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Flesh and Blood

  • TV Movie
  • 2002
  • 1h 16m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
175
YOUR RATING
Flesh and Blood (2002)
Drama

A man who was adopted at birth traces his real parents, and discovers that they have severe learning disabilities and do not know he exists.A man who was adopted at birth traces his real parents, and discovers that they have severe learning disabilities and do not know he exists.A man who was adopted at birth traces his real parents, and discovers that they have severe learning disabilities and do not know he exists.

  • Director
    • Julian Farino
  • Writer
    • Peter Bowker
  • Stars
    • Christopher Eccleston
    • Steve Evets
    • Barbara Marten
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    175
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Julian Farino
    • Writer
      • Peter Bowker
    • Stars
      • Christopher Eccleston
      • Steve Evets
      • Barbara Marten
    • 6User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 4 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos

    Top cast25

    Edit
    Christopher Eccleston
    Christopher Eccleston
    • Joe Broughton
    Steve Evets
    Steve Evets
    • Man at Door
    Barbara Marten
    • Barbara
    Des Cummings
    • Neighbour
    Steve Garti
    Steve Garti
    • Seaworld Man
    Stephen Graham
    Stephen Graham
    • Eddie
    Conor Ryan
    • Phil
    Emma Cunniffe
    Emma Cunniffe
    • Cath Broughton
    Phoebe Davis
    • Baby Marie
    Aimee Davis
    • Baby Marie
    Jean Heywood
    Jean Heywood
    • Ethel Broughton
    Stephen Chapman
    • Vicar
    Mary Cunningham
    • Mrs. Lowther
    Peter Lorenzelli
    • Mr. Lowther
    Lisa Millett
    Lisa Millett
    • Judith
    Smug Roberts
    • Andrew
    Lee Worswick
    • Ryan
    Alison Burrows
    • Ryan's Mother
    • Director
      • Julian Farino
    • Writer
      • Peter Bowker
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews6

    7.0175
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    Featured reviews

    9martijnj

    emotional movie

    A very touching movie about a man finding his mental disabled parents. All elements of the movie fitted together in this really emotional movie. Julian Farino delivered a perfect movie. When 'Joe' gets to know his parents, it has impact on all aspects of his life. It also perfectly shows that mental disabled people can still have a happy and meaningful life!
    10magoo-35

    Tracing birth parents, and facing a shocking discovery which affects the lives of many.

    Excellent handling of a very delicate subject. Full marks to the director. And the cast led by Christopher Eccleston and all supporting actors, gave extremely touching performances. The film is an eye-opener, and i felt that the final scene, the most significant and touching in my opinion, sums up the fact that even prejudice may be overcome. It was interesting and amusing at the same time, to see how the work colleague tried to interact with Harry, the male birth parent. It is very easy to fall into the trap of turning such scenes into a comedy, but this film certainly did not make fun of the disabled or handicapped and instead helped one respect and admire them.
    9gaz-65

    A great film - finally i've found it...

    I've been trying to trace this film for soooo long, ever since seeing it on TV years ago. I was blown away. It was one of those nothing-on-TV-late-at-night-flicking-through-the-channels moments, when i came across this film after a few minutes of it starting. Thinking there was nothing else on, and not holding out much hope of a decent film, i watched it anyway and was hooked. Honestly, what a great film and what a masterful performance by Christopher Ecclestone. The delicate subject matter was dealt with extremely well, stripping away the usual prejudices surrounding mental disability, with a man coming to terms with the reality of his roots and his struggle to overcome his own prejudice. It is extremely well filmed, directed and acted - I would wholly recommend anyone to give this a go.
    10pmose

    Great little drama!

    I just love this film. It handles the delicate subject matter mental disability very carefully, but also without pulling any punches or being too politically correct about it. It's raw, tender and very realistic.

    The parents of the main character Joe (wonderfully played - as always- by Christopher Eccleston) are not played by actors, but by real people with learning disabilities. This was obviously a very daring choice. It could have very easily turned out badly, but in this film it works beautifully. I never got any sense that these two people were being taken advantage off in any way.

    great and genuine little film, 10 out of 10!
    4qui_j

    Now well written

    BBC movies for TV in this era really suffered from poor scripting and even worse audio. The movie begins with a confusing opening scene about which the viewer has little understanding. Much of the script dialog seems to be improvised.

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    Storyline

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 25, 2002 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Flesh & Blood
    • Filming locations
      • Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • BBC Drama Group
      • Red Production Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 16 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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