Though it falls short of Fry's best work in other fields, this is a sound first feature.
Bright Young Things (2004)
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Synopsis: "Some time in the past when things were much as they are now, only more so..." A satirical comedy as well as a love story, Bright Young Things, marks the directorial debut of actor and writer Stephen Fry. "Bright Young Things," says Fry, "is a period film shot with modern pace and cinematography.... "Some time in the past when things were much as they are now, only more so..." A satirical comedy as well as a love story, Bright Young Things, marks the directorial debut of actor and writer Stephen Fry. "Bright Young Things," says Fry, "is a period film shot with modern pace and cinematography. It deals with fame, sexual scandal, greed, night-clubbing and the frantic glamour of youth." While the central plot of Bright Young Things is a romance, it is also a highly topical social comedy that shows a conservative older generation failing to understand the club-culture, music, dance, and frenetic pace of its children. Modern society at its most decadent and colourful is fully on display as is the popular media fuelled by gossip columnists and paparazzi who dominate a tabloid press propelled by rumour and scandal. With a screenplay adapted by Stephen Fry from the classic novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, the film boasts an outstanding cast including Stephen Cambell Moore, Emily Mortimer, Fenella Woolgar, James McAvoy, Michael Sheen and Guy Henry as the 'Bright Young Things', alongside a distinguished ensemble line-up that includes Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Stockard Channing, Richard E. Grant, Julia McKenzie, Sir John Mills, Peter O'Toole, Bill Paterson, Imelda Staunton and Harriet Walter. Set in the 1930's, the film concerns a social set known to the press -- who follow their every move -- as the 'Bright Young Things', Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore) and his friends are eccentric, wild, and entirely shocking to the older generation. They are young, party-going creatures who embrace every innovation, from the gramophone to the telephone -- in a self-consciously up-to-the-minute way. Amidst the madness, Adam, who is well connected but totally broke, is desperately trying to get enough money to marry the beautiful Nina (Emily Mortimer). While his attempts to raise cash are constantly thwarted, their friends seem to self-destruct, one-by-one in an endless search for newer and faster sensations. Finally, when events out of their control come crashing into the world, they are forced to reassess their lives and what they value the most. Bright Young Things, a THINKFilm release, is a Revolution Films and Doubting Hall Ltd production in association with the Film Consortium, Vision View and Icon Film Distribution, produced by Gina Carter and Miranda Davis, executive produced by Andrew Eaton and Michael Winterbottom. Behind the cameras, the distinguished production team is headed by director of photography Henry Braham, production designer Michael Howells, costume designer Nic Ede and editor Alex Mackie, with hair and make up by Peter King. -- © ThinkFilm [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow
DVD Info
Release:
Aug 2, 2005
DVD Features:
- Region (unknown)
- Keep Case
- Keep CaseWidescreen 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Surround 5.1 English
Additional Release Material:
- Documentary
- Audio Commentary
Reviews
The 'wit' is leaden and unfunny; the narrative's progress ungainly; the direction stolid.
Lacks the emotional resonance that would have made it a more compelling film.
Writer-actor Fry takes an ambitious approach to the British period film, adapting Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies into a lively and densely populated romantic comedy.
If a movie can draw this kind of talent for mostly miniscule roles, how can you go wrong?
The film is a breezy and likable enough entertainment, especially for those of us unfamiliar with Waugh’s original.
It is in the humorous moments that the movie really hits its stride, with the supporting cast providing many of the laughs.
One conceit of writer-director Stephen Fry is to dramatize parties as knots of chaos, social hurricanes that spill across the landscape this way and that, ruining lives, eating time, preventing progress of any kind.
The uninitiated are hereby warned: Bright Young Things has an exclusionary timbre. Unlike Hollywood films it never slows down to explain a joke or clarify an allusion.
Fry often seems unsure of whether he wants to stress satire or drama, and while a good film can be both, this film is neither.
Fry seems to believe there's nothing that would fulfill audiences more than to vicariously tag along on screen after fictionalized celebrity types from another time.
Memorable characters come and go so often and so franticaly that you wonder if World War II might have been merely the explosion of England's fast pulse.
Fry directs his performers with real sensitivity; as the film moves along it becomes a showcase for some really wonderful ensemble acting.
If this is meant to recall hell, then, baby, hell looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
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