Bright Young Things (2003)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Stephen Fry

Writers:

Stephen Fry (screenplay)
Evelyn Waugh (novel)

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

Sex... Scandal... Celebrity... Some things never change.

Plot:

An adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel "Vile Bodies," is a look into the lives of a young novelist, his would-be lover, and a host of young people who beautified London in the 1930s.

Plot Keywords:

Money | 1930s | Major | Novel | General

Awards:

10 nominations

Cast

Simon McBurney	...	Sneath (Photo-Rat)
Michael Sheen	...	Miles
Emily Mortimer	...	Nina Blount
James McAvoy	...	Simon Balcairn
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Adam Fenwick-Symes
Stockard Channing	...	Mrs. Melrose Ape
Adrian Scarborough	...	Customs Officer
Jim Carter	...	Chief Customs Officer
Fenella Woolgar	...	Agatha
Dan Aykroyd	...	Lord Monomark
Julia McKenzie	...	Lottie Crump
Bruno Lastra	...	Basilio
David Tennant	...	Ginger Littlejohn
Jim Broadbent	...	The Drunken Major
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Judge

MPAA:

Rated R for some drug use.

Runtime:

106 min | Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | USA:R | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Eltham Palace, Court Road, Eltham, London, England, UK

Company:

Film Consortium, The

Trivia:

The film is produced by Doubting Hall Productions, reflecting Colonel Blount's (resident of Doubting Hall) foray into film-making in Evelyn Waugh's "Vile Bodies", the book on which the film is based.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A television aerial can be seen on the right hand rooftops in the external shot of the hotel that Adam and Nina stay at.

Quotes:

Simon Balcairn: [Telling his fake news story] The most shocking orgy since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah rocked society last night.
Typist: Hold the presses, get down to compositing. Now.
Simon Balcairn: The vulgar evangelist, Mrs. Melrose Ape, proudly revealed that her angels were no more than underage adornments on sale to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, tears coursing down her face, the honorable Agatha... , whose repulsive liason with the Prime Minister shocked the nation this week, bewailed her, quote: "Ruined, bogus, vapid, bogus, and worthless life," unquote.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2005 Glitter Awards (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Get Out & Get Under

A pretty good first stab

Stephen Fry is such a prodigious polymath that it's no surprise what a good fist he's made of his directorial debut. That's not to say it's wholly successful; the characters are so shallow that it is hard to warm to them, although it should be pointed out that this is not necessarily a fault. Indeed, it's refreshing these days to find a film in which characters are not trying to ingratiate themselves. Emily Mortimer is exempt from this observation in any case, as she's just so adorable - and is it just me or does she look a dead spit for the young Mary Steenburgen?

I found not only the camerawork but the lighting extremely gaudy, sometimes offputtingly so. However, Fry is admirably adventurous in some of his camera sweeps, not playing it safe as some inexperienced directors do.

As to the performances, it is true that Simon Callow hams it up quite outrageously (although he still wrung a couple of chuckles out of me), and I found Michael Sheen's uber-camp queen rather wearing, until his scene at the end which I thought he handled well. I know I'm not the first person to say this, but it bears repetition: Fenella Woolgar is a revelation in this film, conveying the insouciance of the upper class effortlessly (and the scene after the "orgy" with the stern family is priceless). James McEvoy was excellent too.

Oh, and by the way, to whomever described Evelyn Waugh as "herself one of the beauties of the age" - you may have been joking, but in case not, Evelyn Waugh was in fact a curmudgeonly man who would no doubt have snorted to hear himself thus described!