Masterpiece PBS and the BBC are set to begin production on Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, an adaptation of the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy.
Mark Rylance will reprise his role as Thomas Cromwell, while Damian Lewis will return as King Henry VIII. Also returning are Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Further returning and new cast members will be announced at a later date.
Mantel died last year aged 70 and at that point director Peter Kosminsky said The Mirror and the Light would proceed as a...
Mark Rylance will reprise his role as Thomas Cromwell, while Damian Lewis will return as King Henry VIII. Also returning are Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Further returning and new cast members will be announced at a later date.
Mantel died last year aged 70 and at that point director Peter Kosminsky said The Mirror and the Light would proceed as a...
- 11/20/2023
- by Lynette Rice and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
For many years, true cinematic darkness — the indispensable bass note of any cinematographer’s melody — was a struggle to achieve on television screens. Limitations in capture, transmission and display have been overcome in no small part due to the stubborn vision of directors of photography including Roy Wagner, John Bartley and Bill Roe (“The X-Files”) and Jonathan Freeman (“Boardwalk Empire”).
The latest controversy involving a darkly lit “Game of Thrones” episode marks another stage in this evolution, but the main takeaway may be the astonishing extent to which the show’s fans are engaged — less-than-ideal home viewing conditions notwithstanding.
Fabian Wagner, the director of photography behind the episode that has millions discussing contrast ratios, says for every complaint he has heard, a dozen or more have communicated their compliments.
“The whole thing was driven by a creative decision to depict the subjective experience of being in a battle,” says Wagner.
The latest controversy involving a darkly lit “Game of Thrones” episode marks another stage in this evolution, but the main takeaway may be the astonishing extent to which the show’s fans are engaged — less-than-ideal home viewing conditions notwithstanding.
Fabian Wagner, the director of photography behind the episode that has millions discussing contrast ratios, says for every complaint he has heard, a dozen or more have communicated their compliments.
“The whole thing was driven by a creative decision to depict the subjective experience of being in a battle,” says Wagner.
- 5/30/2019
- by David Heuring
- Variety Film + TV
Two weeks after HBO’s Southern gothic thriller “Sharp Objects” revealed its twisted ending, another drama featuring a dollhouse is opening its doors to welcome viewers into a meticulously crafted world. “The Miniaturist,” based on Jessie Burton’s novel of the same name, is PBS’ three-part adaptation that satisfies the “Masterpiece” aesthete’s hunger for beautiful visuals, lavish costuming, and mesmerizing performances.
Set in the 17th century, “The Miniaturist” follows Petronella “Nella” Oortman (“The Witch” and “Split” star Anya Taylor-Joy), a wide-eyed 18-year-old from Assendelft, who has traveled to Amsterdam to join the household of her new husband, Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell). On the surface, it appears to be the usual sort of marriage contract: She and her family benefit from his wealth and status, while he receives a youthful bride to help continue the Brandt line and look pretty while doing it. The latter, in fact, appears to be...
Set in the 17th century, “The Miniaturist” follows Petronella “Nella” Oortman (“The Witch” and “Split” star Anya Taylor-Joy), a wide-eyed 18-year-old from Assendelft, who has traveled to Amsterdam to join the household of her new husband, Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell). On the surface, it appears to be the usual sort of marriage contract: She and her family benefit from his wealth and status, while he receives a youthful bride to help continue the Brandt line and look pretty while doing it. The latter, in fact, appears to be...
- 9/9/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
BBC Two's Wolf Hall opens its doors to reveal a splendid, well-cast and surprisingly modern political drama…
This review contains spoilers.
1.1 Three Card Trick
Following a PR campaign so inescapable it might give pause even to the self-promoting Tudors themselves, Wolf Hall’s heavy, ornate door has finally been pushed open.
What do we find inside? Proof that the BBC was entirely justified in splashing Damien Lewis’ dishy Henry VIII and Mark Rylance’s inscrutable Thomas Cromwell over countless magazine covers. It’s tremendous stuff; a richly textured brocade compared to the flimsy, titillating chiffon of The White Queen and The Tudors.
Adapted from Hilary Mantel’s revisionist take on Cromwell’s career in the Henrician Court by playwright and screenwriter Peter Straughan (Frank, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy), Wolf Hall is historical drama at its best. It avoids cheesy dramatic irony of the “Anne Boleyn? Pfff, nothing will ever come of her!
This review contains spoilers.
1.1 Three Card Trick
Following a PR campaign so inescapable it might give pause even to the self-promoting Tudors themselves, Wolf Hall’s heavy, ornate door has finally been pushed open.
What do we find inside? Proof that the BBC was entirely justified in splashing Damien Lewis’ dishy Henry VIII and Mark Rylance’s inscrutable Thomas Cromwell over countless magazine covers. It’s tremendous stuff; a richly textured brocade compared to the flimsy, titillating chiffon of The White Queen and The Tudors.
Adapted from Hilary Mantel’s revisionist take on Cromwell’s career in the Henrician Court by playwright and screenwriter Peter Straughan (Frank, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy), Wolf Hall is historical drama at its best. It avoids cheesy dramatic irony of the “Anne Boleyn? Pfff, nothing will ever come of her!
- 1/21/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Digital Spy presents a list of winners and nominees at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards 2013, hosted by Stephen Mangan from The Brewery in London on Sunday, April 28, 2013:
Breakthrough Talent
Mike Bartlett - The Town
Julie Gearey - Prisoners' Wives
Rhys Thomas - Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender (Director's Cut)
Tim Whitnall - Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story - Winner
Costume Design
Amy Roberts - Mrs Biggs
Sheena Napier - Parade's End - Winner
Odile Dicks-Mireaux - Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Lorna Marie Mugan - Ripper Street
Digital Creativity
Steve Boulton, James Rutherford - Channel 4 Paralympics - Winner
Production Team - Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic
Production Team - Foxes Live: Wild in the City
Production Team - The Great British Property Scandal
Director (Factual)
Katharine English - Our War
Ben Chanan - The Plot to Bring Down Britain's Planes - Winner
John Dower...
Breakthrough Talent
Mike Bartlett - The Town
Julie Gearey - Prisoners' Wives
Rhys Thomas - Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender (Director's Cut)
Tim Whitnall - Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story - Winner
Costume Design
Amy Roberts - Mrs Biggs
Sheena Napier - Parade's End - Winner
Odile Dicks-Mireaux - Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Lorna Marie Mugan - Ripper Street
Digital Creativity
Steve Boulton, James Rutherford - Channel 4 Paralympics - Winner
Production Team - Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic
Production Team - Foxes Live: Wild in the City
Production Team - The Great British Property Scandal
Director (Factual)
Katharine English - Our War
Ben Chanan - The Plot to Bring Down Britain's Planes - Winner
John Dower...
- 4/28/2013
- Digital Spy
Digital Spy presents a list of nominees for the BAFTA TV Craft Awards 2013, to be hosted by Stephen Mangan from The Brewery in London on Sunday, April 28, 2012:
Breakthrough Talent
Mike Bartlett - The Town
Julie Gearey - Prisoners' Wives
Rhys Thomas - Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender (Director's Cut)
Tim Whitnall - Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story
Costume Design
Amy Roberts - Mrs Biggs
Sheena Napier - Parade's End
Odile Dicks-Mireaux - Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Lorna Marie Mugan - Ripper Street
Digital Creativity
Steve Boulton, James Rutherford - Channel 4 Paralympics
Production Team - Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic
Production Team - Foxes Live: Wild in the City
Production Team - The Great British Property Scandal
Director (Factual)
Katharine English - Our War
Ben Chanan - The Plot to Bring Down Britain's Planes
John Dower - Bradley Wiggins: A Year in Yellow
Ben Anthony...
Breakthrough Talent
Mike Bartlett - The Town
Julie Gearey - Prisoners' Wives
Rhys Thomas - Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender (Director's Cut)
Tim Whitnall - Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story
Costume Design
Amy Roberts - Mrs Biggs
Sheena Napier - Parade's End
Odile Dicks-Mireaux - Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Lorna Marie Mugan - Ripper Street
Digital Creativity
Steve Boulton, James Rutherford - Channel 4 Paralympics
Production Team - Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic
Production Team - Foxes Live: Wild in the City
Production Team - The Great British Property Scandal
Director (Factual)
Katharine English - Our War
Ben Chanan - The Plot to Bring Down Britain's Planes
John Dower - Bradley Wiggins: A Year in Yellow
Ben Anthony...
- 3/25/2013
- Digital Spy
Keeping Mum
"Keeping Mum" takes the position that a family in crisis does not need a Dr. Phil or a Dr. Ruth; it needs an ax murderer. Since we haven't enjoyed a genteel English dark comedy in ever so long, it's fun to revisit the genre and even more fun to do so in the company of Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze. With a strong promotional push from ThinkFilm, "Keeping Mum" should attract a fair number of over-25 admirers of English comedy to sophisticated art houses.
Remarkably, this movie did not start out as an English comedy. The original screenplay was written by American novelist Richard Russo, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Empire Falls", inspired the HBO mini-series and who penned the screenplay for Harold Ramis' "The Ice Harvest". English director Niall Johnson adapted Russo's script to a bucolic English country-village setting of idyllic charm and quaintness, and somehow it all works.
Johnson has slyly given many place and personal names double meanings. For instance, the sleepy parish of Little Whallop has no trouble living up to its name. Gloria (Thomas), the desperate housewife of the town's vicar, Walter Goodfellow (Atkinson), suffers sexual frustration since her husband has seriously misplaced or lost interest in his goodfellow. So much so that a dalliance with Lance (Swayze), her oily American golf instructor, looks increasingly necessary though of course extremely foolish.
Meanwhile, daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) decorates a different boyfriend seemingly every other day. And son Petey (Toby Parkes) finds himself the target of school bullies. What the family needs to set things right is a touch of Grace (Smith), the new housekeeper who arrives with an ominous leather trunk.
Four decades ago, as a perky young woman, Grace was hauled off a train by police with that same trunk leaking blood. The source of these fluids turned out to be the dismembered bodies of her philandering husband and his mistress. Grace has only recently secured her release from a prison for the criminally insane despite the fact that the one point she and her psychiatrist could not agree upon was the use of violence to solve interpersonal problems.
So, not unexpectedly, an obnoxious barking dog, a nosy neighbor and a school bully turn up missing or dead. When Grace gets wind of Lance's intentions, his continuing good health is most definitely in jeopardy. What makes these murders go down ever so lightly is the fact that all this dreadful business takes place between perfectly brewed cups of tea and the most courteous of manners.
However, not all problems require physical exertion: When the vicar struggles to write an opening address to an upcoming religious convention that is not "dry and boring," Grace suggests a touch of humor. Soon enough, Walter is surfing the Net for sites like "Giggle With God" in search of good religious jokes.
The actors all strike just the right tone to carry off the black comedy. Atkinson, of course, has made a career out of playing comic distraction with brilliance. Here is no exception as his Walter Goodfellow notices almost nothing of life around him. On the other hand, Smith's Grace notices everything. She is the soul of practicality and sympathy -- to the point one can easily overlook her single character flaw.
Thomas displays hitherto underutilized comedic talents to explore sexual frustration that has reached the point where it overwhelms good sense. Swayze is pure id, without possessing any good sense to be overwhelmed. Egerton's nymphomaniac daughter sees boyfriends as her point of rebellion against stifling social and familial conformity.
Cinematographer Gavin Finney and designer Crispian Sallis create a magical English village out of locations in Cornwall and the Isle of Man.
"Mum" is not likely to attract many teens, but that R rating still grates. A softer R is hard to imagine. A few naughty words and momentarily bare breasts result in a rating equal to "The Wild Bunch". How silly is that?
KEEPING MUM
ThinkFilm
Summit Entertainment/Isle of Man/Azure Films present a Tusk production
Credits:
Director: Niall Johnson
Screenwriters: Richard Russo, Niall Johnson
Story by: Richard Russo
Producers: Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Executive producers: Steve Wilkinson, Anne Sheehan, Steve Christian, Marc Samuelson, Bertil Ohlsson, David Garrett
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Crispian Sallis
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Co-producer: Nigel Wooll
Costumes: Vicki Russell
Editor: Robin Sales
Cast:
Walter Goodfellow: Rowan Atkinson
Gloria Goodfellow: Kristin Scott Thomas
Grace Hawkins: Maggie Smith
Lance: Patrick Swayze
Holly: Tamsin Egerton
Petey: Toby Parkes
Mrs. Parker: Liz Smith.
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Remarkably, this movie did not start out as an English comedy. The original screenplay was written by American novelist Richard Russo, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Empire Falls", inspired the HBO mini-series and who penned the screenplay for Harold Ramis' "The Ice Harvest". English director Niall Johnson adapted Russo's script to a bucolic English country-village setting of idyllic charm and quaintness, and somehow it all works.
Johnson has slyly given many place and personal names double meanings. For instance, the sleepy parish of Little Whallop has no trouble living up to its name. Gloria (Thomas), the desperate housewife of the town's vicar, Walter Goodfellow (Atkinson), suffers sexual frustration since her husband has seriously misplaced or lost interest in his goodfellow. So much so that a dalliance with Lance (Swayze), her oily American golf instructor, looks increasingly necessary though of course extremely foolish.
Meanwhile, daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) decorates a different boyfriend seemingly every other day. And son Petey (Toby Parkes) finds himself the target of school bullies. What the family needs to set things right is a touch of Grace (Smith), the new housekeeper who arrives with an ominous leather trunk.
Four decades ago, as a perky young woman, Grace was hauled off a train by police with that same trunk leaking blood. The source of these fluids turned out to be the dismembered bodies of her philandering husband and his mistress. Grace has only recently secured her release from a prison for the criminally insane despite the fact that the one point she and her psychiatrist could not agree upon was the use of violence to solve interpersonal problems.
So, not unexpectedly, an obnoxious barking dog, a nosy neighbor and a school bully turn up missing or dead. When Grace gets wind of Lance's intentions, his continuing good health is most definitely in jeopardy. What makes these murders go down ever so lightly is the fact that all this dreadful business takes place between perfectly brewed cups of tea and the most courteous of manners.
However, not all problems require physical exertion: When the vicar struggles to write an opening address to an upcoming religious convention that is not "dry and boring," Grace suggests a touch of humor. Soon enough, Walter is surfing the Net for sites like "Giggle With God" in search of good religious jokes.
The actors all strike just the right tone to carry off the black comedy. Atkinson, of course, has made a career out of playing comic distraction with brilliance. Here is no exception as his Walter Goodfellow notices almost nothing of life around him. On the other hand, Smith's Grace notices everything. She is the soul of practicality and sympathy -- to the point one can easily overlook her single character flaw.
Thomas displays hitherto underutilized comedic talents to explore sexual frustration that has reached the point where it overwhelms good sense. Swayze is pure id, without possessing any good sense to be overwhelmed. Egerton's nymphomaniac daughter sees boyfriends as her point of rebellion against stifling social and familial conformity.
Cinematographer Gavin Finney and designer Crispian Sallis create a magical English village out of locations in Cornwall and the Isle of Man.
"Mum" is not likely to attract many teens, but that R rating still grates. A softer R is hard to imagine. A few naughty words and momentarily bare breasts result in a rating equal to "The Wild Bunch". How silly is that?
KEEPING MUM
ThinkFilm
Summit Entertainment/Isle of Man/Azure Films present a Tusk production
Credits:
Director: Niall Johnson
Screenwriters: Richard Russo, Niall Johnson
Story by: Richard Russo
Producers: Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Executive producers: Steve Wilkinson, Anne Sheehan, Steve Christian, Marc Samuelson, Bertil Ohlsson, David Garrett
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Crispian Sallis
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Co-producer: Nigel Wooll
Costumes: Vicki Russell
Editor: Robin Sales
Cast:
Walter Goodfellow: Rowan Atkinson
Gloria Goodfellow: Kristin Scott Thomas
Grace Hawkins: Maggie Smith
Lance: Patrick Swayze
Holly: Tamsin Egerton
Petey: Toby Parkes
Mrs. Parker: Liz Smith.
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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