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Director Philip Saville's biblical feature "The Gospel of John" (2003), narrated by Christopher Plummer, was adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's 'Good News Bible', in a three-hour epic that follows 'John's Gospel' without additions to the story, or omission of complex passages:

"...the film was created by a group of professionals from Canada and the UK, along with academic and theological consultants from around the world...

"...with a cast selected primarily from the 'Stratford Shakespeare Festival', 'Soulpepper Theatre' Company, plus Britain's 'Royal Shakespeare Company' and 'Royal National Theatre'. The musical score, composed by Jeff Danna, and created for the film, is based on the music of the Biblical period..."

Click the images to enlarge…...

Count Dracula (1977) on BBC was the most faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, focusing on realism and accuracy over sensationalism. Director Philip Saville crafted a nuanced, gritty TV movie of Dracula, with standout performances, like Louis Jourdan as Count Dracula. Despite some minor changes in character relationships, Count Dracula stayed closest to the original gothic masterpiece by Bram Stoker.

Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula has become a staple of the screen since its first adaptation by director Tod Browning in 1931, which placed Bela Lugosi in a career-defining role. Since then, there have been multiple screen adaptations of the work and over 80 movies featuring the 'Prince of Darkness' in some role. Some of these adaptations became great commercial and critical successes, such as Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie Bram Stokers Dracula.

Many movie adaptations have taken liberties with the source material, crafting a sensational and engaging rendition to draw audiences into the theater.

Director Philip Saville's biblical feature "The Gospel of John" (2003), narrated by Christopher Plummer, was adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's 'Good News Bible', in a three-hour epic that follows 'John's Gospel' without additions to the story, or omission of complex passages:

"...the film was created by a group of professionals from Canada and the UK, along with academic and theological consultants from around the world...

"...with a cast selected primarily from the 'Stratford Shakespeare Festival', 'Soulpepper Theatre' Company, plus Britain's 'Royal Shakespeare Company' and 'Royal National Theatre'. The musical score, composed by Jeff Danna, and created for the film, is based on the music of the Biblical period..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Gospel Of John"...

Director Philip Saville's biblical feature "The Gospel of John" (2003), narrated by Christopher Plummer, was adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's 'Good News Bible', in a three-hour epic that follows 'John's Gospel' without additions to the story, or omission of complex passages:

"...the film was created by a group of professionals from Canada and the UK, along with academic and theological consultants from around the world...

"...with a cast selected primarily from the 'Stratford Shakespeare Festival', 'Soulpepper Theatre' Company, plus Britain's 'Royal Shakespeare Company' and 'Royal National Theatre'. The musical score, composed by Jeff Danna, and created for the film, is based on the music of the Biblical period..."

Click the images to enlarge…...

"The Gospel of John" (2003), produced by Visual Bible International, is a three-hour feature adaptation of the biblical 'Gospel of John', directed by Philip Saville, starring Henry Ian Cusick, with narration by Christopher Plummer:

"...the film was created by a constituency of artists from Canada and the United Kingdom, along with international academic and theological consultants. 

"Cast was selected from the 'Stratford Shakespeare Festival' , Soulpepper Theatre Company', Britain's 'Royal Shakespeare Company' and 'Royal National Theatre'. 

"Musical score, composed by Jeff Danna is partially based on music of the Biblical period..." 

Click the images to enlarge.... ...

Director Philip Saville's biblical feature "The Gospel of John" (2003), narrated by Christopher Plummer, was adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's 'Good News Bible', in a three-hour epic that follows 'John's Gospel' without additions to the story, or omission of complex passages:

"...the film was created by a group of professionals from Canada and the UK, along with academic and theological consultants from around the world...

"...with a cast selected primarily from the 'Stratford Shakespeare Festival', 'Soulpepper Theatre' Company, plus Britain's 'Royal Shakespeare Company' and 'Royal National Theatre'. The musical score, composed by Jeff Danna, and created for the film, is based on the music of the Biblical period..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Gospel Of John"...

Nelson Mandela on film and TV: From Sidney Poitier to Terrence Howard (photo: Sidney Poitier as Nelson Mandela in ‘Mandela and de Klerk’) (See previous post: "Nelson Mandela Movies: ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,’ ‘Invictus.’") As found on the IMDb, here are a handful of other narrative big-screen films featuring Nelson Mandela: Darrell Roodt’s Winnie Mandela (2011), with Jennifer Hudson in the title role and Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela. Pete Travis’ Endgame (2009), with Clarke Peters’ Mandela as less a martyred saint than a skillful realpolitik negotiator. This political drama also features Chiwetel Ejiofor, William Hurt, Jonny Lee Miller, Mark Strong, and Derek Jacobi. Zola Maseko’s 1950s-set Drum (2004), in which Mandela is played — for a change — by a South African actor, Lindani Nkosi. As reported by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, British filmmaker Peter Kosminsky (White Oleander, Wuthering Heights) "got into hot water a couple of years ago...

In the world of horror cinema, the best way to fight a monster–be it supernatural, human, or natural one–is with a character that possesses special knowledge and skills. These experts, recruited into battle by other characters or colliding with the conflict intentionally, are the savants of the horror world.

Examples of savant characters include David Warner’s bat expert Phillip Payne in Nightwing, Zelda Rubinstein’s spiritual medium Tangina in Poltergeist, Matthew McConaughey’s dragon slayer Denton Van Zan in Reign of Fire, Lin Shaye’s paranormal investigator Elise Rainier in Insidious, and Otto Jespersen’s monster killer Hans in Trollhunter.

This article, divided into three sections based on what type of monstrous force is being fought, focuses on the greatest savant characters the horror genre has to offer.

****

Vs. The Supernatural

Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula and The Brides of Dracula: In these two Hammer films,...

Playwright whose anarchic works were filled with vividly imagined characters

Snoo Wilson, who has died suddenly aged 64, was in the vanguard of the young playwrights revolutionising British theatre in the two decades after 1968, but Snoo was a very different kettle of fish from the others. While David Edgar, Howard Brenton and David Hare were often overtly political, Snoo was a Marxist "tendance Groucho"; more subtly subversive and humorous. Sometimes the surface frivolity of his work made people think he wasn't serious, but he was always trying to mine under the surface of things, to allow the subconscious to drive his imagination. Snoo used fiercely imagined characters in comic and often savage works that nevertheless, in the best plays, demonstrated an insouciant knowledge of dramatic structure. He was not a believer in naturalism.

Throughout his career Snoo refused to accept that mere reality was all there was – if so, it was...

As producer of Alan Bleasdale's The Black Stuff, I was immensely impressed by Jim Goddard's direction. Although it was transmitted as a BBC Play for Today, it was in fact a feature-length film. I recall Jim working in west London with the team of actors led by Bernard Hill playing Yosser Hughes, walking back and forth in a rehearsal room, to measure out a long tracking shot which was to be filmed on the roads of the north-east. With the actors in mind, Jim took full advantage by combining old-style television rehearsal with the economic need to keep the film camera turning.

This valuable preparation gave the team of actors the freedom of spirit which subsequently Michael Wearing and Philip Saville inherited when producing and directing, with newly introduced lightweight cameras, Bleasdale's compelling series The Boys from the Blackstuff.

DramaDrama

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Film director whose career took him from gritty television plays to Hollywood thrillers

People who talk wistfully of the "golden age of British television drama" are often accused of viewing the past through the rosy lens of nostalgia. But a clear-eyed examination of the era proves that such slots as the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964-70) and Play for Today (1970-84) were unsurpassed as breeding grounds for talented directors such as John Mackenzie, who has died after a stroke aged 83. Like most of his contemporaries who gained their experience by working in television – Philip Saville, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ken Loach, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh – Mackenzie went on to make feature films, notably his superb London-based gangster picture, The Long Good Friday (1980).

The television background trained Mackenzie to work quickly on taut and realistic narratives, within a tight budget and on schedule. One of his first jobs was as...

"People who talk wistfully of the 'golden age of British television drama' are often accused of viewing the past through the rosy lens of nostalgia," writes Ronald Bergan in the Guardian. "But a clear-eyed examination of the era proves that such slots as the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964-70) and Play for Today (1970-84) were unsurpassed as breeding grounds for talented directors such as John Mackenzie, who has died after a stroke aged 83. Like most of his contemporaries who gained their experience by working in television — Philip Saville, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ken Loach, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh — Mackenzie went on to make feature films, notably his superb London-based gangster picture, The Long Good Friday (1980)."

Paul Gallagher has posted a documentary on the making of The Long Good Friday at Dangerous Minds, preceded by a deeply appreciative introduction: "It started when producer Barry Hanson asked writer Barrie Keefe, one night,...

British-born director known for Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots

The film and television director Charles Jarrott, who has died of cancer aged 83, began his career during a golden period of British TV drama, working on Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play in the 1960s alongside writers and directors such as Ken Loach, Dennis Potter and David Mercer. Both series were presided over by the Canadian producer Sydney Newman, who encouraged original work – what he called "agitational contemporaneity" – and had an astonishing impact. But in 1969 Jarrott's career took a different turn when he left for Hollywood, thereby increasing his income a hundredfold, while having to contend with far less adventurous material. His best films were his first, two Elizabethan costume dramas, Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, enlivened by the Oscar-nominated performances of Richard Burton (Henry VIII), Geneviève Bujold (Anne Boleyn) and...

Peter Hall, 1973, 12, Fremantle

A combination of the original 1965 RSC casts at the Aldwych and on Broadway (Paul Rogers, Ian Holm, Cyril Cusack, Vivien Merchant, Michael Jayston, Terence Rigby), of what many regard as Harold Pinter's finest play, are reunited with Peter Hall under the auspices of the American Film Theatre. This is the definitive record of Pinter's tragicomedy of territorial imperatives. The dark family secrets of a menacing, all-male, north London household are revealed when the academic white sheep of a working-class, crime-related family brings his seductive wife from the States to meet his misogynistic father, uncle and brothers. John Bury's stage sets are beautifully lit by ace cinematographer David Watkin and it's Hall's finest work for the cinema. Also in the double-disc set is an informative, unpretentious documentary assembled by Philip Saville, in which a variety of friends and fellow actors, including Steven Berkoff, Henry Goodman, Sheila Hancock and Michael Caine,...

It occurred to me as I put together today's Scenes (Songs) We Love, that today's selection is all about change. Let me explain: to start with we've got the film, the 1997 drama Metroland, which is about a man questioning his decisions in life, and then we have our song, Peaches, by the genre-resistant UK band The Stranglers. Finally, you've got your actor, the one and only Christian Bale, an actor who has never been afraid to try something new with his career. It may seem strange to think it now, but would anyone have predicted back then that the guy from Swing Kids would become the Caped Crusader?

Metroland was directed by Philip Saville, and is based on Julian Barnes' novel of the same name. The film follows Chris (Bale), a young man having a quarter-life crisis brought on by the return of his childhood friend Toni, who chose...

Screened

Toronto International Film Festival Review

While controversy swirls around Mel Gibson's as-yet largely unseen "The Passion", another film, "The Gospel of John", is likely going to do a certain amount of flame-fanning of its own in regard to where the burden of responsibility falls for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

A word-for-word adaptation (by John Goldsmith) from the American Bible Society's Good News Bible, this well-made epic boasts carefully researched production values and the talents of classically trained actors, but by literally playing it by the book, the picture loses something dramatic in the translation.

At a very noticeable three hours, it feels like a month of Sunday school classes.

The educational DVD market will still be its ultimate destination, but given that it's probably going to spur debate in certain religious quarters, the resulting publicity could also generate some better than normally expected theatrical business.

Intended as the first in a series of films under the Visual Bible banner, "The Gospel of John" dispenses with Nativity scenes, introducing the adult Jesus Henry Ian Cusick) in full Messiah mode, bringing his ministry to the people of a land controlled by the Roman Empire.

Not everyone greets him with open arms -- specifically the Jewish authorities as personified by the Leading Pharisee (played with a notably dark undercurrent by Richard Lintern), who remains unconvinced by his performance of miracles.

According to the film, on more than one occasion he presses Pilate (Stephen Russell) to sentence Jesus to death, even though the reluctant Roman can't find sufficient reason to do so.

But in an effort to downplay potential controversy, a crawl inserted before the start of the film makes note that crucifixion was a Roman punishment that wasn't sanctioned by Jewish law.

In the hands of veteran British film and TV director Philip Saville, the handsome production (shot in Spain and Toronto) is graced by cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak's stirring images and an authoritative cast which takes its cue from Cusick's performance -- one that seems to be more outgoing and charismatic than past portrayals.

Still, one has to wonder about those impeccably manicured fingernails.

Saville delivers the pageantry with all seven signs intact, but those various miracles are performed with a lot less fanfare and razzle-dazzle than in many old Hollywood spectacles.

That more straightforward approach also applies to narrator Christopher Plummer's commanding yet warm tones, though there are times when even he is unable to interject sufficient life into some of those extended passages of word-for-wordiness.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

Visual Bible International Inc. in association with Garth H. Drabinsky and Joel B. Michaels present a Philip Saville film

Credits:

Director: Philip Saville

Screenwriter: John Goldsmith

Producers: Garth H. Drabinsky, Chris Chrisafis

Executive producer: Sandy Pearl, Joel B. Michaels, Myron I. Gottlieb, Martin Katz

Director of photography: Miroslaw Baszak

Production designer: Don Taylor

Editor: Michel Archand

Costume designer: Debra Hanson

Music: Jeff Danna

Cast:

Jesus: Henry Ian Cusick

Peter: Daniel Kash

Leading Pharisee: Richard Lintern

Pilate: Stephen Russell

John the Baptist: Scott Handy

John: Stuart Bunce

Mary Magdalene: Lynsey Baxter

Narrator: Christopher Plummer

Running time -- 175 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Screened

Toronto International Film Festival Review

While controversy swirls around Mel Gibson's as-yet largely unseen "The Passion", another film, "The Gospel of John", is likely going to do a certain amount of flame-fanning of its own in regard to where the burden of responsibility falls for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

A word-for-word adaptation (by John Goldsmith) from the American Bible Society's Good News Bible, this well-made epic boasts carefully researched production values and the talents of classically trained actors, but by literally playing it by the book, the picture loses something dramatic in the translation.

At a very noticeable three hours, it feels like a month of Sunday school classes.

The educational DVD market will still be its ultimate destination, but given that it's probably going to spur debate in certain religious quarters, the resulting publicity could also generate some better than normally expected theatrical business.

Intended as the first in a series of films under the Visual Bible banner, "The Gospel of John" dispenses with Nativity scenes, introducing the adult Jesus Henry Ian Cusick) in full Messiah mode, bringing his ministry to the people of a land controlled by the Roman Empire.

Not everyone greets him with open arms -- specifically the Jewish authorities as personified by the Leading Pharisee (played with a notably dark undercurrent by Richard Lintern), who remains unconvinced by his performance of miracles.

According to the film, on more than one occasion he presses Pilate (Stephen Russell) to sentence Jesus to death, even though the reluctant Roman can't find sufficient reason to do so.

But in an effort to downplay potential controversy, a crawl inserted before the start of the film makes note that crucifixion was a Roman punishment that wasn't sanctioned by Jewish law.

In the hands of veteran British film and TV director Philip Saville, the handsome production (shot in Spain and Toronto) is graced by cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak's stirring images and an authoritative cast which takes its cue from Cusick's performance -- one that seems to be more outgoing and charismatic than past portrayals.

Still, one has to wonder about those impeccably manicured fingernails.

Saville delivers the pageantry with all seven signs intact, but those various miracles are performed with a lot less fanfare and razzle-dazzle than in many old Hollywood spectacles.

That more straightforward approach also applies to narrator Christopher Plummer's commanding yet warm tones, though there are times when even he is unable to interject sufficient life into some of those extended passages of word-for-wordiness.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

Visual Bible International Inc. in association with Garth H. Drabinsky and Joel B. Michaels present a Philip Saville film

Credits:

Director: Philip Saville

Screenwriter: John Goldsmith

Producers: Garth H. Drabinsky, Chris Chrisafis

Executive producer: Sandy Pearl, Joel B. Michaels, Myron I. Gottlieb, Martin Katz

Director of photography: Miroslaw Baszak

Production designer: Don Taylor

Editor: Michel Archand

Costume designer: Debra Hanson

Music: Jeff Danna

Cast:

Jesus: Henry Ian Cusick

Peter: Daniel Kash

Leading Pharisee: Richard Lintern

Pilate: Stephen Russell

John the Baptist: Scott Handy

John: Stuart Bunce

Mary Magdalene: Lynsey Baxter

Narrator: Christopher Plummer

Running time -- 175 minutes

No MPAA rating...

A literary-minded feature about growing up sexually and struggling to find contentment in 1960s-70s England, "Metroland" is only fitfully interesting and won't generate much interest with domestic audiences in limited release.

Although it stars Emily Watson, Christian Bale and young French star Elsa Zylberstein, the unrated Lions Gate release is built around a hoary conflict between selling out and thumbing one's nose at the establishment, with commuter trains providing the symbol of either escaping or settling into a middle-class routine.

In the early 1960s, Chris (Bale) and Toni (Lee Ross) were best friends growing up on the outskirts of London at the end of the underground line known as "Metroland". A budding photographer with little experience, rebellious Chris travels to Paris and meets a sexy, sweet French girl, Annick (Zylberstein), while Toni also splits and never looks back.

Chris is a happy bohemian until he meets Marion (Watson), an adventurous young English woman, and falls for her. Years later, Chris and Marion have a family and he is starting to grow restless -- he fantasizes about a nonmonogamous relationship -- when Toni returns to stir things up.

Director Philip Saville and screenwriter Adrian Hodges, adapting Julian Barnes' novel, use a flashback structure, with most of the story taking place in 1968 and 1977. Many scenes are engaging with the leads immersed in their roles, but the overall scheme grows tiresomely repetitive.

Toni's hatred of what Chris has become is made abundantly clear, but there's not much doubt about what the latter's final stand on the matter will be. Chris' relationship with Marion goes through a major crisis when he cheats on her. While emerging as a potential rival for Marion, Toni never tires of baiting Chris with snarling condescension, but his idealism is less than inspiring.

Bale is well-cast and Watson plays a fairly ordinary character for a change, while Zylberstein lights up the screen. All three get into the sensuous spirit with numerous scenes of nudity. But the pacing is uneven and the filmmaking is uneventful. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame contributes a spunky rock score.

METROLAND

Lions Gate Releasing

Pandora Cinema presents

a Blue Horizon/Mact/Filmania production

in association with the Arts Council of England

Credits: Director: Philip Saville; Producer: Andrew Bendel; Screenwriter: Adrian Hodges; Director of photography: Jean-Francois Robin; Production designer: Don Taylor; Editor: Greg Miller; Costume designer: Jenny Beavan; Music: Mark Knopfler; Casting: Deborah Brown. Cast: Chris: Christian Bale; Toni: Lee Ross; Annick: Elsa Zylberstein; Marion: Emily Watson; Henri: Rufus; Dave: Jonathan Aris; Mickey: Ifan Meredith. No MPAA Rating. Color/stereo. Running time -- 102 minutes.