Sundance: Campion Takes On The Miniseries

Michael C. here. Just as I was calming down over the too-good-to-be-true Before Midnight buzz, news of the Sundance premiere of Jane Campion's Top of the Lake hit me and now I run the risk of anticipation overload. The Inside Llewyn Davis trailer didn't help either. 

Campion's six-hour miniseries premiered to strong reviews at the film festival this week on its way to a March run on the Sundance Channel. With Fincher’s House of Cards set to drop on Netflix February 1st  that makes two of our most important directors in as many months abandoning theaters in favor of the small screen. No longer is major Hollywood talent helming a miniseries limited to Mike Nichols Broadway adaptations and Tom Hanks indulging his twin obsessions of NASA and World War II. For now though, any lengthy trend pieces take a back seat to the headline that Top of the Lake sounds amazing. A must-see, especially for Campion fans. 

Perfect Oscar Happenings: when all three women of The Piano won OscarsIf the director reuniting with her The Piano star Holly Hunter isn't enough to get you excited she is also returning to film in her native New Zealand. Furthermore, the story of a detective returning home to investigate the disappearance of a child offers Elisabeth Moss the substantial leading role she richly deserves after being an ensemble MVP in everything from Mad Men to West Wing to a recent cameo in On the Road. Campion has a knack for getting career best work out of actresses, so this sounds like a very promising move for Moss. Peter Mullan, the fearsome star of Tyrannosaur, is also on hand.

We will see if the blurring of the lines between big screen and small turns out to be one of the overriding narratives of the film year. Whatever the case, between Campion and Fincher I expect that come year’s end many film critics will be trying to justify wedging a miniseries onto their top 10 lists.

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Reader Writes: David O. Russell and Keira Knightley *LIVE*

Wanted to share two recent e-mails I got from longtime TFE readers about their own cinematic-adjacent adventures seeing the stars live.

BBats recently took in a double feature of Citizen Ruth and Flirting With Disaster at Cinefamily and Oscar-nominated directors David O. Russell (The Fighter) and Alexander Payne (Sideways) spoke to the crowd.

Alexander Payne and David O. Russell at the Cinefamily event

BBats writes:

I was listening to your latest podcast (love it) and wanted to share Russell's answer to a question about Nailed and if it will ever come out.  Russell said that the production company used Nailed, Taylor Hackford's Love Ranch, and a Philip Noyce film that would have starred Scarlett Johansson (never shot) as a shell game, shifting money between the three when it was needed. Hackford wouldn't work on Love Ranch unless he got paid first, and Russell got shut down for the final time that same week -- they had been shut down 7 or so times.  When trying to get it going again, Russell shopped it around in rough state like a "two dollar whore" and nobody wanted it.  He said he wanted to move on and leave all the badness behind him.

And with the success of The Fighter, I guess he won't be needing to beg for much work (my opinion).

BBats also recommends attending any event that Russell speaks at because he's hilarious. I can vouch for this myself as mentioned in this post about his Museum of the Moving Image interview. Payne spoke about Citizen Ruth, the 1996 abortion-debate satire starring Laura Dern, which you MUST see if you haven't.

The original title for Citizen Ruth was "The Devil Inside." Mr. Payne said two of his favorite jokes he's written are when Ruth punches the kid and the helicopter scene where Ruth shouts at her mother. (I won't spoil the joke for those who haven't seen it). The movie was given the go ahead by Harvey Weinstein in a Lincoln towncar. He was being pestered by producer Cathy Conrad and he relented saying, "Oh all right."  It took five years to get the greenlight.

Meanwhile across the pond, Rami saw the new production of THE CHILDREN'S HOUR on stage in London during previews.

Elisabeth Moss and Keira Knightley in The Children's Hour

The star-studded affair (Keira Knightley, Ellen Burstyn, Elisabeth Moss and Carol Kane. Whew) opens officially tomorrow. As you may know this is the play which inspired the movies These Three (1936) and The Children's Hour (1961), the latter starring Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn. Maclaine is now embarrassed about her participation (see the documentary: The Celluloid Closet, 1995) The play is about a school girl who spreads a lesbian rumor about two teachers at her boarding school. The rumor isn't true except that it hits too close to home for one of the teachers and sets in motion a terrible series of events.

Rami writes:

Overall I thought that the entire production was strong. The set design was effective if sparse, with the boarding school set consisting of blueish grey wood panels and a very tall bookshelf.

The first half, which could use some pacing work, focuses mainly on the young school girls. I have to admit that Hannah grated as Mary, sticking to one note of  ‘lying angry little girl’ and rarely getting out of it. However, there is a wonderful pivotal scene in the first half between Moss and Carol Kane (who plays her aunt) where they discuss Karen's (Knightley's) engagement. Kane pushes and prods and Moss gets angry while trying to control her emotions, trying not to admit what she knows is true.  

The second half of the play is much stronger, Ellen Burstyn does nice subtle work as the grandmother who is inclined to believe the child's lie. The final scenes are very strong. Moss is nothing short of exceptional, from her initial despair, to her confrontation with her Aunt, to the joy when she thinks they've been saved to her utterly heartbreaking confession of love. Knightley never overplays it and is mostly reactive, but the moment when she lets all her rage and fury flow out lingers after you leave the theater.

Oh how I wish I could fly to London at the moment!

Have you ever seen The Children's Hour or Citizen Ruth?