THE DANISH GIRL is a film about a transsexual pioneer, played by Eddie Redmayne and directed by Tom Hooper. Hooper has demonstrated his skill with lush period drama in THE KING’S SPEECH and Redmayne’s performance as Stephen Hawking in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING impressed but THE DANISH GIRL is as much a story of the power of love, with Alicia Vikander delivering a strong performance as the wife facing a difficult change.
The story opens in the 1920s with a happily married couple, a pair of Danish artists, Einar (Redmayne) and Gerda (Vikander) Wegener, who seem like soul mates. Einar having some success with his landscape paintings, while Gerda is still struggling for recognition for her portraits. One day, Gerda’s model does not show up, and in order to complete the commissioned work by deadline, she asks her husband to dress up as a woman and take the model’s place. He resists at first, but then relents. The feel of women’s clothing awakens something in Einar. Their actress friend Ulla (Amber Heard) dubs Einar’s female alter ego “Lili.” As Einar feels the pull of being Lili, everything changes for both artists.
The film is based on a novel that was inspired by the first transgender person to undergo sex-reassignment surgery. While a lot of attention will be focused on Redmayne, who does a fine job, the really impressive performance, the one that might grab audiences, is Vikander’s heartbreaking one as Gerda Wegener. Gerda truly loves the husband she is losing as she helps him through this transition. This may be Vikander’s year, following up her striking performance in EX MACHINA with this moving one.
THE DANISH GIRL is one of the season’s two Oscar-bait period dramas focused on persons with a sexual nature that were taboo in their era. The other, CAROL, an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, is set in the repressive 1950s and is a love story about lesbian couple. THE DANISH GIRL is set in the free-wheeling 1920s and is based on a novel inspired by real people and events, about a married pair of artists whose lives are transformed when the husband comes out as a transgender person. It too is a love story, as the wife’s devotion to her husband transcend the changes that are causing her heartbreak. Both films are gorgeous and filled with fine period details and costumes but CAROL is garnering higher critical praise. This is due in part to strong performances but also perhaps because it is set in the repressive 1950s, a time period once called the “little Victorian Age.” “The Mad Men” ’50s seems to speak more to current tastes than the Roaring Twenties, a period of rebellion, experimentation and artistic creativity that followed the actual Victorian Age and the devastation of World War I. Or maybe it is because THE DANISH GIRL is a different kind of tragic love story.
THE DANISH GIRL is lushly beautiful, of course. Hooper is known for the visual beauty and stylishness of his films. THE DANISH GIRL is no exception – quite the contrary. Set in the European art world of the ’20s and ’30s, when gorgeous fashions and decor abounded – and at the film’s height, in Paris no less – gives Hooper an abundance of riches with which to work. But all that visual beauty might work against the very serious, tragic drama unfolding.
The assumption one might make is that the title “The Danish Girl” refers to Redmayne’s character but a line of dialog actually links it to Gerda Wegener, whose heartbreak is mixed with a tireless devotion to her husband as he pursues his dream of transitioning into a woman, the first to attempt sex reassignment surgery. Vikander’s performance is moving and strong, providing such a powerful presence that the film seems diminished when she is not on screen. Redmayne makes a valiant effort but his freckled, masculine face and lanky frame are never fully convincing as a woman, although that works in a way.
Redmayne and Vikander are wonderful together, and the film has nice supporting roles played by Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts. While the look is entrancing and the acting moving, the film suffers a bit from lack of focus. Primarily, the story is about the marriage but occasionally it wants to be about transgender issues, and even hints at the possibility that Einar was intersex. The film deviates from the historical facts for dramatic purposes, which might displease some. Regardless, a clearer focus might have helped lift the film, particularly in its later scenes.
Still, THE DANISH GIRL is a visually beautiful film, with fine, moving performances and a little-known historical story, which will make it a winner for its story of transcendent love.
THE DANISH GIRL opens in St. Louis on Friday, December 18th, 2015.
THE DANISH GIRL is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, portrayed in the film respectively by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech).
In 1926 in Copenhagen, artist Einar Wegener is married to Gerda Wegener and is revered for landscape paintings. Gerda is also an artist, less renowned but steadily working as a portraitist of prominent citizens. Theirs is a strong and loving marriage, yet personal and professional epiphanies have eluded them both. That all begins to change one day when, on deadline for a portrait, Gerda asks her husband to fill in for a model by putting on a dress so that she can finish the painting. The experience is transformative, as Einar soon realizes that being Lili is an expression of her truest self, and she begins living her life as a woman. Gerda unexpectedly finds that she has a new muse, and renewed creative ferment. But the couple soon brush up against society’s disapproval.
They leave their homeland for the more open-minded world of Paris. There, it is Gerda’s career that continues to flourish. The couple’s marriage evolves -and not without strain. But again and again Gerda supports Lili during her journey as a transgender woman. Through the other, each of them finds the courage to be who they are at heart.
THE DANISH GIRL opens in St. Louis on December 18, 2015.
WAMG invites you to enter for a chance to win a pass (Good for 2) to the advance screening of THE DANISH GIRLon Wednesday, December 16 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.
We will contact the winners by email.
Answer the following:
Which two projects have Tom Hooper and Eddie Redmayne previously worked on together?
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
Focus Features has released the first clip from Tom Hooper’s upcoming film, THE DANISH GIRL.
THE DANISH GIRL is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, portrayed in the film respectively by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables). Trailer
On Monday, November 23, the White House will recognize nine individuals from across the country as “White House LGBT Artists Champions of Change.” These individuals were selected by the White House for their artistry in advocating for the LGBT community. The program will feature remarks by Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett and Secretary for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, and screenings of the show Transparent from Amazon Studios and the Focus Features film THE DANISH GIRL.
The event also marks an important day in the LGBT community, Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed on November 20.
The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities. The event will be live streamed on the White House website.
To watch this event live, visit www.whitehouse.gov/live on Monday, November 23, at 1:00 PM ET. To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions. Follow the conversation at #LGBTChamps.
Marco Castro-Bojorquez—Los Angeles, California
Marco Castro-Bojorquez is the Community Educator in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles, California. Marco is responsible for the coordination and implementation of Lambda Legal’s various educational and advocacy efforts. He has produced and directed several short films and documentaries, including the award- winning documentary Tres Gotas de Agua (Three Drops of Water, 2013), a short film about Latina immigrant mothers and the impact of their children’s coming out process. In 2015, he premiered El Canto del Colibrí(The Hummingbird’s Song), a documentary about Latino immigrant fathers and their LGBT children as they come out of the closet.
Fiona Dawson—Silver Spring, Maryland
Fiona Dawson established TransMilitary to promote transgender equality through media that educates, entertains and inspires. The project intimately shares the lives of U.S. transgender military personnel who served under the threat of discharge. Having co-directed and produced the short opinion documentary Transgender, at War and in Love, commissioned by the New York Times, she is now working on the feature length version of the film. An American immigrant, Fiona lived in Houston, Texas, for more than ten years working in the nonprofit sector and was voted the city’s Female Grand Marshal for the 2010 LGBT Pride Parade. She is a proud member of the bisexual community and has served on the National Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Fiona is currently on the Board of Directors for the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA).
Jess Dugan—St. Louis, Missouri
Jess Dugan is an artist whose work explores issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community. She has been photographing within LGBT communities for the past decade and is deeply committed to the transformative power of photographic portraiture. Her work is regularly exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of several major museums. Her current project, To Survive on this Shore, combines photographs of transgender and gender-variant older adults with interviews about their life experiences in regards to gender, identity, age, and sexuality, and provides a nuanced view into the complexities of aging as a transgender person in the United States.
Joanna Hoffman —Brooklyn, New York
Joanna Hoffman is a 12-year veteran of slam poetry. Her full-length book of poetry Running for Trap Doors was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award and featured in the American Library Association’s list of recommended LGBT reading for 2014. She has performed her one-woman poetry show, The Personal is Political: These Simple Truths, on topics of bullying, homophobia, racism and mental health, and conducted poetry workshops with youth at LGBTQ community centers, performance venues, high schools and colleges across the country. She works at the nonprofit organization Peace is Loud.
AJ King — Washington, District of Columbia
AJ King serves as the Founder of Breaking Ground. Formerly known as “Brother 2 Brother,” this program targets men and trans youth of color in Washington, D.C., to tell their life stories through musical theatre, and identify non-violent conflict resolution. The program began as a fellowship project and blossomed into a full program presented at the national HIV/AIDS conference, NAESM. This program incorporates social justice trainings, leadership development, and a safe space for the participants to disclose their life stories and then present those stories onstage. This program concluded its last cycle with two sold-out shows at the Anacostia Arts Center in October 2014.
Pidgeon Pagonis—Chicago, Illinois
Pidgeon Pagonis, M.A., is an intersex activist. They are the former Communications & Operations Manager and Youth Leadership Coordinator for Inter/Act, an intersex youth project, at Advocates for Informed Choice–an organization that fights for the legal rights of intersex children and their families. Since 2006, they have made an effort to expand the visibility of issues related to the intersex community by facilitating workshops and presentations around the world.
Lee Levingston Perine — Washington, District of Columbia
Lee Levingston Perine is the Founder of Makers Lab in Washington, D.C. Through Makers Lab, Lee has built and supported queer communities by creating spaces that celebrate life, art, and queer culture. Since launching in August 2015, the Lab has produced and been a collaborator in the production of 35 cultural events in the region. The Lab recently received a grant for the Last Night Project, a story-collecting project that explores Black queer space in Washington, D.C. Previously, Lee founded and ran Lovebus Events & Design, a boutique event planning company that specialized in wedding planning for LGBTQ couples.
LJ Roberts—Joshua Tree, New York
LJ Roberts is a visual artist who creates large-scale knitted installations, detailed embroideries, screen prints and collages. Their work investigates overlaps of queer and trans politics, activism, protest, craft and the ongoing AIDS epidemic through an intersectional feminist lens. Among their upcoming projects are a collaboration with Visual AIDS to create a sex-positive woman-centered safer sex kit as part of the forthcoming show Agitprop! at The Brooklyn Museum .
Steven Romeo—Birmingham, Alabama
Steven Romeo is the founder, executive director and primary artist for The Change Project based in Birmingham, AL. The Change Project is an arts and storytelling organization that seeks to transforming discrimination against all LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) people into acceptance through the art of photography, social media campaigns, educational resources and partnerships with social justice organizations. Steven’s first fine art installation is “Our Bodies. Our Lives,” which engages viewers to consider what LGBTQ people want to be called versus the labels that society places on them. Steven currently studies at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, working towards his master’s degree in Public Administration with a focus in non-profit management.
OPENING IN SELECT NY/LA THEATERS ON NOVEMBER 27, IN ST. LOUIS ON DEC. 18 AND IN ADDITIONAL CITIES DECEMBER 2015.
NEW YORK THEATERS
AMC Loews Lincoln Square
1998 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Regal Cinemas Union Square
850 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
LOS ANGELES THEATERS
The Landmark 12
10850 West Pico,
Los Angeles, CA, 90064
Arclight Cinemas Hollywood 14 & Dome
6360 Sunset Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Focus Features has released photos of Eddie Redmayne and Laverne Cox at a special screening of THE DANISH GIRL in New York this past Saturday night.
One of 2015’s must-see movies, THE DANISH GIRL is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, portrayed in the film respectively by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables).
The film opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 27th, and in additional cities in December.
Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Eddie Redmayne, Hannah Bagshawe
Eddie Redmayne, Cuba Gooding Jr.
In 1926 in Copenhagen, artist Einar Wegener is married to Gerda Wegener and is revered for landscape paintings. Gerda is also an artist, less renowned but steadily working as a portraitist of prominent citizens. Theirs is a strong and loving marriage, yet personal and professional epiphanies have eluded themboth.
That all begins to change one day when, on deadline for a portrait, Gerda asks her husband to fill in for a model by putting on a dress so that she canfinish the painting. The experience is transformative, as Einar soon realizes that being Lili is an expression of her truest self, and she begins living her life as a woman. Gerda unexpectedly finds that she has a new muse, and renewed creative ferment. But the couple soon brush up against society’s disapproval.
They leave their homeland for the more open-minded world of Paris. There, it is Gerda’s career that continues to flourish. The couple’s marriage evolves -and not without strain. But again and again Gerda supports Lili during her journey as a transgender woman. Through the other, each of them finds thecourage to be who they are at heart.
Director Tom Hooper says, “I can’t overemphasize how courageous she was to have the surgery at that time. This was before antibiotics, before penicillin, where the risks of infectionwere acute and the treatments were in their infancy and very dangerous. Lili was extraordinarily brave in facing these risks.”
Eddie Redmayne adds, “Her bravery is unlike anything I can imagine. One friend of mine described it as that Lili would give anything and everything to live a life authentic.”
Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon says, “It’s an honor to bring this story to a wider audience, back to the world’s consciousness.”
Principal photography on THE DANISH GIRL was completed in April 2015. Post-production was finished in September 2015, marking the culmination of the story’s 15-year odyssey to the screen.
Alicia Vikander says,”I don’t think anyone will walk out of the theater after seeing this movie not being touched by Lili’s journey. It’s a love story between two people but above all a love story of learning how to love yourself.”
Eddie Redmayne concludes, “Whilst this is a very specific story about a very specific woman undergoing her own journey to be herself, I feel like all of us have barriers put up infront of us. Do we confront them? Get rid of them? Or – worst-case scenario – live with them? The bravery and courage that it takes to be yourself shouldn’t be underestimated.”
dick clark productions announced today that Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper will be honored with the “Hollywood Director Award,” for “The Danish Girl”; Academy Award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award,” for “Sicario”; Academy Award-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan will receive the “New Hollywood Award” for “Brooklyn“; the Swedish actress Alicia Vikander will receive the “Hollywood Breakout Actress Award,” for “The Danish Girl”; and the principal cast of the box-office smash “Straight Outta Compton,” Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr.and Jason Mitchellwill be honored with the “Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award.”
The “19th Annual Hollywood Film Awards“ will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 1, 2015. The Hollywood Film Awards, the official launch of the awards season®, has recognized excellence in the art of cinema and filmmaking for 18 years, honoring some of the world’s biggest stars. Honorees have gone on to garner many Oscar nominations and wins.
Hooper will be recognized for his work on Focus Feature’s “The Danish Girl,” starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander. The film takes place around the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe (Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Vikander). Vikander also starred in this year’s extremely successful “Ex Machina” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer.
Del Toro will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award” for his work in Lionsgate’s “Sicario,” also starring Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin. Del Toro has earned critical accolades throughout his career, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” as well as an Oscar nomination for his work in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s “21 Grams.”
“New Hollywood Award” recipient Saoirse Ronan will be recognized this year for her performance in Fox Searchlight’s “Brooklyn.” Ronan portrays a young woman in the 1950’s, choosing her fate between her home country or a new life.
In addition to starring in Hooper’s acclaimed film “The Danish Girl,” “Hollywood Breakout Actress” Alicia Vikander also starred in this year’s extremely successful “Ex Machina” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer.
The “Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award” will be accepted by “Straight Outta Compton” cast members Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins and O’Shea Jackson Jr., who play the three founding members of the legendary hip hop group known as N.W.A. The film, based on the true story of one of rap’s first music groups, had massive success this year at the box office and with critics.
It was previously announced that Robert De Niro will receive this year’s “Hollywood Career Achievement Award,” “Furious 7” will receive the “Hollywood Blockbuster Award,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth will receive “Hollywood Song Award” for their hit “See You Again” off the “Furious 7” soundtrack, and Asif Kapadia will receive the “Hollywood Documentary Award” for “Amy.” Other honorees include Janusz Kaminski (“Bridge of Spies”) for “Hollywood Cinematography Award,” Alexandre Desplat (“The Danish Girl,” “Suffragette”) for “Hollywood Film Composer Award,” David Rosenbloom (“Black Mass”) for “Hollywood Editing Award,” Tim Alexander(“Jurassic World”)for “Hollywood Visual Effects Award,” Gary Rydstrom (“Bridge of Spies”) for “Hollywood Sound Award,” Sandy Powell(“Cinderella”) for “Hollywood Costume Designer Award,” Lelsey Vanderwalt (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) for “Hollywood Make Up & Hair Styling Award,” and Colin Gobson (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) for “Hollywood Production Design Award.” More honorees are set to be announced at a later date.
The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne [“The Theory of Everything”] and Alicia Vikander [“Ex Machina”]), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech,” “Les Misérables”). Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
The film also stars Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts.
THE DANISH GIRL opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 27th, and in additional cities in December 2015.
One of the most anticipated films of 2015, Focus Features has released the first poster for Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper’s THE DANISH GIRL.
Come back for a look at the first trailer on Tuesday, September 1st.
Credit: Focus Features
The remarkable love story is inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander) and directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (THE KING’S SPEECH, LES MISÉRABLES).
Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
The film also stars Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts.
THE DANISH GIRL opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 27th, and in additional cities in December 2015.
Oh my, is it be “spy time” once more? Already? Wow, 2015 has been a big movie year for all those “cloak and dagger” undercover men (and women)! Early in the year, audiences were introduced to the “hush-hush” exploits of KINGSMEN: THE SECRET SERVICE, ripped fresh from a very adult graphic novel. As Summer began to heat up, funny lady Melissa McCarthy took satiric aim at the genre in SPY (aided by action vets Jason Statham and Jude Law). And just two weeks ago, film fans were gasping at the daredevil work of Tom Cruise, risking life and limb in his fifth go-round as Ethan Hunt, leader of the IMF in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION (number one at the box office for the last couple weekends). And before the end of the year, the king of “gentlemen agents”, 007 AKA James Bond returns in his (official) twenty-fourth action extravaganza feature film SPECTRE. Besides the genre, this week’s release has connections to two of those aforementioned flicks. Like Mr. Cruise’s current hit, this film is based on a popular weekly network television show from the “swingin’ sixties” (1964-68, to be precise). And Bond’s creator Ian Fleming had a big hand in the development of that TV series (particularly in the naming of a main character). As they’d say into their slick communication gadgets, “Open Channel ‘D’!”. After years in development limbo, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E finally gets a big screen reboot/remake (THE WILD WILD WEST and GET SMART had movies years ago!). Looks like the secret HQ entrance at Del Floria’s Tailor Shop is now at the multiplex!
The opening credits of this “affair” (each TV episode title ended with that word) gives younger film goers a bit of a history lesson, “Cold War 101”, you could call it as grainy black and white news footage and graphic animation helps place us in the divided city of Berlin Germany circa 1963. Suave, smartly dressed Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) glides into the Soviet-occupied Eastern section of the city. We soon learn that Mr. Solo is an undercover CIA agent, recruited by the agency after he was jailed for working in the black market after his military service. He meets up with the focus of his new mission, fiesty auto-mechanic Gaby (Alicia Vikander). She’s the daughter of a scientist who has recently vanished. When Solo sneaks Gaby into West Berlin, they are nearly thwarted by the almost-unstoppable KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Later, we learn that Gaby’s uncle has been snatched up by an Italian auto magnate, Alexander (Luca Calvani) and his wife Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki), who plan to use his skills to create stream-lined, deadly nuclear weapons, which they will sell to the highest bidder. This alarms the spy community and compels the East and West to join forces. Now reluctant partners Solo and Kuryakin will travel to Rome. Solo, posing as an antiques dealer will go after Victoria, while Kuryakin, taking the role of Gaby’s architect fiancée, will circle Alexander. The safety of the world just may depend on this secret agent “odd couple”.
Cavill trades the blue body armor and red cape for several superbly tailored suits, and makes a quite believable sixties spy. He even adopts the clipped, tight-lipped, off-the-cuff delivery of TV’s original Solo, Robert Vaughn crossed with a pinch of Cary Grant charm. He also handles the action scenes well, but really seems to lack the ruthless, dangerous element so evident in spies from Connery to Craig. That lack is somewhat taken up by Hammer who makes Illya a single-minded “weapon of mass destruction”(much more believable here than as a certain “masked man of the plains”). For much of the time he clenches his fists, waiting for the right moment to transform into a blond, blue-eyed hulk. His accent is strictly from Chekov (not the playwright, but the Star Trek staple), which helps to punch up the humor in his often deadpan dialogue. He appears to have more chemistry with Cavill than with his potential paramour, international cinema’s actress of the moment, Vikander. She reveals a loose, frolicking fun side, not really seen in her previous screen work, particularly when her endearing hotel suite “go-go” dance suddenly become a frisky wrestling match with Hammer. Unfortunately she’s never given a chance to join in the action and get “down and dirty” with the boys, and, for most of the third act, is regulated to the “damsel-in-distress” role. The opposing team (the baddies) lack any real charisma. Calvani glares while suppressing the urge to twirl his opulent mustache with menace. His on-screen spouse Debicki slinks about in lush vintage fashions in a game of “cat and mouse” with Cavill, seeming more like a bored trophy wife than villainous (until her cold-blooded side emerges in the film’s last thirty or so minutes). Some of the “evil” slack is taken up by Sylvester Groth as Gaby’s Uncle Rudi, an old-school sadist, who is a part of the film’s funniest, but really twisted, scene. Hugh Grant elicits a few chuckles as the befuddled English aristocrat who constantly crosses paths with Cavill, while the terrific Jared Harris is wasted as his gruff CIA handler.
First up, the good! Big, big kudos to the producers for setting the film in 1963, making it a true prequel to the original TV series (oh, if only the recent FANTASTIC FOUR reboot was set in that era!). The pre-“mod” clothing, cars, and props are almost a love letter to that “pop explosion” from fifty years ago (good period songs along with the nifty score by Daniel Pemberton). Sadly, the plot and direction are oddly lackluster. The director Guy Ritchie, best known for his high-octane, ‘in your face” action sequences, seems strangely muted here, almost muzzled, in fact. There’s none of the frenetic energy last evident in his two SHERLOCK HOLMES flicks. The action set pieces seem closer to a made-for-TV film, especially after the spectacular stunts that Agent Hunt executes in the still “packin’ them in” MI:RN. Hey, the fights and chases from the Connery Bonds were more “pulse-pounding”. These here are closer to Derek Flint and Matt Helm. Speedboats? eh. Antique ATV? Whatever. There’s not even a lot of fun “retro spy gadgets” in use. Ritchie and three others (really?!) penned the tepid. meandering script. At least the Italian locations pop with color, but Berlin is dank, dark, and dull. The film limps along several minutes after the end of the mission to deliver a lackluster coda intended to set things up for a sequel, or a franchise. Now, there’s yer’ impossible mission! “Close channel ‘D'”, please!
We wish to thank the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement without whose assistance this review would not be possible.
Working across a wide range of musical mediums, Ivor Novello Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated composer Daniel Pemberton has embraced everything from large scale orchestral and choral works to innovative electronic sound design, live salsa bands to post-rock guitar line-ups.
From THE COUNSELOR, THE AWAKENING and the upcoming STEVE JOBS film, to name a few, Pemberton has delivered another eclectic score – this time Guy Ritchie’s latest movie THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., in theatres Friday, August 14.
Fans of the TV show are familiar with the theme music from composer Jerry Goldsmith, with additional music for the various seasons provided by Morton Stevens, Walter Scharf, Lalo Schifrin, Gerald Fried, Robert Drasnin and Nelson Riddle.
Now comes the film version and a 5-star, international score that exudes the 1960’s as if it was pulled from a time vault. You’re right into the film from the first musical note and drum beat.
Recently the composer and I spoke about his affection for spy movies and on being chosen by Guy Ritchie to take on the music for THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
WAMG: Guy Ritchie said of your MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. music, “The score was a very important, fundamental part of the film.” When were you brought onto the project and what did he tell you he was looking for?
Daniel Pemberton: Right from the start. I had a meeting with Guy and he asked me if I wanted to do it. I try to get involved in films as early as possible, that way you write a better, more unique score. I was involved as they edited and we worked in tandem. Guy has an amazing editor James Herbert who had some important musical ideas. I worked with them all the way through the process and we would add my music to the film in different ways.
We would do that 4 or 5 different takes. James is great. He’d say, “We’ve got the scene. Let’s try it a different way.” They’d always be pushing you to try different music that was the most surprising and exciting ones that would end up in the movie.
WAMG: It doesn’t sound like something from today – it’s as if you’re watching and listening to a score set in the 60’s from one of the composers of the time – like Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein or Jerry Goldsmith.
DP: I love 1960’s spy scores. It’s probably my favorite movie genres and I grew up with that. I spent decades absorbing every great spy score. This world wasn’t new to me. I didn’t have to do the research as it was already running through my blood.
I wanted to make it feel it was of the time and a 1960’s spy score. I wanted every one of the tracks on UNCLE to feel like the tracks on those spy scores.
WAMG: Was it a conscious decision to stay away from using the Goldsmith/ Lalo Schifrin themes from the TV show?
DP: Guy wanted a very different take on the film’s theme. He had a vision on how he wanted the film to look and sound, that you have to respect, and we had it in there for a while, but it didn’t feel right.
It wasn’t like it didn’t go with the tone of the film, Guy just wanted a new take on the music. In the same way when Christopher Nolan did BATMAN, he didn’t use the Nelson Riddle TV theme – although that would be quite funny.
But I was quite keen on getting THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. in there somewhere. There is a short little musical cameo of the TV theme that’s in there. It’s in the scene where Napoleon Solo is changing the radio channels in the car and he hears it for a second, dismisses it and keeps changing the channels. Once again the film’s editor, James Herbert, while doing the sound mixing, quickly edited it in the scene.
WAMG: The soundtrack is filled with some fabulous tracks of a Cold War, espionage score. “Escape From East Berlin,” “The Vinciguerra Affair“ and “Bugs, Beats and Bowties” to name a few. It’s what you’d expect in this type of exotic film. What did you use to get a bold, 60’s type sound?
DP: Another great thing about scores from that era, everyone was using crazy instruments. I love using crazy instruments because it gives you something new and something you haven’t heard before.
Guy loves anything that’s unexpected and unusual. There’s an amazing flute player, Dave Heath, who we used a lot. He plays a lot of the crazy sounds you hear in the “East Berlin” track.
We’ve got a lot of percussion, organs and a Marxophone, which is a bit like a zither and a cymbalom which is like a giant zither, famously used by John Barry on THE IPCRESS FILE. It gave it a classic, Cold War sound.
We’ve got vintage guitars and genuine old 1960’s harpsichords. We had two harpsichords – an old classical one and a 60’s boxy one. The classical one had this beautiful range, but didn’t have the punch or the attitude that the 60’s one did and it had such a great sound to it, so we used more of that. That harpsichord sounded brilliant. We also put it through an old 60’s mixer which compressed everything a bit more heavily.
WAMG: The percussion section on “The Drums of War” is just insanely great.
DP: That was the result of a crazy evening in the edit suite. Everyone was pleased with the cue, but felt like we’d heard that before. Everyone on this film loves mad percussion and wanted mad bongos, so it was 7 or 8 in the evening and they tell me there will be a first screening the next day and to just throw in some big percussion. I went home and worked all through the night until 3 in the morning and pretty much what I wrote that evening is in the film now. It’s all the different drums playing the different tempos together as they’re going in and out of time.
WAMG: What’s going on in the “Take You Down” track? Is it Vocals run through a mixer or purely instruments?
DP: That’s vocals run through really heavy distortion. I really enjoy that track and it was great to write crazy bold cues. My favorite kinds of movies are ones where you don’t know what’s going to happen – where you’re ready for a surprise. And when it’s accompanied by crazy music, you go, whoa what’s that?! It’s a great moment when it enters the movie and it was a really fun track to do. We did that cue with two drummers playing at the same time and that’s why it sounds so big – we wrote each drummers part full out and had them play it together at Abbey Road and it sound huge.
It’s very much like the “Drums of War” track where you have this polyrhythmic music to create these crazy sounds.. It’s chaotic in the middle and eventually comes back together at the end. It’s very complicated to do but sounds very cool.
WAMG: The songs mixed throughout are fantastic! Nina Simone, Louis Prima, Tom Zé and Valdez – you could almost swear the film was made 50 years ago. The selection of these songs just makes the soundtrack even more fun to listen to.
DP: I’m a massive soundtrack album geek and anytime I put a soundtrack out, I’ve gone over every single detail down to the pauses between each track. Those songs are a big part of the film and they had to be on the album. “Jimmy, Renda se” by Tom Zé and Valdez was one of the first songs we added and Guy loves that song – he hadn’t heard it before. None of the songs feel out of place alongside the score.
WAMG: During the action sequences and transitions, there are kaleidoscope split-screens, where the score is very important. How did you approach these?
DP: There’s a scene where the screen is starkly divided into eight parts, along with these cutting sounds effects, and I wrote in the bongos cues, so as the screens divides, you hear the bongo player’s music as an added sound. We spent a lot of time trying to get details like that spot on so it feels really cool.
WAMG: You previously worked with Ridley Scott on THE COUNSELOR, which was a very modern score. Depending on the genre, how much do you like to experiment and come up with new sounds for your scores?
DP: Every film I do, I want to come up with a unique sound for that world. When I get hired, people want my take on the story and on the world, and I often come up with different ideas very early on and usually they’re not like the film.
I did another project with Ridley called “The Vatican” where I used Italian choirs with organs and hip-hop breaks. I love coming up with different ideas of how to approach a film and I often start with the main cue because there are so many different ways to tell a story. I want it to be unique and its way more work and way more grief, but when you get it right it’s exciting because when I go to see a movie, I want to think anything could happen here – not just two hours of an obvious sound.
WAMG: Your next score is for Danny Boyle’s STEVE JOBS and it was just announced that the movie will close the 59th BFI London Film Festival. You said you like your scores to be unique, so will it have a melodic motif with a technological sound like a computer or from the world of Steve Jobs?
DP: I’m not telling. (Laughs) We record that this week at Abbey Road and we’re doing some very different chords and cues than on any previous film. The only thing I’m allowed to say is that the Apple slogan from 1998, “Think Different,” has a big part.
From WaterTower Music, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. soundtrack is available to order at iTunes and Amazon. The track list is below.
1. “Compared To What” – Roberta Flack
2. Out Of The Garage
3. His Name Is Napoleon Solo
4. Escape From East Berlin
5. “Jimmy, Renda se” – Tom Zé and Valdez
6. Mission: Rome
7. The Vinciguerra Affair
8. Bugs, Beats and Bowties
9. “Cry To Me” – Solomon Burke
10. “Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days” – Louis Prima
11. Signori Toileto Italiano
12. Breaking In (Searching The Factory)
13. Breaking Out (The Cowboy Escapes)
14. “Che Vuole Questa Musica Stasera” – Peppino Gagliardi
15. Into The Lair (Betrayal Part I)
16. Laced Drinks (Betrayal Part II)
17. “Il Mio Regno” – Luigi Tenco
18. Circular Story
19. The Drums Of War
20. Take You Down
21. We Have Location
22. A Last Drink
23. “Take Care Of Business” – Nina Simone
24. The Unfinished Kiss
Henry Cavill stars as Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer as Illya Kuryakin in director Guy Ritchie’s action adventure THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., a fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series. Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, it centers on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin who are forced to put aside longstanding hostilities and team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology.
The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.
The film also stars Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki, with Jared Harris and Hugh Grant.
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. is filled with everything that made the 1960s cool – from its art, fashion and music, to its attitudes and perspectives – into a spot-on but understated vibe that is both retro and undeniably 21st century.
It is espionage chic and Guy Ritchie’s movie proves what was sexy then, is sexy now.
In some ways, the 1960s depicted in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. is a rare and enticing moment in time that only really existed on screen. The TV show enthralled mid-1960s viewers and spy-game aficionados on both sides of the Atlantic.
Warner Bros. Pictures has released new high-res photos from their stylish international adventure and origin story about the superspies – Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin – from the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
Ritchie captures the tone and authenticity of the 60’s through the various locations, the sophisticated palettes by production designer Oliver Scholl and the work of award-winning costume designer Joanna Johnston. All the costumes represent the highly polished fashion of the time.
Many will appreciate the exciting score from composer Daniel Pemberton. In keeping with the film’s tonal integrity, Pemberton brings a sound that combines the crispness and sophistication of today with a distinctly ’60s flavor.
Ritchie brings a classic concept and period to life in a contemporary and entertaining way, because saving the world, never goes out of style.
Henry Cavill (“Man of Steel”) stars as Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer (THE Social NETWORK) as Illya Kuryakin in director Guy Ritchie’s action adventure THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., a fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series.
Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the film centers on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology.
The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. opens in IMAX and in theaters on August 14, 2015.
