Projects matching: Eric Styles

Synopsis

Ralph, a once famous writer is in his seventies and terminally ill. He has things to do before he dies: to be reconciled with his long-abandoned son, Michael, and secretly, to ensure he is not a burden to his devoted young wife, Anna, as he goes ‘into that good night.’ But Ralph ruins all hope of reconciliation when he picks a fight with Michael’s girlfriend, Cassie.
Later, alone, Ralph receives the sinister and mysterious “Visitor” whose services he has hired to provide a painless ending to his life. But the Visitor plays a devastating trick. Ralph ‘wakes up’ to face the damaged potential that life still holds for him and with his second chance he has a short window of opportunity to right some wrongs.
Edinburgh International FIlm Festival 2017 - World premiere

Synopsis

Georgina Scott is a broody 33 year-old who sends her partner packing when it becomes obvious that he doesn't share her desire for a bundle of joy. Zak was going away on a documentary shoot anyway and he hopes that she'll cool off in his absence. But Georgina discovers that early menopause runs in her family and heads to a specialist with her reluctant best friend Clem in tow. Learning that her baby making days are numbered and her next cycle will be her last, Georgina enlists the help of Clem and their camp pal, Justin, to make the most of it. A battle plan is drawn up but their escapades become increasingly frantic and elaborate as Georgina explores internet sperm donors, nightclubbers, builders and funeral-goers in her desperate and hilarious attempts to beat the biological clock.

Synopsis

Eric Styles' adaptation of Noel Coward's Relative Values marks Julie Andrews' first screen role for eight years. Andrews stars as the Countess of Marshwood who puts on a brave face when her son brings home a brash American movie star he plans to marry.



Andrews was immediately drawn to the script as she had known Coward personally. "He was a dear friend of mine," she explains. "I have sung many of his songs and always been a great admirer of his work. I was also very impressed with Eric's debut film, Dreaming Of Joseph Lees, and thought he might be an interesting young man to work with. I also love the period the film is set in. It embodies that true 1950s glamour."



British writers Paul Rattigan and Michael Walker acquired the rights to Relative Values from the Coward Estate in 1996. Overseas FilmGroup and British producer Chris Milburn boarded the project at Cannes the following year. Styles, with whom Milburn was working at the time on Joseph Lees, agreed to direct.



"Most of my work had been more gritty and realistic, so making a film about this crazy, implausible situation happening in a country house in Kent with aristocrats in the 1950s was a wonderful challenge," says Styles. "The film works for a contemporary audience because the madness of the whole situation is so appealing."



Relative Values shot for 10 weeks at the end of last summer on location on the Isle of Man, which stood in for Kent. It opened in the UK in July.

Synopsis

On a dark Saturday night, Harvey Kitts stumbles into a hospital suicide ward. He holds a paper bag in his hand and sorrowful memories in his head.

Synopsis

Somerset, 1958. Twenty year-old Eva fantasises about travel, painting, devouring classic works of literature and being adored by Joseph Lees, the second cousin she fell in love with as a girl. Joseph, who she has not seen in four years, is the only member of Eva's family who has managed to break away from the deadening domestic cycle. He was recently terribly injured in a quarry accident and Eva secretly imagines herself helping him through his suffering. She manages to conceal her obsession from everyone except her fascinated sister Janie who, at 12 years-old, is already an inveterate meddler.





Reality, however, is a long way from Eva's dreams. Her artistic endeavours are confined to a drawing class; she works for a pittance in a dirty sawmill and is responsible for running her father's house. She is also slowly being seduced by local pig farmer, Harry Flyte, a charming, handsome and devilishly persistent lad determined to win her over.





Harry's sister, Maria, has an interest in seeing her brother settle down as it will give her the freedom to chase men and do as she pleases. Eva surrenders to the sibling's joint pressure, convinces herself that she is in love, and moves in with Harry. All is well until a family gathering brings back all Eva's buried feelings for her cousin. At the wedding, Eva and Joseph cannot keep their eyes off each other. And as they dance they forget everything and everyone. When Eva goes home, determined to leave Harry, Maria tells her about his psychological damage, and leaves her terrified by the effect her desertion could have on his health. Indeed, when Harry fears he is about to lose her, he becomes irrationally jealous and self-destructive . . .

Synopsis

A young boy is rejected by his parents because of his physical disability. He is imprisoned in the house, but finds that he can free himself by entering the mind of a buzzard which haunts its prey around the family farm.