Retro IONCINEMA.com
SPC adds more ‘Virtue’ to already solid 2009 slate
This is director Stephan Elliott’s first film since 1998 – when he released the filmed-in-Montreal, horribly-conceived thriller called Eye of the Beholder.
I think it was last week when SPC announced that they picked up the Latin American rights to the picture, and I guess there was a little bit more work involved in securing the US and South African dibs on a period pic that played well at the last ed. of the Toronto Film Festival. This is director Stephan Elliott’s first film since 1998 – when he released the filmed-in-Montreal, horribly-conceived thriller called Eye of the Beholder. Before that, he attained almost instant cult status with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. What many of you folks don’t know is that this was first made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in 1928.
The adaptation of Noel Coward’s play written in 1926, sees John Whittaker (Ben Barnes), a young Englishman, falls madly in love with Larita (Jessica Biel), a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously. However when the couple returns to the family home, his mother Mrs. Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas) has an instant allergic reaction to her new daughter-in-law. Larita tries her best to fit in but fails to tiptoe through the minefield laid by her mother-in-law. Larita quickly realizes Mrs. Whittaker’s game and sees that she must fight back if she’s not going to lose John. A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly. Mrs. Whittaker manipulates every situation to undermine her, while Larita remains frustratingly calm and engineers sassy counter attacks. Before long, Mrs. Whittaker’s manipulation starts to work on John and Larita feels their love is in danger of slipping away. In a grand finale, where the secrets from Larita’s past are revealed, she finally makes a break for freedom from the suffocating house.
So far, Sony Pictures Classics’s 2009 slate includes film festival pick ups in Paris 36, O’Horten, Lorna’s Silence, Russian ensemble drama 12, Sundance’s Sugar, TIFF’s Every Little Step, and two projects that will premiere at major festivals with the Untitled Nicole Holofcener project and Pedro’s Broken Embraces.
