TIFF Time

The Toronto International Film Festival began its festivities yesterday, and Before the Rains will have it its first public screening on Friday evening!! Here is a super cool poster that Tez got from one of the writers of the film. It has gorgeous colors and a lovely picture of Ms Ehle methinks!

TIFFReviews seems to be a fairly comprehensive site, and hopefully they will post reviews of the movie once it has debuted. They have also compiled a list of links to trailers for 143 of the films showing in Toronto, but Before the Rains is unfortunately not among them. There is, however, a link to a trailer for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Go to Brightcove to watch it and catch two fleeting glimpses of Rosemary Harris. And look for Utopians Ethan Hawke and Brian F. O'Byrne. Warning: the trailer gives away a lot of the plot!

In his "preview" of Before the Rains, Tom Hall of the Back Row Manifesto dubs the movie "colonial noir":

The issue of imperialism is one of the "big themes" that will be on display this autumn; From the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq to films like Micheleange Quay's story of Hatian race consciousness Eat, For This Is My Body (more on this film in a couple of days), the cultural collisions and power relations between the haves and have-nots has always been an inspiration for film artists. Santosh Sivan's Before The Rains, which is having its World Premiere at Toronto, catches the eye for a single sentence in the festival's catalogue;

" A sweeping film full of striking vistas, Before the Rains has the look of a fine period epic, but as it binds its characters tighter and tighter within their dilemmas, it reveals the gears of a good film noir."

A colonial noir? The film that comes to mind immediately is Betrand Tavernier's Coup de Torchon and if Sivan's film comes close to matching the tone of that great classic, I will be thrilled. Obviously, I think Before The Rains promises something much different (particularly the perspectives of his Indian characters in the colonial moment), but as things stand in the world around us, a colonial noir sounds note perfect and a terrific antidote to some of the more literal-minded approaches to the stories of domination in our own times. [...]

He also mentions Jennifer Ehle specifically:

[...] I also have loved Jennifer Ehle since I saw her on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing; She is a magical actress, but I have yet to see a film that truly captures her abilities. I was lucky enough to have spent a day at Lincoln Center this past spring, and I saw Ehle again in Stoppard's three-play The Coast Of Utopia marathon and again, she was tremendous. If anyone can capture her prowess, maybe Sivan is the man to do it. Looking forward to this one. [...]

Sameer of BlogTo has provided a list of recommended movies to see at TIFF and Before the Rains has made the cut. (Its poster even made it to the top of the page.) Here is what Sameer has to say about the film:

Before the Rains - One of the most gorgeously shot films in years, Santosh Sivan's newest movie feature some fantastic acting by Nandita Das and Rahul Bose.

BlogTo will be covering the Festival, so we will be keeping a close eye on them for news.

The Indian Express has a nice article about director/cinematographer Santosh Sivan, who talks about his experience making the film:

[...] If not exactly a leap into the unknown, Before the Rains is a testimony to the spirit of adventure that drives Sivan. The basic idea came from the producers. The director decided to set the narrative in Kerala for “it suited adaptation to an Indian context.”

He explains, “Before the Rains is a film that incorporates something I relate to. As a boy I wondered by whom and when those treacherous roads in Kerala’s spice hills were constructed. The film explores the elements that went into the weaving of a road through nature, into the skies.”

That’s par for the course for a filmmaker who revels in blending the universal with the personal and who once dared to stake his all on a megastar-driven vehicle like Asoka, a visually lush but ill-fated epic. “The producers would obviously like to take Before the Rains to the world market,” he says.

“It was great working with talent from different parts of the world,” says Sivan. “A mix of languages were spoken during the shoot. For me, it was especially rewarding to have Malayalam actor Thilakan in a guest role. This was the first time I directed him after shooting him as a cinematographer for Perumthachan (1990).”

The shoot was a breeze. He says, “Rahul (Bose) and Nandita (Das) are at home with foreign productions and sync sound. Since the film is about relationships it was good to have a close-knit atmosphere.” Sivan reveals that Bose plays a character who straddles two worlds—the world of a colonial planter and that of his own. “The film is a study of the turmoil he goes through,” he adds. [...]

There is further quotage from Sivan at TIFF's South Facing Blog:

"My attempts to capture light are based on my experiences with weather the rain, sun, snow and clouds. In Kerala where I grew up monsoons made heavy rains a part of our life. Besides, there was always a presence of water -- Rain, ponds, sea water or the backwaters. My fascination for water in a very indirect way helped me hone my eye for colour and light in visuals and cinematography. [...]

Lastly, Playbill has one more photo of Jennifer Ehle at the opening of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Drove those other childs wild

• You'll already have seen this if you keep track of the tagboard, but the photo of the two J. Ehles over there was sent by a tipster (gracias). Apparently it's from a book cover. Too cute, innit? The same person also brought our attention to an article about Natalie Herzen in the Russian Review, which you can read if you've got access to academic journal databases.
  

• Thanks to Ann for sending scans from American Vogue, one about how Jennifer Ehle proves God's existence, the other about Coast of Utopia's "crass commercialism" (not). She found a photo of Ms Ehle at the Romeo and Juliet gala from Broadway.com as well (yep, a little behind here).
  

• Listen to three gorgeous tracks from Before the Rains' score at the website of composer Mark Kilian.

• An interview with Santosh Sivan in the Times of India - hopefully not a double post:
  

  [...] “I’m looking forward to Toronto where the film will be premiered and where our film is positioned with other interesting films,” says Santosh.
  
  The Rains is set in Kerala during the British times. “Our protagonist is a British planter who shares a bond with Rahul Bose who works for him. The film’s essentially a human drama and about individual choices,” he says.
  
  Why Kerala? He says, “We adapted the script to Kerala, since it also dealt with the times of colonisation. It has always fascinated me to see these winding roads leading through forests into spice hills and the stories of how the British had constructed those roads with the help of the locals long time back.”
  
  Says Santosh, “We shot the film in Munnar with a mixed cast and crew from London and the US. It was quite interesting to see the chemistry between people from different countries.” Commenting on the film’s cast, he says, “I’ve known Rahul Bose for a long time and I was interested in seeing him in a different role. And Nandita Das is someone who can effortlessly handle the extremes of emoting any role. And we had Linus Roache who is quite a perfectionist.” [...]

• And another. See through a cinematographer's eyes in this two part interview about Mr Sivan's lush visual world at TIFF's South Facing blog. A poet of both light and words! Keep an eye out for the photo of Rahul Bose and Linus Roache in Before the Rains. On his home state, the setting for the film, he says:

  [...] My attempts to capture light are based on my experiences with weather the rain, sun, snow and clouds. In Kerala where I grew up monsoons made heavy rains a part of our life. Besides, there was always a presence of water -- Rain, ponds, sea water or the backwaters. My fascination for water in a very indirect way helped me hone my eye for colour and light in visuals and cinematography. [...] I am lucky to be born and brought up in Kerala. In the predominance of water, there are states like Bengal which are similar but Kerala is a state of visual language. Kerala has lyrics and metaphors and its arts forms. [...]

• Here are the results of our previous poll on readers' opinions of Coast of Utopia. Due to my l33t skillz, "0 stars" and "haven't seen it" were accidently coded as 1 star. Oops.
  

• YouTube goodness: watch Ethan Hawke speaking about Utopia on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show and Tom Stoppard's acceptance speech for the Best Play award at the Tonys.

• If you look up at the right hand bar, you'll see we've got a fundraising project for Broadway Cares. Initially I only intended to donate advertising proceeds from the blog, but since BC/EFA had a new option for group fundraising, thought to draw on the power and the pockets of Ehle fans as a whole. A $1 500 target has been set for the end of the year. Don't let those Colin Firth fans show us up - Colin Firth 24/7 managed $10 000 last year! Skip a coffee or two and donate $10 to help fight AIDS (and maintain Jennite Pride, yo).
  

That's it, the last of umpteen linky lists. I've been meaning to tie up loose ends and sign off properly for months now but by some superhuman feat of procrastination have avoided it, leaving Kate and Abi rather in the lurch. Though they have effectively been holding the reins from before the Tonys, and managed superbly, I feel the need to officially pass on executive powers with a bit of ceremony both for their sake and my own. First there are the practical matters - any news and questions you have can be sent to the team at ehleblog@gmail.com. jenniferehle@gmail.com is being retired although mail to that address will be forwarded to my civilian inbox. The DVD library is still running and accepting new borrowers.

To the sentimental stuff. Over two years, with many people's help and almost daily prodding, I've seen the blog grow from a tentative experiment born on a whim to the hub it is today, thriving without my efforts. I've grown up alongside it and learned so much - sometimes the hard way! It has exposed me to the alien and rich world of theatre, and through it I have gained warm friendships that have far surpassed the bounds of co-fandom. It is a joy to be able to pass guardianship of the blog on to a couple of these friends. I can scarcely believe my luck in finding two people with the dedication (coughinsanity) to take on this job, in whose initiative, judgment and discretion I have absolute faith. Kate and Abi, thank you for the hard work you've already put in. Thank you for being willing to adopt my baby.

In the course of this project, I have been moved by great and small acts of generosity. Now's the last time I can name names, so forgive me for rattling on a bit. To Chelsea, original partner in crime and better half, thank you for the crazy fun and yakka and listening and planning and and and. Agent E, thanks for those priceless DVDs and treasure chest, for all the tips and support. Kez, for the creation and liberation of Terry and for one of the most memorable phone convos evar. Sands, for being a friend in those early wobbly days. Mary, for the graphics and for the forum company. To the Jerryboreers, for those three crazy/amazing days of communal excitement. Thanks to the folks from other fandoms who have helped us out. Most notable are the girls at Colin Firth 24/7 and Josie. Also, thanks to AustenBlog and Pemberleans for tolerating ever so much potbanging, and to various cooperative Officials of the Public and Lincoln Centre Theatres. To the ever-vigilant tipsters and contributors, thanks for making the job that much easier. And thanks to everyone who has kept up with this thing, and spoken from the void. Finally- she who is made of awesome, who inspired the whole mad adventure. Who has put up with so much and given so incredibly, impossibly generously - nope, not over it yet. Whose work still elicits awe and LMAOs and excessive blinking, who still intrigues, electrifies and astonishes even when you think you've seen it all. Thanks for everything. It has been a pleasure and an honour, and I can't wait to see whatever comes next.

Jennifer Ehle to attend TIFF

News! Jennifer Ehle is expected to be among the 500+ guests attending the Toronto International Film Festival, which will begin on September 6th:

The 32nd Toronto International Film Festival welcomes over 500 international stars and special guests. These filmmakers, actors, and industry insiders, connected to Festival films and other Festival programming, represent the finest in film talent from around the world. [...]

Continue reading to see the full (star-studded!) roster.
(And many thanks to our anonymous helpster for the tip.)

Variety informs us that TIFF has announced the Festival's complete lineup, which includes 349 films from 55 different countries. (According to Variety's blog, that is over 600 hours of film!) The complete list can be viewed at the TIFF site. Note that Before the Rains is included in the Special Presentations category, as is Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, starring a certain Rosemary Harris. The complete film schedule will become available online on August 28th.

In other Festival news, PlayBack tells us that Before the Rains director Santosh Sivan will be a participant in TIFF's Talent Lab:

What do you get when you cross 22 emerging Canadian filmmakers with directors John Sayles and Don McKellar and select TIFF guests for four days?

"Unparalleled artistic development opportunities and an introduction to the global filmmaking community," says Kelley Alexander, TIFF director of industry initiatives.

Participants are in for a treat as this year's high-profile Talent Lab mentors will be joined by music icon and filmmaker Daniel Lanois (Here Is What Is), director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club), filmmaker Santosh Sivan (Before the Rains) and director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), as well as emerging U.K. filmmakers David Alexander and Osbert Parker, and Ishaku Gumut from Nigeria. [...]

Talent Lab, according to the TIFF site, "offers artistic development opportunities to emerging Canadian filmmakers in a four-day intensive programme that gives them the opportunity to build their networks in a creative environment, and learn from some of the most esteemed filmmakers and artists in the world."

The socially conscious Sivan will also be taking part in one of four Mavericks presentations at the Festival:

Mira Nair Presents Four Views on AIDS in India brings together Mira Nair (THE NAMESAKE), Santosh Sivan (BEFORE THE RAINS), Vishal Bhardwaj (OMKARA) and Farhan Akhtar (DON) - four of India's most innovative and celebrated directors - for a discussion of the AIDS JAAGO Project, as well as the issue of HIV/AIDS in India and the world at large. A development of Nairs own Mirabai Films and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project explores different aspects of HIV/AIDS in India, using some of Indian cinemas most celebrated actors to help maximize the exposure of the films to audiences throughout the country. The four short films - featuring performances by Prabhu Deva, Irrfan Khan, Shabana, Azmi, Shiney Ahuja, Ayesha Takia, Boman Irani, Raima Sen, Siddharth, and Sameera Reddy - will screen as part of this insightful Mavericks presentation, also featuring a discussion between the four directors working to dismantle the myths and misconceptions associated with HIV/AIDS.

The Festival is less than two weeks away! If any of you, dear readers, are able to attend and have the pleasure of seeing Before the Rains, please consider sharing your opinions with us poor souls at the blog.

Umm, news shortage

Nothing new to report, but Santosh Sivan, director of Before the Rains, was recently interviewed by Suruchi Mazumdar. Here are a few of his responses, found at Express India:

What kind of exposure will Before the Rains get at the Toronto film festival?
It is a great platform. Festivals like Toronto open up American and European markets for films. Apart from that, the best of film critics assemble at the Toronto fest.

Does Before the Rains romanticise India?
It is set in the 1930s when roads were being constructed through hills for spice trade. The story revolves around a Britisher who falls in love with his Indian housemaid (played by Nandita Das). He seeks the help of his farm assistant (Rahul Bose), who belongs to the woman’s tribe. It isn’t a typical Raj film but more of a human drama — it is about the farm assistant and his dilemma.

Are you targeting the international audience?
I will definitely want the film to be released in India as well. The date will be announced at the festival. It’s not a big-studio production but we want to reach out to mainstream audience. I think Before the Rains has a lot of new things to offer to the Indian audience.

India Interacts has another article about Santosh Sivan with some interesting quotage:

[...] Jointly produced by Hollywood studio Echo Lake and Sivan, the film revolves around the planter, played by Linus Roache, his wife (Jennifer Ehle), his lover (Nandita Das) and his assistant (Rahul Bose). "I was approached by them with a script set in a colonial background. I thought it was a story that could be set in the hills of Kerala. I often wondered as a kid as to who made these long winding roads through thick jungle. So writer Cathy Rabin spent time researching and adapted it to those times," Sivan told IANS. Though the Hollywood producers wanted to shoot the film in South Africa, Sivan was very keen on Munnar. And he had a valid reason. He said: "It is one of the places that seems as if it's like the Brits left it, especially the Tata Estate and their buildings, and our sound recorder Paul Scwartz found it silent enough to do live sound."
. . .
"Before the Rains", which was earlier titled "Road to the Sky", is relevant in today's time, feels Sivan."Though it's a period film set in 1937, it has human drama. It has a very contemporary and compelling story," said Sivan, who had earlier made a period film with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan titled "Asoka".
. . .
On the release of "Before the Rains" in the country, Sivan said: "I guess it will be only after the Toronto festival that everything will be finalised." [...]

Just for kicks: Red Coast created her own Pride and Prejudice Awards on livejournal, and guess who won the prize for Best Elizabeth? Of course, of course.

A little more "sweet" than "arch," one could take the position that Jennifer Ehle never embodies Elizabeth's bite. That's valid. However, she wins by default, because her performance is the only one that I like (and I do like it a lot.) She's the only Elizabeth who I didn't want to hit over the head with a tire iron.

Here is a list of the movies that were eligible for the 'competition':

• Pride and Prejudice, Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson, 1940
• Pride and Prejudice, or First Impressions, Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul, miniseries, 1980
• Pride and Prejudice, Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, miniseries, 1995
• Pride and Prejudice, Kam Heskin and Orlando Seale, 2003, which I will be calling LDS because most of the characters are Mormons
• Bride & Prejudice, Aishwarya Rai, 2004. I'll be calling this B&P.
• Pride & Prejudice, Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, 2005

Visit Red Coast's Livejournal to see her other picks and the reasoning behind them. And, if you're interested, there are also some video clips from each of the six movies.

Lastly, the August 1996 edition of Tatler Magazine, featuring Jennifer Ehle on the cover, is available for purchase at ebay.

Out of town until Sunday, everyone, so tata for a few days.

Before the Rains in more ways than one

Hence the mini-post!

• IndieQuill briefly discusses Before the Rains director Santosh Sivan's previous work, including Asoka, Halo, Malli, and The Terrorist. It also notes that Before the Rains is Sivan's first English language film.

• Tickets can now be purchased for the Toronto International Film Festival 2007. Here is the relevant section of the TIFF website. During the festival, some of the screenings will have same-day tickets available. Details will be available on the main website from September 5.

• Playbill announces that Utopia's understudy extraordinaire is returning to NYC from November 1 to December 2. He will be performing in Off-Broadway's Crime and Punishment on East 59th Street, which is being produced by the Chicago Writers' Theatre:

Scott Parkinson, fresh from a run in the triumphant The Coast of Utopia trilogy at the Lincoln Center, reprises his brilliant performance as Dostoevsky's tortured Raskolnikov.

• With the anticipated arrival of Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway, Variety.com have a short piece on London-to-New York transferals, which are divided into three categories: worse than original, equal to original and much better than original. Utopia is in the latter!

• Lastly, for a very loosely-related bit of fun, evidence that Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is not quite as well-known as one might have hoped!

A Quickie Post

• Reelz Channel is already stirring up some Oscar Buzz for Before the Rains and the other films that will be premiering at the Toronto Film Festival:

  The Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), which takes place in September, is heralded as the beginning of the annual Oscar race. That is to say, studios often save up the films they think will be contenders to release in the fall (they don't trust the Academy's memory to reach back more than a few months come nomination time), and often debut said films at the TIFF. [...]

• At The Hindu, director and cinematographer Santosh Sivan addresses some of the difficulties involved in shooting a movie in Kerala and he briefly mentions Before the Rains.

  [...] Quizzed about his ongoing projects, Mr. Sivan said he had completed principal filming and post production for a Hollywood film ‘Before the Rains.’ Shot in Munnar, the film takes a look at life during the colonial era in 1937. “I have tried to maintain a flavour of Kerala in the film, which is all about human drama. The language is a mix of English and Malayalam,” he explained. ‘Before the Rains’ has been selected for the Toronto film festival in September this year. [...]

• DNA India has a short article about Rahul Bose, Jennifer Ehle's co-star in Before the Rains.

  His social initiatives definitely get more news coverage than his movies. However, that doesn’t mean his acting skills go unnoticed, at least not among the international movie buffs. While Time magazine may have given Rahul Bose the recognition as ‘the superstar of Indian art house cinema’, a South Asian Arts festival ‘Masala!Mehndi!Masti!’ in Toronto has a retrospective planned of the actor this year. “I have two kinds of reactions. Firstly, I was flattered by the recognition that I was receiving, complimenting me on the various genres of cinema that I have been associated with. Secondly, it was bit strange to get a retrospective at 39, which means it’s a warning that at the most I have five more years to go before I retire!” says Rahul laughing. [...]

• For Nostalgia's sake: Dennis Grunes has posted an in-depth review of Paradise Road, comparing it to other films such as Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Here is what he has to say about the cast:

  [...] The lead performance is also an asset; Glenn Close is excellent as Pargiter, an unpleasant person with an immense gift. Even better are Pauline Collins as Daisy “Margaret” Drummond, a missionary, and young Jennifer Ehle as Rosemary, the wife of a soldier, who recounts their courtship in one of the film’s most moving passages. [...]

• Finally, to fans of the other J. Ehle, Press 53 has announced that they are auctioning a limited edition signed collector's copy of John Ehle's The Land Breakers. See their blog entry for more details or go to the Press 53 website to place your bid.

News! 'Before the Rains' to debut in Toronto

It's definite! NewsPostIndia reports that Before the Rains will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, which will take place between September 6 and September 15. (Boree in Toronto anyone?!)

The world premiere of ace cameraman and film maker Santosh Sivan's first Hollywood film 'Before the Rains' will be held at the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival in September this year. Sivan told IANS that his film would be screened along with eight other films as part of two gala presentations and six special presentations at the festival, to be held from September 6 to 15. 'I am extremely delighted. More so because my film has Malayalam actors in it and will be screened on a world platform,' he said. 'Before the Rains' is a period film set in 1937 and has a cast that includes actors from the US, Britain and India. Malayalam actors Thilakan, Lal and Indrajit are in the movie. The film has been shot in the picturesque Munnar hill station of Idukki district and focuses on the dilemma of people who straddle two worlds. The US-based Echo Lake Productions, Adirondack Pictures and Santosh Sivan have produced the movie jointly. 'It is about a British planter (Linus Roache), who wants to commercially tap the produce of Kerala's high ranges, mainly spices, and he is assisted by an Indian (Rahul Bose). It also delves into relationships of his wife (Jennifer Ehle), his lover (Nandita Das) and his aide,' said Sivan. British actor Linus Roache who attracted media attention in the BBC television series 'Seaforth' (1994) has gone on record saying that his work in 'Before the Rains' is his best ever in his two decades in the film industry.

The Hollywood Reporter has a bit more information about the other films that will be shown at the festival. Note that Michael Clayton is among them; it will be making its North American debut there. The Star has a short article about George Clooney's role in Michael Clayton, and the Variety.com blog has a preview of the movie (courtesy of YouTube) and a description of all the films that will be taking part in the festival. Here is how they describe Before the Rains:

[...] The English language debut of acclaimed Indian director Santosh Sivan (THE TERRORIST, ASOKA), set in 1930s India. When a married British colonialist (Linus Roache) is caught having an affair with his beautiful housemaid (Nandita Das), he convinces his trusted farmhand (Rahul Bose) - a member of the housemaid's tribe - to help find a solution to the potentially deadly situation. [...]

The Indian Express also has an article about A. Streekar Prasad, the film editor of Before the Rains. He has this to say about director Santosh Sivan:

[...] “Santosh, high on energy and bursting with ideas, has a penchant for experimentation,” says Sreekar. “He comes up with six different ideas in one go and lets the editor play around.” [...]

In other news, the Drama Desk winners, which were announced last May, will be receiving their trophies at a cocktail reception on July 17th. Tom Stoppard, Jack O'Brien, Martha Plimpton and many other members of the Utopian gang will be among them. See Playbill for a list of the nominees and winners.

The New York Sun has an article about the potential the internet has for building theater audiences. It makes mention of The Coast of Utopia website and blog that were created by Lincoln Center Theater:

[...] The nonprofit theater world is looking closely at the possibilities the Web offers, too. The director of marketing at Lincoln Center Theater, Linda Mason Ross, said that to attract young audiences to Christopher Shinn's "Dying City," which played in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater earlier this year, LCT experimented with advertising on Web sites such as theonion.com, thelmagazine.com, and hopstop.com. LCT also created a custom Web site for Tom Stoppard's "Coast of Utopia," which included a blog by a theater critic. Ms. Ross said the company would also be redeveloping its main site in the coming year, in order to offer more information about its productions, with video and other multimedia features.

(What? No mention of our wee blog?!)

And, one more little tidbit: According to the New York Social Diary, Rosemary Harris was part of a starry crowd that attended the premiere of Away From Her at a Cinema Society screening. Scroll down towards the bottom of the article to see a photo of her.

Surviving le deluge

Apparently Jennifer Ehle took some time away from her zinnia watching and returned to the Delacorte Theater to attend the gala performance of Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Park. New York Magazine says:

[...] Some of the celebs who’d stuck it out through the first batch of rain — Janney, Josh Hamilton, Liev Schreiber — bolted. Idina Menzel, in a poncho, pushed past us on her way out. Marcia Gay Harden was seen running for a cab, dress hiked up to her waist. But Tony winner Jennifer Ehle proved herself to be totally cool, running around in a white tunic dress. [...]

BroadwayWorld has photo coverage, and although I can't find any pictures of Jennifer Ehle, there is one of Josh Hamilton. The New York Times also has a video featurette documenting the event, which is kind of fun.

An anonymous tipster commented on a previous post that there is a picture of Jennifer Ehle in the June issue of Vogue. Apparently they called called her glorious and the "best reason to believe in the existence of God." If anyone has a copy and would like to scan it and send it to us, that would be awesome!

The Hindu has another article about Jennifer Ehle's Before the Rains co-star Rahul Bose. Here is the relevant quotage:

[...] Next in the kitty is Before the Rains, a film set in 1937. It explores the relationship be tween an English planter and a Malayali villager. “This is the most eclectic film by Santosh Sivan that I am waiting for. It is about divided loyalties, betrayals, fondness and patriotism. Most probably, it will be premiered in the Toronto Film Festival this year.” [...]

There hasn't been much news lately, so here are a few marginally related items:

• Broadway.com has another review of The Coast of Utopia CD.
• This week the American Theatre Wing's Tony Committee announced that they are adding two new categories to the Tony Awards: 1) Best Sound Design of a Play and 2) Best Sound Design of a Musical. The Envelope speculates that this is Tom Stoppard's doing:

  [...] When four-time Tony champ Tom Stoppard talks, the theater award administrators listen. Backstage on Tony night, I asked for his thoughts about his play trilogy "The Coast of Utopia" winning a record seven awards this year. The celebrated author bemoaned the fact that the achievement of Mark Bennett, who composed the music and sounds that underscored so many scenes, was not eligible for consideration. On Tuesday, the Tonys announced the creation of two new categories — sound design for both a play and a musical — bringing the total Tony tally to 27 (the Oscars have 25 by comparison). [...]

• The New York Social Diary has a picture of Rosemary Harris at the American Theatre Wing's Annual Spring Gala, which "honored Carol Channing, James Earl Jones and Tommy Tune for their innovative and artistic accomplishments to the theatre." Martha Plimpton and David Pittu were also photographed at the gala.
• Josh Hamilton will be taking part in a free reading of Wirehead on June 25th. See BroadwayWorld for the details. And, according to Playbill, Utopians Jason Butler Harner and Mia Barron have been cast in a production of A Wake on Chappaquiddick at the Cape Cod Theater Project in Massachusetts.
• Finally, the Gothamist tells us that Lincoln Center now has free WiFi!

  On opening day of this season's Midsummer Night Swing, Lincoln Center has become a free WiFi hot spot. So if you're at Josie Robertson Plaza, in Damrosch Park, or on the North Plaza by the Reflecting Pool, your laptop, phone or PDA will be wired. Lincoln Center president Reynold Levy said, “One of the goals of Lincoln Center’s transformation projects is to encourage visitors to our campus to come earlier and linger longer, both before and after performances." We wonder if this will encourage people to blog about performances during intermissions. [...]

A few stragglers

There are still a few straggling bits of news and quotes from the Tonys Awards.

• Greensboro's News-Record reports that North Carolinians are happy to bask in Jennifer Ehle's reflected glory:

  The region got to bask in a bit of reflected glory last week when Jennifer Ehle, who was born in Winston-Salem and attended the School of the Arts, won her second Tony award, this one for best performance by a featured actress in "The Coast of Utopia." Bravo!

• New York Magazine has a short Tonys slideshow featuring a picture of Billy Crudup. The caption reads:
  

  Billy Crudup communes with his Tony for The Coast of Utopia, which closed in May. Is he having withdrawal? “It’s depressing! Totally and utterly depressing. You give up this thing that you’ve devoted all your time and creative energy to, and it’s gone. For theater, it’s even worse because it’s in the ether. There’s nothing left anywhere but your experience.”

  Also, the caption under Liev Schreiber's photo informs us that he was given first dibs on doing The Coast of Utopia:
  

  “I love these awards,” he says. “They’re better than the Oscars. At least these people know how to put on a show.” Schreiber, who was up for his performance in Talk Radio, says he was the first person Jack O’Brien approached for Utopia. “I said no. I don’t have the balls those guys do.” Next up, fatherhood and writing a screenplay. “I don’t want to talk about it, because then I can’t change my mind. They’ll be like, ‘Ah, he didn’t win the Tony. And now he’s failed again.’”

  There is also some speculation as to which part Liev Schreiber was asked to play at All That Chat.
• Variety was backstage at the Tony Awards to interview the winners. Here are the relevant bits - From Tom Stoppard:
  

  [...] "I did tell Jack O'Brien that if he wanted to a do a musical of this, I think 'Serfs Up' would be a good title," Tom Stoppard cracked after his win for "The Coast of Utopia," his saga about Russian intellectuals in the 19th century. The play, produced in Gotham by Lincoln Center Theater, is gearing up for a Russian production, and there's interest in a French incarnation as well, Stoppard said. "Coast" was more of a sweeping success Stateside than it was in its U.K. preem at the National. "Well, I had four years to think about it," Stoppard explained. "I made the thing clearer, and I made the narrative swifter." Stoppard's next Rialto project is a transfer of his play "Rock 'n' Roll." His next writing project? "I don't write at all until I get bitten by something, and then I only write," he said. "I was hoping to write something this summer, but I haven't got any ideas. Do you have any?" [...] [Oh, Tooom?]

  From Jack O'Brien:
  

  [...] "The Coast of Utopia" helmer Jack O'Brien recalled the months spent rehearsing and rolling out the three plays one by one over the course of six months. "We were never out of rehearsal," he said. "I said to the actors, 'You're gonna be so sick of the sound of my voice.'" Added the three-time Tony winner, "No one's ever going to do anything like this again. The awards are just frosting on the cake. But I have to tell you, the cake was pretty delicious." [...]

  From Billy Crudup:
  

  [...] Crudup, like fellow nominee Ethan Hawke, gave up many months of film opportunities to appear in the multiplay epic. "I don't have such a high cost of living that I can't be paid an actor's wage for working on a stage," he said. "I just have the one apartment." [...]

  And from Jennifer Ehle:
  

  [...] Jennifer Ehle, who won her second Tony when she nabbed featured actress in a play for "The Coast of Utopia," won the honors for a variety of characters she played over the course of Tom Stoppard's three-play epic. "I didn't have a favorite; I loved all three," she said of the roles. Does she miss performing the show, which ended its long but limited run May 13? Not so much. But she keeps up to date on her castmates. "We email obsessively," she said. "There's never been a cast that's stayed in touch so much." [...]

• Jeff provides us with a BBC press release reporting that several of Tom Stoppard's works will be broadcast on BBC radio stations this summer.
  

  Sir Tom Stoppard is to be celebrated across BBC Radio with a season of his work on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7. This includes the radio debut of his most recent play, Rock 'N' Roll, which has been specially adapted by Stoppard with a new final scene. The season also features new Stoppard adaptations of Arcadia, The Fifteen Minute Hamlet and Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, and listeners are given another chance to hear some of the acclaimed playwright's best radio productions. [more]

• What are the Utopians up to this summer? Well, at least three of them are sticking together. TheaterMania informs us that Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Leigh Cobb, and Robert Stanton will be performing in The Front Page at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this July.
• No news about about any upcoming projects for Jennifer Ehle, but an interview with actor Rahul Bose at Express India gives us hope that Before the Rains (aka Road to the Sky) will debut at the Toronto Film Festival.
  

  [...] The actor is also excited about Before The Rains. Directed by Santosh Sivan and set in 1937, it explores the relationship between a British tea planter and a young Malayali villager who constructs roads. “It’s about infidelity, divided loyalties and betrayals. The film is ready and will hopefully premier at Toronto.” [..]

• Finally, TheaterMania has a review of The Coast of Utopia CD, which was released last week.
  

  [...] Another praiseworthy aspect of the Lincoln Center production was Mark Bennett's music, over-amplified in the theater but enjoyable as heard in a new recording on the Ghostlight label. This is the sort of lush, lovingly orchestrated score you'd expect to hear on the soundtrack of an epic film. There are 38 music cues in all, each of them quite short; the CD contains only 35 minutes of material in total. Among the most compelling pieces are "Trilogy Prologue: 500 Souls," "The Telescope," "Birch Trees," and "Curtain Call." Note that the CD isn't completely instrumental; five of the tracks feature vocals by cast members Felicity LaFortune and/or David Pittu. In a brief appreciation in the booklet accompanying the CD, Utopia director Jack O'Brien hails Bennett's score for, among other things, its simplicity. Would that the work it accompanied had exhibited the same virtue. [...]

Drama Desks on now

• The Drama Desk awards are on now; you can watch the live webcast from Theatermania. Windows Media Player is required. See BroadwayWorld forumers' predictions. Coast of Utopia has ten nominations.

• On Nandita Das' site, there are some photos proving the existence of Before the Rains (formerly named Kerala or Road to the Sky). We've had our doubts. Ms Das' assistant says that the film might be released at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is running from September 6 to 15, but this isn't confirmed yet.

• There's an amusing quote in the New Zealand Herald's interview with Mary Wesley's son, Toby Eady, about costume anachronisms in The Camomile Lawn. So to speak.

• The Tonys polling continues at Off-Off Blogway; again les soeurs Bakounine are neck and neck.
  

• If you're feeling bereft at the closing of Coast of Utopia, think how it must be from the other side of the stage. Martha Plimpton sums up the experience in a moving post (publicly viewable, yay). Hope she doesn't mind me sharing this beautiful passage from Shipwreck that she quotes in conclusion:

  We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung? The dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future, too. We persuade ourselves that the universe is modestly employed in unfolding our destination. We note the haphazard chaos of history by the day, by the hour, but we think there is something wrong with this picture. Where is the unity, the meaning, of nature's highest creation? Surely those millions of little streams of accident and wilfullness have their correction in the vast underground river which, without a doubt, is carrying us to the place where we're expected. But there is no such place. That's why it's called Utopia.

Goodies galore

Mark your diaries for Sunday April 22nd everyone, that's when the Working in the Theatre seminar is being first broadcast at 5pm on CUNY-TV. Guestlist:

Jennifer Ehle - Actor
Josh Hamilton - Actor
Ethan Hawke - Actor
Amy Irving - Actor
Theodore S. Chapin - Moderator
Sondra Gilman - Host
Douglas Leeds - Host

The show will be downloadable after the broadcast and will be replayed on TV later on as well. Check the schedule for dates. Also now up at ATW is a video of the seminar that includes Daniel Swee, casting director for Utopia.

Old Faithful has yet another feature on Utopia, this time about Mark Bennett's gorgeous incidental music. Good news: there are audio clips! We've mirrored them for posterity. All the below are mp3 files.

• Prologue
• Ginger cat waltz
• Déjeuner sur l'herbe
• Blackgange Chine
• Curtain call

[edit: here's the ATC thread Kate mentioned where someone says a Utopia soundtrack CD is in the works]

The recent Leonard Lopate radio interview made mention of others with Tom Stoppard and Jack O'Brien that I don't think we've posted before. There's another Stoppard one at Studio 360 as well. On the LCT blog Brendan Lemon interviews Josh Hamilton.

Blogs: a handy timeline of the French Revolution(s) at the girl works, another foodie-oriented review of the Utopia marathon at Give me food, a so-so Russian review of Voyage (Babel it), and Paul Broussard rates the marathon as "one of the all-time best theatrical experiences of my life". There's a tally borrowed from Variety at All That Chat for Salvage:

Cost of Utopia: Salvage
of 17 reviews:
11 pro:
Post, Times, Daily News, USA Today, Sun, AP, New York Mag, Newhouse, WSJ, NY1, Newsday
3 con:
Bergen Record, Gannett, Bloomberg
2 mixed:
Village Voice, New Yorker

More BroadwayWorld discussion of Tony categories, where MargoChanning says that Ms Ehle could go either featured or lead, but the former would be better. And things are looking good - at least one Tony voter enjoyed Utopia .

A fan just tipped me off to this: in Verve's production notes PDF for Alpha Male, there's mention of a film called Broken Thread in Jennifer Ehle's bio.

[...] Cinema roles followed, including Constance Lloyd in Wilde (1997), Kevin McKidd's girlfriend in Bedrooms & Hallways (1998), and a head-turning performance as the caustic, chain-smoking single mother in British comedy This Year's Love (1999). Recent films include Broken Thread, Michael Clayton with George Clooney and most recently Pride and Glory with Ed Norton and Colin Farrell. [...]

It's an India-UK co-production starring Linus Roache, which is curiously similar to Road to the Sky. Could be just a mix-up.

Finally, some left-field randomness. On YouTube, the global repository of wack, Utopia kids Kat Peters and Sophie Rudin do the opening monologue of Salvage. Also from the random corner is an interview with a vampire (oh alright, a novelist who writes about vampires) who enjoys the right version of Pride and Prejudice.

End of an era

Tis a sad day, losing the best partner in crime one could ever wish for. Chels, you've been the sanity of the blog, and without you this thing would've died a quiet death in 2005 already! All your fault. It's been a ball sharing the squeeful highs and angsty lows of this crazy rollercoaster with you, and a million thanks for your loyalty, support and hard yakka. This friendship has far outgrown its original fannish roots - shotgun on teaching your kids to embroider cushions and play their instruments very ill!

Well, the show must go on - til June at least. More on that later.

• The pictures above are courtesy of the LCT - their site also has some other Salvage stills. More pictures can be seen at Broadway.com's photo feature and in their video on the Salvage opening, according to Kate (ta) there's a clip of Ms Ehle as German-accented Malwida and interviewage.
• Playbill reports from the Salvage opening night bash.
• LCT blog updated with a post about the last opening. The LCT site also has a roundup of reviews, but nothing new there.
• On to Salvage reviews. Peter Marks, Washington Post.

  [...] Martha Plimpton, playing a woman Herzen conveniently turns to -- even though she's married to a friend of his -- not only makes for a wonderfully impetuous life force, but also a nifty counterpoint to the severe German nanny portrayed by Jennifer Ehle. As Herzen's friend Ogarev, Josh Hamilton provides a finely nuanced account of a man with all too human weaknesses. [...]

• Toby Zinman, Philadelphia Inquirer.

  [...] The remarkable Jennifer Ehle reappears in her third role in the trilogy, the frowning German governess, and Martha Plimpton reprises her Natasha of Shipwreck, revealing how her girlish charm has tarnished with time. [...]

• Eric Grode, NY Sun.

  [...] Jennifer Ehle and David Harbour, who provided emotional ballast for the first two plays as two very different sets of lovers, are still around but in lesser roles. Ms. Ehle, last seen as Herzen's doomed wife, has returned in the thankless role of Malwida von Meysenbug, a stern German nanny who inveigles her way into his domestic life. (The real-life Malwida was far more interesting, the sort of galvanizing intellectual force who met Friedrich Nietszche through their mutual friend Richard Wagner.) Mr. Harbour, by contrast, is given the juicier but even smaller role of Bazarov, a proto-nihilist whose chance encounter with Turgenev spurs the writing of "Fathers and Sons." [...]

• Elysa Gardner, USA Today.

  [...] Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Josh Hamilton and Richard Easton shine in other roles, though Ethan Hawke, as before, emotes a little too eagerly. [...]

• Roma Torre, NY1. Note the video content as well, in both dialup and broadband formats.

  [...] Ethan Hawke as the imprisoned anarchist Bakunin returns battered but energized. Josh Hamilton's ailing drunken Ogarev; Martha Plimpton as his unstable wife, and Jennifer Ehle who is now the upright governess, deserve special mention. [...]

• Eric Alterman, The Nation. A piece on the significance of the trilogy.
• At Westport Public Library this Sunday 2pm, there's a free talk entitled “Who’s Afraid of Tom Stoppard? Navigating The Coast of Utopia” delivered by Mark Schenker, associate dean at Yale College.
• On the blogs and forums: Lady Crumpet liked Shipwreck, positive notice for "Rosemary Ehle" in Salvage at the Follies of Greg, and there's general praise of the trilogy at Future Librarian. Cajun Boy dittoes Charles Isherwood, critic David Cote of Histriomastix is mixed on the trilogy, All That Chat's rwb is less impressed by Salvage than Shipwreck. BroadwayWorld discussion continues.
  
• The first marathon performance is this weekend. We wish bon courage to both the cast and audience! If you're going, we would welcome a report - write to jenniferehle@gmail.com, as per.
• Mention of Road to the Sky in an interview with Nandita Das.

Another chance to win Pride and Prejudice

At long last an IMDB page is up for Road to the Sky. No info yet except a 2007 release date for the UK, and Sree Bhadra Pictures is listed as a production company alongside Echo Lake and Adirondack.

AustenBlog has a competition to win copies of the Pride and Prejudice anniversary edition - the closing date is November 2nd, so make haste. They've got a review of the set as well, suggesting a commentary by the leads in the next edition (amen!).

PS. Mags the Editrix of AustenBlog has a book coming out, The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World.

Film updates

A mention in an Entertainment Weekly article about Hollywood vs women, by Christine Spines.

6 Studio executives, please clip and save: Eileen Atkins. Maria Bello. Jennifer Coolidge. Frances Conroy. Penélope Cruz. Zooey Deschanel. Jennifer Ehle. Vera Farmiga. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Bryce Dallas Howard. Ashley Judd. Regina King. Lisa Kudrow. Rachel McAdams. Catherine O'Hara. Lupe Ontiveros. Tilda Swinton. Evan Rachel Wood. Michelle Yeoh.

There's not an Oscar nominee on the above list. In other words, the talent pool is deep, diverse, and appallingly underused. So stretch your imaginations, lengthen your casting lists, and, unless you're looking for red-carpet arm candy, stop worrying so much about who looks ''hot.''

A rather belated review of Macbeth at The Komisar Scoop:

The set at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park is filled with debris and metal, the detritus of destruction, a junkyard. Soldiers are in camouflage; officers show bloody wounds. The weird sisters are in modern dress and do not seem crazy.

In this Public Theater version, directed by Moises Kaufman, Liev Schreiber as Macbeth and Jennifer Ehle as his wife are more richly nuanced than the traditional cardboard power couple. Indeed, they are very sexual beings, a fact emphasized by Ehle in her slinky gowns. Lady Macbeth is manipulative, but no more neurotic than your normal wife-on-the-make, till the final breakdown.

Macbeth seems less a tyrant than a man who fervently believes in his own right and destiny to rule. Not very different from others who share that sense of their “vocation.” Of course, he’s a stand-in for Bush. The couple’s plotting to take power appears cool and calculated and could have been organized by Carl Rove.

When murdered King Malcolm’s son declares that he thinks his country is struggling “beneath a yoke,” there’s no doubt which country is meant. And when the troops pass through the real trees in Central Park to come onto the stage, it’s not hard to imagine a metaphor for a modern populace rising against repressive rule. (Or didn’t you know that the Bush administration and Congress have repealed habeas corpus?)

The Clooney Project has collated all of actor Jason Strong's blog posts about his experience shooting Michael Clayton. Here's a taste:

we were shooting the deposition scene with tom wilkinson. as we wait another ad takes our breakfast order. soon after we're called in for hair and make-up, they didn't have to do much with my hair, go figure....then back to holding for coffee, food and hanging out with the director, tony. he tells us what sparked his interest in writing this story.

the long and short of it: a huge company is fughting this civil suit for years, case is about to end when some rookie lawyer finds this document as they clean out one of the storage rooms. this document, if it becomes known, will destory the company and the firm. document never sees the light of day, and that was the first time in the history of the firm that a second-year associate ever made partner. true story.

Plus there are some positive but undetailed reports from Ferreson and Chelsea Spaulding, who got to see preview screenings of the movie.

Bollywood Online interviews Rahul Bose about Road to the Sky.

Rahul Bose who also dabbles in films like 15 Park Avenue and a fun film like Pyar Ke Side Effects is now working on an American film which is being directed by Santosh Sivan.

The film is called Road to the Sky and being produced by an American company called Echo Lake Productions along with Adirondack Pictures and Santosh Sivan Productions of India. An Israeli story has been painted in Indian colours and presented. The film is based in the pre-independence days in Kerala. “It is the story of a British planter (Linus Roache) and a Malayali boy.” The foreign producers were keen on the film being shot in South Africa or Brazil but Santosh insisted on Munnar as he felt it was one of those hill stations in Kerala that retain an old-world charm.

Bose further tells the story. “This British planter has a tea plant and he thinks of an idea by which he wants to export all the spices abroad. The idea he has is to start a spice route. I belong to the same district and am the son of the Sarpanch of a village. I am a villager, but can speak English well,” says Bose. The film also co-stars British actors Linus Roache and Jennifer Ehle. The film explores the relationship between the planter, his wife (Jennifer Ehle), his lover (Nandita Das) and his aide. Finally, Rahul’s character understands that he has to make a choice and that it is not quite possible to live in two worlds.

But Sivan was the inspiration for Bose to sign the film. “I like working with Sivan because he is a very instinctive artiste. If you get into things like rationalisation with him like asking him why a particular shot is being taken or why a particular scene is being shot, he is at a loss of words. But at the same time if you can tune into the fact that his thoughts are lateral then it’s a huge pleasure working with him,” says Bose.

Though the film is based in 1937, Rahul does not prefer calling the movie as a period film. The film has been shot in picturesque Munnar and has reached the post production stages.

The Road to Sky will premiere at film festivals and will hit the Indian marquee after a while.

On O'Byrne and Spongebob

Bless the LCT and their trickling release of goodies. Today's is an interview with Brían F. O'Byrne, who plays Alexander Herzen in The Coast of Utopia. Here's a taste:

BL: What was the most useful thing about your Russian adventure in terms of doing The Coast of Utopia?

BO: I went there hoping just to see small things. A useful gesture, for example: seeing someone wave their hand in a certain way. I wanted to try to understand the physical nature of Russians. Of course, Russians now are different than Herzen and his friends were. But I wanted something that would remove me from America, and remove me from New York. Just give me some colors for Herzen. And learn a little about what Russian people themselves are going through, coming out of Communism and dealing with this surge of money. And I wanted to learn about politics and Putin, who's a stronger force all the time. I was interested in Russians' independent spirit. I saw them from an Irish point of view somewhat. Everybody talks about Irish people and Catholicism, which ruled everything. But in another sense the Irish were free. We go to Mass but we don't necessarily believe in the whole thing. There's something similar about Russians: whatever the state of oppression is, you still hold on to that freedom. Which is what Herzen is talking about: individual freedom. The outside forces are not the things that actually rule you totally. The freedom starts within the person himself.

BL: These are insights about Russia, but were they insights about Herzen?

BO: I didn't expect to brush up to an aristocracy still talking about these ideas. But it was interesting in that regard to sit down with Arkady, who is a Financial Times correspondent and who did the translation with his brother, Sergei. He spoke with some disdain of how Russians with ideas were systematically rooted out within the past hundred years, under Communism. Arkady was so passionate about how this whole race of people were destroyed. That's why he thought this play was so important right now. It says: look at what Russia could have become.

Herzen is always talking about the peasants in Russia. Yet there was this group, this intelligentsia, that helped create change. Arkady talked about what would have happened if the growth of that kind of person had continued rather than had been manipulated. When many of the best minds have been taken away for many generations, what does that do to the psyche of a nation? [more]

Psst, let's hear a female voice, Mr Lemon. We can think of someone...

There's a photo of Mr O'Byrne and other Utopia blokes in USA Today. Remember, previews for Voyage open in less than two weeks, so if you haven't already, get your tickets at Telecharge.

Meanwhile, more reviews of the Pride and Prejudice collector's edition are coming out. Says Amy Longsdorf of The Morning Call:

''Pride & Prejudice: 10th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition'' (1996, A&E, unrated, $60): BBC-TV's Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle are sublime as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in a love story that practically redefines the allure of amour. Extras: new interviews with cast, documentary about Jane Austen and a 120-page, making-of book.

From The Flick Filosopher:

When 51st-century cultural historians look back at the televisual dramatics of the Later North Amer-atlantic Civilization (1750–2150), three items will stand out: The Twilight Zone, Spongebob Squarepants, and the 1995 miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This BBC production remains, more than a decade after it astonished Austen purists and dreamy teenage girls of all ages alike, quite the most wonderful five hours of romantic suspense and social intrigue ever committed to film. And this new DVD set sneaks in now, almost in response to last year’s very different theatrical Pride, to remind us that filmed Austen -- filmed literature of any kind, really -- simply does not get any better than this.

Two of the three discs here contain the entire miniseries, which is as gorgeous and as rapturous as you remember, all heaving bosoms and handsome men in uniform and Darcy smoldering and smirking his way through insufferable country balls and Elizabeth being efforlessly witty and clever and the two of them falling inexorably -- even if they don’t see if at first -- into each other’s arms and hearts. *sigh* It’s all almost too much to bear, it’s so perfectly attuned to the needs of modern TV viewers, with its clipped pace (for all its length) and snappy dialogue, while never, ever denying the brilliance of our lovely Jane and her sharp, clear eye on the universalities of romance and marriage and familial expectations and the tripwires in our own hearts. Ah, and Colin Firth (Nanny McPhee) couldn’t be Darcier, and Jennifer Ehle (Possession) couldn’t be Elizabether... the whole cast is, to a one, just right.

The third disc contains a terrific, new retrospective documentary about the production, with lots of interviews with cast and crew (alas, neither Firth nor Ehle appear, but the others have tons interesting to say). And the package -- which is as near to being coffee-table-esque as DVD sets go -- also includes an oversize paperback book about the making of the miniseries; it’s bursting with tons of delicious behind-the-scenes photos and discussions about the lucsious costumes, the beautiful set design, the difficulties of learning Austen’s dialogue, and a lot more. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an Austen fan in possession of a DVD player must be in want of this set.

At Risky Regencies there's discussion of the mini along with their contest to win the new edition. Here's a mention:

One of the things my friends did not understand about the P&P mini series was why Jane was considered the beautiful Bennet daughter and not Lizzie. "I think she is prettier than Jane," one of them said.

This is where I think the filmmakers were so masterful in their casting! Because I think Jane (played by actress Susannah Harker) is the ideal Regency beauty. Take a look and compare to this detail of one of my 1815 La Belle Assemblee fashion prints: Jane has the same oval face, pointed chin, big wide eyes as the 1815 image. She could have modeled for the ladies magazine!

Now look at Lizzie (Jennifer Ehle) compared to another 1815 fashion print detail: Lizzie's face is round and her complexion is rosier, not pale like Jane's. Her mouth is full. Her "fine eyes" are not as large and round as Jane's and the La Belle Assemblee ladies.

Luckily, however, Mr. Darcy learns to appreciate that pair of "fine eyes."

Word from Wenlock is that on the "Heroines" episode of the BBC documentary Reader, I married him, Daisy Goodwin "picked out Elizabeth Bennet for particular scrutiny, illustrated by Jennifer Ehle". This episode is being rebroadcast by BBC4 on Sunday 8 October at 10pm-11pm and 12.45am-1.45am.

Lucky-lastily, a somewhat recycled note on Road to the Sky in Daijiworld:

Santosh Sivan, who is directing a Hollywood film titled 'Road to the Sky', shot extensively in the tea growing hill station of Munnar.

According to reports, the producers of the film, Echo Lake Productions of Los Angeles, Adirondack Pictures of New York and Santosh Sivan Productions, were keen to shoot either in South Africa or Brazil.

However, once they saw Munnar on Sivan's insistence, they were impressed with its pristine beauty and agreed to shoot the film in Kerala.

Mother Courage photo

Josie is a legend! Click to see the large version of the Mother Courage premiere pic posted earlier.



In her latest post, Martha Plimpton says that Coast of Utopia rehearsals started today. And a reminder, tickets to the show go on sale this Sunday, September 10, though AmEx cardholders can beat the rush and buy tix now.

At last some news about Road to the Sky. Akhila Krishnamurthy's subscription-only article in India Today says that post-prod for the film has been completed.

Sivan shot to fame nationally with Ratnam's Roja. He has recently wrapped up the post-production work for his English film, Road to the Sky, which brings to light the dilemma of people who straddle two worlds. Like the cameraman. "I worked in Bride and Prejudice and Mistress of Spices to understand the filmmaking process of Hollywood," explains Sivan. "The objective was to put in elements from both worlds," he says.

On IMDB, the Dutch release date for Pride and Glory is said to be September 20, 2007.

The UK Film Council site has box office stats on Alpha Male. It opened at 26th on the ladder and is currently 58th, grossing £19,781 after three weeks. Rotten Tomatoes has rental stats for The River King - it peaked at 22nd. There are some new reviews of the film at Amazon, some rather complimentary to Ms Ehle:

"This film has the saving grace of Jennifer Ehle, whose beauty and grace shine far beyond her role. There is something magical about this actress and the film is worth seeing if only to watch her. Another of her films, "Possession," is similarly lit by her performance."

"This movie has a lot going for it: good actors (Jennifer Ehle is fantastic), good cinematography, and good music."

"In "The River King," Ed Burns conveys an understated intensity and passion, as does Jennifer Ehle, which requires few words. The silences between them express far more than any words they do exchange. "

Latest on Road to the Sky

This is from someone who worked on the film.

As far as I know, they haven't settled on a title yet. Jennifer plays the wife of Linus Roache's character, Henry Moores, who runs a tea plantation.

I believe her character's name was changed to Laura (in previous drafts which were used during the casting process, the name was Fanny).

As for the release dates, I doubt there is one. Last I heard, Santosh finished a rough cut and the producers (who have "Water" currently in theaters) seem very happy.

Santosh is a talented cinematographer and the state of Kerala is lush. The film promises to be easy on the eyes.

Cannot. Wait.
Why yes, I am cheating. It's Monday in Russia ok.

Holly Bolly*

Not a mention of Ms Ehle in this Rahul Bose interview by The Hindu, but there's some insight into the Indian-American collaboration.

But clearly, what he's really taken up by is Santosh Sivan's English film `Road to the Sky,' a film set in 1937. It is a story of friendship between a Malayali boy (Bose) and a British tea planter, who wants to build a road that will open the spice route to the village, in the backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle. "The greatest filmic experience of my life is `Road to the Sky.' No question. What was not special about that film? It's a Hollywood production. But thank God there are still some companies in Hollywood that make sensible cinema. American producers can be a nightmare. They have tremendous control over a film, unlike in India where the director calls the shots. But these guys were anything but the stereotype. They were compassionate and passionate. They were involved yet not interfering. And I'm the lynchpin of the film," he says Obviously he had great fun filming for it: "Six thousand feet, two degrees centigrade at night, playing squash every evening after shooting. I was in heaven! Away from the madding crowd, journalists," he says with a wide smile.

*alright, so it's not Bollywood. Work with us here.

Top secret

A-grade journalism from Vickey Lalwani of Mumbai on the web. This is from January 3rd.

Santosh Sivan began shooting yesterday on an English film titled Kerala (working title) — a film starring Rahul Bose, Nandita Das and two British actors.

Sivan is also the cinematographer of the film. The film is being jointly produced by Los Angeles-based Echo Lake Productions, Adirondack Pictures of New York and Santosh Sivan Productions.

Kerala is set in the pre-1950 period and contains lots of passion and conflict. Some actors from the Malyalam industry will also make the grade, and there will be a dialogues in Malyalam too.

According to sources, “The film will be entirely shot in Munnar and it was difficult to convince the British actors to shoot there.”

We called Nandita Das, but she was busy. “I am in a meeting in Cochin. I can’t talk to you right now,” she said hurriedly. Rahul Bose was forthcoming.

He said, “Yes, I will be working with Nandita Das. But I am sorry that I can’t tell you about my character in the film, except for the fact that it’s a pivotal one. I have been sworn to secrecy and I can’t break anybody’s trust.”

On Kerala and Kerala

Yep, it's being reported as Kerala again. Anyhow, this CineSouth article explores Santosh Sivan's relationship with his homeland.

Cinematographer Santosh Sivan is making a film once again. This time, it's an English film, set in historical times in Kerala.

Santosh Sivan is a Malayali, but he learnt his art in Tamilnadu. His films 'Dalapathi,' 'Roja' and 'Iruvar' brought him fame in Bollywood. 'Malli' and 'Terrorist' that he directed won national recognition. Having carved a niche for himself in Indian cinema, he is now concentrating on making a film about the history of his homeland.

One of his recent efforts is 'Ananthabadram' in which Santosh Sivan has played upon the unique culture of Kerala, especially its black magic and occult background.

Hs forthcoming film 'Kerala' also is about the Malayali way of life. The best way in which to reach nationally and globally is to make the film in English and that's why Santosh Sivan opted to make 'Kerala' in English.

Nandita Das and Rahul Bose play the lead roles. "I am very eager to act in a film like 'Kerala' which is about the culture and history of the place," says Nandita who has taken a long hiatus from films.

There's nothing like a Malayali to uphold his land's tradition. It's a pity that we don't have anyone in Tamilnadu to do the same.

Here's a map of India in case you're as clueless as me.

On a completely different subject, just a reminder that Rosemary Harris and John Ehle will be attending the Self-Employment in the Arts (SEA) Conference at Wake Forest University on April 1st.