Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

A petrol pump bandit is at large, stealing petrol in an effort to raise public awareness of the outrageous prices paid for petrol in this country.

Synopsis

Surviving the Burma campaign, Mr Peters has a new enemy - this time in the urban jungle. The old soldier has some useful survival skills but when his memory fails him, he presents a great danger - to himself. A story of everyday survival against the onslaught of old age . . .

Synopsis

On a cold, windy day, the villagers attend the funeral of Laszlo Ferencs, the last and only Gypsy musician in the town. At his graveside, the wind blows so powerfully that no one can hear the priest's funeral oration. Far on the other side of town, people are going about their daily business. Through their windows creeps a strange music, the last reminder of the dead musician, which gradually lifts their spirits.

Synopsis

A traditional ghost story for the whole family. Teenager James Greville has lived in children's homes his whole life. So he's surprised when a distant Great Uncle invites him to stay at his home: Greville Lodge. A quiet old man, Great Uncle has a thoughtful, haunted manner. Even the jollity of Sarah the housekeeper hides sadness underneath. James becomes swiftly convinced the house is haunted. He wakes to strange sounds . . . he glimpses movement in the shadows . . . he sees a figure watching him. The more hauntings that occur, the more driven he is to find out about the house; the more he uncovers, the more frequent the hauntings become. One night he wakes to find himself back in the past, in the middle of events which will explain, once and for all, the secret of the house. A forbidden friendship between the Master's son and two of the servants that culminated in a tragic accident, destroying happiness at Greville Lodge for decades. But why is James reliving these events? Is it because only he can settle matters that have laid untouched and forgotten . . . ? Is it because both Sarah and Great Uncle need to remember what happened, so that their pain can finally subside . . . ?

Synopsis

Coll is stuck serving hotdogs from a van to passing travellers - until she meets a mysterious old man who emerges every day from the forest opposite the van.

Synopsis

The Golden Bowl is the story of two marriages entangled in each other in a complex and almost incestuous relationship. The place is England, the years 1903 to 1909. Prince Amerigo, an impoverished Italian aristocrat, has married Maggie, the daughter of Adam Verver, an enormously rich American Tycoon and art collector. The Prince has had a prior love affair with another American girl, Charlotte Stant, as poor as himself. Their last outing together is in search of a wedding present for Maggie. They find a Golden Bowl but finally reject it as being flawed. By a strange twist of fate, Charlotte marries Adam Verver, so that the lives of the four of them - Father and daughter and the two former lovers - become entwined into one family. Bored by their new state of luxury, the Prince and Charlotte resume their old relationship. Maggie suspects and then discovers their affair through the fortuitous purchase of the same golden bowl that they had left behind. The Prince and Charlotte may have thought to outwit the simpler and less worldly couple of father and daughter. But it is now Maggie who takes charge and manipulates the situation in an attempt to save the marriages. And finally, Maggie's father who all this time has kept his knowledge of the adulterous affair to himself, takes the decisive step that bring the story to its startling conclusion.

Synopsis

Reuniting the Merchant-Prawer-Jhabvala-Ivory team with Henry James following The Europeans in 1979 and The Bostonians in 1984, The Golden Bowl is the story of two impoverished lovers (Uma Thurman and Jeremy Northam) who decide to wed for money -- she to an American billionaire (Nick Nolte), he to the billionaire's daughter (Kate Beckinsale). Concealing their relationship from both spouses, the couple carry on their clandestine relationship until it ends in tragedy partly due to her cruel manipulations. The golden bowl of the title, which plays a key role in the lovers' secrets and lies, is a beautifully crafted object with a hairline crack almost invisible to the eye. Director James Ivory had been mulling the idea of returning to James when he began to read The Golden Bowl, the author's most difficult but also most accomplished novel. He gave up halfway through. He and screenwriter Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala turned instead to The Portrait Of A Lady and The Wings Of A Dove but when they found they had been pipped to the post by Jane Campion and Iain Softley respectively, they went back to The Golden Bowl. With backing from Miramax Films and TF1 International, the film began shooting over the summer of last year, using several spectacular locations including Syon House just outside London. With their trademark elegance, subtlety and meticulous attention to period detail, the Merchant Ivory team won over most critics at the Cannes Film Festival where the film premiered. It will open in the US in November through Miramax Films, which will also release the film in the UK.

Synopsis

The Greatest Store in the World is a gripping, entertaining, poignant Christmas special for all the family. Who needs a toy when you can have the whole toy department? Why watch one television when you can watch hundreds? Who needs to write to Santa Claus when he's right there in his Grotto? A cold, homeless, present-less, cracker-less Christmas is transformed into every child's fantasy when a mother takes her two children to live in the greatest store in the world. But what starts as a spirited search for refuge, becomes a nail-biting adventure, as 'away in a manger' turns into a race against time, crime and a wicked Santa Claus and his malicious elfin side-kick

Synopsis

Callum Crane (Bill Pullman) is a high-powered lawyer on the verge of becoming a judge, fuelled by alcohol inspired lust, he commits an act that will have devastating consequences. He assaults his pretty new legal assistant Sophie (Gabrielle Anwar). She subsequently threatens to expose him, to destroy both his career and his fragile relationship with his wife Nathalie (Joanne Whalley). In the meantime, Nathan (Devon Sawa), a young petty criminal, discovers that Crane is his real father and decides to find him. By a strange twist of fate, Nathan is befriended by Sophie's roommate, Tanya (Angela Featherstone), after encountering her near Crane's office. Finally, late one night, Nathan comes face to face with his father after he thwarts some hoodlums about to break into Crane's car. With no idea of his rescuer's true identity, Crane desperately offers Nathan money to kill the young woman who is about to wreak havoc on his life. The dramatic and complex chain of events unleashed by this act lead to Sophie's death. Although he is innocent, Nathan finds himself an accused killer and the subject of an enormous manhunt. Ultimately Nathan confronts Crane with his paternity and later, during a terrifyingly dramatic confrontation, forces him into a full confession. In attempting to save both his son and himself, Crane subsequently concocts an intricate scheme that is destined both to fail and to succeed as fate deals the final ironic hand.

Synopsis

After a drinking binge, a man spends weeks peeing at a public urinal. At first embarassing, his predicament soon turns him into a celebrity.

Synopsis

Oscar Slater lived at the turn of the century. A German Jew, he was also a petty criminal who spent 20 years in jail for a murder which may have been carried out by members of Glasgow's professional classes.

Synopsis

Based on Sax Rohmer's novels, the film follows a British detective and his search for the Chinese master criminal Fu Manchu.