Desperate Optimists

Last updated

Desperate Optimists is the creative partnership of Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, which began in 1992. In an interview in 2008, Lawlor explained how they took inspiration from the title of Nicolas Mosley's book Hopeful Monsters. [1]

Contents

The artistic work of Desperate Optimists has ranged from theatre productions, interactive artworks for the internet and video projects for galleries, to short films and feature films such as Helen and Mister John. There is often a strong community-centred aspect to their work. For example their series of seven short films, Civic Life (2004-2008), was an attempt to capture different communities in different places in a simple long take for each film. Featuring sometimes hundreds of extras and complicated set-ups, all shot on 35mm, the production of each short film involved close collaboration with the communities in each area. Sight and Sound described this aspect of their filmmaking process as ‘communitarian’ in the introduction to their interview by film critic and writer Sophie Mayer. [2] The Independent Cinema Office organised a UK cinema tour of these films in 2016.

The short film Joy, from the Civic Life series, has been described as a prelude to the Desperate Optimists’ first feature film Helen. [3]

Despite often working with non-professional actors, their most recent feature film Rose Plays Julie did feature a professional cast. It premiered at the London Film Festival in 2019, where critic Jonathan Romney reviewed it and described an 'uncanny echo chamber quality' [4] cultivated in their work, highlighting recurring themes of the uncanny, role-playing and the possibilities of other lives not lived.

He also described Civic Life as 'a project pitched between visual art and cinema' highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of much of Desperate Optimists' work.

Filmography (Features)

Filmography (Shorts)

Theatre

Online Artworks

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Walters</span> English actress (b. 1950)

Dame Julia Mary Walters is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Mirren</span> English actor (born 1945)

Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor. She is the recipient of numerous accolades and is the only performer to have achieved both the American and the British Triple Crowns of Acting. Mirren has received an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for portraying the same character in The Audience, as well as three British Academy Television Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect.

<i>Calendar Girls</i> 2003 British comedy film by Nigel Cole

Calendar Girls is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research under the auspices of the Women's Institutes in April 1999 after the husband of one of their members dies from cancer. The film stars an ensemble cast headed by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, with Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Geraldine James, Harriet Thorpe and Philip Glenister playing key supporting roles.

<i>Candyman</i> (1992 film) American supernatural horror film by Bernard Rose

Candyman is a 1992 American gothic supernatural horror film, written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, and Vanessa E. Williams. Based on Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden", the film follows a Chicago graduate student completing a thesis on urban legends and folklore, which leads her to the legend of the "Candyman", the ghost of an African-American artist and the son of a slave who was murdered in the late 19th century for his relationship with the daughter of a wealthy white man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Ward</span> British actress

Sophie Anna Ward is an English stage and screen actress, and a writer of non-fiction and fiction. As an actress, she played Elizabeth Hardy, the female lead in Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), and in other feature film roles including in Cary Joji Fukunaga's period drama Jane Eyre (2011), and Jane Sanger's horror feature, Swiperight (2020). In 1982 she had a role in the Academy Award-winning best short film, A Shocking Accident. On television she played Dr Helen Trent in British police drama series Heartbeat from 2004 to 2006, the character Sophia Byrne in the series Holby City from 2008 to 2010, the role of Lady Ellen Hoxley in the series Land Girls from 2009 to 2011, and that of Lady Verinder in the mini-series The Moonstone (2016). She has had a variety of other roles on stage and in short and feature films.

<i>Naked</i> (1993 film) 1993 British film directed by Mike Leigh

Naked is a 1993 British black comedy drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring David Thewlis as Johnny, a loquacious intellectual and conspiracy theorist. The film won several awards, including best director and best actor at Cannes. Naked marked a new career high for Leigh as a director and made the then-unknown Thewlis an internationally recognised star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romola Garai</span> British actress

Romola Sadie Garai is a British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen, she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include Nicholas Nickleby (2002), I Capture the Castle (2003), Inside I'm Dancing (2004), and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004). She has gained prominence for her performances in the critically acclaimed costume dramas such as Vanity Fair (2004), As You Like It (2006), Amazing Grace (2007), Atonement (2007), Glorious 39 (2009), and Suffragette (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen McCrory</span> British actress (1968–2021)

Helen Elizabeth McCrory was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Rosalind in As You Like It in the West End, and Medea in the eponymous play in the Royal National Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Fiennes</span> English film director and producer

Sophie Fiennes is a filmmaker best known for her films Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) and Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (2010), as well as for her collaborations with philosopher Slavoj Žižek: The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006), and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meaghan Martin</span> American actress and singer (born 1992)

Meaghan Jette Martin is an American actress and singer known for her work in film, television, and theatre. She is best known for her starring role in the ABC Family television series, 10 Things I Hate About You as Bianca Stratford. She is also well known for her role as Tess Tyler in the Disney Channel television films Camp Rock and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. She has also had guest starring roles in House and Jessie, and played the recurring role of Julie #2 in multiple seasons of MTV's television series Awkward. Martin also starred as Jo Mitchell in Mean Girls 2. Martin is also known for lending her voice for Naminé in the video game series Kingdom Hearts as well as voicing and motion-capturing Jessica from the video game Until Dawn. In 2019, Martin made her professional London stage debut in The Actor's Nightmare at the Park Theatre in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorgos Lanthimos</span> Greek filmmaker

Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos is a Greek filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Film Award as well as nominations for five Academy Awards.

Michael Atkinson is an American writer, poet and film critic. His debut novel is Hemingway Deadlights, and he has written widely on film and culture, in Sight & Sound, The Village Voice, The Guardian, Film Comment, The Believer, In These Times, The Criterion Collection, Rolling Stone, The Progressive, Spin, Maxim, The Boston Phoenix, Details, Moving Image Source, IFC.com, TCM.com, Movieline, The Poetry Foundation, Chicago Reader, LA Weekly, The Stranger, The American Prospect, Baltimore City Paper, Modern Painters, and other publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Céline Sciamma</span> French director and screenwriter

Céline Sciamma is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), Girlhood (2014), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and Petite Maman (2021). Sciamma has won many nominations and awards for her films.

<i>Mister John</i> 2013 film

Mister John is a 2013 drama film by Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy. It was their second feature film following their debut Helen and stars Aidan Gillen, Zoe Tay, Michael Thomas, and Claire Keelan.

Tilda Cobham-Hervey is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in 52 Tuesdays, a critically-acclaimed independent film directed by Sophie Hyde, and has also appeared on stage. She appeared in the 2018 film Hotel Mumbai, and starred as feminist icon Helen Reddy in the 2019 biopic I Am Woman. In 2023 she starred in the Amazon Prime TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

<i>Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again</i> 2018 film by Ol Parker

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a 2018 British / American production jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Mamma Mia!, which in turn is based on the 1999 musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. The film features an ensemble cast, including Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Andy García, Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Cher, Meryl Streep, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, and Hugh Skinner. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the previous film, and is intersected with flashbacks to Donna's youth in 1979, with some scenes from the two time periods mirroring each other.

Christine Molloy, is a UK-based artist known for her works of theatre, interactive art, and film.

<i>Helen</i> (2008 film) 2009 film

Helen is a 2008 drama film by Desperate Optimists,, and was the first feature film made through their production company Desperate Optimists Productions. It is often spoken of as an expansion or companion piece to their short film Joy.

<i>Rose Plays Julie</i> 2019 film

Rose Plays Julie is a 2019 Irish drama film written and directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, known collectively as Desperate Optimists.

<i>Further Beyond</i> 2016 Irish film

Further Beyond is a 2016 film by Desperate Optimists that has been described as "part essay, documentary and quirky drama" and a 'masterpiece of intricate if indirect construction.'

References

  1. ↑ "Hackney filmmakers Desperate Optimists debut their first full-length feature". East London & Wessex Guardian. Retrieved 19 Aug 2021.
  2. ↑ Mayer, Sophie. "Desperate Optimists: power to the public". Sight and Sound. BFI. Retrieved 19 Aug 2021.
  3. ↑ Wood, Jason (23 September 2014). Last Words: Considering Contemporary Cinema. Columbia University Press. p. 76. ISBN   9780231850698.
  4. ↑ Romney, Jonathan (4 October 2019). "Film of the Week: Rose Plays Julie". Film Comment. Retrieved 19 Aug 2021.
  5. ↑ Peter, Bradshaw. "Rose Plays Julie review – eerie, edge-of-your-seat suspense". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  6. ↑ Jessica, Kiang (17 March 2021). "'Rose Plays Julie' Review: A Shivery Psych Thriller Channelling Mythic and Modern Female Rage". Variety. Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  7. ↑ "Rose Plays Julie Is A Deep Journey..." LA Times. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  8. ↑ "Further Beyond review – cinematic essay on loss and exile is essential viewing". Guardian. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  9. ↑ "Further Beyond review: a labyrinthine journey well worth taking". Irish Times. Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  10. ↑ "Taking the experimental route". Irish Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.