Peter's Friends
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Peter's Friends |
| Original title | Peter's Friends |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1992 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kenneth Branagh |
| script |
Rita Rudner Martin Bergmann |
| production | Kenneth Branagh |
| camera | Roger Lanser |
| cut | Andrew Marcus |
| occupation | |
| |
Peter's Friends (Alternative title: Peter's Friends - Friends are the best enemies ) is a British film from director Kenneth Branagh from the year 1992 from a screenplay by Rita Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman . Kenneth Branagh was also a producer and took on the role of Andrew Benson .
action
On New Year's weekend, Peter's friends gather in his recently inherited country estate. Ten years ago they all appeared on a Cambridge University comedy troupe , and then went their separate ways. Andrew became a Hollywood screenwriter and married sitcom actress Carol, whom he brings to the friends meeting. Roger and Mary got married and are successful jingle writers . The attractive costume designer Sarah brings her new friend Brian with her. The eccentric Maggie who works in the publishing business comes alone. The two “outsiders” of the meeting, Carol and the somewhat boorish Brian, form a stark contrast to the Cambridge graduates.
After the death of his father, Peter doesn't know what to do with the inherited house. He carries his HIV- positive results with him to the end, until he finally tells his friends the truth shortly after midnight on New Year's Day. Vera, the housekeeper, is reluctant to hostile towards Peter and his friends, but reacts to the news of Peter's HIV infection with a friendly gesture and moral support. The lonely Maggie tries to convince Peter that he should marry her. Carol comforts her and tries to improve her appearance. The "new" Maggie seduces seventeen year old Paul, Vera's son.
Andrew and Carol are Alcoholics Anonymous and their three year marriage is in crisis. Carol leaves alone for a short-term film offer, which causes Andrew to return to alcohol. Sarah's friend Brian has left his wife, but reverses his decision - also due to Sarah's negative reaction - and is picked up by his wife. Roger and Mary come to terms with a personal tragedy, the death of one of their twins, which begins to jeopardize their marriage because of Mary's irrational fear for the surviving twin. However, they find each other again.
background
The majority of the performers were actually fellow students attending Cambridge University together . Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, and Tony Slattery were members of the Cambridge Footlights , a student comedy troupe similar to the one portrayed in the film. Martin Bergman, screenwriter and husband of actress and screenwriter Rita Rudner, was also a member of the Footlights. Rita Rudners, together with Martin Bergman, delivered her first script with Peter's Friends .
At the time the film was produced, Kenneth Branagh was married to Emma Thompson, who had a university relationship with Hugh Laurie. Phyllida Law is the mother of Emma Thompson.
Phyllida Law, Richard Briers (who has cameo as Peter's father in Peter's Friends ), Imelda Staunton, and Alex Lowe played with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Branagh's Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing the following year . Hugh Laurie and Imelda Staunton played a married couple again in the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, based on the screenplay by Emma Thompson. Hugh Laurie has also appeared with Stephen Fry on many television shows, particularly A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster .
Reviews
Desson Howe compared Peter's Friends in the Washington Post on December 25, 1992 with The Great Frustration . The film has elements of Shakespeare's love comedies, the French farce and American sitcoms, but the character developments seem “artificial”. The soundtrack seems "thrown together to please as many viewers as possible". He praised the performance of Emma Thompson, who, despite a one-dimensional figure, exudes grace and shows a keen sense for tragic comedy.
According to the lexicon of international films , Peter's Friends is an “excellent film about friendship and love, infused with subtle humor that softens even the most galling scenes.” “Excellent actors and an excellent book” contribute to “intellectual cinema enjoyment”.
Awards
In 1993 Emma Thompson was named Best Actress at the Evening Standard British Film Awards . The film won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and was nominated for the Goya in 1994 for Best European Film . The National Board of Review ranked him 8th in the top ten films of 1992.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack features many artists from the 1980s, including Tears for Fears (the song Everybody Wants to Rule the World can be heard in the opening credits), The Pretenders, and Bruce Springsteen . However, the soundtrack does not contain the performance of the classic The Way You Look Tonight by Jerome Kern , which is shown in the film .
Web links
- Peter's Friends in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Critique by Desson Howe in the Washington Post, December 25, 1992 , accessed June 12, 2008.
- ↑ Peter's Friends. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .