Bruce Beresford

Started by MacGuffin, April 26, 2004, 02:12:55 AM

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MacGuffin

Bruce Beresford Signs The Contract
Source: Variety

Bruce Beresford will direct The Contract for Emmett/Furla Films and Millennium Films.

Written by Stephen Katz and John Darrouzet, The Contract follows a father who tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his son while trying to bring an assassin to justice.

The film is the first project under Emmett/Furla's new 15-picture development and production deal with Millennium Films.

Beresford's credits include last year's And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, which starred Antonio Banderas; the Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones-starrer Double Jeopardy and Tender Mercies, for which he received an Oscar nomination for best director.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Find Your Magali

Anyone ever seen Beresford's "Rich in Love." ... Not a masterpiece, but a nice little Southern character piece that didn't deserve to fall through the cracks. Great cast. It's worth catching.

Ravi

Quote from: MacGuffinWritten by Stephen Katz and John Darrouzet

Stephen Katz was my Communications Major Studies teacher in junior and senior year of high school.  My friend called me today and told me he passed away this morning.  He gave us so much time and freedom to work on video projects in his class, and was the only teacher from high school I would visit after I graduated.  I looked him up on IMDB today and found that The Contract was in production.  He was a funny and sweet man and will be sorely missed.

MacGuffin

Rachmaninoff movie set to take flight

Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford has signed a deal to direct "Rhapsody," a movie about Russian classical composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.

"Rhapsody" centers on a love triangle involving Rachmaninoff, tracing his life from the 1917 Russian Revolution to the 1940s.

The film's producer, Prelude Features, obtained rights to the story from his grandson, Alexandre Rachmaninoff. The screenplay includes private details from the composer's life told to his grandson by the pianist's widow.

"Bruce is a real classical music aficionado, and he's done a film in this area before," said executive producer Edward R. Pressman, citing the 2001 drama "Bride of the Wind," which featured Gustav Mahler as a main character. "But it's a love story first and foremost, with political upheaval and a large canvas in the spirit of 'Doctor Zhivago."'

Pressman said the producers hope to begin principal photography in Russia by the end of the year. EMI Records granted Prelude rights to the composer's recordings and plans a soundtrack release.

Beresford's recent credits include the HBO movie "...And Pancho Villa As Himself" and the Ashley Judd feature "Double Jeopardy."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Beresford swings 'Mao's Last Dancer'
Bigscreen adaptation of Chinese bestseller
Source: Variety

Helmer Bruce Beresford is readying a bigscreen adaptation of Chinese bestseller "Mao's Last Dancer."

Book is the autobiography of Li Cunxin, a Chinese peasant-turned- ballet dancer who ultimately defected. Tome was first published in 2003 and has been sold in 20 countries. Screenplay is by Jan Sardi, who previously scripted "Shine."

Beresford's name has been attached to several projects that have yet to enter production, including another film set in China, "A Dream of Red Mansions," with Kate Hudson tipped to star. But producer Jane Scott told Daily Variety, "While it is true that Bruce has lots of projects on offer, he has absolutely cleared the decks for 'Mao's Last Dancer.' This is the next film he will make."

Scott said lensing will begin in February in locations that include Australia and the U.S. With at least one-third of the film to be shot in China, pic will be structured as an "assisted co-production," essentially a foreign movie on location, and will see Chinese characters speaking Chinese and all others using English.

While the project is neither cast nor financed, Scott said an international sales agent will be appointed soon.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Ravi

Quote from: MacGuffin on April 26, 2004, 02:12:55 AM
Bruce Beresford Signs The Contract

The Contract wasn't very good.  What were Morgan Freeman and John Cusack doing in this film?  Surely there were some better paycheck films offered to them at the time.  Their performances are mostly apathetic.  Its incredibly predictable and some things just don't make sense.  For example, Cusack doesn't get cell phone reception in the woods, but the bad guys are on the Internet on a laptop.  The dialogue gets pretty hackneyed, with some faux witty banter between the bad guys thrown in for good measure.  There's very little tension and the action is not too exciting.  The beginning is actually not horrible, but when the characters get into the woods the film starts to unravel.  I'm surprised this film was made in the 2000s.  I wonder if this film wasn't written years ago and collected dust before getting made.

As posted above, Stephen Katz the co-writer, was my teacher in high school.  I watched this with a friend who was also in my class, and we thought a lot of the dialogues were very Mr. Katz.

Gold Trumpet

I saw his classic Breaker Morant a month ago. The cinematography, like many Australian New Wave films, was exceptional. The film didn't have the chance to highlight the Australian outback like others because it was set in South Africa, but the film is still picturesque.

It's about a timely period in Australian history. The story is interesting because of that but I felt the film strained to be clever like a Hollywood film. Many moments present a chuckle because the screenplay really is clever, but when character complications come at the end, the film only skims the surface with it. The film is about a court case where three soldiers are at trial for murder. They are innocent of the charges. The government becomes the enemy. The soldiers are the heroes. They aren't guilty but as the story reveals more, they may not be so innocent either.

The dynamic between guilt and innocence was interesting. The film spent the last 1/4 of the movie about that. It also spent the first 3/4 about general trial stuff.