Angela's Ashes
Synopsis
A cold greeting awaits them in Limerick by Angela's Catholic family. Grandma lends them money for a small place but any hope of their luck changing soon disappears with Dad not being able to find employment, and Oliver and Eugene dying from malnourishment and the damp. Dad's spirits sink lower and he drowns his sorrows in alcohol.
Edinburgh Film Festival - nbx write up:
As soon as he finished reading Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, the devastating portrayal of a child growing up in Ireland, British film-maker Alan Parker tried to option the film rights. Although they had already been acquired by US producers David Brown and Scott Rudin, Parker soon signed on as director, taking a production credit via his London-based Dirty Hands Productions. The director then updated the first draft of the script written by Australian writer Laura Jones.
"Adapting any famous literary work is problematic in that, in the compression to a manageable cinematic shape, inevitably, certain characters and situations will be excluded," Parker said.
At that time in 1998, Dirty Hands had a first-look deal with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, now known as Universal Pictures International (UPI). UPI agreed to back the project along with Paramount Pictures. With two-times Academy Award nominee Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle in place as the leads, and three boys cast for the three ages of Frank, production began in September 1998. "Our film had the advantage of being financed by two studios and so we had the luxury of moving this huge travelling circus around Ireland," says Parker.
The team decided to shoot in Dublin and Cork as well as Limerick, the western Irish town where the majority of the book is set. "It was obvious that a patchwork quilt, a mosaic of different places, would have to be put together to accurately replicate the Limerick of 50-odd years ago," says Parker.
Angela's Ashes wrapped in December 1998 after a 75-day shoot. It was released in the US in December 1999.
Details
- Year
- 2000
- Type of project
- Features
- Running time
- 2 hrs 24 mins
- Format
- 35mm Kodak
- Director
-
Alan Parker
- Producer
- Adam Schroeder, Eric Steel
- Editor
- Gerry Hambling ACE
- Screenwriter
- Laura Jones, Alan Parker
- Director of Photography
- Michael Seresin
- Sound
- Ken Weston AMPS
- Composer
- John Williams
- Principal cast
- Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle
Genre
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Dirty Hands Productions
2nd Floor, 6-10 Lexington StreetLondon W1R 3HS
UK
T +44 (0)20 7287 7410
Sales Company
U.I.P.
45 Beadon RoadLondon W6 0EG
UK
T +44 (0)20 8741 9041
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