With Directorial Debut, Angelina Jolie Takes Audiences on Emotional Journey

With Directorial Debut, Angelina Jolie Takes Audiences on Emotional Journey By Melinda Loewenstein December 27, 2011 Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images With numerous blockbusters ("Lara Croft Tomb Raider," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Kung Fu Panda") and an Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted" to her name, Angelina Jolie has stepped to the other side of the camera. Her celebrity status is international, and her humanitarian work with the U.N. and marriage to Brad Pitt have only added to her high profile. With her directorial debut, Jolie is looking to divert the spotlight from herself and raise global awareness. With "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Jolie takes on the controversial topic of the Bosnian war by setting a love story in the middle of the conflict.Falling Into the Film Jolie didn't set out to make a movie about the war. Rather, she wanted to study what happens to human beings during war to better understand post-conflict situations and find a way to help. Film was a natural choice, since that's what Jolie has spent her life doing. When she finished writing the script, she showed it to Pitt. "I just showed it to him as this private little experiment that was on my desk," says Jolie. After reading it, he encouraged her to make the movie. She was aware of the sensitive nature of the topic, so before moving forward, she sent the script to Bosnian Serbs, Muslim Serbs, and Croatians for feedback. Later, Jolie also sought feedback from the actors, who had all been affected by the war. Rade Serbedzija, who plays Nebojsa, credits her with being open to changes in the script so it would be more authentic. At his suggestion, Jolie changed some of the dialogue in the scene where Zana Marjanovic's character, Ajla, paints a portrait of Serbedzija's character. Jolie says her acting background made it easier to write the various roles: "I was able to flip characters in my head as if I was playing the different roles in order to write the different people, because you have to be one person and inhabit him and write from his voice, and then be her and write from her voice."Role Reversal Being an actor, Jolie was careful to make the audition process as painless as possible. Laughing, she says, "I kind of wanted to hire everybody or try to find something for everybody." She credits casting director Gail Stevens for making sure that actors got strong feedback even if they didn't get the part. "It was hard. I didn't want to put the actors through much." She had them do scenes as well as an interview on camera. She explains, "I pretty much cast them from that, and the people that I thought were going to be the ones, and I would say to Gail, 'What were they like when they came in? Were they nice to everybody? Were they humble? Were they gracious?' Because this was very important to me." Jolie then had the script sent without her name on it to the actors they wanted. "We kept our fingers crossed because we knew how sensitive it was."On Authenticity "When she called me and she said, 'I'm going to shoot it in both languages,' I was like, 'Well, wait a minute; you're a first-timer; we don't know the actors,' " producer Graham King recalls. But Jolie was passionate about it and sold him on the idea. Jolie didn't consider language while writing, but when it came time to adjust it to the authentic language, she made sure it was translated more than once: "A translator couldn't be just Bosnian Muslim or just Bosnian Serb or just Croatian, because even the translation would go slightly slanted to one side or the other." Generally they would do the first take in English, which helped the crew with the second take in the authentic language. "We understood exactly what was happening in the scene, and then when it changed languages, somehow in our minds we still understood what was happening completely. For example, the cameraman knew instinctually where to move in on that line because he somehow could feel that was that line," Jolie notes. After shooting in their native language the actors would often want to reshoot the English because their personalities and body language were different in their native language. While shooting she relied on the actors to help her check on performances: "So if Danijel had a big scene, I would pull Zana aside and say, 'It feels right for me emotionally, but textwise was there anything that I need to know?' " Acting Influences Directing Despite Jolie's first-time-director status, King notes that she had command of the set. Marjanovic says working with Jolie was great. "She's an actress, and it didn't feel like it was her first time directing at all. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she would just find an approach that was appropriate for the scene." Serbedzija compares Jolie's directing style to that of Clint Eastwood, and Goran Kostic, who plays Danijel, agrees. "Obviously they've been in front of the camera for such a long time, Clint and Angelina Jolie. And they understand the importance, and she allows time and space for us to bridge these troubles," he explains.The sensitive nature of the film made it especially important for Jolie to create a safe acting environment. One of the hardest days was when Jolie had to ask the old women to strip. "I hated it. I only shot it once." Because the women were Hungarian, she was speaking with them through a translator. "I think I must have gone up to them five times just to say 'Do they completely understand that the people inside have been directed; they've been told, and it's their job to laugh at them. They aren't laughing at them because they are getting naked; it's, they've been directed to do that, so please do not take it personally' and 'I'm so sorry that I need to ask them to do this, but for them to please know how much this is going to mean for people." She ended up having to shoot a lot of the reactions as cutaways, because the actors couldn't laugh at the women: "They kind of had a human reaction, and so then we had to do a cutaway when the women were gone." Jolie also feels that her acting background influenced her directing style: "I hoped that I was able to help the actors by giving them the space and the respect that they needed. I gave them what I always felt I needed when I was working, and I would protect Zana when there were scenes that she was very vulnerable or had to deal with sensuality or nudity, to be very considerate and only put in the film what is necessary for the storytelling. With the big emotional scenes I would kind of try to protect them from the crew, from the noise, from the, you know, so you just try to make these safe spaces and try to help them, because instinctually you know what you would need." Vanesa Glodjo (who plays Lejla) sums up Jolie's style by saying, "I think she fulfilled all her wishes as an actress first by writing the script and then by the way she directed us. I think she said, 'Okay, what I would adore; how would I love to be directed?' So that's how she did it."OUTTAKES "In the Land of Blood and Honey" was nominated for a 2012 Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Jolie says it will take a special project to get her back in the director's seat. Jolie wants to give her children a global experience, and the family has a home in Cambodia. With Directorial Debut, Angelina Jolie Takes Audiences on Emotional Journey By Melinda Loewenstein December 27, 2011 PHOTO CREDIT Jason Merritt/Getty Images With numerous blockbusters ("Lara Croft Tomb Raider," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Kung Fu Panda") and an Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted" to her name, Angelina Jolie has stepped to the other side of the camera. Her celebrity status is international, and her humanitarian work with the U.N. and marriage to Brad Pitt have only added to her high profile. With her directorial debut, Jolie is looking to divert the spotlight from herself and raise global awareness. With "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Jolie takes on the controversial topic of the Bosnian war by setting a love story in the middle of the conflict.Falling Into the Film Jolie didn't set out to make a movie about the war. Rather, she wanted to study what happens to human beings during war to better understand post-conflict situations and find a way to help. Film was a natural choice, since that's what Jolie has spent her life doing. When she finished writing the script, she showed it to Pitt. "I just showed it to him as this private little experiment that was on my desk," says Jolie. After reading it, he encouraged her to make the movie. She was aware of the sensitive nature of the topic, so before moving forward, she sent the script to Bosnian Serbs, Muslim Serbs, and Croatians for feedback. Later, Jolie also sought feedback from the actors, who had all been affected by the war. Rade Serbedzija, who plays Nebojsa, credits her with being open to changes in the script so it would be more authentic. At his suggestion, Jolie changed some of the dialogue in the scene where Zana Marjanovic's character, Ajla, paints a portrait of Serbedzija's character. Jolie says her acting background made it easier to write the various roles: "I was able to flip characters in my head as if I was playing the different roles in order to write the different people, because you have to be one person and inhabit him and write from his voice, and then be her and write from her voice."Role Reversal Being an actor, Jolie was careful to make the audition process as painless as possible. Laughing, she says, "I kind of wanted to hire everybody or try to find something for everybody." She credits casting director Gail Stevens for making sure that actors got strong feedback even if they didn't get the part. "It was hard. I didn't want to put the actors through much." She had them do scenes as well as an interview on camera. She explains, "I pretty much cast them from that, and the people that I thought were going to be the ones, and I would say to Gail, 'What were they like when they came in? Were they nice to everybody? Were they humble? Were they gracious?' Because this was very important to me." Jolie then had the script sent without her name on it to the actors they wanted. "We kept our fingers crossed because we knew how sensitive it was."On Authenticity "When she called me and she said, 'I'm going to shoot it in both languages,' I was like, 'Well, wait a minute; you're a first-timer; we don't know the actors,' " producer Graham King recalls. But Jolie was passionate about it and sold him on the idea. Jolie didn't consider language while writing, but when it came time to adjust it to the authentic language, she made sure it was translated more than once: "A translator couldn't be just Bosnian Muslim or just Bosnian Serb or just Croatian, because even the translation would go slightly slanted to one side or the other." Generally they would do the first take in English, which helped the crew with the second take in the authentic language. "We understood exactly what was happening in the scene, and then when it changed languages, somehow in our minds we still understood what was happening completely. For example, the cameraman knew instinctually where to move in on that line because he somehow could feel that was that line," Jolie notes. After shooting in their native language the actors would often want to reshoot the English because their personalities and body language were different in their native language. While shooting she relied on the actors to help her check on performances: "So if Danijel had a big scene, I would pull Zana aside and say, 'It feels right for me emotionally, but textwise was there anything that I need to know?' " Acting Influences Directing Despite Jolie's first-time-director status, King notes that she had command of the set. Marjanovic says working with Jolie was great. "She's an actress, and it didn't feel like it was her first time directing at all. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she would just find an approach that was appropriate for the scene." Serbedzija compares Jolie's directing style to that of Clint Eastwood, and Goran Kostic, who plays Danijel, agrees. "Obviously they've been in front of the camera for such a long time, Clint and Angelina Jolie. And they understand the importance, and she allows time and space for us to bridge these troubles," he explains.The sensitive nature of the film made it especially important for Jolie to create a safe acting environment. One of the hardest days was when Jolie had to ask the old women to strip. "I hated it. I only shot it once." Because the women were Hungarian, she was speaking with them through a translator. "I think I must have gone up to them five times just to say 'Do they completely understand that the people inside have been directed; they've been told, and it's their job to laugh at them. They aren't laughing at them because they are getting naked; it's, they've been directed to do that, so please do not take it personally' and 'I'm so sorry that I need to ask them to do this, but for them to please know how much this is going to mean for people." She ended up having to shoot a lot of the reactions as cutaways, because the actors couldn't laugh at the women: "They kind of had a human reaction, and so then we had to do a cutaway when the women were gone." Jolie also feels that her acting background influenced her directing style: "I hoped that I was able to help the actors by giving them the space and the respect that they needed. I gave them what I always felt I needed when I was working, and I would protect Zana when there were scenes that she was very vulnerable or had to deal with sensuality or nudity, to be very considerate and only put in the film what is necessary for the storytelling. With the big emotional scenes I would kind of try to protect them from the crew, from the noise, from the, you know, so you just try to make these safe spaces and try to help them, because instinctually you know what you would need." Vanesa Glodjo (who plays Lejla) sums up Jolie's style by saying, "I think she fulfilled all her wishes as an actress first by writing the script and then by the way she directed us. I think she said, 'Okay, what I would adore; how would I love to be directed?' So that's how she did it."OUTTAKES "In the Land of Blood and Honey" was nominated for a 2012 Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Jolie says it will take a special project to get her back in the director's seat. Jolie wants to give her children a global experience, and the family has a home in Cambodia.

Report: Steven Tyler Engaged to Erin Brady

Steven Tyler and Erin Brady Steven Tyler is engaged to longtime girlfriend Erin Brady, TMZ reviews.The Aerosmith rocker and The American Idol Show judge sprang the question a while over Christmas, based on the site. TMZ also published photos from the couple in Maui throughout the vacation, with Brady sporting an enormous band.Take a look at photos of Steven TylerTyler, 63, and Brady, 38, happen to be dating for 5 years. Captured, Tyler shot lower gossips of the engagement.Tyler was formerly married to late model Cynthia Foxe from 1978-87 and also to clothing designer Teresa Barrick from 1988-2006. He fathered Mia Tyler with Foxe and it has two youngsters with Barrick.

'Salmon' to start Palm Springs

The 23rd annual Palm Springs Film Festival will open on Jan. 5 getting a gala screening of "Seafood Fishing inside the Yemen," the fest introduced Thursday. Director Lasse Hallstrom's "Seafood Fishing," which CBS Films acquired within the Toronto Film Festival in September, is one kind of greater than 60 premieres within the PSIFF this year. The festival includes 187 films from 73 nations. "It's a wide different choice of highly accomplished and sometimes provocative new films, combined by getting an extended archival section," mentioned festival director Darryl Macdonald. The closing-evening gala on Jan. 15 will showcase the comedy "Almanya, Thank you for going to Germany." "The German arthouse hit of year, Yasemin Samdereli's 'Almanya, Thank you for going to Germany,' marks the look of the exciting new voice,"artistic director Helen du Toit mentioned. "Really, the festival is positively filled with the task of emerging filmmakers this year -- more than another in the films are first features, representing the programming team's persistence for featuring new talent." Two films will probably be making their world premieres within the festival: "Personally," which stars Marcia Gay Harden and Aidan Quinn and "A Thousand Cuts," starring Michael O'Keefe. The festival will actually have a special presentation of Steven Soderbergh's "Haywire," which follows a really trained operative who's utilized by a government contractor which is double-joined. The film stars Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor. The present masters section, designed to highlight auteurs of latest cinema, will showcase two films that are Golden Globe nominated: "We must Discuss Kevin," whose star Tilda Swinton received a nom and "The Child While using Bike," a foreign-language film nominee. Others inside the section include Denmark's "Animal," Japan's "Chronicle of My Mother" and Russia's "Elena." Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

REVIEW: Cameron Crowe Tries, and Fails, to Freshen a Treacly Tale in We Bought a Zoo

Cameron Crowe might be a large old cheeseball, but he’s never been a filmmaker to come across as cynical or calculatedly tricky. That’s one reason We Bought a Zoo doesn’t leave your heartstrings feeling very manhandled, despite like a treacly tale about how precisely a widower searching for a brand new beginning buys and moves with a fighting animal park along with his two beautiful, sad children. One more reason is Matt Damon, who underplays the role of still-grieving father Benjamin Mee whenever you can and brings a benefit of genuine frustration to his relationship along with his teenage boy Dylan (Colin Ford). Though overall the film’s still as honey-well toned since the golden sunshine that slants through nearly all its moments, the periodic look in a tough human edge means this isn’t only a workout in mawkishness, even though it’s also nowhere near to psychologically resonant since it aims being. We Bought a Zoo is founded on the sunday paper with the real-existence Mee, a classic Protector author who along with his family bought and reopened the Dartmoor Zoological Park in north western England. The film transports the knowledge to La, where Damon’s Benjamin finds themselves unable to maneuver track of his existence, experiencing recollections of his dead wife throughout his La neighborhood. He decides it’s time for just about any move, too as with his go to a home for his family, he stumbles onto a stylish 18-acre space getting a small complication — it’s furthermore a zoo that includes 200 animals, some endangered, also it must be elevated to straightforward or separated. Benjamin can be a reporter within the LA Occasions and knows nothing about pet care, just one look at his cherubic daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Manley) communing having a couple of peacocks and also the mind’s composed. He quits his journalism gig, packs up his kids and heads away and off to mind up Rosemoor, an extremely shabby attraction that nevertheless includes a bear, some tigers and love interests for him as well as the sulky Dylan (the film’s working title most most likely being We Bought a Zoo and several Female buddies). We Bought a Zoo is Crowe’s first narrative film since the large-hearted mess that was 2005’s Elizabethtown, plus it finds the director working off an modified script initially put together by Aline Brosh McKenna, the writer behind slightly cruel chick-flick fare like I Don’t Know How She'll It, 27 Dresses as well as the Demon Wears Prada. The film has the style of something deeply conventional that Crowe, who’s also credited just like a film author, has attempted with very mixed success to punch tabs on personality. The tentative start a romance between Benjamin and also the gruff, overstressed zookeeper Kelly Promote (Scarlett Johansson), for instance, features a subdued, prickly sweetness once the pair sort out her exasperation the stranger has already established being an apparent hobby something essential to her. Nevertheless the puppy love that sparks between Dylan and Kelly’s protected youthful cousin Lily (Elle Fanning) seems extraneous, aside from since the latest showcase of techniques good Fanning is: She conjures from little material a lady of heartbreaking vulnerability and openness. Damon has carried out one fighting but quietly heroic single father this year, while using stakes substantially greater in Contagion, and also the clashes and reconciliations with Dylan will be the film’s most effective moments, all-too-identifiable good good examples of techniques a few fight when they have been more to keep in comparison as to the they’d would rather admit. It’s unfortunate that many other associations inside the film feel underdeveloped — Thomas Haden Chapel, playing Benjamin’s brother, will there be to supply exposition and supply doubt, Peter MacCready (Angus Macfadyen), who’s developed the zoo’s animal enclosures, can be a broad caricature, as well as the glimpses we have of Benjamin’s late spouse are glowingly idealized (best wishes rivaling that, ScarJo). Benjamin themselves tends toward the fuzzy — just like a reporter, the film’s introduction demands, he embarked on adventures around the globe, but always becoming an observer. This really will probably be his first real adventure — except controlling a zoo can be a business, not just a jaunt using the forest, as well as the miracle doesn't materialize. Rather, he finds themselves requiring to complete things like spend out personal personal bankruptcy-worthy amounts of money to correct around the block making the difficult decision regarding should you put a ageing, ailing animal to relaxation (a telephone call the film clumsily tries to connect to his need to overlook the memory of his wife). We Bought a Zoo might be the storyline from the nice guy, the kind of story through which Crowe has specialized. But despite moments of promise it never kicks into gear, won't get us installed on either your dog park or perhaps the family trying in order to save it. and never convinces us in the wild moment of giddy conviction needed to decide like the one inch the title. Buy a zoo? Unlikely. Sublet, maybe. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Lindsay Lohan Reportedly Recovers Stolen Purse, Minus Cash

First Published: December 12, 2011 10:30 AM EST Credit: Getty Images LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Lindsay Lohan sits in court during her probation violation hearing at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles on November 2, 2011Lindsay Lohans reported missing purse caper in Hawaii appears to have come to end, but the actress is out a huge amount cash. Just a day after the actress purse, which contained her passport and probation paperwork allowing her to be in Hawaii for the weekend was stolen, Lindsay reportedly recovered her bag. According to TMZ, the actress searched the party in Laie for hours looking for her missing bag, but found nothing. A man reportedly returned the bag to the actress but reportedly, the $10,000 in cash Lindsay was carrying, was missing. The unidentified man reportedly said he found the bag, which contained everything but the cash, in the street. Lindsay is due in court on Wednesday, where she will appear before Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner at her progress report hearing in Los Angeles. The headline-making actress whose Marilyn Monroe-inspired Playboy cover leaked last week reportedly was so happy to recover her purse and identification documents that she did not question the missing money. This is the second time the star has experienced passport woes immediately prior to a court date. In May 2010, Lindsay was at the Cannes Film Festival when she claimed her passport had been stolen and was unable to return stateside in time for a court hearing. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hot Trailer: The Lucky One

Australian director Scott Hicks (Snow Falling On Cedars, Shine) tackles this romantic drama based a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Lucky One, about an Iraq war veteran who travels to North Carolina in search of the woman in a photo he thinks is a lucky charm that saved his life. Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Jay R. Ferguson and Blythe Danner star. Script was adapted by Will Fetters. From Warner Bros. Slated to open April 20.

Mart aims to boost indie 3D

'The Flying Machine''Inner Earth''J'adore ca''Mice (a Cat) and Me'The 3D Stereo Media confab spans all aspects of 3D, from scientific applications to entertainment.It has grown quickly: the first edition in 2009 attracted 350 participants from 13 countries, while last year's event had 800 attendees from 20 countries.As well as the conference, workshops and film festival featured in previous editions, this year sees the addition of the 3D Film Mart, a co-production market that seeks to boost the number of independently produced 3D pics, particularly those from Europe."There are a lot of Hollywood studio 3D projects, but fewer European ones, for obvious reasons: They started later, the financing is a bit more difficult or complicated than other films, but also because the existing markets in Europe -- like Cannes, Berlin, etc. -- were not really putting the 3D people together," says Thierry Baujard, CEO of film biz consultancy Peacefulfish, which helped set up the market.The European Union's Media Program, which is keen to encourage European producers to take on 3D projects, provided 40% of the funding for the market.Further coin came from the regional government in French-speaking Wallonia, which is keen to boost investment in this area."The transition (to 3D) is not easy to manage, because it requires new technical skills -- the filmmakers must learn a new 3D film grammar -- but also in terms of funding. The market is a tool that should answer that last challenge," says 3D Stereo Media co-founder Pierre Collin, who is exec manager of Twist, an org that reps 100 digital technology companies in Wallonia, as well as running his own consultancy firm, Eureka Conseils.The mart attracted applications from 60 projects, and from those 20 have been chosen to take part, with budgets totalling $88 million ($119 million). All projects have 10% of their funding in place. The highest budgeted project is the $24.3 million fantasy toonpic "WindWalkers" from France's Forge Animation. The next biggest is the $13.5 million sci-fi horror "Grind" from Berlin-based New Tension Films. Both are English-language pics. Most projects are budgeted below $7 million.Apart from covering the additional cost of 3D filmmaking, another issue for producers is securing a TV pre-sale, which is problematic given that relatively few TV companies have 3D channels, Baujard says.As well as being pitched to international financiers and co-producers, the projects in the mart will be judged by a jury, which includes Anne Sheehan, an exec at Prescience Film Finance in London, and Mark Menta, prexy of Malibu Film Group, in Los Angeles.RELATED LINKS Verly looks beyond 3D to high-tech future Contact Leo Barraclough at leo.barraclough@variety.com

Resistance

A Metrodome Distribution discharge of a Large Wealthy Films presentation in colaboration with Film Agency for Wales. (Worldwide sales: Rezo Films, Paris.) Created by Richard Holmes, Amanda Faber. Executive producer, Richard J. Staniforth. Co-producers, Isabelle Georgeaux, Tina Alexandrou, Clive Cowdery, Charles Peel. Co-executive producers, Keith Potter, Al Munteanu. Directed by Amit Gupta. Script, Gupta, Owen Sheers, in line with the novel by Sheers.With: Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wlaschiha, Alexander Doetsch, Stanislav Ianevski, George Taylor, Anatole Taubman, Nia Gwynne, Sharon Morgan, Kimberley Nixon, Mossie Cruz, Melanie Walters, Tomos Eames, Iwan Rheon, Simon Remedy, Michael Sheen. (British, German dialogue)Patient audiences could find themselves giving up to "Resistance," a Wales-set World war 2 drama from first-time feature helmer Amit Gupta. Modified from Owen Shears' novel of the identical title, this counterfactual tale supposes the Nazis effectively penetrated England following a failure from the D-Day landings. Using the menfolk of the small Welsh village getting already departed, it's as much as the ladies to barter a troublesome detente using the taking up pressure. Thoughtful, action-light pic showed up November. 25 inside a dozen Blighty arthouses, facing off against greater-profile year-finish game titles a significant offensive by ticketbuyers is not likely. A patrol brought by youthful commanding officer Albrecht (Tom Wlaschiha) makes its way into the Welsh Olchon Valley in nov 1944. They're coolly received through the female occupants, whose husbands have disappeared within the evening. Farmer's wife Sarah (Andrea Riseborough) appears particularly unyielding and initially rebuffs any the help of the soldiers. But Albrecht sees that farm work will work for his men's morale, and finally practical necessity forces the ladies to create aside qualms about collaboration. The patrol beds lower for that winter, ditching military uniforms for that absent men's work clothes. The main reason the Nazis are curious about this proper backwater is eventually revealed to become an old artifact, a roadmap around the globe, thought to have symbolic value by Himmler. However when Albrecht finds out it stored inside a cave, he keeps quiet concerning the find, wishing to help keep his troops from the frontlines as lengthy as you possibly can. His sincere courtship from the enigmatic Sarah might be the actual reason. Pale-skinned rising star Riseborough ("Brighton Rock," "W.E.") once more supplies a captivating focus, strongly interacting a feeling of hurt, loss and lastly something similar to yearning inside a perf as restrained as lenser John Pardue's highly composed, desaturated photography. She's matched up with a similarly interior turn from East German-born Wlaschiha (TV miniseries "The Deep") like a soldier caught between duty and conscience. Nevertheless, their slow-burn relationship does not proceed inside a manner prone to satisfy fans of historic romance. A subplot including a youthful resistance fighter (Iwan Rheon, well-known to youthful British auds for TV's "Misfits") feels inadequately developed. Because the lad's mentor, Michael Sheen ("The Full") will get sufficient screentime to supply one more marketable element. Despite a comparatively modest budget, Gupta accomplishes a genuine feeling of the passing seasons as icy winter turns to sunny spring, echoing a persons drama. Because of highly discreet utilization of music, an evocatively whizzing, from time to time howling wind may be the dominant audio component. Elements of design, including Nigel Egerton's earth-tone costumes, are of the piece using the period rural setting and also the sustained mood of restraint.Camera (Luxurious color, widescreen), John Pardue editor, Chris Barwell music, Mark Bradshaw production designer, Adrian Cruz art director, Michael Fleischer set decorator, Fran Cooper costume designer, Nigel Egerton seem (Dolby Digital), Malcolm Davies supervisory seem editor, Serta Manley re-recording mixers, Manley, James Cullen effects supervisor, Tom Harris visual effects supervisor, Simon Frame visual effects, Molinare line producer, Meinir Stoutt connect producers, Peter Dunne, Sheers assistant director Mick Ward, casting, Mike Johnson. Examined at Framestore CFC, London, June 30, 2011. Running time: 92 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com