Carrington (film)
Encyclopedia
Carrington is a biographical film
written and directed by Christopher Hampton
about the life of the English
painter Dora Carrington
(1893–1932), who was known simply as "Carrington". The screenplay is based on biographies of writer and critic Lytton Strachey
(1880–1932) by Michael Holroyd
.
in the title role, focuses on her unusual relationship with the author Lytton Strachey
, played by Jonathan Pryce
, as well as with other members of the Bloomsbury Group
.
The film is divided into six chapters.
One: Lytton & Carrington 1915: During the Great War
Lytton Strachey is travelling to the country and staying at Vanessa Bell's house. There he meets Carrington for the first time but confuses her with a boy and does not hide his disappointment. Lytton is due to face a hearing with the military due to his open opposition to the war. While taking a hike through the countryside, he tries to kiss Carrington but she refuses him. Early in the morning, she walks into his bedroom with the intent of cutting his beard off, but stops at the last minute in contemplation of him sleeping and falls in love with him.
Two: Gertler 1916–1918: Mark Gertler tries to have sex with Carrington, but she refuses, since she thinks that he is only interested in her sexually. Gertler turns to Lytton for aid in wooing her, while trying to help him she falls more deeply in love with him and although he does not fully requite her, he does have feelings for her. While on a trip to Wales he proposes that they live together, acting on this, Carrington searches for a house and finds and refurbishes Mill House in Tidmarsh. When Gertler finds out that Carrington and Lytton are moving in together he attacks the couple.
Three: Partridge 1918–1921: Carrington later meets and falls in love with Ralph Partdrige, who has come back from the war. On their first dinner together, Ralph expresses his rather one-sided point of views which are contrary to Lytton's, nevertheless the rugged man appeals to him. Lytton goes on vacation to Italy, Ralph has made very clear his intent of marrying Carrington or leaving altogether to Bolivia
to run a sheep farm. Knowing that if Ralph is no longer with him, Lytton will move out of Mill House, she marries Ralph and in their honeymoon they meet with Lytton in Venice
. Ralph introduces his friend Gerald Brenan
to Lytton and Carrington. Brenan is planning to leave for Spain in order to improve his education and takes a liking to Carrington, which is mutual. Lytton is successful in the publication of Eminent Victorians
and manages to become a man of means. The war ends.
Four: Brenan 1921–1923: Although he tries to be loyal to his friend Ralph, Gerald and Carrington carry on an affair and have to skulk about to avoid being caught. Gerald leaves for Spain insisting that Carrington run off with him. She refuses but they continue the relationship until they get caught by Ralph, Lytton manages to avoid the break-up and secretly aids the couple to continue their affair until it ends by itself.
Five: Ham Spray House 1924–1931: Lytton buys Ham Spray and Carrington, he and Ralph move in. Ralph now is in a relationship with Frances Marshall and Lytton is in a relationship with Roger, a younger man from Oxford
, while Carrington is carrying on an affair with Beacus, a strapping seaman who has little to say and keeps trying to change Carrington to fit his fantasies but later admits that he is not attracted to her sexually. Carrington becomes pregnant by Beacus but has an abortion. Lytton takes an apartment in London where he intends to live with Roger, but it becomes clear that the relationship shall not be long-lived.
Six: Lytton 1931–1932: Roger and Lytton break up. During a tea party Lytton suddenly becomes ill; Carrington initially is optimistic but afterwards it becomes evident that he will not recover. Carrington tries to commit suicide by locking herself in the garage with the car motor running but is rescued by Ralph. When Lytton finally dies, surrounded by Ralph, Carrington and Gerald, he states "If this is dying, I do not think very much of it." Carrington is utterly depressed but manages to keep her spirits up and convinces Ralph that she needs to be alone, once they have left, she burns all of Lytton's personal possessions and takes a gun and finally manages to kill herself.
. It was primarily based upon his String Quartet No.3, with which Hampton created a temp track
, and wanted as a leitmotif
for Lytton Strachey. The score is also based on Schubert
's String Quintet in C, D. 956
, whose Adagio is played during a scene in the film. However, there is also newly-composed material for the film, including "Virgin on the roof," which was incorporated into the String Quartet No. 4, and the theme for Mark Gertler, which is derived from 3 Quartets, which was composed at roughly the same time.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
written and directed by Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
about the life of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
painter Dora Carrington
Dora Carrington
Dora de Houghton Carrington , known generally as Carrington, was a British painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton Strachey....
(1893–1932), who was known simply as "Carrington". The screenplay is based on biographies of writer and critic Lytton Strachey
Lytton Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey was a British writer and critic. He is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit...
(1880–1932) by Michael Holroyd
Michael Holroyd
Sir Michael De Courcy Fraser Holroyd, FRHS, FRSL is an English biographer.-Life:Holroyd was born in London and educated at Eton College, though he has often claimed Maidenhead Public Library as his alma mater....
.
Plot
The film, starring Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
in the title role, focuses on her unusual relationship with the author Lytton Strachey
Lytton Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey was a British writer and critic. He is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit...
, played by Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
, as well as with other members of the Bloomsbury Group
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half...
.
The film is divided into six chapters.
One: Lytton & Carrington 1915: During the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Lytton Strachey is travelling to the country and staying at Vanessa Bell's house. There he meets Carrington for the first time but confuses her with a boy and does not hide his disappointment. Lytton is due to face a hearing with the military due to his open opposition to the war. While taking a hike through the countryside, he tries to kiss Carrington but she refuses him. Early in the morning, she walks into his bedroom with the intent of cutting his beard off, but stops at the last minute in contemplation of him sleeping and falls in love with him.
Three: Partridge 1918–1921: Carrington later meets and falls in love with Ralph Partdrige, who has come back from the war. On their first dinner together, Ralph expresses his rather one-sided point of views which are contrary to Lytton's, nevertheless the rugged man appeals to him. Lytton goes on vacation to Italy, Ralph has made very clear his intent of marrying Carrington or leaving altogether to Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
to run a sheep farm. Knowing that if Ralph is no longer with him, Lytton will move out of Mill House, she marries Ralph and in their honeymoon they meet with Lytton in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. Ralph introduces his friend Gerald Brenan
Gerald Brenan
Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE was a British writer and Hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain.He is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War, and for South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village...
to Lytton and Carrington. Brenan is planning to leave for Spain in order to improve his education and takes a liking to Carrington, which is mutual. Lytton is successful in the publication of Eminent Victorians
Eminent Victorians
Eminent Victorians is a book by Lytton Strachey , first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the Victorian era. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit Strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded as heroes and heroine...
and manages to become a man of means. The war ends.
Four: Brenan 1921–1923: Although he tries to be loyal to his friend Ralph, Gerald and Carrington carry on an affair and have to skulk about to avoid being caught. Gerald leaves for Spain insisting that Carrington run off with him. She refuses but they continue the relationship until they get caught by Ralph, Lytton manages to avoid the break-up and secretly aids the couple to continue their affair until it ends by itself.
Five: Ham Spray House 1924–1931: Lytton buys Ham Spray and Carrington, he and Ralph move in. Ralph now is in a relationship with Frances Marshall and Lytton is in a relationship with Roger, a younger man from Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, while Carrington is carrying on an affair with Beacus, a strapping seaman who has little to say and keeps trying to change Carrington to fit his fantasies but later admits that he is not attracted to her sexually. Carrington becomes pregnant by Beacus but has an abortion. Lytton takes an apartment in London where he intends to live with Roger, but it becomes clear that the relationship shall not be long-lived.
Six: Lytton 1931–1932: Roger and Lytton break up. During a tea party Lytton suddenly becomes ill; Carrington initially is optimistic but afterwards it becomes evident that he will not recover. Carrington tries to commit suicide by locking herself in the garage with the car motor running but is rescued by Ralph. When Lytton finally dies, surrounded by Ralph, Carrington and Gerald, he states "If this is dying, I do not think very much of it." Carrington is utterly depressed but manages to keep her spirits up and convinces Ralph that she needs to be alone, once they have left, she burns all of Lytton's personal possessions and takes a gun and finally manages to kill herself.
Cast
- Emma ThompsonEmma ThompsonEmma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
– Dora CarringtonDora CarringtonDora de Houghton Carrington , known generally as Carrington, was a British painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton Strachey.... - Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
– Lytton StracheyLytton StracheyGiles Lytton Strachey was a British writer and critic. He is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit... - Steven WaddingtonSteven WaddingtonSteven Waddington is an English actor who is probably best known for his supporting role in Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans. He trained at East 15 Acting School in Loughton Essex. His first film role was as the eponymous king in Derek Jarman's Edward II...
– Ralph Partridge - Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
– Gerald BrenanGerald BrenanEdward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE was a British writer and Hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain.He is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War, and for South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village... - Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
– Mark Gertler - Penelope WiltonPenelope WiltonPenelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
– Lady Ottoline MorrellLady Ottoline MorrellThe Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers such as Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon, T. S. Eliot and D. H... - Janet McTeerJanet McTeerJanet McTeer, OBE is a British actress.-Life and career:McTeer was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of Jean and Alan McTeer...
– Vanessa BellVanessa BellVanessa Bell was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury group, and the sister of Virginia Woolf.- Biography and art :... - Peter BlythePeter BlythePeter Blythe was a British character actor, best known as Samuel "Soapy Sam" Ballard on Rumpole of the Bailey.-Early life:...
– Phillip Morrell - Jeremy NorthamJeremy NorthamJeremy Philip Northam is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Ivor Novello in the 2001 film Gosford Park, as Dean Martin in the 2002 television movie Martin and Lewis, and as Thomas More on the Showtime series The Tudors...
– Beacus Penrose - Alex KingstonAlex KingstonAlexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
– Frances PartridgeFrances PartridgeFrances Catherine Partridge CBE was a long-lived member of the Bloomsbury Group and a writer, probably best known for the publication of her diaries...
Music
The score of the film was composed by Michael NymanMichael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
. It was primarily based upon his String Quartet No.3, with which Hampton created a temp track
Temp track
A temp track is an existing piece of music or audio which is used in film production during the editing phase. It serves as a guideline for the mood or atmosphere the director is looking for in a scene....
, and wanted as a leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
for Lytton Strachey. The score is also based on Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's String Quintet in C, D. 956
String Quintet (Schubert)
The String Quintet in C major, D. 956, op. posth. 163, is a piece of chamber music written by Franz Schubert. It was composed during the summer of 1828, two months before his death, and is Schubert's final chamber work. The Quintet was first performed on 17 November 1850 at the Musikverein in...
, whose Adagio is played during a scene in the film. However, there is also newly-composed material for the film, including "Virgin on the roof," which was incorporated into the String Quartet No. 4, and the theme for Mark Gertler, which is derived from 3 Quartets, which was composed at roughly the same time.
Track listing
- Outside looking in 9.14
- Opening titles 1.21
- Fly drive 1.40
- Cliffs of fall 2.00
- Every curl of your beard 2.24
- Virgin on the roof 1.40
- Gertler 3.15
- Leaving Gertler 1.27
- Painting the Garden Of Eden 1.59
- Partridge 1.54
- Floating the honeymoon 2.45
- Brenan 6.53
- Beacus 2.58
- Leaving Brenan 1.59
- Ham Spray House 1.39
- The infinite complexities of Christmas 4.18
- 'Something rather impulsive' 1.48
- 'If this is dying' 1.46
- Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
: String Quartet In C: Adagio – Amadeus QuartetAmadeus QuartetThe Amadeus Quartet was a world famous string quartet founded in 1947.Because of their Jewish origin, violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof were driven out of Vienna after Hitler's Anschluss of 1938...
/Robert CohenRobert CohenRobert Cohen is a Canadian comedy writer. He was raised in Calgary, Alberta and has written for The Simpsons , The Wonder Years, The Ben Stiller Show, MADtv, Just Shoot Me!, Father of the Pride, and American Dad!...
(1987 recording-Polydor/Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
) 15.11
Personnel
The Michael Nyman BandMichael Nyman Band
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
- Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, piano - Beverley DavisonBeverley DavisonBeverley Davison is a British violin virtuoso, currently fronting an act she founded called Classical Cabaret: Hot Strings or "Classical Cabaret Duo" .-Biography:...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - Ann MorfeeAnn MorfeeAnn Morfee, sometimes credited as "Anne Morphee", "Ann Morphy", or similar variants, is co-founder of Opus 20, and a member of the Michael Nyman Band since 1992....
, violin - Claire Thompson, violin
- Nicholas Ward, violin
- Boguslow Kosteki, violin
- Harriet Davies, violin
- Catherine Musker, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Bruce White, viola
- Philip D'Arcy, viola
- Jim Sleigh, viola
- Anthony HinniganTony HinniganAnthony "Tony" Hinnigan is a musician from Glasgow. He is best known for his work with Michael Nyman , Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. He plays cello as well as Irish whistle and various Andean woodwind instruments...
, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - Justin PearsonJustin PearsonJustin Pearson is a frontman or bassist for a number of San Diego noise rock and grindcore bands, starting off in the punk outfit Struggle in 1994. Ensuing projects included Swing Kids, The Locust, The Crimson Curse, Holy Molar, Head Wound City, Ground Unicorn Horn, Brain Tourniquet, All Leather,...
, cello - Tony Lewis, cello
- Martin Elliott, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- David Roach, sopranoSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
/alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... - Jamie TalbotJamie TalbotJames Robert "Jamie" Talbot is an English jazz alto saxophonist.Talbot played with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and then with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra while young.He attended the Royal College of Music in 1978-79, then recorded throughout the decades of the 1980s and 1990s with...
, alto/tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Richard Clews, hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Produced by Michael Nyman
- Engineer: Michael J. Dutton
- Mixed at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Edited at Kitsch Studios, London
- Design: Curio Group Limited
- Published by Chester Music Ltd/Michael Nyman Ltd
1995 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury Special Prize
- Best ActorBest Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * ....
for Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
1995 National Board of Review
- Best Actress, for Emma ThompsonEmma ThompsonEmma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
(with Sense and Sensibility)