England,
1988, 33 min
Shown in 1989
CREDITS
- dir
-
Tristram Powell
- prod
-
Innes Lloyd
- scr
-
Alan Bennett
- cast
-
Stephanie Cole
- premiere
-
U.S. Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Part of Talking Heads, a series of British made-for-television films.
OTHER
Several years ago when we first began to introduce British television works, we weren't sure how they would play on the big screen. Then came the positive response to our presentations of Stephen Frears' Saigon: Year of the Cat (SFIFF 1984) and My Beautiful Launderette (SFIFF 1986) and Dennis Potter's Blade on the Feather (SFIFF 1985) and The Singing Detective (SFIFF 1987), not to mention the Mike Leigh retrospective in 1986—encouraging us to continue the experiment. Even though the six dramatic monologues of Talking Heads, decidedly melancholy but leavened with moments of hilarity, might achieve their maximum impact in the intimate setting of a living room, we think they, too, will stand up to big screen scrutiny. With a text by playwright-actor Alan Bennett (An Englishman Abroad, SFIFF 1984; A Private Function, SFIFF 1985; Prick Up Your Ears, SFIFF 1987) and tiptop performances by Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Thora Hird, Patricia Routledge, Stephanie Cole and Bennett himself, these poignant vignettes embody the powerful magic of language and performance, an engaging reminder that television isn't always "just TV."
—Laura Thielen, Peter Scarlet
FACTOID #384
Henry Fonda attended the SFIFF in 1967 to receive a tribute for his work in classics like The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men. Daughter Jane showed up in 1975 for a tribute of her own. And her brother Peter made two Festival appearances, one as a guest in 1963 and another to accompany the film Nadja (in which he gleefully portrayed Dr. Van Helsing) in 1995.
