Hunky Dory | |
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![]() Promotional poster | |
Directed by | Marc Evans |
Written by | Laurence Coriat |
Produced by | Jonathan Finn Dan Lupovitz |
Starring | Minnie Driver Haydn Gwynne Bob Pugh Owen Teale Steve Speirs Aneurin Barnard |
Cinematography | Charlotte Bruus Christensen |
Music by | Joby Talbot |
Production companies | Aegis Film Fund Mulligan and Nesbitt Productions Prescience |
Distributed by | Entertainment One |
Release dates |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $20,296 [1] |
Hunky Dory is a 2011 British independent musical film about the trials of an idealistic drama teacher as she tries to put on the end-of-year show. It was written by Laurence Coriat and directed by Welsh director Marc Evans and stars Minnie Driver, Aneurin Barnard, Kimberley Nixon and Robert Pugh. [2] It premièred at the 55th BFI London Film Festival on 25 October 2011, [3] and was officially released on 2 March 2012 in the UK.
Set in a Welsh comprehensive school during the summer of 1976, keen drama teacher Vivienne (Minnie Driver) fights general teenage apathy to put on a glam rock musical version of Shakespeare's The Tempest of which David Bowie (whose album provides the name of the film) might be proud. [4] To engage her totally lackadaisical students and get them to explore and express their emotions, she uses pop hits of the time performed by a fresh young cast led by Davey (Aneurin Barnard). She hopes her more liberal approach to learning might stir them to discover they could be good at something, once they let their inhibitions go, and might actually have fun creating something; they might even absorb some of the dreaded Shakespeare after all. Her aspirations appear thwarted by her troublesome students who, raging with hormones, get up to various antics that seem destined to sabotage the musical. She also faces opposition from traditionally-minded, old-fashioned teaching staff, making getting the show to opening night a constant challenge.
When a frustrated student sets fire to the school auditorium destroying the stage and most of the musical instruments, the show is cancelled by the headmaster, who was to play Prospero. A side plot involves conflict between Vivienne's liberalism and the attitudes of her long-standing opponents on the staff, centering on discovering which "delinquent" student was responsible for the arson. Deflated, but ultimately unwilling to chart this mishap or her role as "music teacher" as yet another thing she's failed at, she persuades the headmaster to allow the production to move to an outdoor setting. Her production is a triumph, much enjoyed by both the students and the audience.
The film ending features a photo-montage of what became of each student after leaving school. Vivienne had remained as music teacher, directing a school play every year until retirement. [5]
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips, known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a British actress from Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In the 1960s, she started taking on more roles in television and film. She is particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series I, Claudius, for which she was awarded a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award.
Amelia Fiona "Minnie" Driver is a British and American actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's Circle of Friends. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic Grosse Pointe Blank, Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting for which she was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award, the musical The Phantom of the Opera, Owning Mahowny, and providing the voice of Lady Eboshi in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.
Ivy the Terrible is a fictional character featured in The Beano. She is a four-year-old girl who annoys her parents with her misbehaviour. She first appeared in The Beano in 1985 in the comic strip of the same name, but has starred in other comic strips throughout Beano history.
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Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released in the United Kingdom on 17 December 1971 through RCA Records. Following a break from touring and recording, Bowie settled down to write new songs, composing on piano rather than guitar as in earlier works. Bowie assembled guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder, and drummer Mick Woodmansey, and began to record a new album in mid-1971 at Trident Studios in London. Rick Wakeman contributed on piano shortly before joining Yes. Bowie co-produced the album with Ken Scott, who had engineered Bowie's previous two records.
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Tessa Peake-Jones is an English actress who has appeared in The Danedyke Mystery (1979), Pride and Prejudice (1980), When We Are Married (1987), Up the Garden Path (1990–1993), So Haunt Me (1992–1994), The Demon Headmaster (1996–1998), The History of Tom Jones: a Foundling (1997), Summer in the Suburbs (2000), Poppy Shakespeare (2008), Doctors (2009–2011) and Unforgotten (2015).
Haydn Gwynne was an English actress. She was nominated for the 1992 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for the comedy series Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1991), and won the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical. She was also a five-time Olivier Award nominee, winning her first posthumously in 2024. Her other television roles included Peak Practice (1999–2000), Merseybeat (2001–2002), and playing Camilla in The Windsors from 2016 until her death in 2023.
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It includes three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall.
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Aneurin Barnard is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Davey in Hunky Dory, Claude in The Truth About Emanuel, Bobby Willis in Cilla, Tim in Thirteen, King Richard III in The White Queen, William in Dead in a Week or Your Money Back, Gibson in Dunkirk, and Boris Pavlikovsky in The Goldfinch.
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