Creation (2009/I)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Jon Amiel

Writers:

John Collee (screenplay)
Randal Keynes (biography)

Release Date:

25 September 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Biography

Tagline:

How he saw the world changed it forever

Plot:

English naturalist Charles Darwin struggles to find a balance between his revolutionary theories on evolution and the relationship with religious wife, whose faith contradicts his work.

Plot Keywords:

Charles Darwin | Evolution | Scientist | Country House | 1850s

Cast

Jennifer Connelly	...	Emma Darwin
Paul Bettany	...	Charles Darwin
Jeremy Northam	...	Reverend Innes
Toby Jones	...	Thomas Huxley
Jim Carter	...	Parslow
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Joseph Hooker
Teresa Churcher	...	Mrs. Davies
Pauline Stone	...	Mrs. Darwin's Maid
Martha West	...	Annie Darwin
Zak Davies	...	Jemmy Buttons
Harrison Sansostri	...	Lenny Darwin
Christopher Dunkin	...	George Darwin

Directed by
Jon Amiel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Collee		screenplay
Randal Keynes		biography

Produced by
Janice Eymann	....	executive producer
Jamie Laurenson	....	executive producer
Nick O'Hagan	....	co-producer
Jeremy Thomas	....	producer
David M. Thompson	....	executive producer
Tom Waller	....	line producer: Thailand
Peter Watson	....	executive producer
Christina Yao	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Young

Cinematography by
Jess Hall

Film Editing by
Melanie Oliver

Casting by
Celestia Fox

Production Design by
Laurence Dorman

Art Direction by
Bill Crutcher		(supervising art director)
Pongnarin Jonghawklang		(segment)
Gary Jopling
Stuart Rose

Set Decoration by
Dominic Capon

Costume Design by
Louise Stjernsward

Makeup Department
Francesco Alberico	....	hair stylist
Ashley Johnson	....	makeup artist
Heather Manson	....	makeup trainee
Julia Vernon	....	crowd hair supervisor
Julia Vernon	....	crowd makeup supervisor
Jo Wand	....	makeup artist: dailies

Production Management
Layla Blackman	....	post-production supervisor (as Layla Evans)
Sara Desmond	....	production manager
Oscar Kahar	....	production supervisor: Thailand

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Desho Bernard	....	first assistant director: Thailand
Glen Carroll	....	crowd assistant director
Simon Downes	....	key second assistant director
Henry Forsyth	....	assistant director
Sarah Grohnert	....	dggb trainee director
Alex Kaye-Besley	....	third assistant director
Tiziano Niero	....	assistant director runner
Mick Ward	....	first assistant director
Chanida 'Chompoo' Yasiri	....	second assistant director: Thailand

Art Department
Giles Asbury	....	storyboard artist
Will Ayers	....	props
Will Ayres	....	dressing prop
Noel Cowell	....	property master
Quentin Davies	....	props storeman
Kevin Day	....	stand-by
Sarah Forbes	....	prop buyer
Felicity Hickson	....	graphic artist
Tara Ilsley	....	art department assistant
Martin Kane	....	props
Lisa McDiarmid	....	stand-by art director
Kathryn Pyle	....	production buyer
James Wakefield	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Nick Adams	....	co-supervising sound editor
Jovan Ajder	....	adr mixer
Chris Burdon	....	sound re-recording mixer
Doug Cooper	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nick Del-Molino	....	mixing assistant
Rick Gould	....	adr recordist
Charlotte Gray	....	sound assistant
Tim Hands	....	supervising sound editor
Sue Harding	....	foley artist
Alex Joseph	....	foley supervisor
Srdjan Kurpjel	....	sound effects editor
John Midgley	....	sound
Martin Seeley	....	sound mixer: second unit

Special Effects by
Neal Champion	....	special effects supervisor (2008)
Bernard Newton	....	special effects technician
Scott Peters	....	special effects technician
Nick P. Phillips	....	special effects supervisor
Cliff Wallace	....	creature effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor	....	vfx executive producer: Machine
Louie Alexander	....	digital compositor: Framestore
Matthew Baker	....	retouch and restoration: Framestore
Praveen Bareria	....	digital compositor
Zachary Bloom	....	scanning and recording: Framestore
Warwick Campbell	....	digital compositor
Matthew Collorafice	....	lead compositor
Keith Devlin	....	2d supervisor: Machine
Richard Edwards	....	digital intermediate data operator
Bruno Fernandes	....	digital compositor: Machine FX
Christina Graff	....	visual effects producer: Crazy Horse Effects
Paul Graff	....	visual effects supervisor: Crazy Horse Effects
Charlie Habanananda	....	conform editor
Andrew Harvey	....	digital intermediate retouch
Karsten Hecker	....	film mastering engineer
Jan Hogevold	....	executive producer: framestore di
Tom Kimberley	....	digital compositor: Machine FX
John Lockwood	....	visual effects supervisor: Machine
James Long	....	digital intermediate data operator
Veronica Marcano	....	scanning & recording operator: Framestore
Standish Millennas	....	visual effects producer: Machine
Adam Parker	....	retouch and restoration: Framestore
Chandrasekhar Reddy	....	visual effects compositor
James Reed	....	scanning and recording
Gavin Round	....	DI producer: Framestore
Jimmy Saul	....	scanning and recording manager
Asa Shoul	....	digital colourist
David Sjodin	....	compositor
Steve Street	....	visual effects supervisor: Machine

Camera and Electrical Department
Tom Balogh	....	assistant camera
Jacob Barrie	....	second assistant camera: dailies
Ashley Bond	....	focus puller: 'a' camera
Rob Gilmour	....	clapper loader: dailies
Rawdon Hayne	....	first assistant camera
Alice Hobden	....	second assistant camera
Andy Hopkins	....	key grip
Chris McAleese	....	additional clapper loader
Jennie Paddon	....	first assistant camera
Phineas Page	....	video assist
Paul Sharp	....	best boy
Axel Ulrich	....	assistant camera
Lee Walters	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Cara Beckinsale	....	casting assistant
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kathryn Blight	....	wardrobe mistress
Nigel Egerton	....	wardrobe supervisor
Stephen Kill	....	leather worker
Kunza	....	corsetiere
Joanne Mosley	....	costume assistant
Timothy Shanahan	....	dyer/ager

Editorial Department
Wayne Jones	....	negative cutter
Clive Noakes	....	laboratory contact: DeLuxe London
Brenna Rangott	....	first assistant editor
Mark Wright	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Adam Barber	....	music programmer: score
Peter Bateman	....	orchestrator
Richard Bronskill	....	supervising orchestrator
Steve Davis	....	midi transcriptions
Peter Fuchs	....	score mixer
Benoit Grey	....	orchestrator
Tony Lewis	....	music editor
Sean McMahon	....	orchestrator
Thomas Milano	....	supervising music editor
Flavio Motalla	....	score producer
Joohyun Park	....	musician
Joohyun Park	....	orchestrator
Andrew Spence	....	orchestrator: score programming
Jonathan Timpe	....	score programmer
Brandon K. Verrett	....	orchestrator
Sunna Wehrmeijer	....	score coordinator
Ugo Derouard	....	music recording engineer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Alan Canty	....	driver: Paul Bettany
Jeff Hudson	....	unit driver
Barrie Williams	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Carolyn Allen	....	tutor
Kittipat Boonvanno	....	location manager: Thailand unit
Duncan Broadfoot	....	unit manager
Daniel Budd	....	assistant accountant
David Coupland	....	key production runner
Devis Damonte	....	assistant: director
Rebecca Davis	....	additional assistant location manager
Tina Falcone	....	assistant accountant
Sue Field	....	script supervisor
Andy Garner	....	creature effects sculptor/puppeteer
Poppy Gordon-Clark	....	assistant location manager
Ella Harris	....	floor runner/stand in
Rachel James	....	post production accountant
Matt Jones	....	assistant location manager
Rachel Kennedy	....	unit publicist
Alainée Kent	....	development executive
Rachel King	....	unit nurse
Erin Lander	....	floor runner
Jamie Lengyel	....	location manager
Richard Mansell	....	business affairs
Barry May-Leybourne	....	health & safety officer
Daniel McAuley-Burnett	....	floor runner/stand in
John Miles	....	production accountant
Philie Naughten	....	production coordinator
Lindsey Powell	....	location assistant
Samavee Pummoung	....	animal department coordinator: Thailand unit
Ian Robinson	....	laboratory contact: DeLuxe London
Somboon Vichaisre	....	production assistant: Thailand unit
Julia Wilson Dickson	....	dialect coach: Jennifer Connelly (as Julia Wilson-Dixon)
Trish Wylie	....	assistant production coordinator
Darren Helman	....	location support (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
• BBC Films
• HanWay Films
• Ocean Pictures
• UK Film Council (support)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• D Films (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Icon Film Distribution (2009) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Icon Film Distribution (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
• Newmarket Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• HanWay Films (2009) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• Crazy Horse Effects (visual effects)
• Fugitive Studios
• Machine (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Premier PR  publicity (UK)
• Ace Film Catering  unit catering
• De Lane Lea  sound re-recording
• De Warrenne Pictures  production services by (Thailand unit)
• Digital Vortechs  Avid Editing Equipment Provided By
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Location Solutions South West  location services
• Mediacom 24-7  accommodation
• Midnight Digital  Dailies
• Panalux  film lighting
• Panavision UK  camera equipment provided by
• Rightway Film Services  negative cutting
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services

Also Known As:

Annie's Box (International: English title) (working title)
Nature (International: English title) (working title)
Origin (USA) (working title)
Untitled Charles Darwin Project (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England, UK

Company:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC)

Trivia:

Anne Elizabeth "Annie" Darwin's death (2nd March, 1841 - 23rd April, 1851) may have been the cause of scarlet fever, or tuberculosis as some may believe.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Emma Darwin: Do you not care that you and I may be separated for all eternity?

Slightly Gothic insight to Charles Darwin, the man.

As you sit there, quietly evolving, spare a thought for Charles Darwin. He was more than the venerable man with beard you may remember from your schoolbooks. He had a wife and children, and spent much of the long hiatus between writing his big theory and actually publishing it, coping with his wife, beautiful Emma, who, if she looked at all like actress Jennifer Connelly, was beautiful, but not at all ready to give up on God. She was also having to deal with Darwin's all-consuming guilt over the fatal illness of his eldest daughter, for which he seemed to have believed he was responsible in at least one way.

This, Charles Darwin's homelife, is colourfully evoked in the slightly Gothic new film, Creation. As it opens with a flashback to a failed attempt to steal 'savage' children from a Pacific island and take them home to convert them into Good Christians, it has us on its side from the start; even more as it nods to Francois Truffaut's 'L'Enfant Sauvage'. Paul Bettany as the man himself is on-screen most of the time, like a contestant in the Channel Four 'big brother house' permanently in close-up. The way the story jumps backwards and forwards in time gives it the feeling of a ghost story too. And there are other pieces of Darwin's life we rarely get to think about, such as the relationship he built up with the female ape, stolen from her jungle family and living in solitary confinement in an English zoo until her death.

All in all, it's quite an emotional roller-coaster, although not at the expense of recreating the world of the late Victorians very convincingly.