Faintheart
| Faintheart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | David Lemon |
| Directed by | Vito Rocco |
| Starring | Eddie Marsan Ewen Bremner Jessica Hynes Tim Healy Paul Nicholls Bronagh Gallagher Phil Lester |
| Music by | Mike Batt |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Peter Carlton Nick Love Rob Morgan Lee Thomas |
| Cinematography | David Katznelson |
| Editor | Neil Smith |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Production company | Vertigo Films |
| Original release | |
| Release | 27 January 2009 |
Faintheart is a 2008 British comedy film, directed by Vito Rocco and starring Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner and Jessica Hynes. The film's creation was influenced by collaborative input from the MySpace community.[1][2]
Plot
[edit]Richard (Eddie Marsan) is obsessed with medieval war re-enactment. After he turns up late to his father-in-law's funeral, still wearing Viking costume, his wife Cath (Jessica Hynes) kicks him out. Richard's honour is further damaged when Cath starts dating his son's PE teacher, Gary (Paul Nicholls). Richard is desperate to win her back, and attempts to re-enact the circumstances in which the two fell in love.
Richard's best friend Julian (Ewan Bremner), who owns a comic book store, is also having romantic problems. Meanwhile, Richard's nerdy son Martin (Joseph Hamilton) is bullied at school and resents Richard for his embarrassing hobby.
Richard's viking troupe performs a display in front of Martin's class. Richard picks Martin out to fight, but Martin hits him with a quarterstaff and runs away. Wounded by this rejection, Richard realises he must change.
After a heart-to-heart with his Viking friends, Richard cuts off his long hair and apologises at his father-in-law's grave. However, when Martin's young girlfriend expresses an interest in watching medieval re-enactment, Richard rescues his swords from the dump. Meanwhile, Cath realises that Gary looks good but is ugly inside. Julian, who was previously catfished by a small child, finds love with the child's mother Maggie (Bronagh Gallagher) who loves Star Trek: The Next Generation just as much as he does.
Richard joins a huge public display battle between Vikings and Normans. The fight is interrupted by Gary arriving, which results in a duel between Richard and Gary. Martin attempts to intervene, but Cath takes a bow and arrow and forces Gary to retreat. The crowd cheers for Cath and Martin.
Cast
[edit]- Eddie Marsan as Richard
- Ewen Bremner as Julian
- Jessica Hynes as Cath, Richard's wife
- Bronagh Gallagher as Maggie
- Tim Healy as Geoff
- Paul Nicholls as Gary
- Anne Reid as Barbara Wallace, Richard's mother-in-law
- Joseph Hamilton as Martin
- Chloe Hesar as Emily, Martin's crush
- Richard Ridings as Collin
- Gary Sefton as Vince
- Kevin Eldon as Alan
- Sandra Voe as Julian's mother
- Matthew Leighton as Kim
- Tom Smith as Danny
- Phil Lester as Tim
- Oscar McDevitt as Pete
Production
[edit]The film was written by David Lemon and directed by Vito Rocco.[3] Rocco said:
[Screenwriter David Lemon] misspent his youth in Southend observing battle re-enactors, I misspent my youth observing am-dram actors in Norfolk; and the Viking heritage combined to make the idea.[4]
Faintheart billed itself as "the world's first user-generated movie".[2] Vertigo Films, Myspace and Film4 collaborated to form the Myspace Movie Mash Up competition, which offered a £1m budget to aspiring directors.[4] From a shortlist selected by experts, Myspace users chose Vito Rocco as the winning director.[1][5]
Myspace users also auditioned for character roles. More than 1,400 users auditioned, with Rocco choosing 11 non-professional actors to feature in the film.[4] Some crew members were also sourced from Myspace. Users sent in jokes and chose the songs and bands to form the soundtrack.[1][4]
Professional Viking re-enactors from UK-based company "The Vikings" formed part of the cast alongside Britannia Romano-British society.[6][7] A specialist stunt team from East 15 Acting School took part in filming the large battles under the fight direction of Richard Ryan.
Critical reception
[edit]The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, writing, "this is not a bad movie, exactly, but it aims curiously low, and is faintly pointless; and while the actors cope well with the material, they are finally just cardboard characters in a balsa-wood plot."[2] Sky Movies gave the film four out of five stars, saying, "it's a totally unexpected hoot...Director Vito Rocco and credited writer David Lemon have done a terrific job in creating one of the most consistently funny and winning Brit-coms of recent years."[8] The IGN review by Chris Tilly was positive.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Peterkin, Tom (15 June 2008). "Faintheart, world's first MySpace movie, to debut at Edinburgh Film Festival". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ a b c Xan Brooks (23 January 2009). "Film review: Faintheart | Film". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Faintheart | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Want to be a star? How MySpace made a movie - Features - Films". The Independent. 29 December 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Film Network - Features - Faintheart: set visit". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Britannia". Durolitum.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ Ian Muirhead. "The Vikings!". Vikingsonline.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Faintheart - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ Tilly, Chris (30 June 2008). "Edinburgh 2008: Faintheart Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
Further reading
[edit]- https://web.archive.org/web/20080924225914/http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/films/2008/faintheart/reviews/ (Reviews, Cambridge Film Festival)
- Sheila Johnston (5 July 2008). "Is 'Faintheart' just a gimmick?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008.
- Tom Peterkin (15 June 2008). "Faintheart, world's first MySpace movie, to debut at Edinburgh Film Festival". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008.
- Devin Leonard (11 July 2008). "MySpace goes to the movies". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009.
External links
[edit]- Faintheart at IMDb