Cassandra's Dream
| Cassandra's Dream | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Letty Aronson Stephen Tenenbaum Gareth Wiley Daniel Wuhrmann |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Colin Farrell Ewan McGregor Hayley Atwell Sally Hawkins Tom Wilkinson |
| Music by | Philip Glass |
| Cinematography | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| Editing by | Alisa Lepselter |
| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company (USA) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (worldwide) Optimum Releasing (UK) |
| Release date(s) | 26 October 2007 (Spain) 31 October 2007 (France) 18 January 2008 (USA) 9 May 2008 (UK) |
| Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States France United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 Million |
| Box office | $22,539,685 |
Cassandra's Dream (2007) is a British-French-American film written and directed by Woody Allen. Filmed in the UK, it was released in 2007 in Europe and in January 2008 in the U.S..
The film was premiered in secret at Avilés, Spain on June 18, 2007.[1] It was officially premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2007 and was already in theaters in Spain by November 3.[2] The film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2007.[3]
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[edit] Plot
British brothers Terry (Colin Farrell) and Ian (Ewan McGregor) who live in South London, were raised by a weak father (John Benfield) who runs a restaurant, and a strong mother (Clare Higgins) who taught her sons to look up to their uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), a successful businessman.
Both brothers decide to buy a sailboat which they name Cassandra's Dream, after the greyhound that won the race in which Terry won the money to buy the boat. Knowing nothing of Greek mythology, they are unaware of the ominous antecedents of this name: the ancient prophetess Cassandra, whose prophecies of doom went unheeded by those around her.
After a day sailing with their current girlfriends and while driving back home in a borrowed car, Ian crosses paths with beautiful actress Angela Stark (Hayley Atwell), with whom he falls in love.
The brothers' financial difficulties – Terry has a gambling problem, while Ian wishes to invest in hotels in California to finance a new life with Angela – lead them to ask for Howard's help. He agrees to help them, but asks for a favor in return: They must murder someone for him. He admits that he is about to go to jail because of accusations coming from Martin Burns, a business partner who plans to testify against him, and asks his two nephews if they can help to get rid of him. After initial reluctance, the two brothers agree.
They make two working zip guns from metal and wood, planning to burn them afterwards. In an initial attempt they wait in Burns' home; unexpectedly he is accompanied by a woman. Panicked, they leave and agree to commit the murder the next day.
In the next attempt they succeed in carrying out the murder, and burn the guns. Ian is content to move on as if nothing happened, but Terry is consumed by guilt and begins abusing alcohol and pills. This frightens his girlfriend (Sally Hawkins), who meets Ian to tell him about the situation, mentioning that Terry believes he has killed someone. Terry's behavior begins to get out of control, thus terrifying Ian. After Terry confides to his brother that he's thinking about turning himself in to the police, Ian goes to Howard for advice. Together, they agree there is no other alternative but to get rid of Terry. Ian then plans to poison Terry during a trip on the boat. In the end, however, Ian can't bring himself to kill his own brother and attacks him in a fit of rage. In the chaos, Terry knocks Ian down the steps into the cabin, killing him. Terry, who was already suicidal, snaps and drowns himself.
[edit] Cast
- Colin Farrell – Terry
- Ewan McGregor – Ian
- John Benfield – Father
- Clare Higgins – Mother
- Ashley Madekwe – Lucy
- Andrew Howard – Jerry
- Hayley Atwell – Angela Stark
- Sally Hawkins – Kate
- Keith Smee – Terry's Track Mate
- Stephen Noonan – Mel
- Dan Carter – Fred
- Richard Lintern – Director
- Jennifer Higham – Helen
- Lee Whitlock – Mike
- Michael Harm – Estate Agent
- Hugh Rathbone, Allan Ramsey, Paul Marc Davis, Terry Budin-Jones, Franck Viano, Tommy Mack – Poker Players
- Milo Bodrozic – Milo Bodrozic
- Emily Gilchrist – Emily Gilchrist
- Tom Wilkinson – Howard
- Phil Davis – Martin Burns
- George Richmond – Bernard
- Phyllis Roberts – Burns' Mother
- Tamzin Outhwaite – Burns' Date
[edit] Soundtrack
This is the first Woody Allen film since Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) to have an original score commissioned for it. The score was composed by Philip Glass.
This is the first Woody Allen film released with a stereo soundtrack. Allen previously eschewed stereo although often employing Dolby Stereo and Dolby Digital technologies to convey a higher quality mono soundtrack.[citation needed] The film is stereo for its music only.
[edit] Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of February 8, 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received 46 percent positive reviews, based on 110 reviews.[4] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 49 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.[5]
In her New York Times review, Manohla Dargis wrote that Allen's film "is good enough that you may wonder why he doesn't just stop making comedies once and for all."[6]
Damon Wise of Empire magazine concluded that Cassandra's Dream was "[a] clumsy, clichéd morality play that may actually represent the lowest point of Allen's recently chequered career."
Paul Jordan also compared the film to a morality play – but considered that praise: "Allen gets past the guard of a modern audience which would not have taken seriously the appearance of a Mephistopheles or an Old Scratch. Uncle Howard is a chilling 21st Century Tempter, fulfilling the heart's desire in return for murder and leading his nephews to terrible perdition".[7]
In his "Best of the Decade" article, New Yorker critic Richard Brody called Cassandra's Dream one of the best films of the 2000s: "Few aging directors so cogently and relentlessly depict the grimly destructive machinery of life, and every time the word 'family' is uttered, the screws tighten just a little more."[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Scotsman June 20, 2007 Spanish town beats Venice to Woody Allen premiere
- ^ Cassandra's Dream (2007) – Release dates
- ^ TIFF '07 – Films and Schedules Cassandra's Dream
- ^ "Cassandra's Dream – Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cassandras_dream/. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ "Cassandra's Dream (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/cassandrasdream. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ Times review
- ^ Paul Jordan, "Persistent Myths", p. 17
- ^ http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2009/11/best-films-of-the-decade.html
[edit] External links
- Cassandra's Dream at the Internet Movie Database
- Cassandra's Dream at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cassandra's Dream at Metacritic
- Cassandra's Dream at Box Office Mojo
- Cassandra's Dream at AllRovi
- DVD Talk discusses Woody Allen's dark side
