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Stars: Jenny Seagrove, John Hannah, Amanda Abbington, Ronan Keating, Julian Kostov | Written by Jenny Lecoat | Directed by Christopher Menaul

When we see World War 2 movies based on the British experience, normally we witness the events of the Blitz and see the hardship people went through. Another Mother’s Son takes us to Nazi occupied Jersey and the true story of a mother, and a Polish escaped prisoner of war.

Another Mother’s Son is the story of Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove), who when called upon to hide a Russia prisoner of war who has escaped, agrees to let him into her house. Calling him Bill (Julian Kostov) she looks after him, and tries to give him some normality back into his life, while all the time hiding him from not only the enemy in uniform, but also those closer to home.

The story presented in Another Mother’s Son is...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Not alt-history but a true story from a Nazi-occupied English-speaking place, a hugely relevant reminder that resistance to injustice is an absolute imperative. I’m “biast” (pro): always desperate for movies about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

We seem to be enthralled at the moment by alt-history stories about Nazis in England and America: the just-wrapped SS-gb on the BBC, The Man in the High Castle on Amazon. Perhaps they’re expressions of relief, of how easily such things might have happened; more likely we fear that similar nightmares are starting to happen now under slightly different guises. Yet it seems we’ve almost forgotten that there actually was a Nazi occupation of English-speaking places in WWII: the Channel Islands, the British Crown dependences between England and France. We’ve almost forgotten because tales...

Author: Stefan Pape

The majority of films that linger over the horrors of the Second World War tend to focus on the soldiers, the young men who left home to serve their country, and risk their lives on a daily basis. It’s somewhat more infrequent to delve into the lives of those back at home, struggling to get by, constantly afraid their loved ones will be killed, while also vying to survive back on home soil. It’s here Christopher Menaul’s profound drama Another Mother’s Son is set, based on the true story of Louisa Gould.

Set on the Nazi-occupied island of Jersey, Gould (Jenny Seagrove) runs the local grocery store, selling rationed food to her neighbours. It’s those very customers that she puts her faith in, as she agrees to secretly take in a Russian prisoner of war, who she affectionately nicknames Bill (Julian Kostov...

Author: Zehra Phelan

An emotionally affecting and inspiring trailer for the biographical film Another Mother’s Son has been released. The film stars Judge John Deed actress, Jenny Seagrove as Louisa Gould – one of the first recipients of Her Majesty’s British Hero of the Holocaust Awards in March 2010.

Louisa Gould was a shopkeeper in Jersey during the Second World War, in charge of handing out rations to those in the only British territory to fall under the control of the Third Reich. After learning of her son’s death in battle she takes under her wing a young Russian Pow who escaped a German Prison camp despite her family’s concerns. Singer/songwriter, and ex-Boyzone member, Ronan Keating plays her brother Harold Gould. He is no stranger to acting following his role as Guy in the West End show, Once, which earned him rave reviews.

Directed by Emmy-nominated Christopher Menaul (Summer in February,...

Second World War drama begins UK shoot; first image revealed.

Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating has joined the ensemble cast of period drama Another Mother’s Son, which also includes Jenny Seagrove, John Hannah, Amanda Abbington, Peter Wight and Susan Hampshire.

Principal photography is underway on the film, which will shoot for six weeks across Somerset and the South West of England.

Another Mother’s Son is set during the Second World War, when the island of Jersey was occupied by the Nazis.

The film is based on the true story of Louisa Gould, who took in an escaped Russian Pow and hid him over the course of the war, amid growing tension as it became clear that British wartime leader Winston Churchill would not risk an assault to re-capture the island and the community began to fray under pressures of hunger, occupation and divided loyalty.

BAFTA-winning Chris Menaul (Summer In February) directs a screenplay by Jenny Lecoat.

The...

Coming to theater on April 3rd is the film Effie Gray.

The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian England’s greatest mind, John Ruskin, and his teenage bride, Euphemia “Effie” Gray, who leaves him for the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.

Effie Gray is the first original screenplay written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.

Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray Ruskin. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, David Suchet, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Sir Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.

The film is produced by Andreas Roald (Terrence Malick’s Voyage Of Time) and Donald Rosenfeld (Malick’s Tree Of Life and Voyage Of Time).

Producer Donald Rosenfeld spent 1987 to 1998 as President of Merchant Ivory Productions, in charge of the financing...

[Read my more exhaustive "Killing Jesus" set report here.] Ouarzazate, Morocco. It's late October in central Morocco and Haaz Sleiman is worried about crucifixion. Because context is important, it should be noted that Sleiman is sitting in a tent on the set of National Geographic's "Killing Jesus" and he's playing Jesus. We're deep into production on the adaptation of Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard book, but director Christopher Menaul has saved perhaps the hardest scene for late in the shoot. "It's a messed up way to die," Sleiman reflects. "It's probably the most gruesome awful way to die and comparing to any other kind of torture it's like the ultimate because it's also humiliating. They have you walking naked and dragging the beam. I mean the thought of me as Haaz walking with a beam naked, nothing... It would mortified me. I mean I would be terrified. So imagine someone actually really had to go through that.

Ouarzazate, Morocco. Officially, the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is nicknamed "The door of the desert," resting south of the High Atlas Mountains and on the edge of the Draa Valley. Thanks to the presence of Atlas Studios, though, Ouarzazate is perhaps more appropriately known as The Hollywood of Central Morocco, or perhaps even The Hollywood of Morocco. Ouarzazate has a population of just over 50,000, but in late October of 2014, that population includes a disproportionate number of Jesuses, Judases and an absurd number of Marys, both Jesus' mom and of the Magdalene variety. It's late October of 2014 and Ouarzazate is the beating heart of TV's Biblical world. "It's a very holy town right now," laughs Haaz Sleiman, one of the Ouarzazate Jesi -- Yes, that should be the name of a fantasy baseball team -- specifically playing the title role in National Geographic's "Killing Jesus," the project that has brought me to this region.

Actor Haaz Sleiman was raised Muslim, and describes himself as “spiritual” today, which makes it all the more interesting that he’s playing Jesus in the National Geographic Channel movie about the son of God’s life and death — the combination of those two facts is something that certain religious groups have taken an exception to.

At Wednesday’s Television Critics Association press tour, Sleiman answered questions about his own faith with grace befitting the religious figure he portrays in Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Jesus.” Sleiman explained that the two religions aren’t as different as many people assume,...

Dan Mor is in Morocco for six weeks playing an enforcer to King Herod in Killing Jesus, a four-hour miniseries that stars Kelsey Grammer, Stephen Moyer, Rufus Sewell and John Rhys Davies.

The Scott Free production for the National Geographic Channel is based on the book Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O.Reilly and Martin Dugard, adapted by Walon Green.

Grammer (Frasier, Boss) portrays Herod, the Roman King of Judea, who attempted to kill Jesus at his birth.

True Blood.s Moyer is Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered Jesus. crucifixion, Sewell is Caiaphas, the high priest and conspirator in Jesus. death.

Rhys Davies is Annas, another high priest who first questioned Jesus and his teachings, and Entourage.s Emmanuelle Chriqui is Herodia, ex-wife of Herod II.. Haaz Sleiman (Nurse Jackie, Covert Affairs) portrays the title character.

Mor is cast as Sillaeus, first seen as a young...

The National Geographic Channel is switching its attentions from the assassinations of presidents, to the assassination of religious figures – with a four hour mini-series adaptation of the 2013 book Killing Jesus, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. As the follow-up to the successful TV versions of their earlier books, Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy, the project will be written and executive produced by Walon Green (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), with Christopher Menaul (Summer In February) in the director’s chair.

This re-telling of the life and death of Jesus is set against the backdrop of intense conflict within the Roman Empire, and will now star multiple Emmy award-winner Kelsey Grammer (The Expendables 3) as King Herod – “the unrelenting and ambitious Roman King of Judea, who attempted to kill Jesus at his birth.” Stephen Moyer (True Blood) will feature as Pontius Pilate – the fifth prefect of Judaea, and the man who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.

Kelsey Grammer will play King Herod and Stephen Moyer will play Pontius Pilate in the upcoming four-hour miniseries adaptation of Bill O'Reilly's book "Killing Jesus" for the National Geographic Channel.

The film chronicles the life of Jesus, played by Haaz Sleiman ("The Visitor"), at a time of intense political and social and conflict in the Roman Empire that ultimately led to his death. "Law & Order" veteran Walon Green is tapped to write and executive produce the project.

Also onboard are Rufus Sewell as Caiaphas, Abhin Galeya as John the Baptist, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Herodia, Stephanie Leonidas as Salome, Eoin Macken as Antipas, John Rhys Davies as Annas, Aneurin Barnard as James, Vernon Dobtcheff as Isaiah, Tamsin Egerton as Claudia, John Lynch as Nicodemus, Joe Doyle as Judas, Alexis Rodney as Simon.

Ridley Scott, David Zucker and Mary Lisio will also executive produce and Chris Menaul will direct. Filming begins this Fall.

Kelsey Grammer and Stephen Moyer will star in National Geographic's Killing Jesus, EW has confirmed. The film, based on the 2013 book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, will follow Jesus' life in the period of political and social turmoil in the Roman Empire that ultimately results in his death. Grammer will play King Herod while Moyer will play Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus' crucifixion. Haaz Sleiman will play Jesus. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news. "The film Killing Jesus will break new ground in chronicling the life of the most famous human being who ever lived,...

Kelsey Grammar and Stephen Moyer will star in National Geographic's Killing Jesus, EW has confirmed. The film, based on the 2013 book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, will follow Jesus' life in the period of political and social turmoil in the Roman Empire that ultimately results in his death. Grammar will play King Herod while Moyer will play Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus' crucifixion. Haaz Sleiman will play Jesus. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news. "The film Killing Jesus will break new ground in chronicling the life of the most famous human being who ever lived,...

Nat Geo Channel and Scott Free Productions have signed Christopher Menaul to direct “Killing Jesus,” a three-hour TV event based on the best-selling book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. “Killing Jesus” is expected to premiere globally on National Geographic Channel in 2015 in 171 countries and 45 languages, and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo. The TV film is currently in pre-production, and is scheduled to begin shooting this fall with a teleplay from Oscar and Emmy award-winning screenwriter Walon Green. See video: Stephen Colbert Defends Bill O'Reilly: Of Course God Told Him to Write ‘Killing Jesus’ Menaul has worked extensively in television for more.

Alex Kingston and Noel Clarke have featured in the first trailer for ITV's Chasing Shadows.

Reece Shearsmith also stars in the upcoming four-part drama, which airs on the channel later this year.

Chasing Shadows follows a special unit hunting down serial killers, with Shearsmith starring as the awkward but brilliant detective Sean Stone.

Kingston will play his partner Ruth Hattersley, while Clarke stars as Di Prior.

Christopher Menaul (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher) will direct the first self-contained story - 'Only Connect' - across two episodes. The director of the second two-part story 'Off Radar' will be Jim O'Hanlon (In The Flesh).

Reece Shearsmith, Alex Kingston and Noel Clarke are to star in new ITV drama Chasing Shadows.

Shearsmith will play DS Sean Stone in the four-part series, which follows a special unit hunting down serial killers.

Socially awkward but brilliant, Stone is a misfit with self-destructive tendencies and an eccentric manner.

Doctor Who star Kingston will play his partner Ruth Hattersley. An analyst from the Missing Persons Bureau, Hattersley is tasked to work alongside Stone and her empathic nature helps to balance out his awkward temperament.

Fellow Who veteran Clarke has been cast in the role of Di Prior in the drama from Dci Banks writer Rob Williams.

Christopher Menaul (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher) will direct the first self-contained story 'Only Connect' across two episodes. The director of the second two-part story 'Off Radar' will be Jim O'Hanlon (In The Flesh).

Lewis to return for 8th series on ITV...

There is no doubt that setting can inform character, with the surroundings and mood of a time and place, coming to bear on those living and interacting with those elements. But there needs to be some dimension to the characters on the page first, as no amount of costume design, set decoration or beautifully composed landscape shots can mask thin writing. And it's a lesson that veteran TV and movie director Christopher Menaul seemed to have forgotten when making "Summer In February," a handsomely dull romantic drama penned by author Jonathan Smith (based on his own book), in which characters totter around the beautiful English countryside wringing their hands over their lot, but without doing much about it. Based on a true story, the film is set in the early 1910s, with World War I looming on the horizon, in the pleasant looking Larmona Cove, where an artist colony thrives,...

Summer Bummer: Menaul’s Love Triangle Inspires Opposite Emotions

Not every “based on a true story” is actually fit for a feature length film. In fact, most of these stories are embellished beyond recognition to sustain narrative integrity and audience interest. Not so with Christopher Menaul’s latest, Summer In February, which seems to convey that, if anything, love is a mainly belabored thing. Spending nearly his entire career working in television, this adaptation of a novel by Jonathan Smith, which recounts the lives of several real life historical figures, is structured like an ungainly corset, wound up all tight and stuffy and begging for a commercial break to exhale.

In 1913 Cornwall, we meet a group of young artists that have gathered there to work in what was widely regarded as a free thinking sanctuary. The loudmouthed and cocky A.J. Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is the dashing painter championed as...

The sweeping British romance ‘Summer in February’ is making its way to American audiences, as Tribeca Film has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the biographical drama. The film, which was directed by British filmmaker Christopher Menaul, is set to be released on January 7, 2014 on VOD and digital platforms, followed by the January 17 theatrical release. The romance drama, which was written by Jonathan Smith, based on his novel of the same name, stars Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning. The deal was negotiated for the distribution label, which is dedicated to acquiring and releasing independent films across multiple platforms, by Nick Savva, Vice President of Acquisitions, [ Read More ]

The post Tribeca Film Acquires U.S. Rights to Britian’s Summer In February appeared first on Shockya.com.

Tribeca Film has acquired Us rights to Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February starring Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning.

Jonathan Smith adapted his novel of the same name about a love triangle involving the painter Sir Alfred Munnings.

Tribeca Film will release on January 7 2014 on digital followed by theatrical 10 days later. The distributor brokered the deal with uMedia on behalf of the film-makers.

GoDigital has acquired North American and limited international rights for VOD and digital platforms for the romance In Lieu Of Flowers. William Savage wrote and directed the Patina Pictures tale starring Josh Pence, Spencer Grammer, Nate Corddry and Melissa Rauch.Echo Bridge Entertainment has taken international rights to family film Hamlet & Hutch starring Burt Reynolds and Elizabeth Leiner and crime thriller Sunken City.

If you’re missing Cousin Matthew or Downton Abbey in general, you’re in luck: Dan Stevens is going back to pre-war England for the romance Summer in February. Tribeca Films plans to release the film on VOD on Jan. 7, just two days after a Matthew-less Downton premieres in the states.

The film tells the true story of Sir Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who rises from his working class roots to become one of Britain’s best painters. During his ascent, he also attracts the attention of the upper class Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning), creating a tragic love triangle...

★★★☆☆ Equestrian artist Alfred Munnings' love affair and disastrous marriage to aspiring painter Florence Carter-Wood is the subject of Christopher Menaul's involving costume drama Summer in February (2013). It's 1912 and Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is a prominent member of the bohemian Lamorna Group, a colony of artists living and practising their craft in Cornwall. Fleeing London, an oppressive father and an unwanted suitor, Florence (Emily Browning) joins her brother here. Her fragile beauty and sensitive nature consequently attract the attention of local land agent and army officer Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens).

A prolific painter, Munnings is much admired by others in the colony, including acclaimed artists, Laura (Hattie Morahan) and Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall). Munnings can have any woman he desires but is also drawn to Florence. She models for him and before long he is proposing marriage. Florence accepts but the couple discover, too late, that their hasty courtship obscures a multitude of differences.

★★★☆☆ Shot in sumptuous monochrome, Fernando Trueba's thoughtful 2012 film The Artist and The Model - starring French character actor Jean Rochefort - adds to the director's already eclectic oeuvre, making for satisfying viewing. Set in the rural south of France in the middle of the Second World War, we meet ageing, semi-retired sculptor Marc (Rochefort) who lives with his thickly bespectacled housekeeper and wife Léa (played by Italian bombshell Claudia Cardinale), who is now in her seventies. Their life is simplistic and gentle, experiencing little impact from the war that rages on in the north of the occupied country.

The tone of The Artist and The Model is warm and reflective, centred on the contrasting dynamic of the gypsy-like Mercè (Aida Folch) - housed by our couple after escaping war-torn Spain - and the wizened, yet passionate Marc. The arrival of the young girl inspires the artist to once again...

Rich industrialist and aspiring opera singer Sir Adam Drummond (Richard E Grant) attempts to establish his cultural credentials by bankrolling an opera set at his lavish country pile. However, when they're not rehearsing Cosi fan tutte, the cast and director launch themselves into a bout of bedhopping as Adam bets cocky singer Tom (Julian Ovenden) that he won’t seduce Italian soprano Nicoletta (Mia Maestro) before first night. Bawdy British country house romp from veteran TV director Christopher Menaul.

uConnect, the international sales division of uMedia, has taken on worldwide sales for Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February.

Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning lead the cast in the true story of the tragic love triangle between painter Aj Munnings (Cooper), budding artist Florence Carter-Wood (Browning) and the local land agent Gilbert Evans (Stevens).

Producers are Janette Day and Pippa Cross for CrossDay Productions, Apart Films’ Jeremy Cowdrey and Dan Stevens. Jonathan Smith wrote the screenplay based on his eponymous novel.

Metrodome released the film theatrically in the UK on June 14.

The film had previously been represented by Speranza13.

uConnect’s slate also includes The Best Offer, Shield Of Straw, Nothing Bad Can Happen, Frances Ha, Satellite Boy and Closed Curtain.

London --uConnect, the sales division of Belgium-based uMedia has taken on worldwide sales duties for Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February, starring Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning. Headed by veteran international sales guru and former Lakeshore high flier Peter Rogers, uConnect will be charged with finding distributors for the low-budget British independent film. Story: How European Public Broadcasters' Cash Crunch Affects Hollywood Based on a true story, the film is set amongst a bohemian group of Edwardian artists in the dramatic landscape of Cornwall and focuses on the tragic love triangle between anti-Modernist painter Aj Munnings

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Man Of Steel | Paradise: Love | Much Ado About Nothing | Stuck In Love | Admission | Summer In February | Fukrey

Man Of Steel (12A)

(Zack Snyder, 2013, Us/Can/UK) Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon. 143 mins

How to retell a story everyone has heard so many times before? By shuffling up Superman's origins myth, adopting a deadly earnest tone and chucking tons of money at it, apparently. The result is a Christ parable with a Transformers-sized appetite for destruction. Cavill is appropriately strapping but the tension between Earth and Krypton gets buried beneath the rubble.

Paradise: Love (18)

(Ulrich Seidl, 2012, Aus/Ger/Fra) Margarete Tiesel, Peter Kazungu, Inge Maux. 121 mins

Wealthy white women's third-world sex tourism is hardly a nuanced subject (or a new one: see Laurent Cantet's Heading South) but Seidl brings it up to date and out in the open in this excruciating study of mutual exploitation. Tiesel plays a lonely,...

Nothing quite stirs the emotions than a love triangle, and a period love triangle at that, set at the turn of the 19th Century where reserved nature and stuffy social standing all but marred many burning fledgling romances. The frustrations felt fuel the desire to see love served correctly and make for engaging cinematic material.

Indeed, director Christopher Menaul and writer Jonathan Smith need us to feel such frustration and empathy toward their heroine, Florence, a fair lady of social pedigree, strangled by her own social constraints but screaming out to let rip her artistic flare. With the delicately featured, bud-lipped Emily Browning in the lead role, it’s a promising start. That said it’s one that gradually ebbs away at our initial affections for Florence, making her less like the usual fabled vulnerable heroine that cements such a triangle – and indeed such a tale, and more like the...

★★☆☆☆ Hoping, no doubt, to capitalise on the recent international success of ITV's Downton Abbey and other successful historical dramas on the big screen comes Christopher Menaul's Summer in February (2013). Adapted by Jonathan Smith from his own novel, this is a fictionalised account of a period of high emotions and scandal in the bohemian wing of the Newlyn School of artists. Based in a Cornish village before the First World War, it was a haven for the likes of equine painter Alfred Munnings, and Harold and Laura Knight. Whilst controversy does abound, sadly the film never quite manages to quicken the heartbeat fittingly.

Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning) arrives in the Newlyn-Lamorna colony in 1913 with the hopes of improving her skills. She very quickly catches the eyes, however, of two close friends; unassuming military man Gilbert (Dan Stevens), and famed painter 'A.J.' Munnings (Dominic Cooper). As the men compete for the young woman's heart,...

Director: Christopher Menaul; Screenwriter: Jonathan Smith; Starring: Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, Hattie Morahan; Running time: 100 mins; Certificate: 15

Unrequited love is the stuff of great art, as evidenced in this portrait of the Lamorna group, named after a spot on the Cornish coast that inspired them. Dominic Cooper is the leader of this Edwardian pack and a proper enfant terrible as Aj Munnings, a painter on his way up in the world as the Great War looms. The film itself is no masterwork, but it has a certain irresistible undertow.

Emily Browning anchors the story as Florence, a newcomer to this bohemian enclave who dreams of being an artist, but lacks the spirit of abandon that appears to be a prerequisite. Munnings, on the other hand, is full of it. He veers close to pomposity as he strides about the local pub reciting poetry, but it's enough to turn...

June 7, 2013

Stone Roses: Made of Stone

Director: Shane Meadows

Starring: Ian Brown, Mani

Running time: 97 mins

Certificate: 15

After Earth

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith

Running time: 100 mins

Certificate: 12A

Behind the Candelabra

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon

Running time: 118 mins

Certificate: 15

The Iceman

Director: Ariel Vromen

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder

Running time: 105 mins

Certificate: 15

The Last Exorcism Part II

Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly

Starring: Ashley Bell, Julia Garner

Running time: 88 mins

Certificate: 15

June 14, 2013

Admission

Director: Paul Weitz

Starring: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd

Running time: 107 mins

Certificate: 12A

Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe

Running time: 143 mins

Certificate: 12A

Much Ado About Nothing

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: Amy Acker, Clark Gregg

Running time: 107 mins

Certificate: 12A

Summer in February

Director: Christopher Menaul

Starring: Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens

Running time: 100 mins

Certificate: 15

June 21, 2013

Before Midnight

Director: Richard Linklater

Starring: Ethan Hawke,...

Rich industrialist and aspiring opera singer Sir Adam Drummond (Richard E Grant) attempts to establish his cultural credentials by bankrolling an opera set at his lavish country pile. However, when they're not rehearsing Cosi fan tutte, the cast and director launch themselves into a bout of bedhopping as Adam bets cocky singer Tom (Julian Ovenden) that he won't seduce Italian soprano Nicoletta (Mia Maestro) before first night. Bawdy British country house romp from veteran TV director Christopher Menaul.

If you like Cornish vistas, horses or Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens, boy, do we have a treat for you. The new poster for romantic drama Summer In February has fallen into our hands, and it boast all three to giddy up your Monday morning. We can even throw in the boyish charms of Dominic Cooper and Emily 'Sucker Punch' Browning for good measure.This ensemble is overseen by director Christopher Menaul, the man who brought the Rutger Hauer-starring Fatherland to the small screen. In this case, the story is an adaptation of Jonathan Smith's 1995 novel which centres on a resolutely old-fashioned artist community led by Cooper's Alfred Munnings, a gifted painter and figurehead of the anti-Modernist Lamorna Group. The Cornish coastline plays host to a love triangle between Munnings, his young protégé Florence Carter-Wood (Browning) and estate manager Gilbert Evans (Stevens). The location work will, no doubt,...

Hope you’re ready for another tragic love story, ’cause an upcoming Summer in February movie is all about – love & loss. Great cast is on board for Christopher Menaul‘s drama and includes Emily Browning, Dominic Cooper and Dan Stevens. The movie opens this June in the UK, and as you already see – we finally have the official trailer & some great images from the whole thing to share. Take a look… Based on Jonathan Smith‘s novel of the same name, the movie tells the story of love and loss among a bohemian colony of artists which flourished in the wild coastal region of...

Click to continue reading Summer In February Official Trailer & Photos! on www.filmofilia.com...

Gravitas Ventures will release '1st Night' note the spelling of the title it isn't 'First Night' in select theaters and on VOD daydate on May 3rd. This quintessential English comedy stars Richard E. Grant, Sarah Brightman, Mia Maestro, and Julian Ovenden and is directed by Christopher Menaul. The film is written by Christopher Menaul and Jeremy Sams.

Dan Stevens and Dominic Cooper feature in a new trailer for Summer in February.

Directed by Christopher Menaul, the Edwardian drama stars Stevens and Cooper as a land agent and bohemian artist competing for the affections of Emily Browning's Florence.

Set in Cornwall, the film is based on a true story and was scripted by Jonathan Smith.

Hattie Morahan, Mia Austen, Shaun Dingwall and Michael Maloney are among the supporting cast, while Stevens also served as a co-producer.

Stevens, who departed Downton Abbey at the end of its third season in order to pursue other projects, will reportedly star in a new adaptation of Swallows and Amazons.

He will also appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in upcoming Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate, playing The Guardian's deputy editor Ian Katz.

Summer in February is released in the UK on June 14.

Dan Stevens and Dominic Cooper feature in a new trailer for Summer in February.

Directed by Christopher Menaul, the Edwardian drama stars Stevens and Cooper as a land agent and bohemian artist competing for the affections of Emily Browning's Florence.

Set in Cornwall, the film is based on a true story and was scripted by Jonathan Smith.

Hattie Morahan, Mia Austen, Shaun Dingwall and Michael Maloney are among the supporting cast, while Stevens also served as a co-producer.

Stevens, who departed Downton Abbey at the end of its third season in order to pursue other projects, will reportedly star in a new adaptation of Swallows and Amazons.

He will also appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in upcoming Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate, playing The Guardian's deputy editor Ian Katz.

Summer in February is released in the UK on June 14.

Well, here's something of a different flavor for those of you perhaps already exhausted (or preparing to be exhausted) by summer movie madness. A period drama, based on an acclaimed novel, featuring some solid actors, all against a windswept UK backdrop -- do you like the sound of that? Well, keep reading on... The first trailer for Brit indie "Summer In February" has arrived and while it may seem like a "Parade's End" do-over complete with a doomed marriage, and pre-wwi love triangle, we're also sorta suckers for this kind of stuff. Based on the book by Jonathan Smith (who also wrote the screenplay), mostly-tv director Christopher Menaul takes the helm of the story centers on a love triangle that develops in the life of painter Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), the famed British artist who took a marked stand against modernism. He marries the young and beautiful Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning...

Olivia Colman, Paddy Considine Reteam For ‘Whicher II’ Hyde Park On Hudson co-star Olivia Colman will join Paddy Considine in ITV’s The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher II. The Hat Trick Productions drama is based on the real-life 19th century Metropolitan Police detective. The two-hour film is a follow-up to the 2011 drama that was based on the book by Kate Summerscale. Colman plays a woman who hires Considine’s Whicher to investigate the murder of her niece. Colman recently won a British Independent Film Award for best supporting actress in Hyde Park On Hudson. She also won the Bifa last year as best actress for Tyrannosaur which was directed by Considine. Shooting is currently underway on the story written by Neil McKay (Appropriate Adult) and directed by Christopher Menaul. Mark Redhead is exec producer, Rob Bullock is producer. Xbox To Premiere Brit Indie ‘Pulp’ In a first of its kind deal,...

Is there a greater film than "Lawrence of Arabia?" Perhaps. There are certainly few longer ones, or few that are more epic and sweeping in their scope (thanks to the timeless Panavision 70 photography by Freddie Young). But even if the film isn't your absolute favorite, it is the number one of many, including Steven Spielberg, who credits the picture with making him want to be a filmmaker.

David Lean's tale of T.E. Lawrence's adventures in Arabia in World War I is fifty years old this year, and ahead of a brand-spanking-new Blu-ray release next month, a glorious new 4K restoration of the film is screening at Cannes tomorrow night. To mark the occasion, as well as the anniversary of the death of Lawrence himself, who died 77 years ago tomorrow, we've assembled five things you might not know about Lean's unassailable classic.

1. David Lean nearly directed a biopic of...

Emily Browning is walking a nicely diverse career path after coming to the fore when starring opposite Jim Carrey in the much underrated Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and the double bill of Sucker Punch and Sleeping Beauty were great indicators of the varied choices she is making.

We’ve got the first image from her latest film, Summer in February, for you today and Christopher Menaul’s film on a group of artists in the approach of the First World War is due to reveal itself by way of footage screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which begins next week. Browning stars with Dan Stevens and Dominic Cooper and Speranza13 Media have just announced they have picked international sales rights for the film.

Time for a synopsis don’t you think?

Set in the years before the First World War, Summer In February focuses...

Emily Browning continued to be one of the more eclectic actresses around. The 23-year-old Australian remained best known to genre fans for her role in Zack Snyder’s action fantasy Sucker Punch as an 18-year-old girl named Baby Doll (Browning) fighting her way out of a mental institution with the help of fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone). Browning also wowed art-house audiences via the IFC Midnight release of Australian director Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty, about a young woman (Browning) who takes a job at a unique brothel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Browning went period costume drama and replaced Ophelia Lovibond on director Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February, about a scandal set in a Cornwall artists’ colony during England’s Edwardian era.

Emily Browning continued to be one of the more eclectic actresses around. The 23-year-old Australian remained best known to genre fans for her role in Zack Snyder’s action fantasy Sucker Punch as an 18-year-old girl named Baby Doll (Browning) fighting her way out of a mental institution with the help of fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone). Browning also wowed art-house audiences via the IFC Midnight release of Australian director Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty, about a young woman (Browning) who takes a job at a unique brothel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Browning went period costume drama and replaced Ophelia Lovibond on director Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February, about a scandal set in a Cornwall artists’ colony during England’s Edwardian era.

Emily Browning continued to be one of the more eclectic actresses around. The 23-year-old Australian remained best known to genre fans for her role in Zack Snyder’s action fantasy Sucker Punch as an 18-year-old girl named Baby Doll (Browning) fighting her way out of a mental institution with the help of fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone). Browning also wowed art-house audiences via the IFC Midnight release of Australian director Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty, about a young woman (Browning) who takes a job at a unique brothel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Browning went period costume drama and replaced Ophelia Lovibond on director Christopher Menaul’s Summer In February, about a scandal set in a Cornwall artists’ colony during England’s Edwardian era.

[1] For a while there it looked like Ariel Vromen's The Iceman was on the verge of falling apart, as James Franco dropped out [2] of the project. But the hitman biopic is moving along with David Schwimmer [3] and Chris Evans [4] added to the cast in recent weeks, and now Winona Ryder has boarded the picture as well in a role once slated for Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ryder will play the wife of mob contract killer Richard Kuklinski, a.k.a. The Iceman (Michael Shannon), who's unaware of the true nature of her husband's career. Ray Liotta and Ryan O'Nan will also star. Based on interview footage and Anthony Bruno's book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer, the picture is scheduled to begin production early next year in Louisiana. [Deadline [5]] After the jump, a former Everybody Loves Raymond star gets fired by a former The Office star, a...

Summer in February

Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Ophelia Lovibond have signed up to star in Christopher Menaul’s "Summer in February" which begins shooting next month.

Adapted by Jonathan Smith, the story tells of love, liberty and scandal amongst the Edwardian artists’ colony in Cornwall. CrossDay and Apart Films will produce. [Source: BBC]

The Iceman

Winona Ryder has signed on to star with Michael Shannon and Chris Evans in Ariel Vromen's "The Iceman" for Millennium Films/Nu Image.

The story follows a family man (Shannon) who secretly carried out contract killings for the mob. Ryder will play his wife who was unaware of her husband's alternate life. [Source: Deadline]

Nymphomaniac

She's been linked for some time, now Charlotte Gainsbourg ("Antichrist," "Melancholia") is officially in talks to star in Lars von Trier's "The Nymphomaniac" for Zentropa. Shooting will kick off in the second half of next year.

The story, described as an...

He’s garnering plenty of positive awards-focused buzz for his dual turn in The Devil’s Double, but Dominic Cooper is looking for something a little less with the torture for a future project. He’s attached to star in love-triangle drama Summer In February.Cooper will star alongside Ophelia Lovibond, Dan Stevens and Hattie Morahan in the story of Alfred Munnings, a member of the decidedly bohemian Lamorna Group, who were based in Cornwall around the dawn of the 20th century.Munnings himself specialised in rural portraits, and was also involved in World War I. Though he volunteered to serve, he was considered unfit for duty and ended up in civilian jobs, helping to oversee horses being sent off into combat (shades of War Horse there, but we doubt the film will cover that chunk of his life).Christopher Menaul, who has largely worked on TV movies and series...

A stiff drink is recommended to get you through this, and then another immediately afterwards. Richard E Grant stars as a wealthy industrialist who sponsors a production of Così fan tutte at his baronial country house, where the behaviour of cast and crew is meant to generate a comic – if not Mozartian – opera in itself. Sadly, the writer-director Christopher Menaul has no gift for farce, though after a while the clunking dialogue and the stagey set-ups exert a bizarre fascination: did I just dream Sarah Brightman's performance, or was that ghoulish apparition with the mad laugh actually her? It's basically Peter's Friends with opera buffa trimmings, and itself carries the whiff of a rich man's indulgence.