tellurikwaves Blog : CINEMA :Les blessures narcissiques d'une vie par procuration

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE p20

04/08/2014 16:38 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE p20

04/08/2014 16:38 par tellurikwaves

A comedy of affairs
8/10
Author: napierslogs from Ontario, Canada
25 November 2010

Ewedown is an idyllic, little English countryside village where writers retreat to seek inspiration, and peace and quiet. Or at least it was idyllic until Tamara Drewe returned home.

The stunningly beautiful Gemma Arterton plays Tamara Drewe. Her presence immediately sparks the interest of the local men, and the bored, local teenage girls who are looking for excitement to spice up their mundane town life. She is so sexy that she has her choice of affairs,but as usual, it's always the asshole who gets the girl.Just as it looks like Tamara is going to settle down with the rock and roll drummer Ben (Dominic Cooper) to interrupt the reserved lifestyle of the village, life gets complicated for everybody who wants something with Tamara.

"Tamara Drewe" is a comedy of affairs, complete with foul language, quirky characters and the irreverent British humour.Arterton sparkles as Tamara,but it's less about the characters and more about who will bed who and what will the consequences be? It sometimes seems to forget the age of its audience when it goes for the comedy of teenage girls getting into mischief, but it's also exactly what you would expect for an odd comedy about a group of writers and one hot girl.

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p19

04/08/2014 16:31 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p19

04/08/2014 16:31 par tellurikwaves

Entertainement I love
8/10
Author: Ingrid from France
5 August 2010

A very, very good movie, no doubt. Everything, in particular, each man, woman, chicken, car, tear, cow and dog and meadow, each pop and tune is on the right place. Excellent dialogs, sparkling soundtrack, gorgeous photography, rich colors, fresh, witty and ebullient, perfectly balanced black and ... regular humor. The story is nicely knitted, a lot of grey matter must have been consumed for the dialogs.

Some lines have got what it takes to become a "quote". I loved it! Found a few British stereotypes? So what? Troubles to follow the quick replies in the original English version? Cannot follow the subtitles while trying to translate the cream of the jokes? So what? Watch it again!! I will!

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p18

04/08/2014 16:25 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p18

04/08/2014 16:25 par tellurikwaves

An Under-appreciated Gem
9/10
Author: winterhaze13 (winterhaze13@hotmail.com) from Toronto, Canada
31 December 2010

Tamara Drewe is a real gem by The Queen director Stephen Frears. It is an updated version of Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd but based on a graphic novel by Posy Simmonds. A dark comedy set in the English countryside, the story is centred on a writer's colony run by Tamsin Greig's character Beth and her crime writer husband Nicholas, played by Roger Allam.

Gemma Arteton plays the title character who lived in the same small down in Dorset known as Ewedown during her teenage years. Now grown up she returns to restore and hopefully sell the house she used to live in. With help from a surgically reconstructed nose, Tamara Drewe has blossomed into a beautiful woman and her presence shakes the sleepy town as Bethsheba did in Hardy's novel.

The film is true to the memory of Thomas Hardy maintaining the turmoil of sexual desire and even obsession across all age groups which so commonly adorned his novels. One of the characters, the sympathetic American novelist Glen played by Bill Camp is writing a novel influenced by Hardy and references the author on many occasions.

The film breaks the notion of a quiet and sleepy town, like so many British films do. Underneath these seemingly close communities lies an underlining suspicion. Everyone is in everyone else's business in Ewedown and Tamara's presence only helps fuel the tension.The pivotal scene that embodies Tamara Drewe's character occurs when Glen tells her that life must be very easy for her because she is beautiful.She laughs it off citing that it has always been difficult for her to be taken seriously.

Behind the character of Tamara Drewe lies something more sinister.The sudden appearance of a beautiful face in the town leads to a series of events that causes the balance of everyone's life to be upset. Men are suddenly smitten by the prospect of sex while women are often jealous or angry by the disruption they cause. The story really begins to escalate when Tamara begins to date a drummer in a rock band played by Dominic Cooper and sets up permanently in the town.

Soon, everyone in the town is invested in the lives of these people in some way. The voyeurism of the locals who regard Tamara Drewe as both someone to envy and detest is likened to the celebrity status of her rock star boyfriend. Tamara quickly becomes the target of two schoolgirls who are both obsessed with the drummer and jealous of Tamara for disturbing the order of things.

The film eases its dark themes with its excellent use of subtle humour. The updated version of one of Hardy's most celebrated novels exposes the reality of a voyeuristic society too concerned with the lives of other people. Along with Frears excellent direction, the other great strength of this film is its actors with special distinction going to Tamsin Greig. Greig is familiar to the London stage scene while others have played minor roles in big films.

Gemma Arteton was one of Bond's muses in the Quantum of Solace. Roger Allam has been equally excellent in Frears academyaward winning film the Queen as well as in V for Vendetta. On one final note, I read one review that argued that the climax just does not amount to much which I personally felt was very misguided. The ending was true to the traditions of Hardy which is what Tamara Drewe is all about.

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p17

04/08/2014 16:16 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p17

04/08/2014 16:16 par tellurikwaves

brilliant
9/10
Author: robbierunciman-1 from United Kingdom
12 September 2010

I remember the cartoon strip from the Guardian and the compelling story that made the Saturday paper a must buy each week that it ran. I had two worries going into the film: what happens if they change it and make it awful; and, I had imagined Tamara a little older than Gemma Arterton - maybe she was not right for the part. Film makers often disappoint (the "Time Travellers wife" is a case in point where an excellent story was ruined by someone not understanding the multiple viewpoints in the book).

Not sure if this was aimed at fat middle aged blokes - but it worked for me, my worries were groundless: the comedy and drama survived from the story (maybe Posy Simmonds should create more novels that can be filmed). The casting was excellent and Roger Allam gave a fantastic performance, Tamsin Greg was brilliant as usual and Gemma Arterton was a revelation in the lead role. The Drumming sequence with 'Ben' in the cottage was particularly brilliant. It was good with its 'loser' characters (and I thought, maybe they should have weekends to help civil servants write inspiring briefing for uninspiring Ministers)

I am amazed at the negative reviews on the site, I do not think that that the film tried to be more than it was and yes it was set in an idyllic English village - that was the point. Maybe these reviewers should be more careful at the multiplex and are more at home with rubbish like the "Expendibles". Not clear about the link to 'Cold Confort Farm' made by another reviewer this is clearly a different style of story about modern people in the modern countryside.

There was superb characterisation by a first rate cast in a subversive story that played with the stock characters that stories in English villages always have and made some real points about what is happening in these communities and about peoples lives and how selfish actions and jokey 'messing' can have big consequences in other people's lives.

Go and see this movie.

Š-DR_ TAMARA DREWE p16

04/08/2014 11:44 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR_ TAMARA DREWE p16

04/08/2014 11:44 par tellurikwaves

charming... and good
8/10
Author: goldchurch from United Kingdom
21 September 2010

Unlike the knockers further down, I really rated this film. Some have accused it of being episodic but then all the episodes link up and ... hey thats a plot, isn't it? All the actors are great with the possible exception of Gemma/Tamara herself and she's more of an eye candy/device to bring out the true nature of all the other protagonists anyway.

Don' t get me wrong, this isn't a Lawrence of Arabia of the Home Counties and would have arguably been better as a ITV1 mini series with Trevor Eve as the feckless middle aged crimewriter, but it is tight, funny and, I hate to you use the word, NICE. The teenage troublemaking girls I single out for particular praise. My daughter has friends like that. Hopefully, isn't actually like that herself, but then even if she was there would be worse things. Misfits, Skins, a love interest on the Inbetweeners...

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p15

04/08/2014 11:34 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p15

04/08/2014 11:34 par tellurikwaves

English comedy at its best!
9/10
Author: Zsombor Vasvari
11 January 2011

Yesterday I saw the first movie of the year: Tamara Drewe. It was advertised as a funny English comedy, and as I like the type, I though we give it a shot. It was a great-great choice! The movie is real English comedy at its best! The plot -as usual in these kind of movies- is nothing special: In an end-of-the-world English village -which functions as writer retreat for unpublished writers searching for inspiration- one day a super-hot next door girl shows up to sell her mother's house, that she inherited.

Of course she falls in love with the village, and there the complications begin: a macho rock star searching for a girl; two young girls trying to get some adventure; a writer, who is getting some adventure; the local handsome trying to get a clear head; and a bunch of writers trying to put together a noticeable book. Those, who like these kind of films will LOVE it! 9/10

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p14

04/08/2014 11:27 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p14

04/08/2014 11:27 par tellurikwaves

External reviews (liste partielle)

Showing all 152 external reviews

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486190/externalreviews?ref_=ttexst_ql_op_5

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE p13

04/08/2014 11:15 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE p13

04/08/2014 11:15 par tellurikwaves

Now, I know who she is! (3 days Screen Marathon)
10/10
Author: leplatypus from PariS
23 October 2010

I had such a peculiar friend that each time, i bought a movies card for us, i finally got to theaters alone and it's a huge load of movies that i had to digest (and review afterward!). This first choice has been easy: The movie is set in the English countryside (a favorite place for my retirement!) and it stars the actress who beckons to my attention (the last Bond movie, the awful "Clash of the titans") but without leaving her identity. Now, i got her name right: Gemma Atterton!

I would recommend this movie because it plays brilliantly with a lot of characters. And it's not easy: you got to pay attention to everyone and manage to tell interesting individual stories in a larger story. It's like a mini soap opera but told with fun and moral. Every piece is nicely oiled and you witness a real orchestrated chaos.

In addition, England is a welcomed change from America or France and i was surprised how modern that country is. The houses and farms maintain their old looks but their interiors are neat, updated. In France, well, in a little town, the people live well, as before the wars: it's old, rustic... I am sure that Stephen King would have rated this movie excellent as well, because this paradise for writers is exactly what he tells in his book "On writing".

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p12

04/08/2014 11:09 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p12

04/08/2014 11:09 par tellurikwaves

10/10
Author: Dr Jacques COULARDEAU from Olliergues, France
19 October 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Stephen Frears has shot a marvelous comedy with this film. A social comedy for sure about rural England. A farm transformed into a guesthouse for writers and all it means to be able to write in the peace and quiet of the countryside with only the chirping of birds and the stampeding of cows around you. And yet the village is big enough to have a nice pub and a few other fundamental entertainments of that type, but it's true nothing else. Then he adds the writers themselves. In fact two are standing out.

The husband of the farmer's wife is a detective thriller writer, which makes the farmer's wife a writer's wife and the farmer a writer, then who is the farmer? The second one that counts is the American university professor on a sabbatical to write a book on Thomas Hardy. The first one is unfaithful by principle and his wife is as blind as mole. The second one is unmarried and as shy as an old bat. The wife of whatever he is, farmer or writer, is blind for one and is naïve for two.

Then throw into that set of stiff quibbles, and we all know why the males are stiff, a young chick from the press, Fleet Street, on a mission with a brand new surgical nose and the whole little microcosm of this world explodes, especially when she brings a rock star in the picture with a dog that hates cows. You can imagine the stampeding of males at the door of the young woman, and of the little girls who want to touch the rock star, and of the cows in the fields. There will be some victims, essentially a man and a dog but I won't tell you which man and whose dog.

But it is hilarious because it is a case of perfect English slightly black humor, and blacker does not exist. To be Shakespearian only a few boys dressed as girls and vice versa are missing, and maybe a play in the play, like some puppets playing their own string and rod story. And everything ends well with the police and a burial, with some tears and some solace, with some peace after the battle and battles to come after the respite. Good job, Mr. Frears, and see you next time.

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p11

04/08/2014 04:26 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR- TAMARA DREWE de Stephen Frears (2010) p11

04/08/2014 04:26 par tellurikwaves

Roger Allam : Nicholas Hardiment (Excellent acteur)

*

Tamara Drewe
10/10
Author: cultfilmfan from Canada
20 January 2011

Tamara Drewe is based upon the graphic novel of the same name by Posy Simmonds. The film takes Thomas Hardy's fourth novel entitled Far from the Madding Crowd, which was written in 1874 and gives it a modern day setting and twist. Just briefly the film deals with a bunch of writers staying in the Dorset village of Ewedown, many because this is where Thomas Hardy was from and at least one of these writers is writing a book about Thomas Hardy. The writers are staying and being hosted by Beth Hardiment and her author husband, Nicholas. Because they live in this tiny village, Beth does most of the work and upkeep of the place and provides meals and clean lodgings to the guests, while Nicholas works on his novels and gets into other trouble which you will see when you see the movie.

Also new in town, or should I say returning is a young woman named Tamara Drewe, who used to live in this village and then disappeared for awhile and now comes back with a new nose job and a body that gathers the attention of most of the men in the village. Some other subplots involve the antics of two teenage school girls who create quite a bit of trouble for the main characters in the film and also a groundskeeper named Andy, who helps Beth take care of her place and who also has always had a bit of a crush on Tamara. I am leaving out most if not all of the juicy details and crises that arrive in the film as to not spoil anything because this film is so involving and captivating that it would be inconsiderate of me to give them away. I personally thought Tamara Drewe was a fantastic film.

I have never read Far from the Madding Crowd on which the film and graphic novel of the film were based, but after doing a bit of research on it, you can definitely see where they shaped the characters and events that happen in this film from that famous novel and how they incorporated it all in here and into a modern day setting with modern day language, people and technology was what I think is a work of genius based on the screenwriter's parts as well as Posy Simmonds graphic novel (which I have not read, but must have been really well done to inspire something this good). Having read and seen a lot of the old period piece British novels and films, I do have to say that this has the style of them, in the sense that it's character study is very well done as is the importance of the location to the story and the supporting characters as well.

The film is called Tamara Drewe, and a lot of the events that go on in the film revolve around her, but to no discredit to the writers or Gemma Arterton's performance, I have to say that Tamara is probably the least interesting character out of the whole bunch. The supporting characters bring so many important things to the film here, whether it be humorous, evil or even mischievous and even some romance and they are so well written and fascinating to watch that I was thoroughly enjoying watching their everyday lives and antics as the film progressed. The acting here is all terrific as well. Everyone does a stellar job, but the performance I really want to single out and draw attention to is Jessica Barden, who in the film plays Jody Long an egocentric and fairly typical teenager who sets major problems for the characters in the film.

She is obnoxious, cruel, full of herself and at the same time is also really funny and her performance is thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining to watch and what the writers and director were trying to convey through this character she portrays beautifully with her performance and more or less steals the show, but the other actors are great too. I loved how involving this film was by drawing you in and keeping your attention and actually giving you characters that you will hate, like and even care for. It is so like an 18th century novel in that way because the characters are all so good here and everything plays out like one of those old books, but the film offers a few twists and modernizations of it's own.

I absolutely loved Tamara Drewe and I would have to call it one of the most overlooked films of 2010, but it is not too late to discover this wonderful film and I hope you the reader will do so. One of my top 10 favourites of 2010.