Jonathan Glazer's "Birth" is one of the most beautifully baffling movies of the 21st century. It begins with a seemingly supernatural premise — a 10-year-old boy shows up out of the blue claiming to be the reincarnation of a soon-to-be-remarried woman's deceased husband — and builds to a climax that, depending on who you ask, is either thrillingly wide open to interpretation or catastrophically nonsensical.
Glazer spends the bulk of the film inviting us to believe that young Sean (Cameron Bright) really is the cosmically reincorporated version of an erstwhile Sean who was the love of Nicole Kidman's Anna's life. Most available evidence supports Sean's claim until Anna's best friend, Clara (Anne Heche), privately calls his bluff. She knows the kid is a fraud because Sean was in love with her, and, prior to his death, gifted her a trove of Anna's unopened love letters as proof. If the new Sean was truly dead Sean,...
Glazer spends the bulk of the film inviting us to believe that young Sean (Cameron Bright) really is the cosmically reincorporated version of an erstwhile Sean who was the love of Nicole Kidman's Anna's life. Most available evidence supports Sean's claim until Anna's best friend, Clara (Anne Heche), privately calls his bluff. She knows the kid is a fraud because Sean was in love with her, and, prior to his death, gifted her a trove of Anna's unopened love letters as proof. If the new Sean was truly dead Sean,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Jean-Claude Carrière, who died Monday at 89 at his home in Paris of natural causes, had a prolific, six-decade career. The French screenwriter and novelist penned dozens of scripts, including “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.”
Among his more late-in-life projects was co-writing with Jonathan Glazer and Milo Addica the 2004 drama “Birth.” Glazer, who also directed the film, shared with IndieWire a remembrance of Carrière, in which he reflected on how the pair developed the idea:
Ten years after the sudden death of her husband, a woman gets a visit from a ten year old boy claiming to be his reincarnation. That’s pretty much all I had. My producer at the time sent it to Jean-Claude and he invited me to his house in Paris. I was very nervous. He said he liked the idea very much. Within a few minutes, I watched him...
Among his more late-in-life projects was co-writing with Jonathan Glazer and Milo Addica the 2004 drama “Birth.” Glazer, who also directed the film, shared with IndieWire a remembrance of Carrière, in which he reflected on how the pair developed the idea:
Ten years after the sudden death of her husband, a woman gets a visit from a ten year old boy claiming to be his reincarnation. That’s pretty much all I had. My producer at the time sent it to Jean-Claude and he invited me to his house in Paris. I was very nervous. He said he liked the idea very much. Within a few minutes, I watched him...
- 2/10/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
English director Jonathan Glazer has been a feature filmmaker since 2000, but he’s only made three movies in 17 years: Breakout debut “Sexy Beast,” the criminally overlooked Nicole Kidman psychodrama “Birth” and the modern classic “Under The Skin.” 9 years separated the releases of his last two movies, so many of us have been worried that it would be another decade until Glazer delivered a follow-up to 2014’s “Under The Skin,” but it appears we won’t have to wait that long after all.
Read More: Why Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Under the Skin’ Took a Decade to Make
Speaking to the Nottingham Post (via The Playlist) after picking up his honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent, Glazer revealed he is starting pre-production on his new movie after working on the script for the past year. The screenplay is finished and will mark his first solo outing as a writer. Glazer co-wrote “Under The Skin...
Read More: Why Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Under the Skin’ Took a Decade to Make
Speaking to the Nottingham Post (via The Playlist) after picking up his honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent, Glazer revealed he is starting pre-production on his new movie after working on the script for the past year. The screenplay is finished and will mark his first solo outing as a writer. Glazer co-wrote “Under The Skin...
- 7/20/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Writer-director Milo Addica, who earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing the Halle Berry movie Monster’s Ball that won her the Academy Award, has signed with Apa. He’s next up directing his original screenplay Open Space, being produced by Dean Nichols. Addica’s writing credits include the 2003 Nicole Kidman starrer Birth and James Marsh's The King in 2005 with Gael Garcia Bernal and Paul Dano. Addica continues to be repped by manager Oren Segal and attorneys…...
- 11/29/2016
- Deadline
James Haven, the multi-hyphenate brother of Angelina Jolie, has signed on to direct the sci-fi/fantasy movie “The Last Boy” for Traffic City Productions, TheWrap has exclusively learned. Josh Monkarsh, Asher Levin and Kristin Scott Irving will produce the indie movie. Milo Addica wrote the script, which is based on Thomas M. Burby’s novel “The Last Boy on Earth.” Set in the present-day cities of Bangor and Brewer in central Maine following the advent of an airborne virus that has ravaged humanity, the story follows a teenager named Brady, the last boy on Earth, as he searches for fellow survivors of the.
- 3/24/2016
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
UK music video star Jonathan Glazer took a decade to follow up his first two films, 2000's paeon to kinetic violence, "Sexy Beast," which earned raves and gave Sir Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone careers as villains, and 2004's reincarnation drama "Birth," starring Nicole Kidman, which met a more mixed reaction. (For his part, Toh's Ryan Lattanzio defends it.) So what took Glazer so long to finish the visually stunning "Under the Skin," starring Scarlett Johansson as an alluring alien trawling for human specimens in the foggy crags of Scotland? The director insisted on making his own the film adaptation of Michael Faber's 2001 novel brought to him by longtime producer Jim Wilson--while testing his ideas on various music videos and commercials. Over the years he worked his way through various writers including Milo Addica and then ad writer Walter Campbell, who moved from two characters (Brad Pitt was going to play one) and a.
- 10/23/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
It may only be March, but I already feel comfortable saying that if 2014 winds up producing five films (hell, make that three) better than Jonathan Glazer's "Under the Skin," it'll have been a very good year indeed. After an uneven start at the fall festivals -- as he showed in "Birth" nearly a decade ago, uniting critical opinion isn't among Glazer's hobbies -- this dreamily desolate adaptation of Michel Faber's sensual sci-fi novel has acquired a justly ardent following, and is finally set to be unleashed on the general public. UK audiences get it on Friday; Americans have a short wait until April 4. With the marketable asset of a star turn from a never-better (and never-sexier) Scarlett Johansson, distributors on both sides of the Atlantic have done a good job of building an aura of enigmatic significance around the slippery project -- but what if they'd had Brad Pitt to work with too?...
- 3/12/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Director Jonathan Glazer talks about how the film – which stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien driving round Glasgow in a van – came to obsess him
In early 2001, Jonathan Glazer began planning his next film. The director was then 35, a wildly sought-after maker of music videos and adverts who had just released his first film, the singular gangster movie Sexy Beast. His next was to be an adaptation of Michel Faber's cult novel Under the Skin. The project ended up on ice. Work didn't start until 2004.
Ten years later, Under the Skin is finished, and Glazer is in a publicists' office in Soho, a well-preserved Londoner with a thicket of dark hair, tall enough to verge on the looming. Having spent almost all his 40s getting the film made, he must feel like a different man from the one who began it?
"Well. Hmm. I … God. That's a teaser." He stalls.
In early 2001, Jonathan Glazer began planning his next film. The director was then 35, a wildly sought-after maker of music videos and adverts who had just released his first film, the singular gangster movie Sexy Beast. His next was to be an adaptation of Michel Faber's cult novel Under the Skin. The project ended up on ice. Work didn't start until 2004.
Ten years later, Under the Skin is finished, and Glazer is in a publicists' office in Soho, a well-preserved Londoner with a thicket of dark hair, tall enough to verge on the looming. Having spent almost all his 40s getting the film made, he must feel like a different man from the one who began it?
"Well. Hmm. I … God. That's a teaser." He stalls.
- 3/7/2014
- by Danny Leigh
- The Guardian - Film News
Looks like Jessica Alba will be playing an astronaut in a new thriller called Weightless. The story is set in the near-future and centers "on a female astronaut who causes a fatal motorcycle accident. She then flees the scene of the collision so as to not lose her spot on the space shuttle's next flight."
The movie is being directed by Milo Addica for Myriad Pictures, and it will be his first time directing a feature film. He's a screenwriter that's worked on films such as Monster's Ball, Birth, and The King.
Alba is currently reprising her roles in Sin City 2 and Machete Kills 2. Can you see Alba as an astronaut? I know she played one in Fantastic Four, but even for a comic book movie that was a hard one for me to believe.
The movie is being directed by Milo Addica for Myriad Pictures, and it will be his first time directing a feature film. He's a screenwriter that's worked on films such as Monster's Ball, Birth, and The King.
Alba is currently reprising her roles in Sin City 2 and Machete Kills 2. Can you see Alba as an astronaut? I know she played one in Fantastic Four, but even for a comic book movie that was a hard one for me to believe.
- 2/12/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Jessica Alba is in final negotiations to star in Milo Addica's "Weightless" for Myriad Pictures and Apollo Productions.
The story is set in the near-future and is centered on a female astronaut who causes a fatal motorcycle accident.
She then flees the scene of the collision so as to not lose her spot on the space shuttle's next flight.
Kirk D'Amico and Steve Norris will produce. Addica, the screenwriter of "Birth" and "Monster's Ball", will make his directing debut on the project.
Source: Variety...
The story is set in the near-future and is centered on a female astronaut who causes a fatal motorcycle accident.
She then flees the scene of the collision so as to not lose her spot on the space shuttle's next flight.
Kirk D'Amico and Steve Norris will produce. Addica, the screenwriter of "Birth" and "Monster's Ball", will make his directing debut on the project.
Source: Variety...
- 2/9/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
• Joel McHale, Robin Williams, and Lauren Graham have signed on star in the new holiday comedy A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle. Lorelai Gilmore and Jeff Winger will play a married couple forced to spend Christmas with their crazy extended family. On Christmas Eve, Boyd (McHale) realizes he forgot to bring his son’s gifts and embarks on an eight-hour road trip with his father (Williams) to retrieve them before his son wakes up. British director Tristram Shapeero, best known for directing television shows like Community and New Girl, will make his feature film debut directing the project. [THR]
• Game of Thrones star...
• Game of Thrones star...
- 2/9/2013
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
She’s definitely become more selective about her roles since becoming a mother, and Jessica Alba looks to have found her next project.
According to a report, the “Good Luck Chuck” starlet is in final contract negotiations with Myriad Pictures to front their forthcoming flick “Weightless” from writer Milo Addica.
If she indeed strikes a deal, Alba will play an American astronaut named Maysie Overall in the sure-to-be thrilling film.
Per the synopsis, “Just as she is about to fulfill her life-long dream, she is unwittingly the cause of a tragic, fatal motorcycle accident. Rather than risk losing the opportunity to join the space shuttle's next mission, Maysie chooses to ignore her conscience and flees the scene of the accident.”
“Following the space shuttle's successful flight, an unexpected mechanical failure causes the shuttle to crash on re-entry to earth. Maysie miraculously survives the crash. Once on the road to recovery,...
According to a report, the “Good Luck Chuck” starlet is in final contract negotiations with Myriad Pictures to front their forthcoming flick “Weightless” from writer Milo Addica.
If she indeed strikes a deal, Alba will play an American astronaut named Maysie Overall in the sure-to-be thrilling film.
Per the synopsis, “Just as she is about to fulfill her life-long dream, she is unwittingly the cause of a tragic, fatal motorcycle accident. Rather than risk losing the opportunity to join the space shuttle's next mission, Maysie chooses to ignore her conscience and flees the scene of the accident.”
“Following the space shuttle's successful flight, an unexpected mechanical failure causes the shuttle to crash on re-entry to earth. Maysie miraculously survives the crash. Once on the road to recovery,...
- 2/8/2013
- GossipCenter
Much like Cannes, the Berlin film market has many movies up for sale. But they don't all end up getting made. Just saying. A sampling of Berlin 2013 projects hoping for a start-date is below. - Westend Films is teaming with Bob Barney's new label Picturehouse for "The Great Gilly Project," the latest adaptation from "Bridge to Terabithia" author Katherine Paterson. Kathy Bates and Danny Glover are attached to star, while Stephen Herek ("101 Dalmations") is set to helm. The film centers on a wise-cracking foster child who meets her match in unconventional foster mom Maime Trotter (Bates). - Jessica Alba is in final talks to star in "Weightless," believe it or not, as American astronaut Maysie Overall. The original screenlay is penned by Oscar-nominated writer and first-time director Milo Addica ("Monster's Ball"). Myriad Pictures is pre-selling the film at the Berlinale market this week. - Synchronicity...
- 2/8/2013
- by Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Jessica Alba as an astronaut in a project titled Weightless? Sure, why not? Let’s just hope that negotiations with Myriad Pictures will work out just fine for the pretty actress who’s already set to reprise her roles in Sin City 2 and Machete Kills. What’s also interesting about the whole thing is that Monster’s Ball scribe Milo Addica is making his directorial debut with this project, so yes – this definitely sounds promising! So, at this moment we know that Weightless is an original screenplay from Milo Addica which is set in the near-future and will tell us the story of a female astronaut named...
- 2/8/2013
- by Jeanne Standal
- Filmofilia
Jessica Alba is in final talks to take the lead role in Weightless, a movie about an American astronaut who unwittingly causes a fatal motorcycle accident before fleeing from the scene to pursue her dream to be involved in a mission to space, and then regretting her actions. The movie is based on an original screenplay from the Academy Award-nominated co-writer of Monster’s Ball – Milo Addica – who would be making his directorial debut.
Myriad Pictures have announced the casting and are beginning pre-sales on the movie at the Berlin Film Festival this week. Although the subject matter may be a tough sell, the talent behind the picture should secure it sells.
Here’s the extended plot details from Coming Soon, likely derived from a Myriad Pictures press release;
Weightless is set in the near-future and is the story of Maysie Overall, a female astronaut who has dreamt of exploring outer space her whole life.
Myriad Pictures have announced the casting and are beginning pre-sales on the movie at the Berlin Film Festival this week. Although the subject matter may be a tough sell, the talent behind the picture should secure it sells.
Here’s the extended plot details from Coming Soon, likely derived from a Myriad Pictures press release;
Weightless is set in the near-future and is the story of Maysie Overall, a female astronaut who has dreamt of exploring outer space her whole life.
- 2/8/2013
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Myriad Pictures announced today that Jessica Alba is in final negotiations to star in Weightless , an original screenplay from Academy Award-nominated writer and first-time director Milo Addica ( Monster's Ball , Birth , The King ). Alba will play the female lead of American astronaut, Maysie Overall. Myriad Pictures will begin pre-selling the film at the Berlin Film Festival this week. Weightless is set in the near-future and is the story of Maysie Overall, a female astronaut who has dreamt of exploring outer space her whole life. Just as she is about to fulfill her life-long dream, she is unwittingly the cause of a tragic, fatal motorcycle accident. Rather than risk losing the opportunity to join the space shuttle's next mission, Maysie chooses to ignore her conscience...
- 2/8/2013
- Comingsoon.net
Monster's Ball (2001) Direction: Marc Forster Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, Sean Combs, Mos Def, Coronji Calhoun Screenplay: Milo Addica and Will Rokos Oscar Movies Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Monster's Ball In Monster's Ball — the title refers to the macabre partying held the night before the execution of a death-row inmate — first-time screenwriters Milo Addica and Will Rokos join forces with third-time feature-film director Marc Forster to create a motion picture of memorable moments. Those range from the film's dream-like introduction to an uncomfortable and surprisingly explicit sex scene. (I describe the lengthy sex scene as "explicit" because of its rawness, especially considering it's an American production; the sex, however, is simulated.) Other memorable sequences include the suicide of a young man in front of his stunned father, a graphic electric chair execution, and the sight of a bereaved widow watching her son die [...]...
- 2/10/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Are you looking to forget Quantum of Solace's (which was directed by Marc Forster) lack of lustre? Then this film must be your choice. On the surface, Monster's Ball might look like a film you'd like to throw in the garbage. However, it's an interesting and, above all, subtle film about love and redemption.
Set in Georgia, the story follows Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a racist correction officer of a penitentiary. He works with his son Sonny (Heath Ledger) and together, they guard Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) in the Death Row. Leticia (Halle Berry), Lawrence's wife (and eventually widow), is gradually losing her house and has to take care of her son. When Hank and Leticia both lose their own son on their own side, their life will collide, which will lead to a love affair. After all, Leticia works as a waitress at the restaurant where Hank likes to take a bite.
Set in Georgia, the story follows Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a racist correction officer of a penitentiary. He works with his son Sonny (Heath Ledger) and together, they guard Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs) in the Death Row. Leticia (Halle Berry), Lawrence's wife (and eventually widow), is gradually losing her house and has to take care of her son. When Hank and Leticia both lose their own son on their own side, their life will collide, which will lead to a love affair. After all, Leticia works as a waitress at the restaurant where Hank likes to take a bite.
- 10/9/2009
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
Sexy Beast and Birth director Jonathan Glazer is working on a feature film adaptation of Michel Faber’s sci-fi horror novel Under the Skin. It seems that aliens must be really hot with production execs right now as some of the most interesting upcoming projects seem to revolve around otherworldly thingimajigs, from Greg Mottola’s Paul, through Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block and on to this one which, according to Film4 is “a groundbreaking story about aliens in Scotland looking for human prey”. Screen Daily reported on the film in 2005, when it was apparently on the fast track, and also again today. The new story gave fewer details than the last one, and it is entirely possible some of the details would have changed since then. At that time, however, Milo Addica had written the screenplay. You can read the first chapter of the original novel online, courtesy of The Guardian.
- 5/19/2009
- by Brendon Connelly
- Slash Film
British documentary filmmaker James Marsh has collaborated for his first narrative feature, "The King", with hot screenwriter Milo Addica ("Monster's Ball", "Birth") to create a horror story that is as pretty as a candy box but contains only poison.
The film is an accomplished piece of mischief making that directly confronts religious conviction, in this case Christian, with its worst nightmare: can you really forgive evil?
Beautifully shot and well acted, the film might well cause controversy among fundamentalist believers as a provocative allegory challenging the power of faith. The film's boxoffice future will test its marketing team. The success of this film, which deals entirely with the nature of belief, will depend, however, upon audiences being willing to disbelieve.
The story has biblical overtones as a young man named Elvis Sandow (Gael Garcia Bernal) takes an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy after three years and tells shipmates he is going home.
Elvis heads directly to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he seeks out Pastor David Sandow (William Hurt) and claims to be his son, the result of an encounter with a now dead Mexican woman. The pastor, who runs a successful Christian center involving a church and a school, immediately spurns the young man, explaining that he has a new family now, and the episode with his mother occurred before he had found Jesus.
Elvis, however, encounters the Pastor's 16-year-old daughter Malerie (Pell James), who doesn't know of his relationship to her father, and they fall in love, which presents any number of problems. Late one night, Malerie's Bible-student brother Paul (Matthew Buckley) observes Elvis leaving their house and follows him. Paul confronts Elvis, saying he will tell the pastor who will ensure the lovers will never meet again.
In a completely unexpected outburst of anger, Elvis stabs the boy and kills him. In an apparent state of shock, the sailor cleans up everything and dumps the body in a remote lake, returning the boy's car to his home.
The pastor and his family react to their son's disappearance as Christians might, praying and fasting. As it becomes apparent that Paul is unlikely to return, however, their faith is shaken to its core. As the secret love affair between Elvis and Malerie continues, the pastor has a change of heart and welcomes the young man into his home as a lost son.
Marsh and Addica infuse the remainder of the story with growing dread as the sweet-faced prodigal son and the stern and powerful minister appear on a collision course.
Bernal plays the young Elvis with great conviction, his handsome features masking a steely determination, and Hurt is masterful as a wastrel turned minister possessed of a sturdy but tempestuous belief.
The film benefits hugely from inspired work by cinematographer Eigil Bryld, production designer Sharon Lomofsky and composer Max Avery Lichtenstein.
THE KING
ContentFilm
Credits: Director: James Marsh; Screenwriters: Milo Addica, James Marsh; Producers: Milo Addica, James Wilson; Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Sofia Sondervan; Cinematographer: Eigil Brylde; Production designer: Sharon Lomofsky; Editor: Jinx Godfrey; Composer: Max Avery Lichtenstein. Cast: Elvis Sandow: Gael Garcia Bernal; Pastor David Sandow: William Hurt; Malerie Sandow: Pell James; Twyla Sandow: Laura Harring; Paul Sandow: Paul Dano.
No MPAA rating, running time 105 minutes...
The film is an accomplished piece of mischief making that directly confronts religious conviction, in this case Christian, with its worst nightmare: can you really forgive evil?
Beautifully shot and well acted, the film might well cause controversy among fundamentalist believers as a provocative allegory challenging the power of faith. The film's boxoffice future will test its marketing team. The success of this film, which deals entirely with the nature of belief, will depend, however, upon audiences being willing to disbelieve.
The story has biblical overtones as a young man named Elvis Sandow (Gael Garcia Bernal) takes an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy after three years and tells shipmates he is going home.
Elvis heads directly to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he seeks out Pastor David Sandow (William Hurt) and claims to be his son, the result of an encounter with a now dead Mexican woman. The pastor, who runs a successful Christian center involving a church and a school, immediately spurns the young man, explaining that he has a new family now, and the episode with his mother occurred before he had found Jesus.
Elvis, however, encounters the Pastor's 16-year-old daughter Malerie (Pell James), who doesn't know of his relationship to her father, and they fall in love, which presents any number of problems. Late one night, Malerie's Bible-student brother Paul (Matthew Buckley) observes Elvis leaving their house and follows him. Paul confronts Elvis, saying he will tell the pastor who will ensure the lovers will never meet again.
In a completely unexpected outburst of anger, Elvis stabs the boy and kills him. In an apparent state of shock, the sailor cleans up everything and dumps the body in a remote lake, returning the boy's car to his home.
The pastor and his family react to their son's disappearance as Christians might, praying and fasting. As it becomes apparent that Paul is unlikely to return, however, their faith is shaken to its core. As the secret love affair between Elvis and Malerie continues, the pastor has a change of heart and welcomes the young man into his home as a lost son.
Marsh and Addica infuse the remainder of the story with growing dread as the sweet-faced prodigal son and the stern and powerful minister appear on a collision course.
Bernal plays the young Elvis with great conviction, his handsome features masking a steely determination, and Hurt is masterful as a wastrel turned minister possessed of a sturdy but tempestuous belief.
The film benefits hugely from inspired work by cinematographer Eigil Bryld, production designer Sharon Lomofsky and composer Max Avery Lichtenstein.
THE KING
ContentFilm
Credits: Director: James Marsh; Screenwriters: Milo Addica, James Marsh; Producers: Milo Addica, James Wilson; Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Sofia Sondervan; Cinematographer: Eigil Brylde; Production designer: Sharon Lomofsky; Editor: Jinx Godfrey; Composer: Max Avery Lichtenstein. Cast: Elvis Sandow: Gael Garcia Bernal; Pastor David Sandow: William Hurt; Malerie Sandow: Pell James; Twyla Sandow: Laura Harring; Paul Sandow: Paul Dano.
No MPAA rating, running time 105 minutes...
- 5/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened at the Venice International Film Festival
VENICE -- There is nothing about Nicole Kidman's character Anna in Birth that suggests she is stupid, tormented or coming apart at the seams. Nonetheless, when a 10-year-old boy claims that he is the reincarnation of her husband, who died a decade earlier, it doesn't take long before she says, "Oh, right, yes".
You want to scream, like the boy seeing the emperor's lack of clothes. Birth is a paranormal mystery without a spine. It has no suspense because it has no belief in itself. It doesn't take the trouble to suggest any reasons for why an intelligent, upper class New Yorker should make the choices she does.
Kidman looks great in the film with an urchin haircut and beautifully cut clothes but the film has no payoff and there's nothing she can do about it. Fans waiting for another hit from the Oscar-winner will be disappointed.
Director Jonathan Glazer's first film was Sexy Beast, a different cup of tea that allowed Ben Kingsley to snarl all over the screen in Cockney Spain. Here, it's all Central Park West elegance and soft-spoken class.
The film opens with Anna's husband apparently dying beneath a bridge while jogging in the snow. Nothing is revealed about him or his widow but it apparently takes her 10 years before she's ready to contemplate another relationship, probably something of an Upper East Side Manhattan record.
When a 10-year-old who says his real name is Sean (Cameron Bright) shows up at her engagement party to Joseph (Danny Huston) and declares that he is, in fact, her dead husband Sean, it casts a bit of a pall over the festivities. If the screenplay bothered to establish something in Anna's makeup or emotional state that would help suspend disbelief then her gradual acceptance that the boy is who claims to be might not be so laughable.
As it is, pretty soon Anna's sharing a bathtub naked with the kid and before long she's planning to run off with him, promising to marry him in 11 years when he turns 21. The boy, who seldom smiles and has a deep manly voice, scares Anna's husband-to-be enough that he goes berserk, smashes up the drawing room and gives the lad a beating. No one suggests that Joseph's violent over-reaction would give pause to most brides-to-be.
Lauren Bacall is on hand as Anna's mother but even her droll line-readings can do little to bolster things. And Anne Heche drops by as a shifty woman whose involvement with the boy may complicate things. But nothing hangs together and when it ends it simply disappears from your mind.
BIRTH
New Line Productions
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Screenwriters: Jean-Claude Carriere, Milo Addica, Jonathan Glazer
Producers: Jean-Louis Piel, Nick Morris, Lizie Gower
Executive producers: Kerry Orent, Mark Ordesky, Xavier Marchand
Director of photography: Harris Savides
Production designer: Kevin Thompson
Editors: Sam Sneade, Claus Wehlisch
Costume designer: John Dunn
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
Anna: Nicole Kidman
Young Sean: Cameron Bright
Joseph: Danny Huston
Eleanor: Lauren Bacall
Laura: Alison Elliot
Bob: Arliss Howard
Sean: Michael Seautels
Clara: Anne Heche
Clifford: Peter Stormare
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 mins...
VENICE -- There is nothing about Nicole Kidman's character Anna in Birth that suggests she is stupid, tormented or coming apart at the seams. Nonetheless, when a 10-year-old boy claims that he is the reincarnation of her husband, who died a decade earlier, it doesn't take long before she says, "Oh, right, yes".
You want to scream, like the boy seeing the emperor's lack of clothes. Birth is a paranormal mystery without a spine. It has no suspense because it has no belief in itself. It doesn't take the trouble to suggest any reasons for why an intelligent, upper class New Yorker should make the choices she does.
Kidman looks great in the film with an urchin haircut and beautifully cut clothes but the film has no payoff and there's nothing she can do about it. Fans waiting for another hit from the Oscar-winner will be disappointed.
Director Jonathan Glazer's first film was Sexy Beast, a different cup of tea that allowed Ben Kingsley to snarl all over the screen in Cockney Spain. Here, it's all Central Park West elegance and soft-spoken class.
The film opens with Anna's husband apparently dying beneath a bridge while jogging in the snow. Nothing is revealed about him or his widow but it apparently takes her 10 years before she's ready to contemplate another relationship, probably something of an Upper East Side Manhattan record.
When a 10-year-old who says his real name is Sean (Cameron Bright) shows up at her engagement party to Joseph (Danny Huston) and declares that he is, in fact, her dead husband Sean, it casts a bit of a pall over the festivities. If the screenplay bothered to establish something in Anna's makeup or emotional state that would help suspend disbelief then her gradual acceptance that the boy is who claims to be might not be so laughable.
As it is, pretty soon Anna's sharing a bathtub naked with the kid and before long she's planning to run off with him, promising to marry him in 11 years when he turns 21. The boy, who seldom smiles and has a deep manly voice, scares Anna's husband-to-be enough that he goes berserk, smashes up the drawing room and gives the lad a beating. No one suggests that Joseph's violent over-reaction would give pause to most brides-to-be.
Lauren Bacall is on hand as Anna's mother but even her droll line-readings can do little to bolster things. And Anne Heche drops by as a shifty woman whose involvement with the boy may complicate things. But nothing hangs together and when it ends it simply disappears from your mind.
BIRTH
New Line Productions
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Screenwriters: Jean-Claude Carriere, Milo Addica, Jonathan Glazer
Producers: Jean-Louis Piel, Nick Morris, Lizie Gower
Executive producers: Kerry Orent, Mark Ordesky, Xavier Marchand
Director of photography: Harris Savides
Production designer: Kevin Thompson
Editors: Sam Sneade, Claus Wehlisch
Costume designer: John Dunn
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
Anna: Nicole Kidman
Young Sean: Cameron Bright
Joseph: Danny Huston
Eleanor: Lauren Bacall
Laura: Alison Elliot
Bob: Arliss Howard
Sean: Michael Seautels
Clara: Anne Heche
Clifford: Peter Stormare
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 mins...
Laura Harring has found her way to Texas to replace Daryl Hannah in James Marsh's The King for Ed Pressman and John Schmidt's ContentFilm. Shooting is under way with Harring starring alongside Gael Garcia Bernal, Sam Shepard and Paul Dano. The story centers on 21-year-old just out of the Navy (Bernal) who tracks down the father he never knew (Shepard) only to find him as a pastor of a thriving Baptist church in Corpus Christi, Texas. With a beautiful wife (Harring) and two perfect kids, the pastor wants nothing to do with his lost son. Sources said Hannah exited the project because of scheduling conflicts. ContentFilm is financing the drama, with Marsh helming from a script by Milo Addica and Marsh. Addica also is producing with ContentFilm's Pressman and Schmidt. Sofia Sondervan is executive producing along with James Wilson. Harring, best known for her work in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, is repped by Writers & Artists Group International and Leverage Management. She was most recently seen opposite John Travolta in Lions Gate Films' The Punisher for helmer Jonathan Hensleigh.
Oscar-nominated scribe Milo Addica, who is set to make his directorial debut with an untitled feature based on the best seller The French Hustler, has signed with Endeavor for representation. French Hustler, which follows the true-life exploits of Gallic con artist Christophe Rocancourt, will be produced by Thomas Langmann under his Paris shingle Le Petite Reine. Addica, who received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing the critically acclaimed film Monster's Ball, most recently co-wrote Birth. Jonathan Glazer directs Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall in the Fine Line Features project. Other writing credits include the biker-themed drama Iron Cross (formerly known as The Biker Creed) for Imagine/Universal. Addica also is producing the Gael Garcia Bernal-Sam Shepard starrer The King, which he wrote with director James Marsh. Addica continues to be represented by attorney Jodi Peikoff.
- 4/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Daryl Hannah and Paul Dano are near deals that will see them team with Gael Garcia Bernal and Sam Shepard in James Marsh's The King for Ed Pressman and John Schmidt's ContentFilm. Production is scheduled to start in March in Texas. ContentFilm is financing the drama, with Marsh helming from a script by Oscar-nominated writer Milo Addica (Monster's Ball) and Marsh. Addica also is producing with ContentFilm's Pressman, Schmidt; Sofia Sondervan is executive producing along with James Wilson.
- 1/30/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- Gael Garcia Bernal, star of Walter Salles' Sundance selection The Motorcycle Diaries, which sold to Focus Features over the weekend for north of $4 million, will make his next film, The King, for ContentFilm and helmer James Marsh. Sam Shepard also has committed to the film, which is scheduled to start shooting in March in Texas, sources confirmed. Penned by Monster's Ball co-scribe Milo Addica along with Marsh, the project centers on Bernal, who will play a dysfunctional young man who returns home after being discharged from the Navy to seek out his estranged father (Shepard), a pastor living in Corpus Christi with his new family.
- 1/22/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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