of Israel's Kadimah party, this real-life story of a middleclass American killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent a Palestinian home on the Gaza strip from destruction, takes on an ominous topicality. For much of this 90-minute solo theatre-piece, it feels as if Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, the compilers and editors of the show, have rather squandered their opportunity - until Megan Dodds brings it to to a memorably anguished and fearful finale, which left me feeling emotionally stirred and politically galvanised. (0870 060 66310). Until Sun 7 May.
Georgiana
Sussex, UK - Monday, May 01, 2006
Perfume 2
Suzanne
TX USA - Saturday, April 29, 2006
Suzanne <webmistress@alan-rickman.comfoofoo>
TX USA - Friday, April 28, 2006
Ravanna <Ravanna1st@web.defoo>
Germany - Friday, April 28, 2006
Rickman fights back against Broadway ban
By Henry Deedes
Published: 27 April 2006
* Alan Rickman's prospects on Broadway might not be quite as bleak as first thought.
Last month, Pandora reported that the New York Theatre Workshop had cancelled plans to show My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play co-written and directed by Rickman.
In a wordy statement, the Workshop tried to claim that the production, which tells the story of a young American peace activist killed by Israeli tanks in 2003, was cancelled because of "time pressures", blaming Rickman's "filming commitments."
Rickman immediately hit back, claiming that the organisers had got cold feet after being lobbied by local Jewish leaders, and subsequently took the play to the West End.
But at last night's performance of Judi Dench's new play Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Rickman told Pandora he wasn't finished yet.
He's due to fly back to the States and begin a new set of talks about putting the play on.
"I'm going to New York next week to talk about the play being put on again," he said. "I'm in negotiations as we speak. It's a very complex issue and I don't want to go into it too much, but I'm hoping we can sort something out and put the play on, whether it be at the New York Theatre Workshop or another theatre.
"The play has to be shown in America and that's why I'm flying out to New York to change things."
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, April 27, 2006
RICKMAN FIGHTS FOR CONTROVERSIAL PLAY
LATEST: British acting veteran ALAN RICKMAN is making a last attempt to get his controversial play MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE on a New York City stage, after a theatre pulled out because of the current "political climate". The DIE HARD actor directs the show, which charts the true story of an American peace activist who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer, and was appalled when the New York Theatre Workshop cancelled the production last month (MAR06), slamming the move as "censorship". While the production is moving to London's West End, Rickman remains determined to see the politically-sensitive production on the New York stage, and will next week (begs01MAY06) fly to the US to fight it out with theatre bosses. He says, "I'm going to New York next week to talk about the play being put on again. It's a very complex issue and I don't want to go on about it too much. "I'm hoping we can sort something out and put the play on, whether it be at the New York Theatre Workshop or another theatre. "The play has to be shown in America and that's why I'm flying out to New York to change things."
27/04/2006 13:54
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, April 27, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Coventry Evening Telegraph
April 24, 2006 Monday
First Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 21
LENGTH: 548 words
HEADLINE: Starstruck love has lasted over 20 years;
Maureen OnMonday
BYLINE: Maureen Spring
I'M in love. I thought I'd got over him - it has been well over 20 years since that first skipped heartbeat.
Unrequited love.
He didn't know I existed. Colin, my late husband just smiled indulgently whenever I came over all starry-eyed' though have to say he wasn't too keen when I suggested pinning up a photograph of my No 2 beloved on the bedroom wall. So I didn't. It's still tucked away somewhere in the box of treasures I refuse to throw away.
So, who is this heavenly chap who has the power to make me sigh and go weak at the knees whenever I hear his name?
Alan Rickman. That's who. Actor with more than any red-blooded fella's fair share of charisma. And a voice to melt any female heart however hard and cold.
Tall, handsome, super sexy in a languid hard-to-get sort of way. (Ha! Chance would be a fine thing.)
He looked at me with snooty indifference when I fluttered my eyelashes in the foyer of The Royal Shakespeare Theatre a quarter of a century ago.
There he stood, all aloof and alone, dressed entirely in black - ankle-length leather coat to die for.
"Go on," urged my friend, "tell him how wonderful he was last night. Actors love a praise, even sneery ones like him."
"Er...er...Mr Rickman" I whispered to the back of his coat. Hawk-like head turned, half-closed eyes looked me up and down as he drawled in his luxuriously deep velvet voice, "Yes." I still get breathless remembering the moment.
I have no recollection of what was said next but somehow I floated away holding a signed photograph. 'Maureen. Alan Rickman' it said. Not love from. Just my name and his. But I'd felt his breath.
You must remember him in Truly Madly Deeply, or the bandit leader in Die Hard, Professor Severous Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers' Stone? How could you forget? He's sex on very long graceful legs.
Friends were amazed by my passion for this remote creature. All the time they'd been plastering their walls with posters of Elvis or the latest film idol of the moment I was the one who teased them. Soppy childish lot I thought. Why waste precious husband hunting time on blokes you're never going to meet? And if you did you probably wouldn't look twice.
I did have a quick crush on Peter Wyngarde (Jason King in something on TV) but rapidly went off him when I found out he wore high heels to reach the lips of his leading ladies.
Alan Rickman is 6ft 1 in. Maybe a little bit taller than that judging by the photograph my son's partner kindly sent me last week of her snuggling cosily against his shoulder, his chin resting against her hair. No wonder her eyes sparkled. Though mine would have been blissfully closed savouring the moment.
I knew she'd get close. She gets to hobnob with all sorts of famous people but it's such a routine part of her job she doesn't usually talk about who they are, but couldn't resist telling me this time. Well, I had mentioned his name a few times.
"Don't suppose you'll be able to ask for his autograph for me?"
"Doubt it, might not get that close."
Get close? She was practically in his arms. Still, I can't be jealous (not for long anyway) and she had pinned a piece of paper to the photo with 'Maureen - Alan Rickman' scrawled on it. "Sorry, he smudged it."
"Never mind. I'll pretend he kissed it" I replied. Did he kiss her? I couldn't bear to ask.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, April 26, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
April 25, 2006, Tuesday
SECTION: FEATURES; Scotland Times2; Pg. 22
LENGTH: 374 words
HEADLINE: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
BYLINE: Robert Dawson Scott
Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
****
Retaining the French title of the novel on which his play is based, as Christopher Hampton did (but the Hollywood version did not), offers a kind of intellectual challenge. Can you keep up with the sparring wits of the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil as they thrust and parry their way through their exploitative sexual escapades?
Clever one-liners, glib assurances, slick presentations -all conspire in the opening scenes to persuade you that these two are indeed superior to the people whose lives they toy with. But real life, even real love, intrudes in the end and where is all their cleverness then? Where, too, are all the people whose lives they have tossed casually aside?
It is oversimplifying Laclos' novel to call it a morality tale. It tells us much more than that, about the vacuity and arrogance of the French ancien regime (by the end of act one you are almost calling for the guillotine yourself) and about women's positions at the time. But it is part of what makes it such a satisfying drama that the two leads get their very nasty comeuppance.
You can enjoy the period frocks and furniture (though not the hairstyles which in this production are lamentable, a disappointing detail from a company that is aiming at the highest of standards). But any production will ultimately depend on how far the central duo make you aware how far they have fallen.
Glenn Close and John Malkovich in the best-known film (not to mention Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan in the original stage production) are tough acts to follow. But Dugald Bruce-Lockhart and Tilly Blackwood very nearly make these monstrous characters their own creations.
Blackwood doesn't quite catch the emptiness she is left with, having seen to it that the one man she clearly loves (ie Valmont) is dead. But Bruce-Lockhart seems almost a victim of his own games from the word go. John Dove's handsome production is enjoyable, brisk and at times as sharply witty as the original. And Candida Benson, another victim of the hair dressing department, gives the unfortunate Presidente de Tourvel, principal unwitting dupe of the desperate duo, really depth and dignity.
* Until May 20; box office 0131-248 4848
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, April 26, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Bristol Evening Post
April 25, 2006 Tuesday
SECTION: Pg. 16
LENGTH: 112 words
HEADLINE: Star backs cinema's campaign
Staff at the historic Curzon Cinema in Clevedon have launched a £170,000 campaign to repair its leaking roof.
The world's oldest purpose-built, continuously operating picture house celebrated its 94th birthday by getting its "Raise the Roof" fund-raising drive under way.
It is being fronted by one of the cinema's celebrity patrons, film and stage star Alan Rickman.
In an appeal to local film fans, he said: "The Curzon is such a unique community facility. So, please, help to preserve it for future generations."
The campaign for the roof restoration will be the first of six phases that will see the cinema returned to its former glory at a cost of more than £5 million.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, April 24, 2006
dee
Canada - Saturday, April 22, 2006
Posted: Wednesday April 19th, 2006 3:45pm
Source: Production Weekly
Author: Garth Franklin
sue
england - Wednesday, April 19, 2006
All Rights Reserved
National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada)
April 5, 2006 Wednesday
National Edition
SECTION: ISSUES & IDEAS; Pg. A23
LENGTH: 813 words
HEADLINE: The cult of Rachel Corrie
BYLINE: Michael Coren, National Post
North Americans who call themselves "peacemakers" are extraordinarily fashionable these days. The fact that they seldom actually make and keep any peace appears to be largely irrelevant. Such was and is the case with Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American woman who went to the Gaza Strip to show solidarity with the Palestinians and to oppose, quite literally, Israeli bulldozers.
In 2003, she was crushed to death when she stood in front of one as it attempted to destroy the home of a Palestinian doctor, beneath which were tunnels used to smuggle guns and arms to Palestinian militants. Her supporters claim this was a deliberate murder. Others argue that the driver had no way of seeing her and that, while an accident, the tragedy was caused by Corrie's own irresponsibility.
Thus, this angry and arguably somewhat unstable and troubled young woman became a martyr and a cause: Corrie, the living and dying icon of selfless devotion to social justice and the personification of sacrifice for an oppressed people. And nobody does icons of social justice and sacrifice for oppressed people better than, well, actors.
A play entitled My Name is Rachel Corrie, based on the unfortunate girl's diaries and writings, was created by Katherine Viner from Britain's Guardian newspaper and Alan Rickman. Yes, the man from Harry Potter and Robin Hood. He of frighteningly extended vowel sounds and inexorable thespian malice. Hagiographical and free of context or balance, the play ran in London, England to generally positive reviews and full audiences.
Very few critics wondered why there was no mention, for example, that partly because of Corrie's obstruction of the Israeli army, guns were indeed smuggled to terrorists who then murdered Israeli children in the southern town of Sderot.
Or of the meeting that took place between her allegedly "peaceful" organization and British suicide bombers Omar Khan Sharif and Assif Muhammad. But then, nuance does not tell as good a story as reliable old black and white, and good guys and bad Jews.
The play was supposed to open at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop earlier this year, but the theatre announced that the play would not appear. "In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York, what we heard was that after Ariel Sharon's illness and the election of Hamas, we had a very edgy situation", explained James Nicola, the theatre's artistic director. "We found that our plan to present a work of art would be seen as us taking a stand in a political conflict, that we didn't want to make."
Which seems abundantly reasonable. The Corrie play is by no means a neutral drama based in Israel/Palestine, but a clumsy and tendentious statement in favour of one side over another. But that, naturally, is not how the theatre's decision has been greeted.
"This is censorship born out of fear," opined Rickman (no doubt elongating the word "fear" in that marvelous way he has). Others friends of the play and of Rachel's memory went much further. This was "Zionist pressure winning the day again" said one. "New York's Jews have destroyed free speech," said another.
There is, however, absolutely no evidence that the theatre was pressured to abandon the play; but ample evidence that activists assumed this to be the case. Which is in itself deeply significant and revealing. They evinced a belief that Jews have the power to close plays and the will to impose censorship. This being the same New York Jewish community that is renowned for its liberalism and for its criticism of Israel and, in particular, the occupation of the West Bank and formerly of Gaza.
More support and money is given by Jewish people in New York to radical Israeli peacenik groups and organizations offering liberal solutions to the Israel/Palestine issue than any other city in the world. The New York Times is hardly a bastion of right wing Zionism, and movies such as Munich come from a certain Stephen Spielberg.
While there is no doubt that various Jewish groups -- like groups representing Arabs or Christians or Gays or just about anybody else -- try to influence the public discourse, only someone blinded by anti-Semitism would believe that the community was as monolithic as it was apparently powerful. Outside of the addled minds of conspiracy theorists, the world simply does not work like this. Which is why some of the most stridently anti-Zionist literature and drama emanates from Israel itself and is created by Jews as well as Palestinians.
The controversy over the play's cancellation has actually played into the hands of Rachel Corrie's supporters. If it had proceeded as planned, it would have been seen by the usual people; and ignored by the usual people -- i.e., the vast majority. Now Rachel is a cause and a controversy once again. Which is, surely, precisely what she would have wanted.
GRAPHIC: Black & White
Photo: Reuters; Rachel Corrie
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, April 18, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
April 17, 2006 - April 23, 2006
SECTION: LEGIT; Strands ; Pg. 42
LENGTH: 630 words
HEADLINE: 'Name' flames
BYLINE: DAVID BENEDICT
When not adding his lugubrious presence and bassoon-like tones to the filming of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Alan Rickman is moonlighting as a location scout. With the next gap in his schedule, he's Manhattan-bound to select one of the theaters jockeying for his Royal Court production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie."
Not surprisingly, New York Theater Workshop, which had been due to house the play before controversially opting for a last-minute "postponement," is not in contention.
Subject to finalizing a deal, the Gotham run will commence in mid-October with Megan Dodds repeating her radiant, unsentimental perf as the 23-year-old American idealist who died in a nonviolent protest for peace in Gaza.
The current London run --- the play's first commercial outing after two seasons at the Court --- has just been extended for two weeks, until May 21, following strong reviews and business.
David Johnson, who with Virginia Buckley is producing the play at the 850-seat Playhouse Theater, told Variety it is selling out on weekends and routinely receives standing ovations, still a rare occurrence in Britain, especially in nonmusical theater. A U.K. tour will start in August at the Edinburgh Festival, with Dublin and Sheffield dates already confirmed.
Although the play is one-sided --- it's a monologue based on Corrie's impassioned diaries and emails --- its singular perspective on the Middle East has provoked no irrational protests. The only group leafleting on opening night politely encouraged cyclists to join the 2006 Peace Cycle through 12 countries to Jerusalem.
Teen connections
Rachel Corrie once presciently added up things she had --- "eight black ballpoint pens/sharp teeth/beady eyes/and hope." Equally enlivening expectation for the future brims forth in three startlingly well-acted new plays at the National Theater.
What distinguishes Deborah Gearing's lyrical road to oblivion, "Burn"; Enda Walsh's matter-of-fact horror story, "Chatroom"; and Mark Ravenhill's riotously funny study of sexuality, "Citizenship," is that they were written for teenagers as part of the National's trailblazing Shell Connections program.
This is an education initiative with all pious sense of duty removed. Over the last 12 years, the National has commissioned playwrights as diverse as Bryony Lavery, Patrick Marber, Peter Gill and Dario Fo to write plays for teens. Teachers and youth-group leaders across the country stage the plays, with the cream of the crop invited to perform at the National.
Nicholas Hytner was so impressed with the program, he handed three of this year's plays to director Anna Mackmin. Newly cast with arrestingly good young professionals, Mackmin's needle-sharp productions, running in rep through June 3, are a serious hit. And the audience demographic is the stuff of marketing dreams: 60% of ticket buyers are under 18.
The only downer is that Connections is under threat. Shell U.K., a sponsor for four years to the tune of £250,000 per annum, is pulling out and reconsidering funding the National in a different way. Connections director Suzy Graham-Adriani is, to put it mildly, on the lookout for a sponsor with the right credentials. "One who would support new writing without compromise and appreciate the breadth of the work we're doing with young people," she says.
New plays from Doug Lucie and Gregory Burke and a musical by Debbie Wiseman and Don Black are among the next Connections cycle hitting the National in July. The theater will meet this year's costs, but a sponsor must be found to save it through 2007 and beyond. Supporting nationwide creativity and youth development with title rights beside one of the U.K.'s most prestigious arts brands --- who wouldn't leap to fill the gap?
Georgiana (I saw "Breath of Life" in London with Maaggie Smith and Judy Densch. In the first five minutes, the play disparages my nation, my city and my profession. But I stuck it out...)
Seattle - Tuesday, April 18, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
April 18, 2006 Tuesday
First Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 169 words
HEADLINE: Broadway boycotts Red Vanessa
Not for the first time, Vanessa Red grave's principled left-wingery has got in the way of her acting career. The noted firebrand, left, is unable to find a New York venue willing to let her star in a production of the hit play Breath of Life.
Producer Robert Fox recently asked several prominent theatres to host a revival of the show, co-starring Maggie Smith, later this year. Unfortunately, most have already declined, citing Redgrave's pronouncements on Israel.
"The Schubert Organisation, who own Broadway's biggest venues, won't do the play with Redgrave in it," I'm told. "It's a nightmare for Fox, as he always uses Schubert houses, and they also invest in his shows."
"He's now faced with having to either re-cast, or trawl around for an alternative theatre, and investors."
Redgrave isn't the only Brit considered verboten in the US at present. The New York Theatre Workshop recently cancelled a run of Alan Rickman's My Name is Rachel Corrie, after being told that it would upset the local Jewish community.
GRAPHIC: JAVIERECHEZARRETA/EPA
Georgiana (I saw "Breath of Life" in London with Maaggie Smith and Judy Densch. In the first five minutes, the play disparages my nation, my city and my profession. But I stuck it out...)
Seattle - Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Julia
Canada - Sunday, April 16, 2006
is URL in case my link does not work.
Aurora
- Saturday, April 15, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, April 14, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, April 14, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Morning Star
April 13, 2006 Thursday
LENGTH: 954 words
HEADLINE: Culture - Fire in her belly;
My Name Is Rachel Corrie, The Playhouse Theatre, London W1. Tom Mellen bears witness to the last moments of the life of intelligent and informed young US activist Rachel Corrie
BYLINE: Tom Mellen
Skinny, messy and chain-smoking, a compulsive list-maker and a Bob Dylan fan armed with a caustic wit and a powerful bullshit-detector, Rachel Corrie described herself as a woman with fire in her belly.
The 23-year-old US solidarity activist was the first of three young Westerners to be killed by Israeli forces in a string of incidents just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is a montage of her own writings, gleaned from her diaries, emails and letters, giving an unembellished insight into the mind of one of a new generation of anti-imperialists.
Alan Rickman, who came up with the idea of transforming Rachel's assorted writings into a play, says: "We were never going to paint Rachel as a golden saint or sentimentalise her."
It is this realism which adds to the poignancy of the piece. We know how it is going to end. And Corrie's humanity and integrity are so powerfully conveyed by Megan Dodd's emotionally shattering performance that, with each passing moment, one feels a sickening feeling grow stronger.
A one-act, one-actor, two-hour play is a daunting equation, but Corrie's heartfelt words, Dodd's involving, intimate delivery and the editing skills of Rickman and Katherine Viner have combined to powerful effect.
As Corrie prepares to swap what she terms her "dolls house" existence in suburban middle America for the Palestinian front line, she questions the wider relevance of her solidarity work, complaining that it "lacks a connection to the people who are affected" by the policies of her government.
"I have this underlying need to go to a place and meet people who are on the other end of my tax money that goes to fund the US and other militaries," she says.
Exchanging the relative security and comfort of Evergreen state college for the besieged, bloodied city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, it is from here on that her political consciousness undergoes a dramatic development.
And it is here that the play comes into its own. Instead of pandering to the spurious and stifling "objectivity" of the mass media, the notion that there is a conflict of equals going on in Palestine, it unflinchingly portrays the ugly consequences of Israeli and US big power politics on countless civilians.
And it is the painful, unsentimental honesty with which Corrie bears witness to the Palestinian people's daily suffering which makes the play such a powerful and moving experience.
Corrie's writings reveal her to be a sensitive, intelligent, informed and distinctly unfanatical person who is motivated by love of humanity and the search for truth. Her account cannot be dismissed as the work of an extremist or a naive campaigner.
How can a so-called democracy flout the Geneva Convention, turning whole villages and towns into virtual concentration camps with impunity?
How can an "international community" which advertises its support for human rights and humanitarianism and which boasts of its support for liberty and equality, support a regime that is founded on stolen land which is slowly strangling the indigenous people by destroying the source of their livelihoods, bombing their schools and hospitals and bulldozing their houses and water wells?
These are the questions that lead Corrie to a deeper understanding of the situation and, instead of shying away from the implications, My Name is Rachel Corrie spells them out.
What she experiences in Rafah - the Israeli Defence Force shooting at international volunteers as they attempt to recover a Palestinian corpse and the extraordinary resilience of ordinary Palestinians in the face of such daily humiliations as the notorious, interminable checkpoint delays and strip-searches - is, for her, "an intense tutelage in people being able to organise and resist against all the odds."
Before, she had been mildly irritated by the views of liberal US citizens, who, while expressing sympathy with Palestinians, talked of the "cycle of violence" and how "Palestinian violence is no solution."
Now, in light of her experience, she observes matter-of-factly that most people would take the road of armed struggle if they were subject to such oppression.
What is amazing, she says, is the degree of Palestinian forbearance and pacifism in the face of such wanton, systematic violence.
Corrie is crystal clear that there can be no equality between the oppressor and the oppressed - and she chooses to side with the oppressed.
Even so, she is plagued by a lingering sense of her otherness. As her experiences reveal to her the horrible reality of protracted asymmetric warfare, her sense of guilt grows.
She admits that she is "embarrassed at how long it takes for me to realise that people live like this" and she is constantly haunted by the awareness that "our experience is not the same - I have the option of leaving."
What she calls her "international white person privilege," the same privilege that "shields people from the consequences of their actions," leads her to believe that she will be safe from the daily depredations of the IDF.
She says that she must "channel this guilt into work" and it is her commitment to "drop everything and make this stop" that leads her to take her stand, using her body as a shield to stop an Israeli bulldozer from razing a Palestinian home.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is more than an introduction to a committed and talented young activist. And it is more than a sensitive insight into the new culture of resistance that is emerging and maturing in the belly of the beast. It is a powerful indictment of the criminal, brutal and anti-human state terrorism of the US and Israeli regimes and, as such, is a fitting tribute to the too-short life of Rachel Corrie.
Plays until Sunday May 7. Box office: 0870 060 6631.
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, April 14, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
April 13, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: A MERGE; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 1044 words
HEADLINE: How I wish I'd given this stage hit a miss
BYLINE: DAVID SEXTON
TODAY is Maundy Thursday, the start of the Easter holiday weekend, when millions of people leave London for the country or abroad.
Unfortunately, it happens also to be the time that Network Rail and London Underground bosses have chosen to undertake major engineering work. King's Cross is to be closed, sections of eight of the 12 Underground lines will be shut, mainline railway services will be diverted. For good measure, overnight engineering works on three Underground lines have overrun, which means disruption is starting even earlier than planned. Most of us appreciate that engineering work has to be undertaken at weekends, but it seems that transport executives never quite do justice to the sheer volume of traffic at the beginning and end of the Easter weekend. All travellers can do is check their journeys before they start - and hope that the information lines are sufficiently well manned to prepare us for the worst.
I BADE farewell to the theatre nine years ago in these pages.
Having been sent to see Tom Stoppard's prize-winning but lamentable play about the poet A E Housman at the National, I was sick of the whole caboodle.
"I would rather have spent the evening in a darkened cell.
Standing in a corner, facing the wall," I wrote, swearing never again to endure such an ordeal.
This week I have been to the theatre again, unless it was a horrid dream. My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Playhouse has just extended its run until 21 May, "following an incredible response from both critics and audience alike".
Sold out. A big treat, then.
It's a 90-minute monologue, devised by Alan Rickman, the Die Hard baddie, and Kath Viner of the Guardian, from the prolix diaries of a 23-year-old American peace activist who died under an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003. The case has been much in the news this week because it was Corrie's example that inspired 22-yearold Londoner Tom Hurndall to follow in her footsteps to Palestine where he was then fatally injured by an Israeli sniper.
It is, of course, possible for the truly hardhearted to feel only conditional sympathy for the misadventures of self-appointed do-gooders.
There were no such sceptics in the audience the night I went, let alone stalwart supporters of the Israeli Defence Force.
There was, rather, under the beanie hats, that radiant look of confident expectation that all their existing opinions are about to be confirmed that is so characteristic of theatrefolk and which invariably goes such a long way to making the whole expedition insufferable. The occasion was reminiscent of all those earnestly protesting plays, novels and poems still being written about the First World War. Who can be in favour of it? What, exactly, is being challenged?
And, as a theatrical experience, My Name is Rachel Corrie is mortifying.
There is just the one actress, Megan Dodds, ever so winsome, and she talks nonstop - that is, recites from memory, pretending spontaneity, this being the theatre after all - for 90 minutes without a break.
There is no dramatic tension whatsoever. In an attempt at action, she moves about the stage a bit and clambers over the scenery from time to time.
Otherwise it's just gabble, gabble-gabble. And the undeveloped thinking of this young and naive woman is painfully overexposed by such treatment. At one point, she tells us: "I think my soul is nomadic - I've always been jealous of migrating birds."
What can be the purpose of making this torrent of words into a play rather than printing them, if need be? On this showing, as a medium, theatre merits nothing less than immediate extinction. Almost all other media have more to offer.
After an hour or so, I am sorry to say I caught myself wondering: where the hell was that bloody bulldozer? I do apologise for such insensitivity. No need to send in a complaint. I'll be standing in the corner, facing the wall, for the next few years, anyway.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, April 14, 2006
Renie
- Thursday, April 13, 2006
Claudia
GA - Thursday, April 13, 2006
Julia
Canada - Thursday, April 13, 2006
Claire
- Wednesday, April 12, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
April 6, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: LSE 04; Pg. 11
LENGTH: 274 words
HEADLINE: My London
BYLINE: ANNIE DEAKIN
Vanessa Redgrave
The actress drinks at the Cross Keys when she's not performing at the Theatre Royal or acting as a willing sous chef to her daughter Natasha Where do you live and why?
I live in West London where I've lived since 1946, when my parents bought their first home by the Thames. My family have always lived in London. We lived in Putney during the war.
What was the last play you saw in London and did you enjoy it?
My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Royal Court directed by Alan Rickman. This was one of the most exceptional evenings I have ever spent in a theatre.
What do you miss most when you're out of London?
My children and grandchildren.
What are your home comforts?
Cooking, reading in bed, and having family over for a meal.
What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?
Restore the hospital cleaning staff as employees of each hospital.
Declare London a no-go area for the government's Education Bill.
Get a gun-control register going.
Do you have a favourite pub?
The Cross Keys, Hammersmith, because renovating it they retained the old features of a proper pub rather than turn it into a wine bar.
Your favourite London theatre?
As a performer, it's the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
What have been your most memorable meals?
Meals in Italy in the Sixties. Meals cooked by my daughter Natasha.
She cooks every kind of meal, and I love being her sous-chef.
What films have you liked recently?
Tsotsi, Fateless and Paradise Now.
What are your current projects?
I produced a documentary about Russia and Chechnya and the campaign for human rights. It was recently launched on the internet.
What is your life philosophy?
Be helpful in a constructive way.
Georgiana (Italics added.)
Seattle - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
April 9, 2006 Sunday
SECTION: SEVEN; THEATRE; Pg. 28
LENGTH: 668 words
HEADLINE: Smaller; My Name is Rachel Corrie; In Celebration of Harold Pinter
BYLINE: susan irvine
. . . . . . . . . .
It's odd, I know, to describe a play as not brilliant yet essential viewing. But there are not many plays like My Name is Rachel Corrie (at the Playhouse). As a dramatic piece it is flawed, but as the testament of an ordinary/extraordinary American girl who died for her ideals, it is exceptional. Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old student when she went to Palestine in 2003 to join international peace activists as a 'human shield'. She was killed by an Israeli Army bulldozer as she knelt in front of a doctor's house, which was about to be demolished. Corrie was no extremist and no bigot. 'In regards to Palestinian violence, I just abhor any violence.' she says at one point.
Megan Dodds paints a convincing portrait of a goofy, idealistic, self-deprecating young woman. The play - a monologue - was compiled after Corrie's death from her diaries and emails by the Guardian features editor Katharine Viner, and Alan Rickman, who also directs. It is this naked young voice, untuned for public exposure, that must be heard. Yet Americans have been denied the chance. Cancelled at the last minute from its US premier at the New York Theatre Workshop, the production has come to the West End instead.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Copyright
April 11, 2006
My Name Is Rachel Corrie
By Ray Bennett
Playhouse Theatre, London
Through May 21
LONDON -- One of the most disturbing things about "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," the Royal Court play based on the journals and e-mails of a young American who died in Palestine for no apparent reason, is that it has yet to be seen in the U.S.
The one-woman production starring Megan Dodds was on its way to the New York Theater Workshop last monh when it derailed. Instead, it's in a sold-out run at London's Playhouse Theatre, directed, as it was at the Royal Court, by actor Alan Rickman, who fashioned the play with journalist Katharine Viner.
Rachel Corrie was a seriously earnest young woman from the Pacific Northwest who was born seeking a cause. At 10, she made a speech pleading on behalf of the poor at her school's fifth-grade news conference on world hunger, and at 23 she left to take a look at the sharp end of where her country's tax dollars were spent on things military.
She went to the Palestinian territories with an international goodwill movement, and there she died, crushed by a U.S.-made bulldozer being used by Israeli forces that were knocking down Palestinian homes.
We meet Corrie in her apartment as she prepares to leave her comfortably chaotic and liberal environment in order to see what is really happening in one of the world's trouble spots. A slight, blond chatterbox, she is forever making lists about things to do and people to meet.
Full of middle-class anxieties and well-meaning ambitions, she finds herself changed by a free trip to Russia, where for the first time she saw poverty and genuine hardship. "It was flawed, dirty, broken and gorgeous," she writes in her journal.
Flying home over Puget Sound, she realizes that its glorious radiance is not enough to make her feel glad to be home. She is hit hard by the realization that she is destined to live forever in a land of privilege unless she travels. "I can't cool boiling waters in Russia. I can't be Picasso. I can't be Jesus. I can't save the planet single-handedly," she writes. "I can wash dishes."
And so she journeys to Jerusalem and then to Rafah with a copy of "Let's Go Israel" under her arm. She states clearly that she sees a distinction between the fate of Jewish people and the policies of the state of Israel. Her role, as she sees it, is to bear witness to what those policies mean for Palestinians.
Rickman and Viner have done a fine job of shaping Corrie's often luminous writing into something resembling a play, and Dodds is exceptionally good at capturing the intense young woman's scattershot personality and deep desire to do good.
Her death is as random as so many others in that tragic part of the world. She died in Palestine, but her writings suggest it could have been anywhere, on any side where the poor die pointlessly because of unreasoning conflict.
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
David Johnson and Virginia Buckley present a Royal Court Theatre production
Credits:
Taken from the writings of: Rachel Corrie
Edited by: Alan Rickman, Katharine Viner
Produced with the permission of Rachel Corrie's family
Director: Alan Rickman
Designer: Hildegard Bechtler
Lighting designer: Johanna Town
Sound/video designer: Emma Laxton
Cast:
Rachel Corrie: Megan Dodds
Georgiana (Thanks, Claire, and Sue and everyone!)
Seattle - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
"Something the Lord made" will be available on DVD in Germany (16. June 2006) for 9,99?! Titel: "Ein Werk Gottes"
www.jpc.de
Ravanna
Ravanna <Ravanna1st@web.defoo>
Germany - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Claire
- Monday, April 10, 2006
Financial Times (London, England)
April 4, 2006 Tuesday
London Edition 1
SECTION: ARTS AND IDEAS; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 333 words
HEADLINE: My Name Is Rachel Corrie THE CRITICS
BYLINE: By SARAH HEMMING
Playhouse Theatre, London
In a sense, this production shouldn't be here. It should be in New York, at the off-Broadway Theater Workshop. But that showing has been withdrawn, so here it is in the West End instead.
Good news for London, but this is a piece that should still be seen in New York, whether it ruffles feathers or not.
Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old American student who joined the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza in 2003. She was run down and killed by an Israeli bulldozer. This piece for theatre (first shown at the Royal Court last April) is composed from her writing - journals, jottings, e-mails - edited and shaped by Katharine Viner and Alan Rickman (who also directs). Every word in it is Rachel's and so carries the force of authentic experience.
It does not pretend to be impartial - Rachel points out that she has deliberately chosen to help the Palestinian people and it is their perspective she encounters. But the power of the piece arises from its honesty. It presents a shocked, first-hand account of conditions in Gaza, and it offers a portrait of a young woman who left her safe, liberal home to put herself in the line of fire. Her choice to do this and her frank distress at what she sees present a challenge to us sitting comfortably in the audience.
Emails from Rachel's parents and friends make us painfully aware of how worried they were. But this is, rightly, a one-woman show, remarkably delivered by Megan Dodds. Dodds' superb performance fills the theatre, bringing out the intelligence and spirit of her young charge. Rachel can be compassionate, funny and wise, but also naive, bombastic and even infuriating. Dodds' vibrant performance, skilfully shaped by Rickman, makes us love this courageous young woman. And the last word is given to Rachel herself. The show finishes with a video of her as a 10- year-old, galvanising her school-mates with a speech about world hunger. We are left with her direct, questioning voice.
SARAH HEMMING
Tel 0870 060 6631
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, April 05, 2006
1.
2.
3.
4.
sue
england - Tuesday, April 04, 2006
4.4.06
Charles Spencer reviews My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Playhouse Theatre
By rights, this production shouldn't be playing in London at all, but in America. The show was set to open last month at the New York Theatre Workshop but was pulled in what its director, Alan Rickman, has called "censorship born out of fear".
sue
england - Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Beckett event 2
Beckett event 3
Beckett event 4
Beckett event 5
Suzanne
- Monday, April 03, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The West Briton
March 30, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: Pg. 51
LENGTH: 441 words
HEADLINE: New releases: From teen angst to elderly nudity
The general consensus is that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (12, minor language, scares, 2005, 151 mins) is about the best of the four films so far.
Contrary old curmudgeon that I am, I disrespectfully disagree.
Its pacing is horribly awry - just as things get going they stop again for another "important" plot development, or to introduce yet another major character while woefully underusing some of the stars it already has; I reckon, between them, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman get about six scenes.
It appears to have been edited with a butcher's cleaver, despite its two-and-a-half-hour length. Scenes end abruptly or are edited so quickly that you can't catch up with what's happening. Similarly, director Mike (Four Weddings) Newall has to combine big scale action scenes with the leading characters' burgeoning teenage angst, two entirely different things which aren't terribly compatible.
Technically, though, its well up to the mark and occasionally goes beyond it. It's splendid to look at and more humorous than you might expect, largely thanks to Brendan Gleeson's turn as an eccentric addition to Hogwart's staff with a rolling artificial eye which he can't seem to control. Ralph Fiennes, too, makes his mark in a short scene as Potter's nemesis, Lord Voldemort.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, April 03, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
March 31, 2006 Friday
SECTION: B; Pg. 15
LENGTH: 59 words
EVEN though he directed and developed My Name Is Rachel Corrie, Alan Rickman was on customarily reticent form at the first night at The Playhouse.
The Londoner wasn't however offended as hear the Shakespearean and Harry Potter thesp also recently turned down the chance to get cosy on the sofa with Parkinson.
Presumably that will also be a no to Davina then.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, April 03, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Observer (England)
April 2, 2006
SECTION: OBSERVER REVIEW ARTS PAGES; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 116 words
HEADLINE: Review: Critics' Choice: Our essential guide to the week ahead: Is it just me or does it feel a bit warmer?: THEATRE
BYLINE: SUSANNAH CLAPP
My Name is Rachel Corrie
Playhouse, London, until 7 May
Alan Rickman's terrific production, 'postponed indefinitely' in New York, returns to London.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, April 03, 2006
Georgiana (Mr. Rickman's role is Willy.)
Seattle - Monday, April 03, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Sunday, April 02, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Sunday, April 02, 2006
Glowbox
France - Sunday, April 02, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
March 31, 2006 Friday
First Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 41
LENGTH: 401 words
HEADLINE: Theatre: MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE Playhouse LONDON ****
One welcomes My Name Is Rachel Corrie to the West End with mixed feelings. It is great that it means more exposure for this moving 90-minute monologue, pieced together from the journals and e-mails of the 23-year-old US activist who in 2003 was killed by an Israeli bulldozer.
By rights, though, Alan Rickman's pitch-perfect Royal Court production, featuring an incandescent Megan Dodds, should be playing at the New York Theatre Workshop, where it was to have opened on 22 March. Yet because of "the very edgy situation" created by Ariel Sharon's illness and Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections, it was felt that the play needed "contextualising", with post-show discussions and per-haps the addition of a companion piece with an opposing point of view. When the Royal Court refused, the production was "indefinitely postponed", in what looks like an act of self-censorship. This is troubling because the NYTW is a liberal institution, which has nurtured the writing of Tony Kushner and presented the US premieres of Caryl Churchill's last plays.
My Name Is Rachel Corrie never pretends that it is an
even-handed account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We see the world through the eyes and prose of a skinny college kid who was equally passionately idealistic and self-absorbed, admirable and exasperating. The play is a self-portrait' a chronicle of a death foretold' a tribute to a courageous, compassionate spirit' and an eye-witness report of the horror of life in Gaza, where she went as a member of the International Solidarity Movement of non-violent resistance to the occupation.
The play does not try to turn her into a secular saint. At times you feel a tangle of admiration and irritation at her naivety, yet you are grateful that someone was prepared to act on their beliefs. Corrie's concern for suffering humanity was precocious. At 10, she spoke at her school Conference on World Hunger and is captured on video, seen at the end of the play. The notion that she was a self-regarding atrocity tourist is outrageous. She was acutely aware that, unlike her new Palestinian friends, she could leave. She chose not to. Given that she had gone to the Middle East to meet people who were "on the receiving end" of tax dollars and that it was an US-made bulldozer that killed her, it will be a tragic irony if her home country does not allow her a hearing.
Paul Taylor
To 7 May (0870 060 6631)
Georgiana
Seattle - Saturday, April 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
March 31, 2006 Friday
LENGTH: 327 words
HEADLINE: THEATRE
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
PLAYHOUSE
NICHOLAS DE JONGH
THE election triumph of Israel's Kadimah party and its plan to redraw its borders while annexing Palestinian territory gives fresh, ominous topicality to My Name is Rachel Corrie. This 90-minute solo theatre-piece, applauded at its two Royal Court showings last year, left me amazed, shocked and saddened. Only in the last 10 minutes, though, did I feel emotionally stirred and politically galavanised. Until then I felt Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, the compilers and editors of the show, which Megan Dodds brings to a memorably anguished and fearful finale, had rather squandered their opportunities.
The heroic Corrie, killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent a Palestinian home on the Gaza strip from destruction, left diaries and emails. These furnish graphic details of her experiences while helping the oppressed inhabitants of Rafah. Her writing, before she left middle-class America for the Middle East, reveal an endearing, mildly eccentric young woman of genuine literary talent. Misguidedly, Rickman and Viner dramatise far too much of her unexceptional adolescent life and too little of her vivid responses to Rafah's terrible decline and fall.
Hildegard Bechtler's imaginative design, which places Rachel's bedroom in America and computer in Rafah against a background of bullet-ridden, halfcollapsed concrete foundations, supplies a dramatic context for a production by Rickman that needs a more frequent, evocative sound-design.
The luminously handsome Dodds exudes a rapt intensity from which her hand gestures sometimes distract.
• Until 7 May Information: 0870 060 66310.
Georgiana
Seattle - Saturday, April 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Daily Mail (London)
March 31, 2006 Friday
SECTION: ED 1ST; Pg. 60
LENGTH: 1275 words
HEADLINE: Searching for answers in the Promised Land
BYLINE: QUENTIN LETTS
My Name Is Rachel Corrie
(Playhouse Theatre)
Verdict: A lonely, unrelenting voice of protest ***
PUNISH theatregoers enough and they will eventually be grateful for the smallest of stage mercies. That seems to be the tactic at the Playhouse with its latest production. In the end it works surprisingly well.
For 75 minutes the audience is subjected to the serious, predictable story of Rachel Corrie, a young American who travelled to Palestine with something called the International Solidarity Movement and was killed by Israeli defence forces.
Na've, as so many young Westerners can be about the ways of this cruel world, Rachel is surprised to find how poor the Third World is.
She is taken aback by how badly they are treated by American-supported Israeli soldiers. Did she never read newspapers?
It comes as a revelation to this slim, middleclass saver of the planet that bullets can tear through a peace campaigner's tent as easily as Tel Aviv's bulldozers can trammel to smithereens the life's work of an Arab farmer's olive grove.
The first 20 minutes or so are slow going. We open in Rachel Corrie's unkempt student bedroom in Washington state. We hear of her Huckleberry Finn-style youth.
She mixes in tolerant circles. She jokes that she knows women who won't ascribe the gender of their babies until they are old enough to choose for themselves.
She lives in a West Coast world where ingenues talk earnestly of 'social skills' and 'trust issues' and 'goal-directed outputs'.
The terrorist dangers facing Israel, and the merciless efficiency with which that democracy meets those threats, might as well be on another planet.
This is a one-woman show. Rachel is played by Megan Dodds, who in her torn jeans and bunched blonde hair could easily be one of thousands of fans at a Nanci Griffith concert in Seattle. It is a demanding role and Miss Dodds meets many of its requirements. Her voice could maybe do with some more variety. There is a limit to how long some British punters will want to listen to her rising-tone American accent, but Miss Dodds leaps around as best she can, given the static nature of much of her script.
Rachel declares that 'I have a fire in my belly', but it does not quite come across like that. Not a fire, anyway. Rachel for long seems merely workmanlike about her philosophical drive.
It is only in the last quarter of an hour that Miss Dodds clicks into overdrive. This happens when Rachel is writing emails home and is receiving messages in turn from her worried parents.
WE FINALLY, after so much waiting, see some of the outrage lurking in Rachel's heart. The result, undoubtedly, is strong political, polemical theatre worthy of that name.
Without the slow background stuff at the top of the show it is possible one would not appreciate fully this late crescendo of fury.
But are there not other ways Alan Rickman's self-denying production could reward its public? How about using other actors' voices to play Rachel's parents? How about a more luxuriant set rather than the dull bedroom and the grey Palestinian bunker? Need it all be quite so spartan?
The play closes with some video footage of Rachel as a child. Could that not have been slipped in earlier to maintain flagging audience morale?
My Name Is Rachel Corrie, which has reportedly had trouble finding a venue in New York, is an important work of international witness.
But need it be quite so determinedly severe?
Georgiana
Seattle - Saturday, April 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London) - Final Edition
April 1, 2006 Saturday
SECTION: GUARDIAN REVIEW PAGES; Pg. 36
LENGTH: 359 words
HEADLINE: Reviews: Theatre: Brave woman who could teach us how to live: My Name is Rachel Corrie Playhouse, London 4/5
BYLINE: Lyn Gardner
When Rachel Corrie was in the second grade, one of the classroom rules was that "everyone must feel safe". She decided this was a pretty good rule for life. But then she discovered there are people in the world who don't feel safe, who don't know if their house will still be there tomorrow, or whether they and their families will still be alive. Rachel determined to come out of her own safe zone, to escape the "doll's house" of her upbringing.
Rachel Corrie was just 23 when, in March 2003, a bulldozer tossed her body aside as she tried to protect a Palestinian home in Rafah in Gaza from being flattened. Told almost entirely in her own words, this is the story of Rachel's life and her journey from a comfortable, liberal upbringing to acting as a human shield between the Israeli army and the Palestinian people. This was a girl who wasn't prepared to sit idly by and watch. She also recognised that privilege could render her life meaningless, and so decided to do something about it. "I can't cool boiling waters in Russia. I can't be Picasso. I can't be Jesus. I can't save the planet single-handedly. I can wash dishes."
Elegantly edited and shaped from Rachel's diaries and writings by Alan Rickman and the Guardian's Katharine Viner, and performed with egoless, unaffected simplicity by Megan Dodds, this play is not about a girl who died, but about one who packed more into 23 years than most of us do into a lifetime. The immediacy of her writings and diaries are such that over the 90 minutes, it is like watching a speeded-up film of a girl - who joyfully describes herself as "scattered, deviant and too loud", who makes endless lists and smokes too much - grow up and discover her own voice, her own point of view, and truly become her own person.
It could have been mawkish; it might have been sentimental. It isn't. Go, and take your teenagers with you, not because - God forbid - you want them to suffer such a terrible fate, but because just occasionally you see a show in the theatre and hear a voice that, like Rachel's, vibrates with passion and idealism, and that teaches us all how to live.
Until May 7. Box office: 0870 060 6631.
Georgiana
Seattle - Saturday, April 01, 2006
The Times:
Claudia
GA - Friday, March 31, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Time Out
March 29, 2006
SECTION: Pg. 132
LENGTH: 178 words
HEADLINE: Theatre - Critics' choice
1. Guys and Dolls
Piccadilly Theatre, WE
Still a great night out with a new cast that includes Adam Cooper as a charismatic Sky Masterson.
2. My Name is Rachel Corrie
Playhouse Theatre, WE
New York's loss is our gain as Megan Dodds repeats her performance as the adventurous, sympathetic protester with a talent for description.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, March 31, 2006
The New York Times
March 31, 2006 Friday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section E; PT1; Column 1; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk; THEATER REVIEW; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 926 words
HEADLINE: Requiem for an Idealist (and a Cause Celebre)
BYLINE: By MATT WOLF
DATELINE: LONDON, March 30
What happens when the dust clouds of controversy clear to reveal the hotly debated -- if little seen -- thing itself? One answer is being offered at the Playhouse Theater, where ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' opened on Thursday night for a commercial London run that is taking the place of the play's suspended New York engagement.
Over the next six weeks, theatergoers will discover a production that has matured through three London engagements (the first two, separated by six months, took place last year on the Royal Court's pair of stages), even if the work remains an impassioned eulogy that isn't quite the same thing as a play.
It's the nature of that passion, of course, that has stirred debate in the United States. The story is this: On March 16, 2003, Ms. Corrie, 23, was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer preparing to demolish a Palestinian home in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Quickly thereafter, she was invoked as a martyr by Yasir Arafat -- and by extension, the Palestinian cause -- even as she was demonized by others in the pro-Israel camp.
Ms. Corrie's affiliation with the International Solidarity Movement, an organization that has recruited Americans and Europeans to serve as human shields, turned her death into the stuff of ideological football. The recent decision by New York Theater Workshop to put its scheduled production on indefinite hold shifted the debate into the theatrical arena. (Ewan Thomson, spokesman for the Royal Court Theater, said Thursday that a New York City premiere is still planned for this year, although a theater has not yet been chosen. A regional production has been scheduled for March 2007 at the Seattle Repertory Theater.)
But how is the show itself? Funny how often that question isn't asked. So the first thing worth reasserting about ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' is its right to be seen and debated: a society that won't allow that is one fearful of its extremes and, by extension, the world.
Not that fear seems to have been part of Ms. Corrie's vocabulary on the evidence of this 90-minute solo piece, a testimonial to her that has been distilled from her writings by Katharine Viner, features editor at The Guardian newspaper here, and the actor Alan Rickman, who doubles as the play's director. When first glimpsed, Rachel Corrie, played by Megan Dodds, is seen lying on her bed, head tilted back, in her Olympia, Wash., home: a firebrand, it is made clear, from an early age.
While other fifth-graders wrote of wanting to be an astronaut or Spider-Man, she was busy writing ''a five-paragraph manifesto on the million things I wanted to be, from wandering poet to first woman president.'' That intensity of engagement would only be amplified by time. ''I'm building the world myself and putting new hats on everybody,'' she says, and she is seen embracing pop culture (Dairy Queen, Pat Benatar) while apparently never losing a social awareness that took her in middle school to Russia and then, in her early 20's, to the Middle East.
Such a sense of mission can, of course, cause very real pain to others: a fascinating program essay by Ms. Viner reveals that Ms. Corrie's former boyfriend, Colin Reese, committed suicide in 2004. But in keeping with its title, ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' consists of its character's musings, which we must take straight. In theatrical terms, it might demand a George Bernard Shaw (or perhaps, the New York Theater Workshop alumnus Tony Kushner) to anatomize the contradictions in the psyche of the activist, as that famous Shavian zealot, Saint Joan, discovered to her cost. Nor, perhaps inevitably, does this piece ever acquire the ironic perspective on the sorts of passions and issues (her broadside against privilege, for instance) that figure more ambiguously in some of the solo narratives of, say, Wallace Shawn.
If this play doesn't exactly sanctify its subject, it still functions as a staged requiem that can't help but be both partial and partisan. One could take issue with Rachel's comment late on that the Palestinians are for the most part ''engaging in Gandhian nonviolent resistance.'' But it's hard not to be impressed -- and also somewhat frightened -- by the description of her as a 2-year-old looking across Capitol Lake in Washington State and announcing, "This is the wide world, and I'm coming to it."
Perhaps thanks to the controversy, Mr. Rickman's production has gathered power since I first saw it last April, and the material actually suits its current 750-seat West End berth better than it did a Royal Court studio space about a tenth the size. Ms. Dodds, an American whose London theater credits include Neil LaBute's "This Is How It Goes," is a decade or so older than Ms. Corrie was when she died. But the actress subtly moves from a shining-faced earnestness to something darker and more dangerous, as the fire in Ms. Corrie's belly builds into a conflagration. (One can only imagine what a young Vanessa Redgrave might have made of the role.)
Apt conduit that Ms. Dodds is, it remains fitting that a piece driven by Ms. Corrie's own language concludes with a brief film of her. There she is, age 10, arguing for the eradication of hunger by the year 2000 and to give ''the poor a chance.'' Unexceptional sentiments? Perhaps, at least to anyone who has heard (or sung) any of a thousand comparable protest songs. But that doesn't diminish the singularity of Ms. Corrie's death or of this paean to her, which gives activism a necessary center stage without quite arriving at the realm of art.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo: Megan Dodds plays Rachel Corrie at the Playhouse Theater in London. (Photo by Alastair Muir)
Georgiana (Didn't Alastair Muir do those wonderful press photos from "Private Lives"?)
Seattle - Friday, March 31, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
March 31, 2006 Friday 6:08 PM GMT
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL
LENGTH: 509 words
HEADLINE: British theater steps in to stage play after New York run axed
BYLINE: By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: LONDON
A play about an American peace activist killed in the Gaza Strip has opened in London 3,000 miles from its previously planned off-Broadway home.
"My Name Is Rachel Corrie," a one-woman show starring Megan Dodds, began a six-week run this week at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End.
First produced last year at London's subsidized Royal Court Theatre, the play had been due to open this month at New York Theatre Workshop, one of the city's leading off-Broadway spaces. But the production was suspended indefinitely in February.
The show's director, British actor Alan Rickman, said the theater had canceled the run, and accused it of "censorship born out of fear." But in a March 14 statement posted on the company's Web site, Theatre Workshop artistic director James C. Nicola said the company had sought only more time to "find ways to let Rachel's words rise above the polemics."
"We regret that requesting more time to achieve that goal was interpreted as failing to fulfill a commitment and, worse, as censorship," he said.
The Playhouse stepped in to stage the story of Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home in the southern Gaza town of Rafah in March 2003. Corrie, 23, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., had traveled to the Middle East with the International Solidarity Movement, an activist group that tries to stop Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territories. An Israeli investigation ruled the death accidental.
Since her death, Corrie has become a divisive figure in the United States, with supporters hailing her bravery and commitment and opponents condemning her as foolish and naive.
"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" sets out to create a more rounded picture. Writer Katherine Viner features editor of The Guardian newspaper in London and writer-director Rickman, weave together sections of diaries, letters and e-mails from Corrie's time in Gaza, along with childhood journals, to create a picture of a passionate but imperfect idealist.
The show is bound to provoke strong reactions. Some will disagree with Corrie's analysis of what she calls "people who are impacted by U.S. foreign policy." But her descriptions of the suffering of the Palestinians she met are powerful. In Dodds' performance, Corrie emerges as passionate and articulate but flawed, fired by the idealism and the self-righteousness of youth.
"We've tried to show she is neither a saint nor a traitor," Viner said. "She is just an ordinary young woman.
"Everyone who sees the play realizes you don't have to agree with her to find it a moving experience. I think it's important to see beyond the politics of it. It is a political play, but that's not all it is. Rachel was a political woman, but that's not all she was."
Viner said she still hoped that "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" would be produced this year in New York though not at New York Theatre Workshop. The Seattle Repertory Theatre announced earlier this week it would present the play March 15-April 22, 2007.
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, March 31, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Express
March 29, 2006 Wednesday
U.K. 1st Edition
SECTION: COLUMNS; 26
LENGTH: 507 words
HEADLINE: It's Catherine's turn in spotlight;
DAY & NIGHT
BYLINE: KATHRYN SPENCER, JULIE CARPENTER & KATE BOHDANOWICZ
. . . . . . . . . .
JUST how much rehearsal does a Hollywood actor need? Jude Law is hoping one afternoon will do the trick. The Cold Mountain heart-throb, 33, is to appear in a gala to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of playwright Samuel Beckett, alongside Alan Rickman and Lee Evans. The gala, at Reading Town Hall on Sunday at 7pm, is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief.
"The cast will be directed by Anthony Minghella and will perform excerpts from Beckett's works. Unfortunately, all the stars won't be able to rehearse together until mid-afternoon, " we're told. "Fortunately, all the actors are real pros." And the prospect of seeing the single, post-Sienna Jude is bound to pull in crowds, rehearsal or not.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, March 30, 2006
All Rights Reserved
BackStage
March 23, 2006
SECTION: COLUMNS; Our View
LENGTH: 914 words
HEADLINE: 'Rachel Corrie': Irrational Fear or Rational Prudence?
In this corner: a theatre that postpones a controversial play, fearing the play's facts aren't straight and that it might inflame political tensions. And in this corner: a growing group that believes, despite explanations to the contrary, that the postponement is due to censorship and cowardice. No hitting below the belt, please.
The players are New York Theatre Workshop, an acclaimed Off-Broadway theatre with a reputation for courage (as its premieres of Rent, Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul, and Caryl Churchill's A Number attest), and the industry's growing furor over NYTW's postponement of My Name Is Rachel Corrie. Developed by actor Alan Rickman and British journalist Katharine Viner, the play is based on the journals and email of a 23-year-old American woman who, after traveling to Gaza to protest Israel's occupation of Palestine, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. Harold Pinter perhaps best articulates the view of those against postponement. In a recent interview in the London newspaper The Guardian, he called the decision "typical of what is happening more and more in Britain and America: suppression of dissent and the truth."
Certainly, NYTW's artistic director, James C. Nicola, regrets his company's handling of the situation. Its website (www.nytw.org), for example, has posted two explanations. In the current one, he expresses concern over the "many distorted accounts of the actual circumstances of Rachel's death" found in the course of the theatre's research and the need "to let Rachel's words rise above the polemics." His words have a ring of prudence: "We spoke to friends and colleagues in the artistic community and to religious leaders as well as to representatives of the Jewish community, because the play involved Israeli action. It was this piece of our research that has attracted attention and led some of you to conclude that we sought to postpone the production based solely on their response. This was not the case. No outside group has ever or will ever participate in the artistic decision-making process at NYTW."
NYTW has cited so many other more-tangential reasons, however, that all is now a muddle. The New York Times, for example, reported that Nicola "originally said that he had spoken to 'religious leaders' in making his decision...[later] he said that the workshop did a 'wide reaching out into the complexity of the community of New York' that included reading Palestinian views on Web sites." The Times also reported that Lynn Moffat, the company's managing director, said she and Nicola "took advice from members of their in-house artistic staff, as well as 'colleagues and colleagues of colleagues.' " In The New York Observer, Nicola tied the postponement to "a very edgy situation" following the success of the militant Islamic group Hamas in last month's Palestinian elections and the debilitating stroke of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, while saying that he hadn't "personally spoken to any members of the Jewish community who've opposed the play" but that he had "spoken to many Jewish friends who have had degrees of discomfort with the topic." Did NYTW even have the rights to the play, as its creators have stated in British newspapers? Good question. The Village Voice noted that "all aspects of how far along the production agreement was, and whether NYTW's decision constituted a delay until next season, an indefinite postponement, [or] a cancellation...are in dispute by both companies."
There's more. Variety cited "complications with the lead actors' schedules" as the reason for postponement, while Time Out New York reported on Nicola's concern that the theatre "didn't have enough time to market the show so that incendiary issues wouldn't drown out Corrie's voice...." In a statement emailed to Back Stage and NY1 News, Nicola said he became aware "that by presenting the play on the current schedule, this debate might become the event instead of the play itself." But it seems to have happened anyway. In the Times, Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, bluntly called Nicola's decision "a mistake."
The larger community apparently agrees: More than 800 people have added their names to an online petition to Nicola (www.petitiononline.com/ nytw) that reads, in part, "We would like to remind you that your decision to postpone comes at a time when a climate of fear has become embedded in our culture, when our shared commitment to free speech is being challenged from many sides, whether by government repression, private media outlets, or organized interest groups."
First, Nicola needs to get his story straight and adopt less-disingenuous stances. But the community must also realize that if censorship fears can be stoked by the delay of just one play, that is symptomatic of a larger problem. Here's what we believe: If Nicola genuinely feels his theatre needs to do more dramaturgical due diligence on Rachel Corrie, he should have the time to do so. But that's not permission to do so indefinitely. The community must aggressively hold his feet to the fire and ensure that My Name Is Rachel Corrie kicks off NYTW's new season. A public reading of the play, not open to review, would doubtless be a welcome sign of good faith.
The editor-in-chief of Back Stage East and other Back Stage staff members cannot endorse the opinions expressed in this Our View because not enough information about the play or the actual circumstances of Rachel Corrie's death is currently known.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Also see:
JUDE LAW
ANTHONY MINGHELLA
ALAN RICKMAN
LEE EVANS
Actor JUDE LAW and director ANTHONY MINGHELLA will honour the 100th anniversary of playwright SAMUEL BECKETT's birth at a charity production in Reading, England. Minghella will direct his COLD MOUNTAIN star alongside a cast including ALAN RICKMAN and LEE EVANS in a montage of Beckett excerpts at Reading Town Hall on Sunday (02APR06). However, rehearsal time for the show, which will raise money for MACmillan Cancer Relief, is limited. An insider says, "The cast will be directed by Anthony Minghella and will perform excerpts from Beckett's works. "Unfortunately, all the stars won't be able to rehearse together until mid-afternoon. Fortunately, all the actors are real pros." Beckett died in 1989 aged 83.
29/03/2006 13:54
Georgiana (really wish I could be there!)
Seattle - Wednesday, March 29, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
March 27, 2006 Monday
SECTION: LSE 04; Pg. 23
LENGTH: 394 words
HEADLINE: Going off the rails at heist point;
TAKE 6 NIGHTS OUT AT THE MOVIES
. . . . . . . . . .
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE Press night Thursday.
Playhouse, WC2 (0870 060 6631) Adapted from the diaries of a young American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to protect a Palestinian home in Gaza in 2003, My Name Is Rachel Corrie hit the headlines recently when a New York theatre was accused of censorship after it postponed its run. First seen at the Royal Court last year, the play now transfers to the West End. Alan Rickman directs, while Megan Dodds plays Rachel Corrie.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Time Out
March 22, 2006
SECTION: Pg. 134
LENGTH: 877 words
HEADLINE: Theatre - Courting controversy;
The Royal Court's play about political activist Rachel Corrie, killed in Palestine in 2003, is a rich, incisive and provocative reconstruction, not a piece of propaganda. What a shame its New York run was abruptly postponed, says Rachel Halliburton
Preserving Rachel Corrie's memory was never going to be simple. That became obvious when the memorial service held in Gaza shortly after the pro-Palestinian demonstrator's death was attacked by Israeli soldiers with tear gas and stun grenades. Yet it was still a shock when last month the New York Theater Workshop - famous for provocative, radical work - suddenly announced that it was 'postponing' the Royal Court production of 'My Name Is Rachel Corrie'. An explanatory finger was pointed towards the local Jewish community, described as 'very defensive' following Ariel Sharon's sickness and the election of the Palestinian militant group, Hamas.
But if the Workshop's artistic director James C Nicola was hoping to avert crisis, he couldn't have miscalculated more. Playing political chicken, he's been plucked and skewered by angry denunciations on both sides of the Atlantic. The play's director Alan Rickman condemned his decision as 'censorship born out of fear,' and in the ensuing weeks Vanessa Redgrave and leading American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis are among those who have applied varying degrees of rhetorical heat to encourage him to reconsider. Nicola's assertions that he was delaying (rather than surreptitiously cancelling) the production have not satisfied his critics. Now the play's set for a London West End run, before the Royal Court decides which offer to accept from one of the interested New York theatres.
The skinny American blonde who once described herself as 'scattered and deviant and too loud' kick-started more than she or anyone else could have guessed when she boarded a plane in January 2003 and headed for Rafah in Palestine. 'I know I scare you Mom,' the 23-year-old wrote, 'But I want to write and want to see. And what would I write about,' she continued wrily, 'if I only stayed within the doll's house, the flower-world I grew up in?' Rachel was born in Olympia, Washington, and her writing is splashed vividly with the shifting colours of her opinions as she struggled to make sense of life, both as a young girl, and as an American in a world dramatically affected by US foreign policy. Aged ten, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to be a wandering poet, Spiderman, or first woman president. Aged 23 she agreed to join the International Solidarity Movement as a human shield between Rafah's Palestinian community and the Israeli army.
Katharine Viner, now features editor of the Guardian, was immediately struck by Corrie's writing when the newspaper ran the 23-year-old's emails after she was crushed to death by an Israeli Caterpillar bulldozer. 'She was killed in extraordinary circumstances, and she left behind an amazing body of work,' she asserts. Viner, a judge on the 2004 Orange Prize Committee and an award-winning magazine editor, would hardly have been biased by the tragedy of Corrie's death. The Royal Court invited her to create a play with Alan Rickman based on Corrie's words. 'We were thinking of getting other voices - from Israeli soldiers, from friends in Gaza, and friends in Olympia,' says Viner. 'And then we received this bundle of material from the Corrie family - they'd been typing up Rachel's journals (written) since she was ten, and we were just blown away.'
How do you recreate a girl whose life and death have sparked such diverse reactions? The tidal wave of sympathy that rose up when she died was equalled by the tidal wave of bile: in a Wall Street Journal readers' forum, one contributor spat, 'her ignorance got her killed', while another damned her to a 'sweltering pig infested hell'. As a journalist familiar with the Middle East, Viner knew she had the expertise to create a coherent portrait of Corrie and her political views, while Rickman had the instinct for making them stage-worthy. 'It took about four months to edit her writing, and we really fought, really hard,' laughs Viner.
The successful fusing of the material has been attributed in no small part to Megan Dodds' performance as Corrie. Dodds feels that elements of Corrie's writing seem even to address the New York controversy: 'There's a line where she says: "The scariest thing for non-Jewish Americans in talking about Palestinian self-determination is the fear of being or sounding anti-Semitic." ' But she and Viner both emphasise that the play's much more than some shove-it-down-your-throat polemic. Juggling references ranging from Dali to Dairy Queen, it tells - as Viner puts it - 'bigger stories through the small stories'.
That's why when cynics ask 'Why remember Rachel Corrie as opposed to the many anonymous young people killed in the Middle East?', Viner has a straightforward answer. 'Everyone should be remembered.' Yet she feels that the play's imaginative range allows it - to an extent - to transcend politically biased analysis: something proved by favourable responses from individuals including Likud Jews and sceptical American students. It's for this reason that it's vital to let the drama speak for itself in New York. As Dodds declares, 'It's now more important that we do the play in America than anywhere.'
'My Name Is Rachel Corrie' plays at the Playhouse Theatre from Tuesday. See West End listings.
rachelhalliburton@timeout.com.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
March 24, 2006 Friday
SECTION: ES; Pg. 51
LENGTH: 852 words
HEADLINE: TOBY YOUNG IS THE Restaurant Spy
BYLINE: TOBY YOUNG
'At CHAIR you can try out a Pounds 5,000 Eames chair over lunch before committing to a purchase'
On the face of it, the thinking behind Chair, a new restaurant-cum-furniture shop in Notting Hill, is quite sensible. It's full of all different kinds of chairs Eames Organic chairs, Verner Panton chairs, Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost chair, Arne Jacobsen's Number Seven chairs and the idea is that you point to some you like the look of, have the waiter bring them to your table and then try them out over the course of a two-hour lunch before committing to a purchase.
As I say, it sounds perfectly reasonable, and Chair is supposed to be the first of ten such places dotted around the country. It's the brainchild of Andrew Cussins, the man behind the phenomenally successful Sofa Workshop chain, and for all I know it will make him a second fortune. But, when you think about it, who really wants to road-test a chair before buying it?
We're not talking about your run-of-the-mill dining table chairs, either.
This place is about as far from Ikea as it's possible to get. I sat in an Eames lounge chair in the basement that retails for Pounds 5,299 and even the relatively modest swivel chair I sat in over the course of my meal cost Pounds 495. For people willing to pay these prices, the issue of how comfortable a particular chair is comes a very distant second to the question of what it looks like. Deciding whether to spend upwards of Pounds 5,000 on a chair is all about status. It's not about posture.
I daresay the concept is just a marketing device a way of getting people to come to the restaurant, rather than sell furniture but the danger is that people will take Chair at face value and assume that if they're not in the market for some overpriced designer bric-a-brac there's no point in coming in. That would be a pity because the restaurant, it turns out, is actually quite good.
As you might expect, the food is as trendy as the furniture. Andrew Cussins boasts that it's organic, sustainable and local, which are the three biggest cliches of the moment in the restaurant trade, but don't let that put you off.
The head chef, Justin Charles, has been around the block, working at Le Caprice and White's Club, among other places, and he knows how to cook the British classics. My dining companion was Kirstie Allsopp, the presenter of Location, Location, Location, and she started with a tomato and avocado salad, while I had some watercress soup. Kirstie's currently pregnant with her first child and, like most pregnant women, is prone to sudden attacks of hunger 'When I get a craving for a cheese sandwich, I want it when I want it, if you know what I mean' but luckily our first courses arrived promptly and they were both very good.
For my main, I had an excellent fish pie, while Kirstie had a perfectly satisfactory kedgeree.
Best of all, though, was the pear tarte Tatin we divided between us for pudding. This was almost up there with the banana tarte Tatin they serve at Christopher's The American Bar & Grill which remains the best I've ever had.
I was expecting Chair to be populated almost exclusively by Wallpaper* readers, but, in fact, it was a more down-to-earth crowd than that.
There were a few Chelsea tractor-driving ladies who lunch, a few sleek businessmen and, perhaps most surprisingly, a gaggle of heavy smokers at the bar. If you're a yummy mummy looking for somewhere to park the toddler while you grab a quick bite, 202, which is just up the road, is probably a more suitable pit stop than Chair. The atmosphere was much more louche than I was expecting, possibly because of its proximity to Queensway.
All-in-all, then, not the most ingenious shopping/dining concept I've ever come across, but not a complete disaster, either. My advice is to ignore the designer furniture and treat it like the decent British restaurant that it is.
Hotdish
Waitress Carly Maile, 24, grew up in Canada and moved to Kilburn five months ago. 'The concept of interior design and restaurants has room to grow but it confuses lots of customers,' she says. 'Nobody seems to understand if Chair is a shop or a restaurant.' Carly has become accustomed to baffled shoppers staring through the windows.
Who goes there?
Notting Hill mothers join designers in Clark Kent spectacles. Interior diners include Kristin Scott Thomas (left), Jeremy Edwards, Joe Fiennes, Shirley Bassey, Robbie Williams, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.
Innovative? Diners can choose which chair they want to test-drive be it an Eames moulded plywood chair (1940) or Ron Arad's plastic stacking chair (1998).
What to order? Dressed wild Cornish crab, and prime South Downs beef sirloin.
Best table The most requested table is the round laminated Saarinen table, which diners can buy for Pounds 998, with white swivel tulip chairs (very this season) for six. There is only one of each table so the restaurant resembles an expensive student flat with its eclectic, designer furniture.
Cost Two courses without wine, Pounds 23.50.
Who to know? Manager Will de-Ferry Foster.
Chair, 98 Westbourne Grove, W2 (020 7985 0400) TableTalk END
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
March 27, 2006 Monday
First Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 630 words
HEADLINE: Peace is always a harder option than war
BYLINE: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
After 119 days in captivity, Norman Kember, 74, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, did not fall on his knees in euphoric gratitude for our troops in Iraq - the least he could do, some say, after they damn well rescued him from his cruel captors who had already murdered Tom Fox, another hostage.
When he did get round to it, Kember's words were restrained, and he reminded the world of the anguish of the ordinary people of Iraq, as their country remains mired in violence. He himself has asked: "Was I foolhardy or rational?" There are no easy answers. Motivation in these cases cannot easily be unravelled (I personally find the Christian mission here a little awkward) and bold, individual involvement brings up challenging questions.
A new controversy has also boiled up over the compelling, dramatised story of Rachel Cor rie, the young American who went to Gaza to bear testimony and protest peacefully against the behaviour of Israeli occupation troops. One of their military bulldozers crushed her to death. Katharine Viner and the actor Alan Rickman put together a play based on Corrie's own remarkable writings. It has been pulled from the New York Theatre Workshop, allegedly because of pressure from American Zionists. Was Corrie heroic or dangerously emotive?
Reactions to peace activism ranges from hatred through contempt, genuine admiration to soppy, unthinking idolisation. Peacemakers are thought of as either enemies within or true, selfless souls ready to suffer for just causes. They are pests for some, pets for others. At least Kember has made sure that he is not seen as a cuddly, naughty old man, who in his dotage got himself into a spot of bother and needed muscular S AS blokes to pull him to safety. But will anybody listen to him properly, and give him credence?
Ask most decent people about their heroes and heroines and it is likely that the name of Nelson Mandela will feature and Mahatma Gandhi, possibly Martin Luther King too. They were all clever strategists as well as profound purveyors of peace and forgiveness (although Mandela once advocated violence to overthrow apartheid). They sit as poetic icons in the hall of faith and ideals, adored but unheard.
World leaders love to be seen with Mandela' he looks good on the arm with his flowery shirts and brilliant smiles. Our politicians invite him to party conferences and anti-poverty pop concerts, but they assiduously ignore Mandela's admonitory words against Western aggression. An old codger, what can he understand about the edgy new world?
Never a fundamentalist pacifist, I supported interventions in Bosnia and Afghanistan' but increasingly, I am coming to understand that we must start taking peace seriously, not as the soft but the much harder option than war ever is. Otherwise barbarisms will engulf us all, and drown the sounds of our screaming children.
Quakers and conscientious objectors have historically taken this position and largely been ignored. Today their words are more prescient than even they can imagine. Gabrielle Rifkind and Scilla Elworthy, effective global peace promoters, warn in Making Terrorism History (published by Rider last month), "in this turbulent world, many of the old methods of dealing with conflict seem unable to deal with new realities. Force of arms is not sufficient to establish peaceful order. Military victory is not enough to prevent future violence."
That truth was what drove both Rachel Corrie and Norman Kember. The Foreign Office has summoned the "irresponsible" Christian Peacemakers Teams for a telling-off. Our Defence and Foreign Secretaries recklessly supported policies that led to the cataclysm in Iraq. I suggest they humbly listen to the peacemakers and to Kember in particular. He is more of a man than they will ever be.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
March 27, 2006 Monday
SECTION: FEATURES; REVIEWS; Pg. 26
HEADLINE: SNEAK PREVIEW The insider guide to coming attractions
BYLINE: Nicola Christie
. . . . . . . . . .
A September release date has been confirmed for the much-anticipated movie adaptation of Patrick Süskind's novel, Perfume. The film, which recreated the squalor of 18th-century Paris in Barcelona last summer, stars Ben Whishaw - acclaimed as Hamlet at the Old Vic recently - as the scent-maker Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, with support coming from Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman.
German director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) beat Ridley Scott and David Cronenberg to the job. He says he wasn't fearful of tackling a book that relies on evoking a multitude of smells. "When people say how can you make a movie of that book when you cannot do the smells, I say, well, the book doesn't smell - it's language, and film is language, it's just a different language, and we have got different possibilities. I think we will succeed probably on some levels even better."
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London)
March 28, 2006 Tuesday
SECTION: GUARDIAN FEATURES PAGES; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 441 words
Rachel Corrie went to Gaza to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinians, whose voice is seldom heard in her country, the US. That she herself should be silenced - first by an Israeli bulldozer, next by a New York theatre cancelling a play created from her words - is a testimony to the power of her message. This song was written on a plane on March 20 and recorded at Big Sky Recordings, Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 22. The tune is borrowed from Bob Dylan.
An Israeli bulldozer killed poor Rachel Corrie
As she stood in its path in the town of Rafah
She lost her young life in an act of compassion
Trying to protect the poor people of Gaza
Whose homes are destroyed by tank shells and bulldozers
And whose plight is exploited by suicide bombers
Who kill in the name of the people of Gaza
But Rachel Corrie believed in non- violent resistance
Put herself in harm's way as a shield of the people
And paid with her life in a manner most brutal
But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
Rachel Corrie had 23 years
She was born in the town of Olympia, Washington
A skinny, messy, list-making chain-smoker
Who volunteered to protect the Palestinian people
Who had become non-persons in the eyes of the media
So that people were suffering and no one was seeing
Or hearing or talking or caring or acting
And the horrible math of the awful equation
That brought Rachel Corrie into this confrontation
Is that the spilt blood of a single American
Is worth more than the blood of a hundred Palestinians
But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
The artistic director of a New York theatre
Cancelled a play based on Rachel's writings
But she wasn't a bomber or a killer or fighter
But one who acted in the spirit of the Freedom Riders
Is there no place for a voice in America
That doesn't conform to the Fox News agenda?
Who believes in non-violence instead of brute force
Who is willing to confront the might of an army
Whose passionate beliefs were matched by her bravery
The question she asked rings out round the world
If America is truly the beacon of freedom
Then how can it stand by while they bring down the curtain
And turn Rachel Corrie into a non-person?
Oh, but you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears *
My Name Is Rachel Corrie, co-edited by Alan Rickman and Guardian features editor Katharine Viner, opens at the Playhouse theatre tonight. Telephone 0870 060 6631. For an exclusive download of the song, go to guardian.co.uk/arts
LOAD-DATE:
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 27, 2006
sue
- Saturday, March 25, 2006
By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent
Published: 25 March 2006
sue
England - Saturday, March 25, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
March 17, 2006 Friday
SECTION: A MERGE; Pg. 17
LENGTH: 341 words
HEADLINE: 'The street could soon be a cultural desert';
PORTOBELLO ROAD
THE film Notting Hill painted Portobello Road as a heady neighbourhood of quirky shops and offbeat locals. But there is precious little offbeat about it now as rents soar, forcing out established retailers.
Still internationally known for its antique dealers, the area attracts thousands to the market. But many specialist shops, selling everything from antique pens to beautiful old biscuit tins, have been pushed out by purveyors of tat and coffee shops.
RENT: Just off Portobello Road is Westbourne Grove, which has seen 400 per cent rent increases, the largest in London in the past decade.
These rises are now slowing but on Portobello Road and its more bohemian tributaries many rents continue to soar, with even a small shop at the Notting Hill end costing Pounds 60,000 a year before rates and Pounds 35,000 at the not-so-smart North Kensington end.
WHAT'S SPECIAL: Katrina Phillips, Apart, Persian gift shop Sitara, the market, Frame, Judy Fox antiques, Rezai Persian Carpets.
UNDER THREAT: Apart gallery, Charles Daggett framerestorers.
ALREADY GONE: Dangerous Liaisons, Clara C, Crystal Clean dry cleaners, the toy shop - Barnetts Novelty House.
CHAINSTORE COUNT: Starbucks, Orange, Subway and Accessorize.
MAJOR LANDLORDS: Warren Todd, UK Investments, Octavia Hill Housing Association.
CHAMPIONS: Elle Macpherson, Damon Albarn, Ruby Wax, Richard Curtis, Alan Rickman.
FEARS FOR THE FUTURE: Adrian Palengat at contemporary art gallery Apart has petitioned locals to demand that his landlord, the Octavia Hill Housing Association, reduces rents. Octavia demanded a 120 per cent increase, from Pounds 45,000 to Pounds 100,000 annually.
It agreed to accept Pounds 80,000 but Mr Palengat says the works he sells, much of it from local artists, cannot fund the rent.
"The street is in danger of becoming a cultural desert; practically everyone is being forced to move out," he says.
Ms Macpherson, who lives near Portobello, says: "It's just so cool. I wander round the street probably once a month and my kids really love it too, for its vibrancy and life."
GRAPHIC: DEMAND: ADRIAN PALENGAT IS CALLING FOR CUT IN RENT UNDER THREAT: PORTOBELLO ROAD MARKET DRAWS THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS BUT MANY SPECIALISTS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN OUT BY COFFEE SHOPS AND PURVEYORS OF CHEAP GOODS
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 20, 2006
Catherine
NY USA - Friday, March 17, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Village Voice (New York)
March 21, 2006 Tuesday
SECTION: Theater; Pg. 61
LENGTH: 586 words
HEADLINE: SAY MY NAME
BYLINE: Alexis Sottile
New York stage artists are rushing in to fill the void left by the aborted U.S. debut of My Name Is Rachel Corrie. But what's lost in the controversy regarding the halted New York Theater Workshop production is the humanity of the play itself, as well as the closeness of the local theater community. "This has been like a family event," says actress Kathleen Chalfant, "and we're trying to see what's going on in our family."
The one-woman show tells the story of a 23-year-old activist from Olympia, Washington, who traveled to Gaza in early 2003. Less than two months later, she was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer as she tried to block its path toward a Palestinian home. Edited by actor Alan Rickman and Guardian journalist Katharine Viner, the single act is made up of Corrie's journal entries and e-mail correspondence. The first half poetically details her college life (run-ins with an ex-boyfriend, second thoughts about painting her ceiling red). In the second half, the destruction she witnesses in Gaza as an international observer of potential human rights violations of Palestinians challenges her fundamental beliefs about human nature. "It hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be," she writes. "It is my own selfishness and will to optimism that wants to believe that even people with a great deal of privilege don't just idly sit by and watch."
A single line of text announces her death, followed by a video of a 10-year-old Corrie delivering a speech at a student conference. "I am here for other children. I am here because I care," she states. "My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000."
After two sold-out runs at London's Royal Court, the play was moving toward a March 22 opening at NYTW when its artistic director, James C. Nicola, pulled the plug in late February. All aspects of how far along the production agreement was, and whether NYTW's decision constituted a delay until next season, an indefinite postponement, a cancellation, or as some contend, an act of censorship, are in dispute by both companies. The Royal Court owns the rights to the play and ultimately determines where it will have its U.S. debut.
According to The New York Times, Nicola withdrew the production after "polling local Jewish religious and community leaders," an idea that has provoked great dismay from Jews and non-Jews alike who want to see the play produced as a work of art. "When NYTW does a play, the Workshop speaks with many members of the community before producing," says NYTW publicist Richard Kornberg, adding that this process is more routine than has been suggested, and that no actual polling took place. The theater stands by its assertion that what it wanted, in fact, was merely more time to do justice to the playwrights' voice.
An open letter posted on onlinepetition.com "in the spirit of friendship and collegiality" asks Nicola to make good on his commitment to the play. It garnered more than 350 signatures in three days-- including those of Gloria Steinem and Eve Ensler. "Dear Jim, my old friend," writes a signatory, "I would welcome talking to you about this."
In the meantime, theater artists and human rights activists are planning events to promote an inclusive dialogue around Corrie's words and the questions raised by the recent controversy. A schedule, available at villagevoice.com/theater, should comfort those who worry that the New York theater community would ever sit idly by anything.
GRAPHIC: Megan Dodds as Corrie in the London production
photo: Stephen Cummiskey
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, March 17, 2006
R
- Thursday, March 16, 2006
March 16, 2006
By JESSE McKINLEY
Renie
(Sorry for the length, but better not to snip when it changes the meaning, I felt...), - Thursday, March 16, 2006
The Toronto Star
February 17, 2006 Friday
SECTION: MOVIES; Pg. B04
LENGTH: 792 words
HEADLINE: Canada's reel success
BYLINE: Michael Levitin, Special to the Star
DATELINE: BERLIN
What do Leonard Cohen, a potter's apprentice in Japan, Jews at an old-age home and an autistic woman in the northern Ontario town of Wawa have in common?
They're all protagonists in the tide of Canadian films that are sweeping through this week's Berlin International Film Festival. . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
Certainly the most high-profile Canadian film in this year's lineup is Evans's co-production with the U.S., Snow Cake, shot in Wawa and starring Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss. The witty, wintry drama brings together a lonely middle-aged man with an autistic woman who's just lost her daughter to a car accident.
. . . . . . . . . .
GRAPHIC: Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss star in Snow Cake, a Canadian film making a buzz in Berlin.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 15, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
March 9, 2006 Thursday
Home Edition
SECTION: CALENDAR WEEKEND; Calendar Desk; Part E; Pg. 9
LENGTH: 669 words
HEADLINE: THEATER;
Her place on the world stage;
Two plays commemorate a young U.S. activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer.
BYLINE: Christopher Reynolds, Times Staff Writer
IT'S been three years since American college student and pro-Palestinian protester Rachel Corrie was killed beneath an Israeli army bulldozer, but her e-mails home are still starting arguments -- in London, where her writings have been transformed into a hit play; in New York, where a bid to stage that play has stalled amid controversy; and in Corrie's native Pacific Northwest, where activists plan demonstrations, and another play, in coming days.
Corrie, a 23-year-old student from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., died March 16, 2003, crushed by a bulldozer while protesting Israeli government demolitions of Palestinian homes on the Gaza Strip. Corrie had been in the Middle East for about two months, living with Palestinian families and working for the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement, a nonviolent resistance group.
The idea of a show about her was born when British actor Alan Rickman read a series of her e-mails that had been reprinted in the Guardian newspaper, and he suggested a stage adaptation. The script grew from Rickman's collaboration with Corrie's parents and sister, along with the Guardian's weekend magazine editor, Katharine Viner. The British production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," a one-woman show directed by Rickman and starring American actress Megan Dodds, sold out one run last spring at the Royal Court Theatre and another in October. A third engagement at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End is to run from late March to early May.
But it's the prospect of a New York run that has sparked the greatest controversy. James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, laid plans to bring in the show beginning March 22, then deferred them -- a move that brought complaints from Rickman and Viner, who called it "censorship." Petitions circulated on the Internet and activists proposed March 16 public readings of Corrie's writings in Portland, Ore., and elsewhere. Tentative plans are in motion for a follow-up "performance event" in New York on March 22.
Nicola said he indefinitely delayed the play after discussion with friends and colleagues about tensions in New York over the play's subject matter, especially in the wake of the victory of the militant group Hamas in recent Palestinian elections. His worry, he said in a statement, was the "very strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, would use the play as a platform to promote their own agendas."
The idea of waiting, he said, "was to allow us enough time to contextualize the work so Rachel Corrie's powerful voice could best be heard."
The New York Theatre Workshop, a 188-seat venue in the East Village, has long been known for adventurous programming, including early productions of "Rent" and "Dirty Blonde," as well as playwright Tony Kushner's "Homebody/Kabul," a study of Christian-Muslim cultural confusion that the theater premiered in 2001, less than four months after the 9/11 attacks.
But the workshop in New York isn't the only theater group with a political bent that's taken interest in the Rachel Corrie story. Since December, the Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater has been honing "Daughter Courage," an 80-minute play about Corrie, also drawn from her letters, that premiered Wednesday night in Seattle.
The show, to run through Saturday at the Consolidated Works contemporary arts center, was directed by Bread and Puppet Theater founder Peter Schumann, whose own daughter visited the Palestinian territories a few years before Corrie and returned safely. It features eight puppeteers, dozens of puppets and about 50 volunteers. Corrie's parents are expect to attend Saturday.
"It's very humanitarian and, in a way, almost utopian in its conception," said Corey Pearlstein, artistic director of Consolidated Works, who said he's heard no hint of community unease about the production. "There's not an anti-Israeli sentiment in the context of these dialogues. It's just really about basic human rights and decency."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: BRITISH PERFORMANCE: American actress Megan Dodds stars in "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," a one-woman show that sold out two runs at London's Royal Court Theatre. PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Cummiskey Royal Court Theatre PHOTO: GAZA STRIP: Rachel Corrie protests the demolition of Palestinian homes in 2003. PHOTOGRAPHER: Reuters
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Financial Times (London, England)
March 11, 2006 Saturday
London Edition 1
SECTION: SPORT, TELEVISION AND RADIO; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 212 words
HEADLINE: FILM
BYLINE: By NIGEL ANDREWS
. . . . . . . . . .
In Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (National Geographic Saturday 9.00pm), Alan Rickman is the Sheriff of Nottingham of your dreams: a velvet- baritoned snarler camping it up with a curse for all occasions ("Cancel Christmas!"). As a movie, though, The Adventures of Robin Hood (Five Sunday 3.40pm) is still unbeatable. Errol Flynn's swashbuckling, Erich Korngold's score, and edifying dialogue throughout (Sheriff: "You speak treason." Robin: "Fluently") prove that when Hollywood gets it right, it gets it right.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 15, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Observer (England)
March 12, 2006
SECTION: OBSERVER REVIEW ARTS PAGES; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 759 words
HEADLINE: Review: Critics' Choice: Our essential guide to the week ahead: From Blackbird to Black Crowes
BYLINE: PHILIP FRENCH, SUSANNAH CLAPP, LAURA CUMMING, KITTY EMPIRE, DAVE GELLY, ANTHONY HOLDEN, LUKE JENNINGS
. . . . . . . . . .
THEATRE
SUSANNAH CLAPP
Jerry Springer - The Opera
His Majesty's, Aberdeen, Mon to Sat The gorgeously sung, foul-mouthed musical continues to make its way across the UK.
Blackbird
Albery, London, until 13 May Roger Allam and Jodhi May are superb in David Harrower's paedophile drama.
The Canterbury Tales
The Dome, Doncaster, Tue to Sat The buoyant Chaucer adaptation has rap, shadow-puppets and Paola Dionisotti.
Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship
Cottesloe, London, Wed until 3 June Three plays about teenagers' lives by Deborah Gearing, Enda Walsh and Mark Ravenhill.
BOOK NOW
My Name is Rachel Corrie
Playhouse, London, from 29 March Alan Rickman's terrific production, 'postponed indefinitely' in New York, returns to London.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Georgiana (will be in London 28 Apr to 8 May--see you on the 28th at the Playhouse)
Seattle - Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Claudia
GA - Tuesday, March 14, 2006
sue
england - Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Glowbox
France - Saturday, March 11, 2006
sue
england - Thursday, March 09, 2006
Publication Inc.
All Rights Reserved
The Gazette (Montreal)
February 19, 2006 Sunday
Final Edition
SECTION: SUNDAZ: PAPARAI; Pg. B3
LENGTH: 477 words
HEADLINE: Look Who's Turning 60
BYLINE: LIZ FERGUSON, The Gazette
Name: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman.
Occupation: Actor who excels in "suave villainy."
Birthdate: Feb. 21, 1946
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London.
Parents: Bernard and Margaret Rickman. Bernard died when Alan was 8 years old.
Siblings: David, Michael and Sheila.
Education: Latymer School, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Relationship: Has been with Rima Horton since they met at Chelsea. She became a microeconomics prof and a city councillor in the Notting Hill area.
Acting: Rickman was in many productions at Latymer, and did very well. But he opted for design in college, as a more practical choice. After working in graphic design for a few years, he auditioned at RADA, was accepted and given a scholarship. After that, he worked with many theatre companies, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, and appeared in some BBC miniseries. Back onstage, his portrayal of the scheming, heartless Valmont in Liaisons Dangereuses caused a sensation in London and New York. It led to his first movie role, and international attention, as criminal Hans Gruber, in Die Hard. His fall from a 30-storey building was voted fourth in a list of "best movie deaths" of all time, in a poll published in Total Film magazine in 2004.
Other roles: In Truly Madly Deeply, he was "every woman's ideal dead boyfriend," a musician who comes back to comfort his bereft girlfriend but eventually wears out his welcome. As the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he outshone the ostensible star, Kevin Costner. He won an Emmy award for TV movie Rasputin, wore ugly weird things on his skull as the Spock-like Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy Quest, was the voice of a power-hungry crab in the animated tale Help I'm a Fish, the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and recorded an audiobook of Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. He is the sinister potions professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies.
Internet presence: Many websites are dedicated to him, maintained by hordes of fiercely loyal fans who call themselves Rickmaniacs.
Canadian content: He's a friend of former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson, and won the best actor award at the 1994 World Film Festival for his role in Mesmer. His recent film Snow Cake (which opened the Berlin film festival on Feb. 9) was shot in Toronto and Wawa, (pop. 3,600) in northern Ontario. In Wawa, Rickman graciously signed autographs for fans of all ages and raved about the local butter tarts, a delicacy he'd never encountered.
Has been called: "The thinking woman's crumpet."
People magazine: Wrote that on first impression he was rumpled yet elegant, and quoted model Heidi Klum as follows, "He has a very sexy voice. It's dark and yummy. He has a lot of charm. He's very polite and respectful. At the end of the day, that's what a woman wants."
GRAPHIC:
Colour Photo: Alan Rickman
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Published: 08 March 2006
Pandora
Rickman is truly mad after Americans cancel his play
By Guy Adams
* Alan Rickman's efforts to conquer Broadway have sparked the sort of tit-for-tat row that inflames his cantankerous alter ego, Severus Snape.
Last week, the New York Theatre Workshop cancelled plans to stage My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play co-written and directed by the noted actor and Harry Potter star.
In a statement, they claimed the production, about a peace activist killed by Israeli tanks in 2003, had been canned due to "time pressures" and Rickman's "filming commitments".
Yesterday, Rickman, above, hit back. A strongly-worded, two-page letter from the Royal Court Theatre, which first staged Rachel Corrie, accused the Yanks of telling porky pies.
It claimed the New York Theatre Workshop got cold feet after being lobbied by local Jewish leaders.
"It's pretty unfair of them to blame Alan's filming commitments when he'd actually cleared his diary," says a spokesman. "I'm afraid this is more about censorship."
As well as listing "many factual inaccuracies" in the New York Theatre Workshop's statement, the Royal Court's release claims the affair has cost them many thousands of pounds.
"A budget had been set; a press release had been mutually agreed; flights had been booked and paid for," it reads.
Rickman is now searching for an alternative venue. Meanwhile, his chum Vanessa Redgrave has published a letter accusing the Americans of "censorship of the worst kind" and "blacklisting a dead girl and her diaries".
. . . . . (Article continues on unrelated matters.)
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 08, 2006
sue
england - Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Subject: MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE IN NEW YORK - Statement from the Royal Court Theatre
We have been surprised to read recent assertions made by James Nicola, Artistic Director of the New York Theatre Workshop, surrounding the run of MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE which had been scheduled to play there in March,
April and May 2006. There are many factual inaccuracies which we would like to address.
Plans for the production of MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE were definite. Representatives of the Royal Court Theatre met with NYTW in New York to finalise arrangements seven days before learning that Mr. Nicola wished to postpone the run indefinitely. The production schedule had already been
laid out by the NYTW on January 31st,with the first preview scheduled for March 22nd and closing night for May 14th; a budget had been set; a press release had been mutually agreed; flights had been booked and paid for, all with the knowledge of the New York Theatre Workshop. Furthermore,
ticket information was already listed on the site of the U.S. ticketing agency Telecharge on February 23rd, 2006 with the correct information about dates, times, original creative team and casting.
Asking for a postponement at this stage in the planning can hardly be described as "a rather routine question, so we thought, of our colleagues" as Mr. Nicola says in his statement on the NYTW website.
In the same statement, and in a letter to the L.A. Times of March 5, 2006, Mr. Nicola claims that "With a schedule largely driven by Alan Rickman's pre-existing film commitments, we had less than two months to consider
mounting the production." In fact, Alan Rickman first visited the New York Theatre Workshop to discuss the possibility of staging MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE in November 2005. The dates of the production were determined by availability at the theatre, and Mr. Rickman's film schedule
was to be ordered around this. He held back from making any film commitments until after the dates were offered and confirmed by NYTW.
In the New York Times on February 28th, 2006, in an article titled, 'Play about Demonstrator's Death is Delayed', it is reported that Mr. Nicola decided to postpone the work "after polling local Jewish religious and community leaders as to their feeling about the work." This much he had explained to Diane Borger, General Manager of the Royal Court, during a phone conversation on February 17th, in which he asked to "postpone indefinitely" the production. In a later conversation, he said he would be willing to reassess the political climate in a year's time and decide then if he could produce the piece with a companion work that would offer an alternative perspective. As explained to Mr. Nicola, this was not acceptable to the Royal Court, as he gave no commitment at this time to revised dates for the production at NYTW. The Royal Court and the Corrie family have always believed that the play speaks for itself. In the words of Rachel's father, Craig Corrie, "No one should have to take a poll to do this play; it is a work of art."
A postponement at any time, but especially at this late stage, is not the action of an organisation committed to producing MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE.
The Royal Court cannot be confident that the political climate will have changed in a year's time and we are deeply saddened that the New York Theatre Workshop feels unable to let the play be seen now. However, the Royal Court Theatre remains committed to bringing MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
to a U.S. audience at the earliest opportunity.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
March 5, 2006 Sunday
Home Edition
SECTION: CURRENT; Editorial Pages Desk; Part M; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 197 words
HEADLINE: Staging of play was all about timing
I am bewildered by Katharine Viner's "A message crushed again" (Opinion, March 1). New York Theatre Workshop has never shied away from controversial work. We moved toward a production of "My Name is Rachel Corrie" with short notice and almost no preparation time, the schedule largely driven by director Alan Rickman's film schedule. We were also in discussions with the Royal Court about helping mount an American tour following the New York engagement.
When we discovered how deeply ingrained the attitudes were on all sides and what a marketing and contextualizing challenge this posed, we became convinced we didn't have enough time to best serve the powerful voice of Rachel Corrie. We asked our London colleagues about altering the time frame. We did not cancel the production but proposed doing the play next season when all parties might be available following the proposed American tour.
Our commitment to the play has never wavered. On the bright side, I am pleased to see that a West End engagement has been secured. But to have our request for more time blown into a screed about censorship is stunning.
JAMES C. NICOLA
Artistic Director
New York Theatre Workshop
Georgiana (see the link to the Royal Court press release--they dispute, among other things, that bit about Mr. Rickman's film schedule affecting the run dates.)
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Associated Press
March 6, 2006 Monday 11:34 PM GMT
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
LENGTH: 324 words
HEADLINE: New York Theatre Workshop still hopes to present `Rachel Corrie'
DATELINE: NEW YORK
A prominent off-Broadway theater says it still hopes to present "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," a politically charged play about a young American student who was killed while trying to stop the Israeli destruction of a Palestinian home in Gaza.
"We have asked ... if we can do the play next season," James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, said Monday in a statement.
Initially, the theater had planned the production for this month, but then reconsidered, drawing charges of censorship from its two creators, Katherine Viner, features editor of The Guardian newspaper in London, and actor Alan Rickman, who also directed the one-woman show.
"With a schedule largely driven by ... Rickman's pre-existing film commitments, we had less than two months to consider mounting `My Name Is Rachel Corrie,'" Nicola said.
"As we moved very quickly forward with this highly ambitious timeline, we discovered Rachel Corrie's time in Gaza was the subject of much polarized debate. It became apparent to me that by presenting the play on the current schedule, this debate might become the event instead of the play itself."
Viner and Rickman based the one-woman show on the writings of the 23-year-old Corrie, who died when struck by an Israeli bulldozer in March 2003. The play was a hit last season for the Royal Court Theatre in London, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award.
"I was devastated and really surprised," Viner told The New York Times last week after the postponement. "I think they're misjudging the New York audience. It's a piece of art, not a piece of agitprop."
Instead of playing New York, the one-woman show, which stars Megan Dodds, will open March 30 in London's West End at the Playhouse Theatre.
New York Theatre Theater Workshop, located in the East Village, has been the home to such musicals and plays as "Rent" and "Dirty Blonde," as well as the works of playwrights Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill and Paul Rudnick.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
March 6, 2006 - March 12, 2006
SECTION: LEGIT; Strands ; Pg. 39
LENGTH: 697 words
HEADLINE: Color-blind 'Billy'
BYLINE: DAVID BENEDICT
LONDON British manners being what they are, most recipients of London's Olivier Awards tend to eschew Sally Field or Cuba Gooding Jr.-esque brouhaha in favor of appearing as grown-up and professional as possible.
The three young "Billy Elliot" leads sharing the award for best actor in a musical at the Feb. 26 ceremony had no such career-minded inhibitions. And what's more, their infectious jubilation was shared by the entire room.
"Billy Elliot" snagged Oliviers for musical, actor(s), choreography and sound --- only a few days after it was announced that two of the new actors to play Billy in the alternating cast will be non-white.
Director Stephen Daldry described 12-year-old Matthew Koone as being "as Mancunian as they come and a Chinese kid." Later in the year, 11-year-old black Brit Layton Williams will join the list.
The business of color-blind casting is rare in U.K. musical theater but not unknown. Black actor Gary Wilmot successfully took over in "Me and My Girl" --- for three years --- with no script changes. Yet when black ex-"EastEnders" actress Michelle Gayle played Belle in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," the theater received letters of complaint along the racist lines of "How can you expect me to explain to my granddaughter that Beauty is black?"
Daldry is unfazed by the possibility of unsettling racists. "You can't legislate against bigotry," he remarked with a shrug. "These kids have all struggled. They've all been the only boy in their dance classes. These two have also survived as the only Chinese or black boy there. I find their achievement terribly moving."
'Name' blame game
Daldry's determination in the face of potential criticism stands in stark contrast with the worrying change of heart by New York Theater Workshop's James Nicola, who has postponed the transfer of Alan Rickman's Olivier-nominated London production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie."
The solo show, a success in two SRO Royal Court runs in 2005, draws together the diaries and emails of the articulate, idealistic 23-year-old from Olympia, Wash., who joined the Intl. Solidarity Movement in Gaza in 2003, and died beneath an Israeli bulldozer.
The show was artistically strong enough for Nicola to have done the deal --- NYTW's computer ticketing system was advertising tickets, the production team's flights were booked --- but his reversal after consulting various Jewish community leaders seems, at best, naive. Begging for script approval from a minority community that sees itself as being under threat for a play enshrining a dissenting voice is wholly unlikely.
Nicola maintains that NYTW's hesitation concerning the play was dictated in large part by the challenge of pulling together the New York run in only two months.
"As we went through the process, we lost confidence that, in the short time we had, we could to the best of our abilities keep Rachel Corrie's voice heard above the din of other voices attempting to use the play for their own political purposes," Nicola tells Variety. "We were never for a second concerned about the response from people who actually sat in the theater and experienced the work - the strength of the piece speaks for itself."
The news that the NYTW engagement had been bumped from the schedule prompted concerns that Nicola was entering into the dangerous territory of self-censorship - fearing bigots, and silencing debate before it could happen.
The move also appeared myopic in terms of the rest of his planning. Would politicized writers like NYTW regular Caryl Churchill be happy to have her work seen there again?
Meanwhile, Off Broadway's loss for now is the West End's gain. From March 28-May 6, the planned Gotham dates, producers David Johnson and Virginia Buckley will present the show at London's Playhouse Theater.
Nicola insists, however, that the NYTW run eventually will go ahead.
"Our commitment to the project has never wavered," he says. "We asked a rather routine question, or so we thought, of our colleagues: Could we move to a later date and find the time for us to do our job better? That question has been interpreted by them as censorship. It bewilders us and disappoints us."
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
March 6, 2006 - March 12, 2006
SECTION: FILM; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 197 words
HEADLINE: Local fare opens H.K. fest
BYLINE: VICKI ROTHROCK
HONG KONG The Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival is starting things off with two of its own.
Opening the April 4-19 event will be Johnnie To's Triad pic "Election 2" - its world premiere - and Pang Ho-cheung's "Isabella," which won a music award at Berlin.
There had been some buzz over where "Election 2" would land this year after "Election" competed at Cannes last year.
Closing films are Australia's "Candy," helmed by Neil Armfield and starring Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush, and "Snow Cake," from the U.K./Canada and directed by Marc Evans. Drama "Snow Cake," starring Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss, was the opening film at Berlin.
Other films included in the program hail from Berlin, including "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros," "In Between Days" and "Little Red Flowers," all of which won awards there.
Despite increasing budget cuts, the fest, celebrating its 30th year, will have about 400 screenings of an estimated 250 pics from 42 countries and regions.
Fest also will include a tribute to action choreographers, with 20 films from different periods; an action-themed dinner; and a seminar and catalog.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The New York Times
By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: March 7, 2006
Just a week after a potential production of the controversial British play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" was delayed at the New York Theater Workshop because of political concerns, the Royal Court Theater in London said it was considering several other offers to take the play to New York.
SHOW DETAILS
My Name Is Rachel Corrie (London)
Forum: Theater
Ewan Thomson, a spokesman for the Royal Court, confirmed that officials there wanted to stage it in New York "as soon as we possibly can" and have talked to other producers. Mr. Thomson said the company was hoping to capitalize on the show's momentum from a coming run in London's West End, where it will play from March 28 to May 7, approximately the same dates it had been tentatively scheduled to run at New York Theater Workshop.
And in a sign of heightened tensions between the two theaters, the Royal Court also issued a statement to address "factual inaccuracies" in a letter posted on the workshop's Web site and assertions made by James C. Nicola, the workshop's artistic director.
In particular, the Royal Court's statement took issue with the workshop's assertion that the planned production of "Rachel Corrie" was not definite, saying that press releases had been finalized, previews set, budgets approved, flights booked and tickets listed for sale. "I don't want this to become a spat between two theaters," said Mr. Thomson, who faxed a copy of the statement to The New York Times. "But there were certain factual inaccuracies we wanted to address."
Mr. Nicola was traveling yesterday and unavailable for comment, but Lynn Moffat, the workshop's managing director, disputed the Royal Court's statement, saying that many production details and creative elements were still being settled when the show was delayed.
"Everything was in the soup," Ms. Moffat said. "But we were going on good faith. We were moving forward."
Mr. Nicola said last week that he had decided to postpone the show after polling local Jewish leaders as to their feelings about the play, which follows the story of Rachel Corrie, an idealistic American demonstrator who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in March 2003 while trying to prevent the destruction of a home in the Gaza Strip.
Written by Alan Rickman, the actor, and Katherine Viner, a journalist with The Guardian newspaper in London, and pieced together from Ms. Corrie's own journals and e-mail messages, the show was a hit in London and garnered strong reviews. But Mr. Nicola said recent conversations with Jewish leaders had uncovered an unease about the play's message at a time when Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, had scored a victory in recent elections.
The workshop later posted a statement on its Web site elaborating on the decision, saying it had not canceled or censored the production and that time pressures — particularly "Alan Rickman's pre-existing film commitments" — had driven it to delay the show.
"We asked a rather routine question, or so we thought, to our London colleagues about altering the time frame," the workshop's statement read. "Our intent in asking for the postponement was to allow us enough time to contextualize the work so Rachel Corrie's powerful voice could best be heard above the din of others shouting for their own purposes."
But the announcement of the play's delay caused some concern in artistic circles on both sides of the Atlantic. In a letter posted on the political Web site Counterpunch.org, for example, the actress Vanessa Redgrave, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, called the workshop's decision "censorship of the worst kind" and the "blacklisting of a dead girl and her diaries."
In New York, the playwright Christopher Shinn — a member of the workshop's extended artistic ensemble, the Usual Suspects — also published a short essay online calling for more playwrights to come forward to protest the workshop's decision. "If I were a young playwright, I would get the message loud and clear: don't write political plays if you want to get them produced," Mr. Shinn wrote. "And if you write a play that gets scheduled, and then pulled for political reasons, don't expect the theater community to come out and support your freedom of expression. This is a ghastly message to send."
Ms. Moffat said that she and Mr. Nicola were surprised by the reaction, in particular an op-ed piece by Ms. Viner in The Los Angeles Times that accused Mr. Nicola of "exercising prior censorship."
"The charge of censorship is what's really distressing to us," Ms. Moffat said. "We didn't take the word postponement to mean censorship."
Ms. Moffat added that the workshop still intended to present "Rachel Corrie" next season. But the Royal Court's statement yesterday made that seem less likely.
"A postponement at any time, but especially at this late stage, is not the action of an organization committed to producing 'My Name Is Rachel Corrie,' " the statement read, adding that there was no assurance that the political climate in the Middle East would change anytime soon.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The New York Times
March 6, 2006 Monday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section E; Column 1; The Arts/Cultural Desk; CONNECTIONS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1365 words
HEADLINE: Too Hot To Handle, Too Hot to Not Handle
BYLINE: By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
The polemics and outrage in the theatrical community last week after the New York Theater Workshop postponed its production of ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' might have been as intense as the uproar the company feared had it actually presented the play. The postponement of this one-woman drama about a 23-year-old pro-Palestinian American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003 has been attacked as an act of censorship. One of the play's creators compared the decision to backing down in the face of a McCarthyite ''witch hunt.'' Hundreds have sent e-mail messages accusing the theater's directors of everything from cowardice to being ''Zionist pigs.''
Think of what might have happened had the theater actually presented the play later this month, fresh from its sold-out success at the Royal Court Theater in London. Then the controversy might have been over other forms of political blindness. There might have been assertions that the company was glorifying the mock-heroics of a naif who tried to block efforts to cut off terrorist weapon smuggling. Donors might have pulled away. And the New York Theater Workshop might have been accused of feeding the propagandistic maw of Hamas, just as it came into power in the Palestinian territories. Is it any wonder the company got jittery?
The surprise, though, is that there was so much surprise on the theater's part: surprise, first, that the play might cause controversy, then surprise that the postponement actually did.
That much should have been clear from other conflicts over artworks and images ranging from Andres Serrano's photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine to the Danish cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad. First, there is outrage, followed by either defense or retreat. Then there is much discussion of censorship and freedom of speech (which in many cases -- the cartoons aside -- is really more about public financing). And throughout, intermittent fear of giving offense mixes with frequent eagerness to give it; there is name calling and, occasionally, nervous back-pedaling.
Of course, there are some important distinctions in this case: the postponement was not in response to riots but to worry over what might happen to the theater's reputation or to donors' enthusiasm. The theater also suggested that the postponement was just that -- not a cancellation -- and that it was in response to sensitivities expressed by Jewish leaders and to the rawness of these issues given the electoral victory of Hamas; more planning, the theater said, would be needed to present the play in a broader context.
But what made it a more volatile act was that by declining for now to offend with the play, the theater violated the most sacred principles of our artistic temples.
Those principles are: Thou shalt offend, thou shalt test limits, thou shalt cause controversy. If there is an artistic orthodoxy in the West, it is that good art is iconoclastic and provocative, and that any pull back from this orthodoxy is cowardly and craven. In this distended context, the New York Theater Workshop's act was heretical.
How could this happen? How could a theater take on a play like ''Corrie'' and not know what it was getting into? How could it then postpone the production and not know that the outrage of its colleagues-at-arms would be as fervent as the imagined reaction of patrons and protestors?
To understand this a little better, consider the play itself. At first, it must have seemed a safe choice: safe with its aura of leftist frisson, and safe too in that its championing of a pro-Palestinian activist had become so mainstream that the London press hardly recognized anything was at issue. The play's political stance was treated as invisible, something its creators -- the actor Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner, an editor of the newspaper The Guardian -- seemed to desire. ''The play is not agitprop,'' Ms. Viner wrote last week in The Los Angeles Times. ''It's a complicated look at a woman who was neither a saint nor a traitor.''
And indeed, judging from the script -- edited from Corrie's e-mail, letters and journals -- Corrie's is an unusual voice, engrossing in its imaginative power, hinting at adolescent transformations and radicalization. ''My mother would never admit it,'' she says in the play, ''but she wanted me exactly how I turned out -- scattered and deviant and too loud.''
She names the people she would like ''to hang out with in eternity'': Rilke, Jesus, E. E. Cummings, Gertrude Stein, Zelda Fitzgerald and Charlie Chaplin. She announces to her accomplished older brother that instead of high salaries, she is ''steadfastly pursuing a track that guarantees I'll never get paid more than three Triscuits and some spinach.'' Midplay, she is a budding literary bohemian who suddenly finds herself on Gaza's front lines.
What could be less controversial than this heroine, with her Utopian yearning to end human suffering and her empathy for Palestinians living in a hellish war zone, their homes and lives at stake? Her death becomes a tragic consequence of her compassion and, apparently, in performance, has the power to spur tears.
But there is something disingenuous here. In an apparent effort to camouflage Corrie's radicalism and broaden the play's appeal, its creators elided phrases that suggested her more contentious view of things -- cutting, for example, her reference to the ''chronic, insidious genocide'' she says she is witnessing, or her justification of the ''somewhat violent means'' used by Palestinians.
As a dramatization of a young woman's political education, the play also never has to hold itself accountable for what seems naive. ''I'm really new to talking about Israel-Palestine,'' Corrie says soon after arriving in Israel, ''so I don't always know the political implications of my words.'' She is also earnest. Children ''love to get me to practice my limited Arabic,'' she says. ''Today I tried to learn to say, 'Bush is a tool,' but I don't think it translated quite right.''
But while she fails to see things fully, the play wants us to think she ultimately does. We are not meant to doubt the thoroughness of her account or to think too much about what she notices but does not explain. Though Corrie went to Gaza with the Palestinian-led organization the International Solidarity Movement to act as a human shield and to prevent Israel from destroying Palestinian homes, and though she died while trying to stop a bulldozer, there is no hint about why such demolitions were taking place.
But dozens of tunnels leading from Egypt under the border into homes in Gaza were being used to smuggle guns, rocket launchers and explosives to wield against Israel. These demolitions often caused controversy, even in Israel, but the play's omissions make them seem acts of systematic evil, rather than acts that were, at the very least, part of a more complicated and contested series of confrontations.
That is where the disingenuousness comes in: not in the stand the play takes, but in how it cloaks it as not really being a stand at all, but only high moral sentiment. Ms. Viner, asked what she wanted audiences to come away with, said: ''To feel inspired to go and do something about the world's inequalities themselves.''
It would have been more interesting to imagine an activist's growing awareness of nuance, particularly given what is at stake. Is it possible that a growing awareness might also have been behind the postponement? When the directors of the New York Theater Workshop began to hear from staff members and outsiders that the play invoked issues it did not explain, and when the election of Hamas provided proof that all was not simple, perhaps that was when the play became more clearly understood. The company discussed staging other plays about the conflict alongside this one; attempts were made to arrange post-performance discussions, too. But that required time. So, awkwardly, the company betrayed aesthetic orthodoxy -- declining, for now, to give offense, and in the process doing just that.
Connections, a critic's perspective on arts and ideas, appears every other Monday.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 06, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
March 6, 2006, Monday
SECTION: FEATURES; Times2; Pg. 17
LENGTH: 1694 words
HEADLINE: How to land a West End hit
BYLINE: Dominic Maxwell
Bringing a show to Theatreland requires some skilful piloting, says Dominic Maxwell
Last month the theatre producer David Johnson was in New York raising funds for the Royal Court. He had only just pocketed a $10,000 donation from Michael Moore when his mobile phone rang: the off-Broadway transfer of My Name is Rachel Corrie, the one-woman Royal Court show about the late pro-Palestinian activist, had been cancelled "due to political pressure". The performer, Megan Dodds, and the director, Alan Rickman, had a show that all of a sudden was too hot to handle.
What to do?
Johnson swung into action, looking for a slot for the show in the less nervous West End instead. Like all producers, he keeps a tab on what's doing well and what's looking poorly. He knew that The Creeper, starring Ian Richardson, had recently moved into the Playhouse, a 600-seater right by the Thames. He also knew that it wasn't earning its keep after some murky reviews. And so, last Wednesday morning, The Creeper posted early closing notices -and on Wednesday afternoon My Name is Rachel Corrie announced that it had found a West End home.
"It was a stroke of good luck," admits Johnson, "but this job is a bit like being a vulture sometimes." Matthew Gale, one of The Creeper's producers, is also part of the team on Rachel Corrie. "While we were celebrating, Matthew was also reading his death warrant. And it's very expensive to have a flop in the West End. It's like burning wads of £ 50 notes."
It's all part of what the director Laurence Boswell has termed "the dark art of the West End transfer". It's one thing to be a complete sell-out at a small, sympathetic home such as the Royal Court or the Donmar, where a six-week run might play to 12,000 people. But when a show leaves the caring Kansas of the subsidised sector to make its way in the big wide world of the West End, artistic aspiration meets brutal market economics. Or, as the producer-turned-theatre-owner Nica Burns puts it: "Critics are always saying that you should take more risks -but to do a West End run you've got to think you've got a chance of selling 100,000 tickets."
That said, even a poor West End run can have big implications for the future of a show. It can tour the world proclaiming itself to be "direct from the West End" (even with a different cast). It's the stamp of "authenticity and credibility", says Dan Colman, who toyed with various venues before moving Steptoe and Son at Oil Drum Lane into the Comedy Theatre -just hours after Christopher Eccleston pulled out of another play at that venue.
Indeed, Colman had already put the name of another theatre on the posters -he had to change the details on the day it went to the printers.
So at any given time hopeful productions will be circling London like planes waiting to find a runway at an airport. And if you want to put on a straight play, you will probably need to talk to one of three major owners: the Ambassador Theatre Group, Cameron Mackintosh or Nica Burns, whose Nimax group last year bought the smaller venues of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Company (the Garrick, Lyric, Apollo and Duchess). "It's a small pool of people who all know each other," Colman says. "I'm never entirely sure whether that's a good thing or not."
There are no fixed rates -everything is negotiable. And if you've got money to burn but no track record, you can still get your show on, particularly during the slack summer months. That's how vanity projects such as last year's ultradud musical Behind the Iron Mask can find a home. Sometimes, though, no dark artistry can get round the fact that there's just nowhere to go. David Johnson had hoped to give a Fringe comedian a run in town just before Christmas, but simply couldn't find a venue that was free. And sometimes your determination to move into the West End means that you choose a venue that isn't quite right for your play. "That's very tough, actually, when you realise that's what you've done," Johnson admits.
"The whole thing requires nerves of steel," says the director Stephen Unwin, whose production of Hamlet, starring Ed Stoppard, has recently opened to the full gamut of reviews at the New Ambassadors. Unwin's English Touring Company was invited in by the Ambassadors Theatre Group, he says, after strong notices in the regions.
But the opportunism that defines the West End can be antithetical to a company that needs to plan long-term -and which, indeed, receives public funding to do so. "We couldn't be more dependent on the West End," Unwin says. "You can put on a high-quality production of Hamlet in the regions and get a guaranteed audience. In town, it's a rollercoaster."
The RSC can expect an audience in the West End, thanks to its good name -its "brand", if we must -and its membership scheme. But its current contentment is also due to a deal it negotiated with Cameron Mackintosh to take up residence in one of his theatres over the next five years. It's an uncommon truce between the different cultures. "It suits us very well, because we're working at least a year ahead," says the RSC's executive director, Vikki Heywood. "It's hard for us normally, though -we're looking for certainty in a world whose important advantage is its lack of certainty."
Most producers suggest that the process has got harder -that is to say, more expensive -in recent years. It will cost £ 150,000 to take My Name is Rachel Corrie to its first night -and that's for a limited run of a one-woman show that's not being tinkered with. Other productions can spend that much on advertising alone. The London Fringe venue the Menier Chocolate Factory has had a huge hit with its production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sunday in the Park with George, selling out every night since November. But its capacity is 170. When the show moves to Wyndhams in May for a short season, it will need to sell more than twice as many tickets a night just to break even. And that, suggests the Menier's artistic director David Babani, is on a marketing budget roughly a tenth of what a major musical might hope to spend. "It's an absolutely crazy gamble," he says, "but then so is any West End venture."
That's particularly true now that runs tend to be shorter. Star casting means that shows are expected to run for months, not years. Later this month Nica Burns will bring back One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Christian Slater, for just ten weeks. Normally that would be too short to make it pay, she suggests -but because it's a revival of a production that sold out its run at the Gielgud only a year ago, she thinks it'll work.
Which means more openings and closings, more wheeler-dealing, less time to recoup.
"You've got to have a strong stomach," adds Burns, who says she spends four nights a week scouting for shows to put on, plus one day every weekend reading new scripts. The problem, she says, is not the surplus of producers looking for a venue, but the dearth of shows worth welcoming. "I feel nothing like Heathrow aiport!"
In short, then, this dark art involves being permanently on the lookout for suitable venues and ventures, finagling your way in at the right time at the right price, raising unfeasible amounts of money with which to do all this, and then hoping that there's an audience that gives a damn at the end of it all. It is, everyone agrees, horrribly difficult and seriously good fun. Well, almost everyone.
"I agree that all those things are vital and important, but it's nothing like a dark art," insists Bill Kenwright, the owner of Everton FC and one of the most successful producers of the past four decades. "It's certainly a lot less of a dark art than when I started, when there was a horrendous them-and-us atmosphere be-tween commercial and subsidised theatre. I think that's gone now. And I've been one of the people working really hard to get rid of it."
Kenwright has brought the West End subsidised shows such as Festen, and next month puts the RSC's Stratford production of The Crucible into the Gielgud. But he too doesn't depend on straight drama for his meal ticket -he can punt on such shows, he says, thanks to his lucrative revivals of musicals that didn't quite stick on their first West End runs -shows such as Blood Brothers or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Now, at literally days' notice, he's bringing his production of Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind into the West End, after reworking it for a tour two years ago. And that's because someone else dropped out of a summer run at the Palace Theatre. Two weeks ago the theatre's owners gave him a ring, asked him if he had anything. Next week, the show starts previewing, with, by his own admission, no time for a conventional marketing campaign.
Even if this ambitious revival works out, though, he'll have to go looking for a new theatre come the autumn, when Monty Python's Spamalot moves in from Broadway.
"Hey, if it works out I will build a theatre for it!" he enthuses. "Listen, of course you've got to have Spamalot in there, it's this year's mega-million dollar spectacular. But there's got to be room for the smaller musicals, the smaller shows." And it's his job to make that room.
BRINGING BLACKBIRD TO THE WEST END
Producers Carole Winter and Michael Edwards
First seen at last year's Edinburgh Festival
The good news Peter Stein's production of David Harrower's play was a sell out, one of the talking points of the festival. The reviews -particularly for the actors, Jodhi May and Roger Allam -were excellent.
The bad news May and Allam are well-known, well-liked actors -but not star names.
The show has to be the star -but it's about the aftermath of a paedophile affair, not a topic that easily pulls in 850 punters a night. Oh, and several starrier plays -Embers, Honour, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf -opened at the same time.
The producers' tactics
1) Make Blackbird a strictly limited run at a highly visible theatre (the Albery, St Martin's Lane).
2) Price it aggressively -charge only £ 20 for best seats on Mondays.
3) Cross fingers. "A lot of producers have told me they really admire us for doing this," says Winter, "but they wouldn't have done it themselves!"
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, March 06, 2006
interview with Alan at Berindale
7 lovely minutes of the voice
berindale interview
dee
Canada - Monday, March 06, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, March 02, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
March 2, 2006 Thursday
2 Star Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 17
LENGTH: 53 words
HEADLINE: 3AM: SURVEILLANCE
BYLINE: KIKI KING, EVA SIMPSON & CAROLINE HEDLEY
KIRSTY Gallacher with pals at the Shadow Lounge, a top gay members club, in Soho, London... Alan Rickman (left) swinging a squash racket while walking down Westbourne Grove, London... Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher at Sheffield Arena, watching Oasis... Germaine Greer drinking at the Belsize Tavern in North London...
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, March 02, 2006
Thank you for contacting New York Theatre Workshop regarding “My Name is Rachel Corrie.” Artistic Director James Nicola is currently out of town; following is a statement from him regarding the production:
New York Theatre Workshop did not cancel or censor “My Name is Rachel Corrie” and we are saddened by these charges. With a schedule largely driven by director Alan Rickman’s pre-existing film commitments, we had less than two months to consider mounting the production. In even attempting this unusually short timeline, this theatre distinguished itself from most others.
When we found that there was a very strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, would use the play as a platform to promote their own agendas, we asked a rather routine question, or so we thought, to our London colleagues about altering the time frame. Our intent in asking for the postponement was to allow us enough time to contextualize the work so Rachel Corrie’s powerful voice could best be heard above the din of others shouting for their own purposes.
We were never for a second concerned about the response from people who actually sat in the theater and experienced the work.
Our commitment to “My Name is Rachel Corrie” has never wavered.
To have our request for more time blown into a screed about censorship is quite stunning.
James Nicola
Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop
Cynndi K
- Wednesday, March 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
March 1, 2006 Wednesday
Home Edition
SECTION: CALIFORNIA; Metro; Editorial Pages Desk; Part B; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 784 words
HEADLINE: A message crushed again
BYLINE: Katharine Viner, KATHARINE VINER is the features editor at the Guardian in London and the editor, with Alan Rickman, of "My Name is Rachel Corrie," which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2005. Because of the cancellation of the New York run, the play is transferring to the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End.
[Same article as the one from the Guardian, which follows, minus the last three paragraphs.--ed.]
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London) - Final Edition
March 1, 2006 Wednesday
SECTION: GUARDIAN COMMENT AND DEBATE PAGES ; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 855 words
HEADLINE: Comment & Debate: Surely Americans will not put up with this censorship: The decision by a New York theatre to cave in to pressure over our play shows how the scope for free debate has narrowed
BYLINE: Katharine Viner
The flights for cast and crew had been booked; the production schedule delivered; the press announcement drafted and approved; tickets advertised on the internet. The Royal Court production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, the play I co-edited with Alan Rickman, was transferring next month to the New York Theatre Workshop, home of the groundbreaking musical Rent, following two sellout runs in London and several awards.
We always thought that it was a piece of work that needed to be seen in the US. Created from the journals and emails of American activist Rachel Corrie, telling of her journey from her adolescent life in Seattle, Washington, to her death under a bulldozer in Gaza at the age of 23, we considered it, in a sense, to be an American story, which would have a particular relevance for audiences in Rachel's home country. After all, she had made her journey to the Middle East in order "to meet the people who are on the receiving end of our (American) tax dollars", and she was a killed by a US-made bulldozer.
But last week the New York Theatre Workshop cancelled the production - or, in their words, "postponed it indefinitely". The political climate, we were told, had changed dramatically since the play was booked. As James Nicola, the theatre's artistic director, said yesterday: "In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York, what we heard was that after Ariel Sharon's illness and the election of Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections, we had a very edgy situation." Rachel was to be censored for political reasons.
It makes you wonder. If a young, middle-class, scrupulously fair-minded, and dead, American woman, whose superb writing about her job as a mental health worker, ex-boyfriends, troublesome parents, struggle to find out who she wanted to be, and how she found that by travelling to Gaza and discovering the shocking conditions under which the Palestinians live - if a voice like this cannot be heard on a New York stage, what hope is there for anyone else? The non-American, the non-white, the non-dead, the oppressed?
Anyone who sees the play, or reads it, realises that this is no piece of alienating agitprop. One night in London, a group of American students came to a performance and mobbed us afterwards, thrilled that they had seen themselves on stage, and who they might, in a different life, have become. Another night, an Israeli couple, members of the rightwing Likud party, on holiday in Britain, were similarly impressed. "The play was wasn't against Israel, it was against violence," they told Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother. I was particularly touched by a young Jewish New Yorker, from an Orthodox family, who said that he had been nervous about coming to see My Name Is Rachel Corrie, because he had been told that both she and it were viciously anti-Israel. But he had been powerfully moved by Rachel's words and realised that he had, to his alarm, been dangerously misled.
But the director of the New York theatre told the New York Times yesterday that it wasn't the people who actually saw the play he was concerned about. "I don't think we were worried about the audience," he said. "I think we were more worried that those who had never encountered her writing, never encountered the piece, would be using this as an opportunity to position their arguments." Since when did theatre come to be about those who don't go to see it? If the play itself, as Mr Nicola clearly concedes, is not the problem, then isn't the answer to get people in to watch it, rather than exercising prior censorship? With freedom of speech now at the top of the international agenda, and George Clooney's outstanding Good Night, and Good Luck reminding us of the dangers of not standing up to witch-hunts, Americans should not be denied the right to hear Rachel Corrie's words - words that only two weeks ago were deemed acceptable.
I'd heard from American friends that life for dissenters had been getting worse - wiretapping scandals, arrests for wearing anti-war T-shirts, Muslim professors denied visas. But it's hard to tell from afar how bad things really are. Here was personal proof that the political climate is continuing to shift disturbingly, narrowing the scope of free debate and artistic expression. What was acceptable a matter of weeks ago is not acceptable now. The New York theatre's claim that the arrangement was tentative is absurd: the truth is that its management has caved in to political pressure, and the reputation of the arts in New York is the poorer for it.
It is surely underestimating the curiosity and robustness of the American public, many of whom would no doubt be interested in an insight into the reality of occupation that led to the Hamas victory. Artistic communities need to resist the censorship of voices that go against the grain of George Bush's America, rather than following the Fox News agenda and gagging them before they have even been heard.
My Name Is Rachel Corrie will now be shown at the Playhouse theatre in London's West End from March 28; booking number 0870 060 6631 k.viner@guardian.co.uk
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Georgiana (Perhaps a little spring trip? I can't leave until 7 April, but then...)
Seattle - Tuesday, February 28, 2006
WOS Winner Rachel Gets West End Debut, 30 Mar
Hikity
- Tuesday, February 28, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Times (London)
February 24, 2006, Friday
SECTION: HOME NEWS; Pg. 11
LENGTH: 195 words
HEADLINE: Murder in Samarkand
BYLINE: Hugo Rifkind
A celluloid headache awaits the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The controversial memoirs of Craig Murray (former Ambassador to Uzbekistan) are to be made into a movie.
Slightly weirdly, Michael Winterbottom, the director (24 Hour Party People, The Road to Guantanamo), has optioned Murder in Samarkand, which--court battles permitting--is due to be published in June.
Very weirdly, he plans to cast Steve Coogan in the lead role. Can it be true? "Actually, yes," says Murray. "It's extremely good news. I've met with Michael, and with Steve Coogan, and with a, well, a very well-known screenwriter, whose name I'm not going to divulge."
Murray's book lifts the lid on torture and corruption in the former Soviet state and alleges lazy complicity on the part of Downing Street and the FCO. It doesn't, in short, sound like typical Alan Partridge fare.
"There are elements of dark comedy in the story," shrugs Murray, "and Steve Coogan has shown that he has quite a dramatic range."
And who should play Jack Straw, the man whom Murray evidently considers to be his nemesis? The former ambassador lets out a dark laugh. "I think it is a role tailor-made for Alan Rickman," he says.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 28, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
February 24, 2006 Friday
Inner London Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 221 words
HEADLINE: FILM: INTERVIEW - YOUR TOP FIVE...;
SPOOF FILMS
Every romantic comedy under the sun is parodied in new film Date Movie. To mark its release, ROBERT WILKINSON, from Rawdon, Leeds, tells us his top five spoof movies.
1. THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)
Hilariously accurate rockumentary pastiche of a self-deluded heavy metal group on tour, lurching from one disaster to the next.
Comedy that goes all the way up to 11.
2. AIRPLANE! (1980)
This anarchic spoof of a disaster movie packs in more jokes per minute than any other comedy. You're sure to see something new on almost every viewing, meaning it's permanently fresh. An absolute gem.
3. TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (2004)
Take two parts Jerry Bruckheimer and add one part Gerry Anderson and this is what you get: an excellent spoof of action cinema and a biting satire of US foreign policy - with puppets. How Thunderbirds should have been.
4. THE NAKED GUN (1988)
Coming across as the love child of Philip Marlowe and Inspector Clouseau, incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin is the top cop trying to crack open a drugs ring in this delightfully silly thriller. Painfully funny.
5. GALAXY QUEST (1999)
Poking gentle fun at Star Trek and its nerdy fans, this follows a bunch of TV stars mistaken for a real starship crew. Highlights include Alan Rickman's acerbic, failed actor, and Sam Rockwell's gormless extra, dragged unwittingly into space.
GRAPHIC: ANARCHIC: Airplane! (top), Team America and Naked Gun' NERDY: Galaxy Quest' DELUDED: Spinal Tap
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 28, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Aberdeen Press and Journal
February 27, 2006 Monday
SECTION: Pg. 7
LENGTH: 175 words
HEADLINE: Highland village hosts birthday bash
Hollywood star Alan Rickman celebrated his 60th birthday with friends in the picturesque fishing village of Ullapool in Wester Ross.
The distinguished stage and screen actor, who has appeared as Professor Snape in all four of the blockbusting Harry Potter films, reached the milestone on Tuesday.
He stayed in the Highland village at the home of his friend, local artist Andrew Ward, and marked the anniversary by visiting the Ceilidh Place hotel, a popular venue for artists and musicians in the Highlands.
Ceilidh Place owner, Highland councillor Jean Urquhart, confirmed the actor, who also starred in Die Hard and Love Actually, had visited with his girlfriend. "It was lovely for us to have someone like Alan visiting us as we are always partial to actors. My late husband Robert, who founded the Ceilidh Place, was an actor and there has always been a discussion about this play or that play around the place."
The Ceilidh Place grew out of Broomview Cottage and was started in 1970 by stage and screen actor Mr Urquhart, who was born there in 1921.
Georgiana (I can be contacted as gellis at drizzle.com)
Seattle - Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: February 28, 2006
Aurora
- Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Tuesday February 28, 2006
The Guardian
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire, UK - Monday, February 27, 2006
The Nation Mon Feb 27, 2:46 PM ET
The Nation -- So much for freedom of speech, let alone thought.
The play My Name Is Rachel Corrie, directed in London by actor Alan Rickman anddue to open in New York City in March, has been canceled for fear ofcontroversy.
The play adapts the diaries of the 23-year-old woman from Seattle who wasmurdered inRafah in 2003, when she was deliberately run down by anIsraeli Defense Forces bulldozer. Rachel had traveled to the Gaza Strip during the last intifada as an activist for the International Solidarity Movement.
My Name Is Rachel Corrie has enjoyed two sell-out runs in London at the Royal Court Theatre and greatcritical acclaim; it was due to open at the New York Theatre Workshop inthe East Village.
In private conversations with those who staged the play in London, the Theatre Workshop cited the election of Hamas in Palestine, ArielSharon's medical condition and the furor over the Danish cartoons asreasons for refusing to stage the play.
"The decision is incredibly frustrating," said one of the peopleclosely associated with the play. "It underestimates the intelligenceand compassion of the American people."
During a period of such intense reflection about freedom of speech andthe so-called "clash of civilizations," the play's cancellation is auseful reminder of the forces at work in constructing and limitingAmerica's freedom to access the views and experiences even of other Americans.
How is the American public supposed to develop a civilizedunderstanding of what their government is bankrolling in Israel andPalestine when plays like this cannot be shown?
Georgiana (How's that for a free and open society?)
Seattle - Monday, February 27, 2006
Just Another Lurker
- Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Synopsis: Vivienne, a dynamic young woman, gets it into her head to hitch a ride with Alex, a rather closed-in British man. Just when he is starting to appreciate this unusual girl, he has an accident in the course of which Vivienne loses her life. He therefore goes to visit Vivienne’s mother, Linda, who is autistic. Even though he wants to leave right away, in the end he stays a while in her house. Through his contact with her, he learns a lot and finds a way to overcome his biggest problem.
Aurora
- Sunday, February 19, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 14, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
February 13, 2006 - February 19, 2006
SECTION: FILM/INTERNATIONAL; Pg. 20
LENGTH: 258 words
HEADLINE: BERLIN BRIEFS
BYLINE: Adam Dawtrey
HIGHLIGHT:
Intandem scares up horror slate
British sales outfit Intandem Films has unveiled a slate of movies in various stages of production, and announced plans to raise a £6 million ($10 million) equity fund for projects made through its new horror label, Fear Factory.
The first Fear Factory title will be "Zoo," a $2.5 million black comedy by writer-director Caradog James. Produced by Julie Baines of Dan Films, it will shoot this spring in Wales.
Intandem will launch its fund-raising Feb. 27, using the tax shelter of an Enterprise Investment Scheme. It will use the coin to finance up to 50% of the budgets for films made by Fear Factory, and to bankroll their U.K. DVD release.
Fear Factory is a joint venture with producers Spice Factory, Colin Pons and Mark Thomas. The plan is to make 10 low-budget pics over the next two years.
Intandem has already picked up two American horror movies, Michael Lee Baron's "The Lodge" and Albert Magnoli's "Primal Scream," to be sold internationally under the Fear Factory label.
Intandem is also beefing up its non-horror slate, handling sales for "Black Pimpernel," "Kiss Chase," "Villa Golitsyn," "Breath of Life" and "Civic Duty."
"The Villa Golitsyn" will star Kristen Scott-Thomas and Alan Rickman, while "Civic Duty" is a Canadian thriller starring Bill Pullman as a man who comes to believe that his neighbor is a terrorist.
This represents a significant ramping up by Intandem, which was launched by chief exec Gary Smith after he sold Winchester to Cobalt, and floated on London's Alternative Investment Market last year.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Q Who, in your opinion, are the most underappreciated actors in Hollywood?--Tom Morrison, Chicago, Ill.
A Here's our Top 10. Amazingly, none has ever been nominated for an Oscar: Donald Sutherland, 70; Richard Gere, 56; Kevin Bacon, 47; Gary Oldman, 47; Steve Buscemi, 48; Alan Rickman, 59; John Cusack, 39, Steve Martin, 60; Forest Whitaker, 44; and Brian Dennehy, 67. Readers, visit parade.com to share your opinions.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 14, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Daily Mail (London)
February 10, 2006 Friday
SECTION: ED 1ST 04; Pg. 46
LENGTH: 2059 words
HEADLINE: The tortured tourists
BYLINE: BAZ BAMIGBOYE
. . . . . . . . . .
ALAN RICKMAN and Sigourney Weaver (right) star in Snow Cake, which officially opened the latest Berlin Film Festival last night. Festival openers here are usually flabby affairs, but director Marc Evans's film is a gentle movie that explores the nature of friendship, loss, autism - and redemption.
Rickman plays a man who gives a young woman a lift and it ends in tragedy.
He visits the girl's mother (Ms Weaver) who suffers from an obsessive disorder and enjoys trampolining. It's a very unflashy movie that, despite initial misgivings, slowly hooks you, thanks to the powerful lead performances.
Steve Coogan, Henry Normal and BBC Films are among the executive producers.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, February 13, 2006
Glowbox
France - Monday, February 13, 2006
Alan Rickman
Glowbox
France - Sunday, February 12, 2006
This is the kind of cinema that I feel is very important… The choice that Berlin offers is the choice that I
particularly like, and I am always very intrigued and very fascinated by the variety of social comment and political
comment and obviously, with that, high-powered emotional content we can get through the films in Berlin.
The personal Snow Cake has eased patrons into that social theme on the festival's slowest day, timed to allow journalists to race around Berlin's hotels scheduling interviews and schmoozing with agents.
One of the reasons I wanted to do the movie was that it was not about autism. It was about a woman, a very
unique woman, who also happened to have autism… It took me a long time to even understand how to prepare
for this part because every person with autism is so unique. I have to say it was one of the most fascinating years
I've ever spent researching a part... If you're in the presence of someone with autism for a long time, you learn so
much. You learn how to play, you learn how to see things, you learn how to experience things. You also learn
how jarring the world is… I certainly think I re-experienced learning how to enjoy.
The film was inspired by the writer's experiences with her autistic son and director Marc Evans has handpicked cult Canadian group Broken Social Scene to write the score.
"What none of us wanted to do was to make a film that was a sort of social realist piece, or a social issue film," he
said. "And before starting the film, Angela Pell, the writer, wrote me a little note saying to live with an autistic
person has moments of hell but they can give you glimpses of heaven, and we wanted something heavenly,
ethereal and 'other' in the music."
Suzanne
TX - Saturday, February 11, 2006
Reviewed by Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard (10 February 2006)
Julia
Canada - Friday, February 10, 2006
A Momentum Pictures (in U.K.)/TVA Films (in Canada) release of a U.K. Film Council/Telefilm Canada presentation, in association with Baby Cow Prods., TVA Films, BBC2 Films, the Movie Network, Chum Television and Movie Central, of a Revolution Films (U.K.)/Rhombus Media (Canada) production, with participation of Astral Media, Canadian Television Fund. (International sales: Fortissimo Film Sales, Amsterdam.) Produced by Gina Carter, Jessica Daniel, Andrew Eaton, Niv Fichman. Executive producers, Robert Jones, Michael Winterbottom, David M. Thompson, Henry Normal, Steve Coogan. Co-producer, Sheena Macdonald. Directed by Marc Evans. Screenplay, Angela Pell.
By DEREK ELLEY
Aurora
- Friday, February 10, 2006
BERLIN (AFP) - The 56th Berlinale, the year's first major European film festival, opened with a stunning performance by Sigourney Weaver as an autistic woman in the world premiere of the tender drama "Snow Cake."
Weaver, 56, prepared for a year for her turn as an emotionally impaired woman coping with the death of a daughter in the British-Canadian production, one of 19 films vying for the festival's Golden and Silver Bear top prizes.
"It took me a long time to even understand how to prepare for this part because every person with autism is so unique. I have to say it was one of the most fascinating years I ever spent, researching this part," she told a news conference.
The role is a departure for Weaver, who is best known for battling extra-terrestrials in the "Alien" franchise. She said it was refreshing to let down her guard.
"I think we have to begin to see (autism) as a gift. We may not understand what it's there for. But if you're in the presence of someone with autism, you learn so much. You learn how to play," she said of her preparation for the film, which received warm applause at its screening.
Alan Rickman (of the "Harry Potter" series) plays a man tormented by the loss of his own child and develops a highly unusual relationship with Sigourney's character Linda. He said her startlingly realistic performance allowed his own part to fall into place.
"Sigourney did the most enormous amount of work which is like a huge present to me because it was so true and truthful so there was always this reference point," said Rickman, 59.
"You knew you were reacting to something unbelievably accurate so in a way I think acting has never been so easy for me. I find acting really rather difficult."
Weaver and Rickman later turned out amid flurries for the gala opening screening of "Snow Cake."
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, February 09, 2006
Claudia
GA - Thursday, February 09, 2006
Claire
- Thursday, February 09, 2006
Photo-Call Snow Cake
Pressekonferenz / Press Conference
Podium:
Marc Evans (Regisseur/ Director)
Sigourney Weaver (Schauspielerin/ Actress)
Alan Rickman (Schauspieler/ Actor) !!!!
Emily Hampshire (Schauspieler/Actor)
Gina Carter (Produzentin/Producer)
Niv Fichman (Produzent/Producer)
Andrew Eaton (Produzent/Producer)
Angela Pell (Drehbuch/Script)
Roter Teppich/Red Carpet: Snow Cake
Eröffnungsveranstaltung/Opening ceremony Berlinale Palast
Feb 09, 2006:
International and German Stars at the Opening of the 56th Berlinale
The Opening Gala of the 56th Berlin International Film Festival will be held on February 9 in the Berlinale Palast at Potsdamer Platz. For the first time, the event will be broadcast live on television (ZDF/3sat). Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick will open the Festival together with Minister of State and Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs Bernd Neumann, Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit and Jury President Charlotte Rampling. Actor Heino Ferch will host the show. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Max Raabe and his Palast Orchester. Following the introduction of the International Jury, this year’s opening film will be screened: the world premiere of Snow Cake by Marc Evans.
Patti <mail4patti@web.defoo>
Germany - Thursday, February 09, 2006
Lyn
Portland, - Thursday, February 09, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Independent (London)
February 3, 2006 Friday
First Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 47
LENGTH: 807 words
HEADLINE: My Life in a Column: I'm so ashamed I (probably) threw up in the American Bar, I'm leaving the country
BYLINE: TRACEY EMIN
. . . . . . . . . .
My next venture into the world last week was Friday. The auspicious occasion - The South Bank Show Awards. I went to bed on Thursday night saying: "Please God, make me better by tomorrow. Make me better by tomorrow." On Friday, at midday, I strutted into the Savoy Hotel, my body awash with Lemsip.
And as I breezed past my first tray of champagne, the words "I'm just so happy to be here. I don't need to drink alcohol" had no relevance in this situation whatsoever. I love the South Bank Show Awards. There is more testosterone per square foot than anywhere else in the world. Men, men, men! Single. Gay. Married.
Lovely, intellectual men! It's not exactly a hunting ground - more of a stampede.
Melvyn's telling me how much he liked last week's column. Alan Rickman tells me how much he's enjoyed my book. Discussed the merits of Andy Warhol with Peter Blake. Jarvis Cocker and I give each other a knowing nod - of "we survived the 90s". It's all so wonderful. Until two days later, when I get a phone call from a friend saying: "I thought I'd let you get over it." "What?" I say.
"Friday. The South Bank Awards." "Yeah," I say, "I was a little bit drunk." "What!" yells myfriend down the phone "Trace, you threw up in the American Bar!" Mmmm. Throwing up in public - that's a bad one. Trace's big chance to pull. Here, let me throw up in your drink for you! And on top of it I ate the fucking lunch! Any chance of the vomit just being pure alcohol would be too much to wish for. But at least a room full of dignitaries came to my rescue, apparently.
Then I walk into my studio to hear my assistant on the phone to a journalist. She puts her hand over the receiver and says: "Trace. They want to know if there's any truth in the story that you..."."Yes, yes, its true! I threw up in the American Bar! I threw up in the American Bar." "No," she says. "That you had an altercation with an opera director called David McVicar.
Apparently you upset him so much he stormed out of the room in tears!" "No," I say in a really sing-songy voice.
"No," says my assistant, "you didn't?" "No," I say. "No memory whatsoever! All I remember is saying to a taxi driver: 'Please hurryup! I think I'm going to wet myself!'" Another press statement wings its way!
Yes, probably, it's true. It's all true. And yes, also probably true that I threw up in the American Bar. Also probably true that I should have never gone out on that day. And if so, never alone. And I'm so ashamed I'm leaving the country!
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, February 06, 2006
sue
england - Monday, February 06, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Guardian (London) - Final Edition
February 1, 2006 Wednesday
SECTION: GUARDIAN HOME PAGES; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 94 words
HEADLINE: Arts: Spacey wins over critics with Richard II at Old Vic
BYLINE: Charlotte Higgins
His tenure at the Old Vic theatre has been haunted by critical maulings. But at last Kevin Spacey has charmed the reviewers, winning best actor at the Critics' Circle theatre awards, for his Richard II - his first major plaudit since he became artistic director of the Old Vic 18 months ago. The production also took two awards at the Theatregoers' Choice awards, chosen by public vote. The biggest straight play winner at the latter, winning in three categories, was My Name Is Rachel Corrie at the Royal Court, by Alan Rickman and the Guardian's Katharine Viner.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, February 02, 2006
Sarah <sarah@home.okfoo>
Sweden - Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Aurora
- Wednesday, February 01, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Variety
January 30, 2006 - February 5, 2006
SECTION: SPECIAL REPORT 1: BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL: PREVIEW; Pg. A2
LENGTH: 4099 words
HEADLINE: HOT ON THE MARKET
. . . . . . . . . .
"Snow Cake" --- Fortissimo
Director: Marc Evans
Cast: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss
Status: Completed
A story of love and friendship and the unorthodox relationship between a man escaping his past, an autistic mother coping with the loss of her daughter and a passionate woman who keeps love at arm's length.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
Candy, Australia, director Neil Armfield.
El Custodio (The Minder), Argentina/France/Germany, director Rodrigo Moreno.
Elementarteilchen (The Elementary Particles), Germany, director Oskar Roehler.
En Soap (A Soap), Denmark/Sweden, director Pernille Fischer Christensen.
Find Me Guilty, United States, director Sidney Lumet.
Der freie Wille (The Free Will), Germany, director Matthias Glasner.
Grbavica, Austria/Bosnia/Germany, director Jasmila Zbanic.
Invisible Waves, Netherlands/Thailand/China, director Pen-ek Ratanaruang.
Isabella, China, director Pang Ho-cheung.
L'ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power), France/Germany, director Claude Chabrol.
Offside, Iran, director Jafar Panahi.
Requiem, Germany, director Hans-Christian Schmid.
The Road to Guantanamo, Britain, director Michael Winterbottom.
Romanzo Criminale (Crime Novel), Italy/Britain/France, director Michele Placido.
Sehnsucht (Longing), Germany, director Valeska Grisebach.
Slumming, Austria/Switzerland, director Michael Glawogger.
Snow Cake, Britain/Canada, director Marc Evans.
Zemestan (It's Winter), Iran, director Rafi Pitts.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
All Rights Reserved
Gloucestershire Echo
January 26, 2006 Thursday
SECTION: Pg. 33
LENGTH: 532 words
HEADLINE: Robin Hood'S Home Gets A Makeover
Never mind Robin Hood, Nottingham has a new image. MARIANNE SWEET visited the busy city
If you think Nottingham is all about Robin Hood, lace and Raleigh bikes then it has been some time since you've been there. Nottingham is a happening, vibrant city, full of amazing restaurants and bars, top-class shops and great tourist attractions. Forget Robin Hood - think instead of Paul Smith, Manolo Blahnik and Hugo Boss.
The city has some amazing history but it is a forward-looking prosperous place.
We were based at the Rutland Square Hotel. The staff were helpful, the rooms spacious and the breakfasts perfect.
What made it truly special was its location. Walk out the door and the Castle was 50 yards away. Walk the other way and we were just minutes away from the city centre.
Designer Paul Smith knows his home town is an up and coming city. He has opened his flagship store there in a grade II listed building. Sir Paul designed the interior himself and it's worth a visit just to look around.
The city's new trams wind their way through the centre and are the perfect way to get around when the shopping bags become too heavy.
Beyond the designer glitz, the city has a wealth of heritage.
Nottingham was the first city outside London to open a municipal art gallery and museum, based at the Castle. It's a great place to while away two or three hours offering amazing art collections, travelling exhibitions and tours of the caves.
Nottingham is built on an labryinth of caves which have had myriad uses, from tanneries, to air raid shelters during the Second World War, to coups on royalty, to homes for the poor.
Visit the City of Caves and actors tell you the stories about life underground.
The best use of the caves has to be Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, officially England's oldest inn. There has been a pub on the site since 1189. It is built into the cliff so some of the rooms are literally caves. It offers stacks of atmosphere, good real ale and decent food. It is a must for any visitor to the city but be prepared for crowds as it is very popular.
The city's best attraction is the Galleries of Justice, which takes visitors through 300 years of crime and punishment. Using brilliant actors and interactive displays it entertains visitors.
You witness a real trial in a Victorian courtroom before being sentenced and sent down to the city's original county gaol.
During warm weather you can head down to Castle Wharf down by the canal. Warehouses have been converted into bars and restaurants with attractive waterside terraces.
If after all that you still want to know about Robin Hood then pop into The Tales of Robin Hood centre which promises adventure with "England's best-loved outlaw". Sorry but after Alan Rickman, it's the Sheriff of Nottingham for me. Robin Hood doesn't even get a look in.
For more information, go to www.experiencenottinghamshire. com
Contact Nottingham tourism centre on 0115 915 5330 or at www.visitnotts.com
To find out more about the Galleries of Justice, call 0115 9520555 or visit www.galleriesofjustice.org.uk
Rooms at Rutland Square Hotel start at £85 for single and £120 double including breakfast. For details, contact 0115 9411114 or www.forestdale.com
Georgiana (Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the first pub I drank in in England)
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
January 27, 2006 Friday
0 Star Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 11
LENGTH: 243 words
HEADLINE: YOUR TOP FIVE..TERRORIST FILMS;
THE ATTACK ON ISRAELI ATHLETES AT THE 1972 OLYMPICS IS THE SUBJECT OF MUNICH, RELEASED TODAY. TO MARK THE EVENT, JOHN PENROSE, OF HOLMFIRTH, WEST YORKS, PICKS HIS TOP FIVE TERRORIST FILMS.
BYLINE: JOHN PENROSE
1.NIGHTHAWKS (1981)
A Sylvester Stallone movie? Well yes, the big lug could actually act before he disappeared up his own bottom. But the scene stealer here was Rutger Hauer's smooth, cold-hearted terrorist who, among his many crimes, kills an air hostess purely so he can use her flat. He wages a campaign against New York and only Sly can save the day - of course.
2. DIE HARD (1988)
In Hollywood, all the villains are English but all the best terrorists are German. Alan Rickman's sneering Hans Gruber takes over a gleaming new office block but doesn't reckon on Bruce Willis in his vest. In the end, Gruber takes a long dive off the top of the building.
3. THE ROCK (1996)
Geeky Nicolas Cage and grizzled Sean Connery join forces to take on maverick war hero Ed Harris who has comandeered Alcatraz and threatens to launch a chemical strike on San Francisco.
4.DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973)
Forget Bruce Willis's poor remake. This is the Daddy. Suave and debonair Edward Fox plans to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle. The pressure builds gradually as the Jackal criss-crosses Europe putting his deadly plan into action. But can the police save him in time? A classic.
5.THE CRYING GAME (1992)
IRA man Fergus (Stephen Rea) kidnaps a British soldier and when it all goes wrong flees to London. There Fergus befriends the soldier's girlfriend Dil without letting on about his past - but Dil has her secrets too. This has one of the best plot twists of any movie.
GRAPHIC: BIG LUG: Stallone' THRILLS: Die Hard (top), The Rock, Day Of The Jackal and Crying Game
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
Kosslick said the opening film, "Snow Cake", featuring
Sigourney Weaver as an autistic woman who develops a relationship with a troubled man played by
Alan Rickman, also offered a surprising look at how lonely people can bridge the distance between them.
"It is also a terrific love story about an attempt to overcome isolation and see that it is possible to love someone when you thought you could not," he said.
"Sexuality is always there as a theme, not only because it can be so wonderful, but because it is always a means of bridging difference. And because there are always means of repression keeping people from experiencing it in the way they want to. And that is of course also a political subject."
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, January 30, 2006
Petra <mail4patti@web.defoo>
Germany - Monday, January 30, 2006
aef
Thailand - Monday, January 30, 2006
09.02.2006 (Premiere day of SNOW CAKE)
19:20 bis 21 Uhr
Petra <mail4patti@web.defoo>
Germany - Saturday, January 28, 2006
squirrelywrath
- Friday, January 27, 2006
Claudia
GA - Friday, January 27, 2006
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
WEAVER, RICKMAN, CLOONEY EXPECTED
"Snow Cake," a British-Canadian co-production starring Sigourney Weaver as an autistic woman, opens the fest and she is expected on the red carpet along with co-star Alan Rickman.
Berlin favorite George Clooney is also due for "Syriana," a political thriller on the oil industry.
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, January 26, 2006
All Rights Reserved.
PR Newswire Europe
January 26, 2006 Thursday 5:54 AM Eastern Time
LENGTH: 891 words
HEADLINE: Catherine Deneuve, M.A.C Beauty Icon 3, Hosts a Special Grand Classics Screening of Place VendA'me
LONDON, January 26 /PRNewswire/ -- M.A.C Cosmetics, the leading brand of professional cosmetics and make up brand of choice, has named Catherine Deneuve, the legendary French born actress as its third inspiration for the M.A.C Beauty Icon series.
To celebrate this collection, M.A.C has collaborated with established film event series, Grand Classics. For its thirteenth London event, Catherine Deneuve, the timeless muse for top couture houses and inspiration for women of all ages will be introducing a special screening of her 1998 film, Place VendA'me, on 30th January, 2006 at the Electric Cinema in London.
Ms Deneuve has stated, "I am delighted to present Place VendA'me - it's One of the films that encompasses the ensemble of my career."
Grand Classics highlights the power of film to inspire and features renowned actors and directors presenting films that have influenced their careers.
"M.A.C is delighted to partner with Grand Classics to host this one-off event with Catherine Deneuve. The M.A.C Beauty Icon series celebrates iconic beauty and Grand Classic celebrates iconic films and actors - a perfect match!" - Michelle Feeney, Vice President Global Communications.
The Grand Classics screening series raises money for film preservation through the British Film Institute. The series is ongoing in London on a bi-monthly basis, creating a forum and meeting point for a range of talent working within the British film industry.
Ms Deneuve and M.A.C Cosmetics closely collaborated on the colour collection that will be available at M.A.C locations worldwide in February 2006. In October 2003, the rule breaking company launched the Beauty Icon series to pay tribute to the world's most celebrated cultural icons. Ms Deneuve - a global choice for M.A.C - follows in the steps of previous Beauty Icons, Cabaret showgirl Liza Minnelli, and supreme diva Diana Ross.
The launch of Grand Classics London was held on June 2003 and hosted by director Anthony Minghella who introduced the Fellini film I Vitelloni. He was followed in September by Kevin Costner presenting the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke, Samantha Morton presenting Ken Loach's Ladybird Ladybird in November, Mike Newell presenting Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious in January, Jim Broadbent presenting The Palm Beach Story' directed by Preston Sturges in March, Bob Hoskins presenting Jules Dassin's Rififi in May, Jude Law presenting Night of the Hunter in July, Dennis Hopper presenting his own film Out of the Blue last November, Sir Michael Caine presenting Casablanca in June 2005 to Gwyneth Paltrow hosting Annie Hall in December 2005. Most recently, Grand Classics launched in Aspen on 29th Dec 2005 with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell presenting To Kill A Mocking Bird.
Grand Classics was founded in New York in April 2002 by Katrina Pavlos and Vanessa Wingate, of Indyssey Entertainment. The series has included Benicio Del Toro presenting Badlands, Spike Lee presenting Midnight Cowboy, Sofia Coppola presenting Darling, Tim Robbins presenting Kubrick's Paths of Glory, Kevin Kline presenting Dr. Strangelove, Clare Danes introducing Do The Right Thing, Natalie Portman presenting Camille, Julianne Moore with Robert Altman presenting Altman's 3 Women among others.
Co-founder Katrina Pavlos explains: "Indyssey Entertainment launched the Grand Classics in New York after September 11th as part of the effort to revive the city, lift spirits and encourage people to come downtown. The focus of the Grand Classics is the power of film to inspire.
Great filmmakers present movies that have inspired their careers. As many films are difficult to source and prints are deteriorating, Grand Classics benefits film preservation, with proceeds being donated to the American Film Institute in New York, and the British Film Institute in London.
As producers, we found moviemakers speaking about the films that made them decide to follow their passion very encouraging. The shared spirit of cinema is highlighted at the Grand Classics with filmmakers introducing audiences to incredible films, whilst benefiting film preservation and cinema history."
Filmmakers currently on the Grand Classics committee include Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Sir Michael Caine, Robert Altman, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Rupert Everett, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Robin Williams, Jeremy Irons, Sydney Pollack, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Natascha McElhone, Rhys Ifans, Mike Figgis, Kristen Scott Thomas and others.
For further information please go to www.grandclassics.com
Note to editors:
Catherine Deneuve won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival, 1998, for her role in Place VendA'me.
bfi
The British Film Institute [bfi] promotes understanding and appreciation of Britain's film and television heritage and culture.
Through the National Film Theatre, regional touring film seasons, film festivals, IMAX, publishing, Sight & Sound magazine, exhibitions, video/DVD sales, the largest archive and library of film and television materials in the world and educational research and initiatives - the bfi is recognised internationally as a world leader in the promotion of the moving image. For further information about the work of the Institute contact bfi corporate communications on +44-207-957-8986/8920.M.A.C Cosmetics
CONTACT:
For media and image enquiries please contact: Meena Khera or Lisa Ispani at Meena Khera Associates on: +44-207-034-0200 or meena@meenakhera.com/lisai@meenakhera.com
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, January 26, 2006
Georgiana (hope the link works...)
Seattle - Thursday, January 26, 2006
Sheena <dragon@amberdragon.freeserve.co.ukfoo>
Berkshire, UK - Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Claudia
GA - Saturday, January 21, 2006
Constance <conpappa@yahoo.comfoo>
Cary, NC USA - Saturday, January 21, 2006
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, January 19, 2006
sue
England - Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Aurora
- Monday, January 16, 2006
FULL STORY (comingsoon.net)
Donna
- Monday, January 16, 2006
Renie
Very wet Marin, - Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Claudia
GA - Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Some thought that the 2002 London and New York revival of Private Lives, starring Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan, went too far in finding a dark side to Coward's flip romantic comedy, in which a divorced couple find themselves in adjoining hotel rooms while on their respective honeymoons with new spouses. Rubinstein's rendition, led by Tom Hewitt (Tristan Tzara in last year's Long Wharf hit Travesties ) as Elyot, and Shannon Cochran (of last year's Off Broadway hit Bug ) as Amanda, should be livelier.
Georgiana (Livelier? Were they at the same play I was?)
Seattle - Thursday, January 05, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)
December 9, 2005 Friday
SECTION: ES MAG; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 70 words
HEADLINE: High standard;
Evening Standard Theatre Awards
London's most theatrical met at the Savoy hotel on the Strand for the 51st Evening Standard Theatre Awards to enjoy a traditional slap-up Savoy lunch and celebrate the best in British acting.
A delighted Sir Elton John picked up Best Musical Award for Billy Elliot, while professional players, including Kristin Scott Thomas and Alan Rickman, toasted his success with free-flowing Perrier Jouet champagne. Standing ovation.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, January 03, 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Mirror
December 31, 2005 Saturday
3 Star Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 25
LENGTH: 52 words
HEADLINE: 3AM: SURVEILLANCE
BYLINE: WITH KIKI KING, EVA SIMPSON AND CAROLINE HEDLEY
KIEFER Sutherland (right) enjoying a pint of Guinness in Whelan's pub, Dublin... Arsenal striker Robin van Persie packing his Range Rover with shopping bags in Selfridges' car park, London... Ricky Gervais, Alan Rickman and David Baddiel all enjoying Jon Stewart's show in the Prince Edward Theatre, Soho, London...
LOAD-DATE: December 31, 2005
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Independent on Sunday (London)
December 11, 2005, Sunday
SECTION: First Edition; FEATURES; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 170 words
HEADLINE: A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS
BYLINE: BY FRANCES DE LA TOUR
Item of clothing 'A white towelling dressing gown, preferably oversized. It's all about being comfortable.'
Drink 'I hardly ever drink, but it'd be a bourbon with American dry [ginger ale]. It reminds me of my first time in New York.'
Memory 'As a child we used to holiday in Cornwall and I remember a beach with high sand dunes. It was a very happy time.'
Journey 'Moscow to Yalta, by train with a Russian theatre company " a 12-hour journey with people who only spoke Russian. It was extraordinary sharing their lives. There was a lot of miming.'
Sitcom "Hancock'. He was a sort of Walter Mitty person who could be as great and as foolish as he wanted to be and at the same time express all our anxieties and hopes.'
'Harry Potter' character 'Professor Snipe " because of the way Alan Rickman plays it.'
Frances is performing at the Marie Curie Cancer Care 'Carols in the City' concert tomorrow at Southwark Cathedral, London SE1 (tel: 020 7599 7306). She was talking to Adam Jacques
Georgiana (I'd have to agree.)
Seattle - Tuesday, January 03, 2006
MediaNet Press Release Wire
December 21, 2005 Wednesday 3:03 PM AEST
LENGTH: 488 words
HEADLINE: Dendy Acquisitions to Premiere at Berlin
Dendy Films is pleased to announce that Neil Armfield's CANDY, starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush and SNOW CAKE, starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver have been selected to screen in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in February next year.
"It's a great validation of the films", said Richard Payten, joint general manager of Dendy Films. "Both projects were acquired at script stage - which is such a big risk - so it is enormously gratifying to get news of their selection at one of the world's most prestigious film festivals". Payten and his joint general manager, Andrew Mackie, are particularly proud of the selection of CANDY, as the pair acted as executive producers on the title.
"It is an unbelievable honour to have our work recognised in this way," said Neil Armfield, one of Australia's foremost theatre directors.
Producers Margaret Fink and Emile Sherman agreed that the festival was a wonderful international platform for their film. "Berlin is one of the world's most important festivals and this is such a tremendous honour and privilege," Fink said. "Neil brings the expectation of the highest level performances with him - and he has created a wonderfully cinematic and poetic film," added Sherman.
Armfield adapted Luke Davies' best-selling novel of the same name and produced a contemporary love story of startling beauty for the screen. In the title role, Abbie Cornish delivers a fearless portrayal of a young artist whose lust for life takes her to the edge of sanity. Heath Ledger breathes a sweet and tender optimism into Dan, a sometime-poet lost in love with Candy. In heroin they find a path to limitless pleasure. But as addiction takes hold they lose the very thing they sought. CANDY opens the door on a dream vision that will have meaning for all who have been dazzled by the beauty of the world.
Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss star in the comedy drama SNOW CAKE, directed by Marc Evans. Weaver plays a high functioning autistic woman who befriends a shy man tortured by a recent fatal car crash. The two strike up a friendship that helps them in their own way.
Dendy Films emerged this year as Australia's leading quality film distributor. An impressive line-up of titles including a mix of international (MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, VERA DRAKE, DOOR IN THE FLOOR, THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, INSIDE DEEP THROAT, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK) and local films (THREE DOLLARS, OYSTER FARMER, LOOK BOTH WAYS) has seen the company capture the largest market share of all the quality film companies in the country.
Dendy Films will release CANDY in May 2006 and SNOW CAKE in late 2006.
CANDY image can be downloaded at
www.dendyfilms.com.au/press/candy-hires.jpg
-------------------------
Media information:
Nicki Martin
Manager, Marketing & Publicity
Dendy Films
tel : 02 8594 9039
mob: 0409 511 522
SOURCE: Dendy Films
Georgiana (and the Aussie's have it!)
Seattle - Tuesday, January 03, 2006
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