blessed by fire Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Margaret Thatcher Film Coming From Makers of The Queen
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Politics », Cinematical Indie », War »
Hot on the heels of The Queen, Pathé Pictures and BBC Films have teamed up for a film about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Like The Queen, which was co-produced by Pathé, this picture will not be a biopic and will instead deal with only a few weeks. Specifically, it will focus on the 17 days leading up to the Falklands War (Malvinas War, for the Argentines) of 1982. Aside from the production company, there isn't much else connecting this and The Queen, but that certainly won't stop its marketing. Currently the only people attached to the project are screenwriter Brian Fillis and producer Damian Jones, so it is of course still possible for others involved with The Queen to become involved here -- would Helen Mirren make a good Thatcher? (I couldn't see it). I actually say make up Julianne Moore for the part. Seriously.
It is too bad nobody thought about making a film earlier since it would tie in perfectly right now -- today is the 25th anniversary of Argentina's initial flag raising on South Georgia, which kicked off the conflict (I'm figuring it is the first of the 17 days). I'm not an expert on the proceedings from March 19 on, but much of the plot of the proposed film would likely consist of the attempted negotiations prior to Argentina's actual invasion of the islands. It is also too bad the film will be stopped at the moment the war begins, as it would make an interesting companion piece to last year's excellent Argentine film Blessed by Fire (read my Tribeca film festival review), in a Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima-sort of way. The aftermath would be a worthy focus, too, because the war positively changed the British people's attitude toward Thatcher and the government. In any regard, I'm looking forward to the film and I hope it can be somewhat close to as good as The Queen.
Blessed by Fire Director Turns to Che
Filed under: Documentary », Foreign Language », Deals », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
Argentine director Tristán Bauer won the best feature award at this year's Tribeca Film Festival with the searing Blessed by Fire. The film is an examination of the Falkland Islands War through the eyes of an Argentine solider who fought in the conflict, and has had a powerful effect on virtually everyone who has seen it (including our own Christopher Campbell). For his next project, though, Bauer is moving in a different direction -- he'll be helming a documentary about the Argentina-born revolutionary, Che Guevara.According to a report in Variety, the movie will be based on a host of Guevara material currently held by his widow. Among the archived items are "personal letters, photos, writings and other paraphernalia," all of which Bauer will mine for his film, which he says will be "an intimate look at the thinking and the humanity" of the Cuban leader. The hope is that the film will be ready for release sometime next year so, assuming the latest update from Steven Soderbergh still holds, the doc will beat Soderbergh's Che (a fictional look at the figure, starring a creepily well-cast Benicio Del Toro) into theaters by a wide margin.
Tribeca Winners Revealed
Filed under: Documentary », Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Awards », Tribeca », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
The 2006 Tribeca Film Festival was brought to a close last night with the awarding of prizes, and several major awards went to war films. The winner of the International Documentary Competition was The War Tapes, a film built from footage shot by soldiers stationed in Iraq, and Blessed By Fire, an Argentine film about the lingering effects of the Falkland Islands War, took top prize on the International Narrative Competition. In the New York-specific categories, the best doc award went to When I Came Home, which explores the post-war experience of Iraq veteran Herold Noel, while The Treatment was named best feature. Also recognized were Egyptian epic The Yacoubian Building (best new feature director), The Play (best new documentary director) and The Cats of Mirikitani (audience award and special mention in the New York docs category).Apart from The Cats of Mirikitani, I didn't see any of the winners -- and most of the films that impressed me most were screened outside of competition. That said, my favorite of the weak narrative pool was easily the Croatian comedy-drama Two Players from the Bench, and my choice from the competition docs (a pool in which I saw a fair number of films) was probably Blue Blood, a charming, intimate piece about the Oxford Boxing Club. Those of you who were able to attend the festival, feel free to chime in here and let us know which competition films were your favorites -- what do you think of the results?
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