Exclusive: Picture Tree International (Pti) has acquired world sales rights for A Quiet Resilience, the debut feature of rising Swedish, fraternal directorial duo Gustav and David Bengtsson.
The German sales company will unveil the film at the Cannes Marché du Film in May and is aiming for a festival launch later this year.
The drama revolves around a teenager grappling with his fractured family dynamics and the pressures of illegal boxing matches orchestrated by his father.
Amidst these struggles, his quest for meaning and connection exemplifies an indomitable resilience and offers a poignant and authentic examination of contemporary and generational vulnerabilities.
The Bengtsson brothers, who serve as directors and producers of the film, originate from the picturesque Swedish coastal town of Varberg.
A Quiet Resilience is their first feature after a series of well-travelled shorts including Flying Free (2015), Torasidis Last Masterpiece (2021), starring Marc-Jean Barr and Leif Edlund, and Florian (2022) featuring...
The German sales company will unveil the film at the Cannes Marché du Film in May and is aiming for a festival launch later this year.
The drama revolves around a teenager grappling with his fractured family dynamics and the pressures of illegal boxing matches orchestrated by his father.
Amidst these struggles, his quest for meaning and connection exemplifies an indomitable resilience and offers a poignant and authentic examination of contemporary and generational vulnerabilities.
The Bengtsson brothers, who serve as directors and producers of the film, originate from the picturesque Swedish coastal town of Varberg.
A Quiet Resilience is their first feature after a series of well-travelled shorts including Flying Free (2015), Torasidis Last Masterpiece (2021), starring Marc-Jean Barr and Leif Edlund, and Florian (2022) featuring...
- 4/22/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Trent Reznor and wife Mariqueen Maandig Trent Reznor and wife Mariqueen Maandig at the Oscars Sporting an ultra-cool look, Trent Reznor and wife Mariqueen Maandig, both members of the hip, experimental band How to Destroy Angels, arrive at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Trent Reznor, formerly the frontman of the alternative rock group Nine Inch Nails, and fellow How to Destroy Angels band member Atticus Ross went on to share the Best Original Score Oscar for their work on David Fincher's Facebook movie The Social Network. After Reznor's Oscar win, "I want to thank you like an animal" became a Twitter hit – in reference to a similar-sounding line found in the Nine Inch Nails' 1994 song "Closer." Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' Oscar 2011 competitors were: Hans Zimmer, at one point the favorite for the Best Original Score Academy Award, for...
- 5/2/2015
- by D. Zhea
- Alt Film Guide
If you’re in New York or Los Angeles this weekend, run don’t walk to James Ward Byrkit’s dizzying metaphysical horror film “Coherence,” or Roman Polanski’s elegant pas-de-deux “Venus in Fur.” But think twice before heading to Clint Eastwood’s 1960s musical biopic “Jersey Boys,” meeting a mixed critical response, or Paul Haggis’ awful collage of interlocking soap operas “Third Person,” currently crashing with reviewers.
On the indie side of the spectrum, you can catch Brit Joanna Hogg’s “Exhibition,” starring Tom Hiddleston, which Indiewire says has shades of Michael Haneke by way of Miranda July; Filipino helmer Lav Diaz’s latest multi-hour epic, “Norte, The End of History,” will hold court at NY’s Lincoln Center after a long festival tour dating back to Cannes 2013, where “Venus in Fur” also bowed; and Jan Troell’s austere WWII-era psychodrama “The Last Sentence” hits select markets too.
The...
On the indie side of the spectrum, you can catch Brit Joanna Hogg’s “Exhibition,” starring Tom Hiddleston, which Indiewire says has shades of Michael Haneke by way of Miranda July; Filipino helmer Lav Diaz’s latest multi-hour epic, “Norte, The End of History,” will hold court at NY’s Lincoln Center after a long festival tour dating back to Cannes 2013, where “Venus in Fur” also bowed; and Jan Troell’s austere WWII-era psychodrama “The Last Sentence” hits select markets too.
The...
- 6/19/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Disciple, Finland's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : None Yet. Producer: Långfilm Productions Finland Oy
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
- 11/14/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
This weekend I'm getting a sixpack of antifreeze and duffel bag filled with raw ground beef and going to see "The Expendables 2."
I'm certain I enjoyed the first one (it's a bit of a haze) and if my crumpling into manly tears at the mere sight of the new one's outdoor ads is any indication, I'll have a blast yet again. One thing we must ask, however. Whither the chicks?
I say with full respect and courtesy to the fairer sex, why have you not been included in this battle royale of badassery? Yes, there are some women in the film - Yu Nan will play an agent named Maggie, Charisma Carpenter is back as Statham's g.f. and someone named Amanda Ooms is on hand to give the film some oomph - but where are the female equivalents of the Expendables? Where are the Expendablettes?
If I were...
I'm certain I enjoyed the first one (it's a bit of a haze) and if my crumpling into manly tears at the mere sight of the new one's outdoor ads is any indication, I'll have a blast yet again. One thing we must ask, however. Whither the chicks?
I say with full respect and courtesy to the fairer sex, why have you not been included in this battle royale of badassery? Yes, there are some women in the film - Yu Nan will play an agent named Maggie, Charisma Carpenter is back as Statham's g.f. and someone named Amanda Ooms is on hand to give the film some oomph - but where are the female equivalents of the Expendables? Where are the Expendablettes?
If I were...
- 8/16/2012
- by Jordan Hoffman
- NextMovie
The 23rd European Film Awards Photo credit: Efa/René Velli
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer triumphed at this year’s European Film Academy’s 23rd European Film Awards. The film, which I have reviewed here, took the best screenwriter, composer, director and the overall film award, at a ceremony on Saturday (04/12/2010) in snowy Tallinn, Estonia – European Capital of Culture 2011. The best animated feature film award went to Sylvain Chomet’s Illusionist – watch this space for a review in the next few days.
Around 1,400 guests were welcomed by German comedy star Anke Engelke and Estonian actor Märt Avandi who were the show’s hosts and over 2,300 members of the European Film Academy are said to have voted at the awards. The individual awards were presented by a line-up of European actors and actresses, among them Efa Ambassador Maria de Medeiros (Portugal), Jean-Marc Barr (France), Hannelore Elsner (Germany), Nikolaj Lie Kaas...
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer triumphed at this year’s European Film Academy’s 23rd European Film Awards. The film, which I have reviewed here, took the best screenwriter, composer, director and the overall film award, at a ceremony on Saturday (04/12/2010) in snowy Tallinn, Estonia – European Capital of Culture 2011. The best animated feature film award went to Sylvain Chomet’s Illusionist – watch this space for a review in the next few days.
Around 1,400 guests were welcomed by German comedy star Anke Engelke and Estonian actor Märt Avandi who were the show’s hosts and over 2,300 members of the European Film Academy are said to have voted at the awards. The individual awards were presented by a line-up of European actors and actresses, among them Efa Ambassador Maria de Medeiros (Portugal), Jean-Marc Barr (France), Hannelore Elsner (Germany), Nikolaj Lie Kaas...
- 12/6/2010
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
Swedish director Jan Troell's first feature film in five years was not a big commercial success in its home country, but if "As White as in Snow" is too long for modern audiences at 158 minutes, one wonders how his earlier acclaimed films like Oscar nominee "The Emigrants" would fare today.
In competition at Montreal and slated for the Nordic Visions sidebar at the Toronto International Film Festival, "White" is a beautifully made period film about Sweden's first aviatrix, who starts around the turn of the 20th century, and concludes with a tragedy, as so often happened in the early decades of aviation. It's a natural for festivals, and like Troell's critically championed "Hamsun", the film could earn a bit of a cult following among airplane bluffs and connoisseurs of so-called "old-fashioned" filmmaking.
Structured around a train trip to a 1922 aviation show in which fearless Elsa Andersson (Amanda Ooms) intends to thrill the crowd with the still new spectacle of parachuting from a plane, "White" does take a little while to gather steam. Troell's attention to detail and poetic approach to the material make it a satisfying journey.
Haunted by the death of her mother when she was a young girl and not about to become a complacent farmer's wife, Elsa has to outmaneuver her father (Bjorn Granath) in order to learn the art of flying. In some ways this is easier than learning about the men who come and go in her life, including a fellow flier (Bjorn Kjellman), a dashing "flying hussar" (Rikard Wolff), her brother (Shanti Roney) and the German (Ben Becker) who hires her to perform stunts.
Ooms is terrific in a performance with the full range of good times and disappointments. The vintage airplanes are showcased with a minimum of special effects, while 70-year-old Troell's cinematography and editing are as good as it gets.
AS WHITE AS IN SNOW
Nordisk Film
Director: Jan Troell
Screenwriters: Jan Troell, Jacques Werup, Karl-Erik Olsson-Snogerod, Jimmy Karlsson
Producer: Lars Hermann
Directors of photography: Jan Troell, Mischa Gavrjusjov
Production designer: Peter Bavman
Editor: Jan Troell
Costume designers: Katja Watkins
Music: Magnus Dahlberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elsa Andersson: Amanda Ooms
Sven Andersson: Bjorn Granath
Robert Friedman: Rikard Wolff
Erik Magnusson: Bjorn Kjellman
Lars Andersson: Shanti Roney
Running time -- 158 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In competition at Montreal and slated for the Nordic Visions sidebar at the Toronto International Film Festival, "White" is a beautifully made period film about Sweden's first aviatrix, who starts around the turn of the 20th century, and concludes with a tragedy, as so often happened in the early decades of aviation. It's a natural for festivals, and like Troell's critically championed "Hamsun", the film could earn a bit of a cult following among airplane bluffs and connoisseurs of so-called "old-fashioned" filmmaking.
Structured around a train trip to a 1922 aviation show in which fearless Elsa Andersson (Amanda Ooms) intends to thrill the crowd with the still new spectacle of parachuting from a plane, "White" does take a little while to gather steam. Troell's attention to detail and poetic approach to the material make it a satisfying journey.
Haunted by the death of her mother when she was a young girl and not about to become a complacent farmer's wife, Elsa has to outmaneuver her father (Bjorn Granath) in order to learn the art of flying. In some ways this is easier than learning about the men who come and go in her life, including a fellow flier (Bjorn Kjellman), a dashing "flying hussar" (Rikard Wolff), her brother (Shanti Roney) and the German (Ben Becker) who hires her to perform stunts.
Ooms is terrific in a performance with the full range of good times and disappointments. The vintage airplanes are showcased with a minimum of special effects, while 70-year-old Troell's cinematography and editing are as good as it gets.
AS WHITE AS IN SNOW
Nordisk Film
Director: Jan Troell
Screenwriters: Jan Troell, Jacques Werup, Karl-Erik Olsson-Snogerod, Jimmy Karlsson
Producer: Lars Hermann
Directors of photography: Jan Troell, Mischa Gavrjusjov
Production designer: Peter Bavman
Editor: Jan Troell
Costume designers: Katja Watkins
Music: Magnus Dahlberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elsa Andersson: Amanda Ooms
Sven Andersson: Bjorn Granath
Robert Friedman: Rikard Wolff
Erik Magnusson: Bjorn Kjellman
Lars Andersson: Shanti Roney
Running time -- 158 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Swedish director Jan Troell's first feature film in five years was not a big commercial success in its home country, but if "As White as in Snow" is too long for modern audiences at 158 minutes, one wonders how his earlier acclaimed films like Oscar nominee "The Emigrants" would fare today.
In competition at Montreal and slated for the Nordic Visions sidebar at the Toronto International Film Festival, "White" is a beautifully made period film about Sweden's first aviatrix, who starts around the turn of the 20th century, and concludes with a tragedy, as so often happened in the early decades of aviation. It's a natural for festivals, and like Troell's critically championed "Hamsun", the film could earn a bit of a cult following among airplane bluffs and connoisseurs of so-called "old-fashioned" filmmaking.
Structured around a train trip to a 1922 aviation show in which fearless Elsa Andersson (Amanda Ooms) intends to thrill the crowd with the still new spectacle of parachuting from a plane, "White" does take a little while to gather steam. Troell's attention to detail and poetic approach to the material make it a satisfying journey.
Haunted by the death of her mother when she was a young girl and not about to become a complacent farmer's wife, Elsa has to outmaneuver her father (Bjorn Granath) in order to learn the art of flying. In some ways this is easier than learning about the men who come and go in her life, including a fellow flier (Bjorn Kjellman), a dashing "flying hussar" (Rikard Wolff), her brother (Shanti Roney) and the German (Ben Becker) who hires her to perform stunts.
Ooms is terrific in a performance with the full range of good times and disappointments. The vintage airplanes are showcased with a minimum of special effects, while 70-year-old Troell's cinematography and editing are as good as it gets.
AS WHITE AS IN SNOW
Nordisk Film
Director: Jan Troell
Screenwriters: Jan Troell, Jacques Werup, Karl-Erik Olsson-Snogerod, Jimmy Karlsson
Producer: Lars Hermann
Directors of photography: Jan Troell, Mischa Gavrjusjov
Production designer: Peter Bavman
Editor: Jan Troell
Costume designers: Katja Watkins
Music: Magnus Dahlberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elsa Andersson: Amanda Ooms
Sven Andersson: Bjorn Granath
Robert Friedman: Rikard Wolff
Erik Magnusson: Bjorn Kjellman
Lars Andersson: Shanti Roney
Running time -- 158 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In competition at Montreal and slated for the Nordic Visions sidebar at the Toronto International Film Festival, "White" is a beautifully made period film about Sweden's first aviatrix, who starts around the turn of the 20th century, and concludes with a tragedy, as so often happened in the early decades of aviation. It's a natural for festivals, and like Troell's critically championed "Hamsun", the film could earn a bit of a cult following among airplane bluffs and connoisseurs of so-called "old-fashioned" filmmaking.
Structured around a train trip to a 1922 aviation show in which fearless Elsa Andersson (Amanda Ooms) intends to thrill the crowd with the still new spectacle of parachuting from a plane, "White" does take a little while to gather steam. Troell's attention to detail and poetic approach to the material make it a satisfying journey.
Haunted by the death of her mother when she was a young girl and not about to become a complacent farmer's wife, Elsa has to outmaneuver her father (Bjorn Granath) in order to learn the art of flying. In some ways this is easier than learning about the men who come and go in her life, including a fellow flier (Bjorn Kjellman), a dashing "flying hussar" (Rikard Wolff), her brother (Shanti Roney) and the German (Ben Becker) who hires her to perform stunts.
Ooms is terrific in a performance with the full range of good times and disappointments. The vintage airplanes are showcased with a minimum of special effects, while 70-year-old Troell's cinematography and editing are as good as it gets.
AS WHITE AS IN SNOW
Nordisk Film
Director: Jan Troell
Screenwriters: Jan Troell, Jacques Werup, Karl-Erik Olsson-Snogerod, Jimmy Karlsson
Producer: Lars Hermann
Directors of photography: Jan Troell, Mischa Gavrjusjov
Production designer: Peter Bavman
Editor: Jan Troell
Costume designers: Katja Watkins
Music: Magnus Dahlberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elsa Andersson: Amanda Ooms
Sven Andersson: Bjorn Granath
Robert Friedman: Rikard Wolff
Erik Magnusson: Bjorn Kjellman
Lars Andersson: Shanti Roney
Running time -- 158 minutes
No MPAA rating...
MONTREAL -- Alan Rickman, who was so mesmerizing in ''Die Hard'' and onstage in ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses, '' is equally powerful in the title role of this film about the man from whom the word is derived. In Roger Spottiswoode's ''Mesmer, '' written by the late Dennis Potter, he plays Franz Anton Mesmer, whose theories about the links between the body and emotions scandalized 18th century Vienna.
Provocative as the subject may seem, the film is curiously inert. The story concentrates on Mesmer's treatment and growing relationship with a beautiful blind pianist (Amanda Ooms), who is being sexually abused by her father. When she goes into convulsions at a recital, the prevailing doctors are too eager to prescribe their favorite solution, bloodletting, but Mesmer leaps into action, and with a form of hypnosis, calms her down.
Mesmer's success quickly leads to dozens of unfortunates breaking down his door, much to the consternation of his wife (Gillian Barge). Naturally, the medical authorities consider him a charlatan and a fraud, and he is ultimately banished from Vienna. He then becomes the toast of pre-revolutionary France, where he cures the minor ailments of the aristocracy.
The film is short on biographical information and character motivation, and one occasionally longs for a more straightforward approach, a la 1930s Warner Bros. Although the screenplay amply displays Potter's dark wit and cynical views on human nature, it doesn't fully succeed in mining the deeper resonances of Mesmer's career. Still, the character is always intriguing, particularly with Rickman's powerful intensity making clear his megalomania as well as his altruism.
The film, a Canadian, British and German co-production, has been handsomely photographed in widescreen by Elemer Ragalyi, and the period has been re-created with all its splendor. Michael Nyman, the composer of the moment since his soundtrack for ''The Piano, '' has contributed another haunting musical score.
MESMER
A Cineplex Odeon Films Release (in Canada)
Presented by Levergreen Ltd.,
Accent Entertainment & Studio Babelsberg
Director Roger Spottiswoode
Screenplay Dennis Potter
Producers Wieland Schulz-Keil, Lance W. Reynolds, Robert D. Goodale
Co--producers Andras Hamori, Susan Cavan
Director of photography Elemer Ragalyi
Composer Michael Nyman
Editor Susan Shipton
Cast:
Franz Anton Mesmer Alan Rickman
Maria Theresa Paradies Amanda Ooms
Frau Mesmer Gillian Barge
Dr. Ingehouz David Hemblen
Professor Stoerk Jan Rubes
Running time -- 102 minutes
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Provocative as the subject may seem, the film is curiously inert. The story concentrates on Mesmer's treatment and growing relationship with a beautiful blind pianist (Amanda Ooms), who is being sexually abused by her father. When she goes into convulsions at a recital, the prevailing doctors are too eager to prescribe their favorite solution, bloodletting, but Mesmer leaps into action, and with a form of hypnosis, calms her down.
Mesmer's success quickly leads to dozens of unfortunates breaking down his door, much to the consternation of his wife (Gillian Barge). Naturally, the medical authorities consider him a charlatan and a fraud, and he is ultimately banished from Vienna. He then becomes the toast of pre-revolutionary France, where he cures the minor ailments of the aristocracy.
The film is short on biographical information and character motivation, and one occasionally longs for a more straightforward approach, a la 1930s Warner Bros. Although the screenplay amply displays Potter's dark wit and cynical views on human nature, it doesn't fully succeed in mining the deeper resonances of Mesmer's career. Still, the character is always intriguing, particularly with Rickman's powerful intensity making clear his megalomania as well as his altruism.
The film, a Canadian, British and German co-production, has been handsomely photographed in widescreen by Elemer Ragalyi, and the period has been re-created with all its splendor. Michael Nyman, the composer of the moment since his soundtrack for ''The Piano, '' has contributed another haunting musical score.
MESMER
A Cineplex Odeon Films Release (in Canada)
Presented by Levergreen Ltd.,
Accent Entertainment & Studio Babelsberg
Director Roger Spottiswoode
Screenplay Dennis Potter
Producers Wieland Schulz-Keil, Lance W. Reynolds, Robert D. Goodale
Co--producers Andras Hamori, Susan Cavan
Director of photography Elemer Ragalyi
Composer Michael Nyman
Editor Susan Shipton
Cast:
Franz Anton Mesmer Alan Rickman
Maria Theresa Paradies Amanda Ooms
Frau Mesmer Gillian Barge
Dr. Ingehouz David Hemblen
Professor Stoerk Jan Rubes
Running time -- 102 minutes
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 8/30/1994
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.