One Ticket for three great directors
by Annika Pham
The European release of the week is the ‘portmanteau’ movie Tickets by film masters Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami and Ken Loach which finally finds a UK distribution slot today with Artificial Eye launching the film in two cinemas in London and one in Glasgow, almost one year since its Berlin 2005 selection out of competition.
Amongst eight new titles on release today, the Italian/UK co-production was the UK critics favourites of the week with Sergio Machado’s Brazilian film Lower City produced by Walter Salles. To promote Tickets to UK audiences, Robert Beeson from Artificial Eye exploited the UK story told by Ken Loach in which three Celtic fans on their way to a football match of their dreams are forced to open their eyes and see the bigger picture. The film was promoted to the ‘Celtic supporters Club’ and extra previews were organised in Glasgow.
Artificial Eye was also busy this week pushing for bigger numbers on Jacques Audiard’s The Beat My Heart Skipped [+see also:
trailer
film profile] which has grossed over £320,000 (€470,000) in 8 weeks and should-hopefully- reach £500,000 (€740,000).
Targeting the mainstream market, this week’s UK film Keeping Mum [+see also:
trailer
film profile] directed by Niall Johnson and released by Entertainment Film Distributors has a high earning potential with UK comedian Rowan Atkinson playing like in Four Weddings And a Funeral a comic vicar, against UK/French actress Kristin Scott Thomas. In this film from Tusk Productions, Atkinson plays a pastor preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon who fails to realize that his whole family is in crisis. An attractive package on paper, but the final result didn’t convince UK critics.
Another film with UK involvement, Atom Egoyan’s Cannes 2005 competition film Where The Truth Lies had a lukewarm welcome by the UK press, but again, the start power of Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth in a slick thriller, launched with 50 prints by Momentum Pictures should still find its audience.
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