In 1671, with war brewing with Holland, a penniless prince invites Louis XIV to three days of festivities at a chateau in Chantilly. The prince wants a commission as a general, so the extravagances are to impress the king. In charge of all is the steward, Vatel, a man of honor, talent, and low birth. The prince is craven in his longing for stature: no task is too menial or dishonorable for him to give Vatel. While Vatel tries to sustain dignity, he finds himself attracted to Anne de Montausier, the king’s newest mistress. In Vatel, she finds someone who’s authentic, living out his principles within
the casual cruelties of court politics. Can the two of them escape unscathed?

Vatel.2000.DVDRip.x264-cpetrus.mkv

General
Container: Matroska
Runtime: 1h 52mn
Size: 2.94 GiB
DXVA: Compatible
Minimum settings: Met
Video
Codec: x264
Resolution: 716x442 ~> 1038x442
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Frame rate: 25.000 fps
Bit rate: 3 215 Kbps
Audio
English 5.1ch AC-3 @ 448 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/3416F29565BB7F9/Vatel.2000.DVDRip.x264-cpetrus.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English

The post Roland Joffé – Vatel (2000) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Set against the backdrop of Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the play depicts a single mother’s struggles in this highly polemical and unremittingly bleak diatribe against government welfare cuts from the poor and disabled. The derogatory term ‘spongers’ is used by British tabloid press to describe people who are dependent on welfare support, however the play presents the case of a family who desperately need the help.

Quote:
The Spongers caused something of a stir when it was broadcast, not least for the opening shot (deftly inserted by director Roland Joffe at the last possible moment before transmission) of outsize cut-outs of the Queen and Prince Philip, over which the title is cheekily superimposed …

… It’s one of the most powerful dramas the BBC, or anyone, have shown, and as such presents the strongest possible case for the “naturalism” that many Play for Today writers were determined to get away from. The ensemble playing is brilliantly done, with interruptions and improvised stutters giving a documentary feel that, while grossly overused (even misused) these days, is wholly convincing here. Joffe’s camerawork is uniformly flat – either huge hand-held close-ups bring us right into the action, or telephoto long shots distance us, as in the final scene, like a news report. It’s entirely the right thing to do – the shabby reality of life at “the bottom of the pile” is presented as a constant, a prison the characters can never escape from with tricksy flashbacks or flights of technical reverie.

2.35GB | 1h 43m | 768×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/42C36021057E444/The.Spongers.1978.BDRIP.576p.x264.AC3.mkv

Language:English
Subtitles:English SDH

The post Roland Joffé – Play for Today: The Spongers (1978) first appeared on Cinema of the World.