Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

After the phenomenal international success of their trio of films, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary, the directing, producing and scriptwriting team of Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and John Hodge, decided to turn their attention to somewhere further afield - to paradise. Or rather, paradise lost. Alex Garland's novel, about a young man travelling in Thailand who finds his way to a beach-side utopia only to become the catalyst for its destruction, was the publishing phenomenon of 1996. "We were looking for a project that had a truly international feel to it and Garland's book fit this criteria perfectly," says Macdonald. The combination of the hip film-makers' du jour with the must-read of the late 1990s proved irresistible to both 20th Century Fox, which agreed to back the film, and one of the world's biggest film stars, Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio signed to play the lead in what would be his first film since Titanic. "I wanted my next film to be something I felt strongly about and The Beach and the character of Richard were the first things I felt some kind of connection with," says DiCaprio. "Because Richard has been saturated with digital information he's never had any need to feel real emotion. So he sets off on a journey to Thailand to find something real in life. Richard is constantly looking for a much deeper sensation." The Beach was shot in Thailand at the beginning of 1999 and premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February this year. It has taken approximately $140m worldwide to date.

Synopsis

Liam O Mochain's low-budget road movie has all the ingredients that first-time film-makers dream about: Hollywood stars, film prizes and a word-of-mouth buzz that has turned it into an independent Irish hit. O Mochain stars as Vincent Macken who has written what he believes is the best post-modern novel ever about a hero's quest to win the hand of a princess. But when Macken overhears money-grubby literary agents rubbishing his work he decides to re-set his story in contemporary times and shoot it on video. He hires a video-maker and the two set out together across Ireland. Vincent soon believes he has a hit on his hands, heads for the Venice Film Festival, blags a press pass and tries to convince a number of Hollywood stars to come to Ireland and take part in his film. Which is pretty much what O Mochain did to get his film made. He recalls "arriving in Venice with our small crew - me as the director- producer-actor and a camera-sound person. We decided to stay at a campsite as it would be in character with the film. And we had no money. Every day we blagged our way into press conferences, chasing anyone that looked vaguely familiar and getting our celeb cameos. We came home triumphant, having interviewed George Clooney, Kenneth Branagh, Melanie Griffith and Robert De Niro. This was enough to get the cast and crew on a high." The Book That Wrote Itself premiered at Galway in July 1999 and went on to win awards at the Austen and Irish Reels festivals. It was released in Ireland in early August.

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

To eleven year old Taliesin Jones, God is as palpable as the apple he buys on his way to school, as real as the rain which trickles down his neck, as near as the warts on his fingertips. In Cqmglum where he lives on a farm in rural Wales, God is all around, even at school where Hoop The Mental hits him on the nose, and earthy Julie Dyer blows confusing smoke rings at him. Others don't see the world the way he does. When his mother leaves home with her hairdresser to put more colour in her life, Taliesin is left behind with his distracted father, sullenly adolescent brother and his own creeping uncertainty to try and make sense of this sudden conspiracy of events. It is only with elderly Billy Evans, piano teacher and part time healer that Taliesin finds a source of miracles, miracles which transform his life . . . The Testimony of Taliesin Jones is a beautifully measured story exploring the troubled borderland between childhood and adolescence. Poetic, precisely observed and filled with humour, it examines the resources of imagination and faith to which children can turn when faced with the confusion and imperfection of the adult world they are about to enter.

Synopsis

With three of his novels already adapted into successful films, When Brendan Met Trudy marks Roddy Doyle's first original screenplay. Exhausted by the research that went into his latest novel, A Star Called Henry, Doyle decided to stick to what he knew well and write a script that would not require long hours in libraries or in-depth interviews with historians. The result is a light-hearted romantic drama that pays homage to some of the great classics of the silver screen. Peter McDonald stars as Brendan, a teacher and film buff who escapes the boredom of his job by day-dreaming about the films he adores and singing in the local choir. He meets bohemian eccentric Trudy (Flora Montgomery), a nursery teacher, who introduces him to a new and invigorating way of life. When he discovers that she is really a thief, it adds an extra frisson to their whirlwind relationship but things go awry when Trudy meets Brendan's sister (Pauline McLynne). Trudy dumps Brendan, forcing him to move to get her back. As with his previous films, Doyle set the action in Dublin but was keen that his director, Kieran J Walsh (with whom he had made the short Hell For Leather), and production team showed a different side of the town, one that would reflect the romanticism of the narrative. "I dropped hints in the script on how it should be different from the Barrytown films, The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van. Dublin is a different place than when we did The Commitments. I decided to go for a more middle-class setting because I think that reflects Dublin more now."

Synopsis

When Brendan Met Trudy is a romantic comedy, set in present-day Dublin. Night: Brendan Moore (32), a teacher and movie buff, tenor and loner, lies on a Dublin street, face-down in a puddle. Paraphrasing William Holden at the start of Sunset Boulevard, he invites us to go back with him to 'the day it all started'. Brendan meets Trudy Fortune (28), a Montessori teacher, in a pub. They agree to meet again, for a movie, but Trudy doesn't show up. Brendan goes looking, and finds her. They try again. The relationship brings Brendan to places he's never known - parties, the supermarket, friendship with a Nigerian refugee call Edgar - and the sex is glorious. For the first time in his adult live Brendan is having fun. Then Brendan, fearing that Trudy is a serial castrator doing the rounds of Dublin, finds out that she is actually a burglar. He begins to enjoy her life of crime - and the sex is even better . . .

Synopsis

The film tells the story, based on true events, of a female journalist who, with little concern for her own safety, took on the bloody force of the Dublin criminal underworld at great cost to herself. The story starts in 1995 with Sinead Hamilton (Joan Allen) already deep into an investigation of the Dublin Mafia. Racing at 100 miles an hour through the Dublin hills, we find Sinead interviewing the notorious armed robber Martin Shaughnessy (Peter Postlethwaite) as his car screeches through the narrow country lanes. Shaughnessy insists that the corruption and degradation of Dublin is due, not to the likes of him - everyday armed robbers - but to the ruthless gangs running the ever growing and vastly profitable drug business. A business that corrupts all that it touches. These are the people that Sinead wants to expose; the drug barons gorging themselves on the city. Soon after the interview is published Shaugnessy is assassinated. At the murder scene Sinead meets Mackey (Patrick Bergin), a local Police Detective. Mackey is the classic cynical cop - tough, angry and tired. Though he knows he's fighting a losing battle investigating these sorts of crimes, there's still just enough of the idealist left, to make him carry on. However, though Sinead and Mackey have the same purpose, their methods could not be more different. So the scene is set. Heavily out-gunned in every respect, Sinead risks everything in her relentless pursuit of the underworld gangsters with only her wit, guile and sheer bravery to protect her. It's an investigation in which she discovers that truth has a cost, and that ultimately someone has to pay . . .

Synopsis

This is a short film about love at first sight. It happens in the time when love transforms the world from physical to metaphysical; when people, things and places become different. Wildlife combines dramatic action with dance on a journey into dream territory, mixing Celtic mythology, Shanghai pop and modern mysticism.

Synopsis

Broughton 'B' FC aren't just bad, they're awful. They cheerfully face a weekly inevitable annihilation with scores such as 27-0. This young team never let defeat get them down even when their sponsor, the local optician, offers them free eye tests. A heart-warming film which shows that hope really does spring eternal.

Synopsis

The battle for control of the urban jungle of post-Millennium London has reached critical mass. Martha Bedford witnesses a mob shoot out, giving the demoralised police force their best chance to even the score with the crime syndicates. Christian, London's answer to the Godfather, is forging a partnership with Miss Lloyd, head of the most powerful criminal organisation in North America, and will stop at nothing to silence Martha, no matter how many die in the process. If the police can keep Martha alive until the morning then it's game over for Christian. The action heats up, with a series of explosive confrontations at police headquarters and in a central London hotel. Hidden identities are revealed and allegiances change, keeping the audience guessing right up to the final credits.

Synopsis

Alien Blood is the first independent science-fiction feature film to be generated in the UK for 10 years. Described as "ET meets RESERVOIR DOGS".

Synopsis

Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who has everything. A brilliant politician and a perfect gentleman, he is the ideal husband for the captivating Lady Chiltern. Admired by all, they present an exquisite picture of wedded harmony. But when the scheming and seductive Mrs Cheveley threatens to reveal a dark secret from Chiltern's past, the very foundations of his prized career and marriage look set to crumble. Cornered, he turns to his life long friend, Lord Arthur Goring. Famed all over town for his dazzling wit and cultivated misbehaviour, Goring soon finds himself caught up in a tangled web of lies, temptations and secret liaisons. Yet while he excels at the affairs of others, his own are to prove more challenging. The persistent charms of Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert's sister are becoming an increasing threat to his cherished bachelorhood. She's a match for him if ever there was one . . . Romantic, funny and moving, An Ideal Husband delivers political intrigue and sparkling wit, and summons a picture of a society grappling with issues which are as pertinent in our own society as they were 100 years ago . . .