Lee (2023 film)

Last updated

Lee
Lee (2023 film poster).jpg
Official poster
Directed by Ellen Kuras
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onThe Lives of Lee Miller
by Antony Penrose
Produced by
  • Kate Solomon
  • Kate Winslet
  • Troy Lum
  • Andrew Mason
  • Marie Savare
  • Lauren Hantz
Starring
Cinematography Paweł Edelman
Edited by Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed by Sky Cinema
StudioCanal [2]
Release dates
  • 9 September 2023 (2023-09-09)(TIFF)
  • 13 September 2024 (2024-09-13)(United Kingdom)
Running time
116 minutes [3]
CountryUnited Kingdom [3]
Languages

Lee is a 2023 British biographical drama film directed by Ellen Kuras in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Liz Hannah, John Collee and Marion Hume, and story from Hume, Collee and Lem Dobbs, adapted from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose. It stars Kate Winslet as war journalist Lee Miller. The cast includes Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, and Alexander Skarsgård in supporting roles.

Contents

The movie took eight years to make and, at one point, due to precarious funding, Kate Winslet (who also produced the movie) paid the entire cast and crew’s salaries for two weeks. The film made its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It will be released theatrically in the United Kingdom by Sky Cinema on 13 September 2024.

Premise

Lee Miller goes from a career as a model to enlisting as a photographer to chronicle the events of World War II for Vogue magazine.

Cast

Production

Development

The origin of the project began when cinematographer Ellen Kuras was at a bookstore in New York and spotted a tome about war photographer Lee Miller. [4] [5] Kuras noticed a similarity between Miller and actress Kate Winslet–with whom she had worked in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)–and sent Winslet a copy of the book and kept another copy for herself. [5] Years later, Winslet started developing a movie project about Miller and asked Kuras whether she would like to direct it. [4]

The project was officially announced in October 2015, with Winslet attached to star as Miller. [6] In June 2020, cinematographer Ellen Kuras was set to direct the film–her feature directorial debut, [7] with Liz Hannah adapting the screenplay from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller, written by Miller's son, Antony Penrose, [8] who supported the film and gave Kuras full access to his mother's personal archives, diaries, [8] and even her unpublished work. [5] The screenplay went through several rewrites. [9] It was originally written by John Collee and Marion Hume from a story they developed together with Lem Dobbs, with Liz Hannah joining on later. [5] Winslet also served as a producer on the film. [1] She chose the screenwriters and was also in charge of finances and casting, even personally calling her co-stars. [9]

The most significant development in the film came in October 2021, when Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough and Josh O'Connor joined the cast, with a crew including Alexandre Desplat as a composer, Michael O'Connor as costume designer, cinematographer Paweł Edelman and Ivana Primorac as head makeup and hair artist. [10] In February 2022, Andy Samberg was announced as being part of the cast. [11] He would be confirmed in October 2022 alongside additional castings including Alexander Skarsgård, who replaced Law in the role of Roland Penrose. [1] Winslet wrote a letter to Cotillard asking her to play French Vogue editor Solange d'Ayen in the film. [12] Winslet and Cotillard had previously co-starred in Contagion (2011). [13]

Winslet said she was patronized by male executives when she was trying to get funding for the film. [9] "The men who think you want and need their help are unbelievably outraging. I've even had a director say to me: 'Listen, you do my film and I'll get your little Lee funded...' Little! Or we'd have potential male investors saying things like: Tell me, why am I supposed to like this woman?", Winslet told Vogue . [9] During pre-production, Winslet covered two weeks of wages with her own money due to insufficient funds. [9]

Filming

Filming began in late September 2022 in Croatia. [14] Production paused for a short period that month when Winslet slipped during filming and was taken to the hospital. [15] The accident happened on the first day of shooting, when Winslet slipped and injured her back while she was rehearsing a sequence where Lee Miller was running down the street in Saint-Malo under bombardment. [9] Winslet decided to keep filming despite her back injury and barely being able to stand up. [9]

Filming also took place in Hungary and wrapped in early December 2022. [16]

Release

Lee had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. [3] It is set to be released theatrically by Sky Cinema [17] in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 13 September 2024. [18] In February 2024, Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment have acquired the US distribution rights to the film and will release the film theatrically on 20 September 2024. [19]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 68% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "Kate Winslet's gripping performance in the title role helps elevate Lee beyond its disappointingly conventional biopic trappings." [20] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Winslet</span> English actress (born 1975)

Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress. Known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. Time magazine named Winslet one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2009 and 2021. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Miller</span> American photographer and photojournalist (1907–1977)

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose, was an American photographer and photojournalist. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art photographer. During the Second World War, she was a war correspondent for Vogue, covering events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jude Law</span> English actor (born 1972)

David Jude Heyworth Law is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films, later gaining recognition for his role in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for an Academy Award.

<i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i> 2004 American film

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry based on Charlie Kaufman's screenplay, and a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. The film follows two individuals who undergo a procedure to erase one another from their memories following the dissolution of their romantic relationship. The title of the film is a quotation from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope. It uses elements of psychological drama, science fiction, and a nonlinear narrative to explore the nature of memory and love.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Cotillard</span> French actress (born 1975)

Marion Cotillard is a French actress. She has appeared in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions and her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award, a Lumières Award and two César Awards. She became a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2010, and was promoted to Officer in 2016, the same year she was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour. She has served as a spokeswoman for Greenpeace since 2001. She was the face of the Lady Dior handbag for nine years, and since 2020 she is the face of the fragrance Chanel No. 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Riseborough</span> British actress

Andrea Louise Riseborough is an English actress. She made her film debut with a small part in Venus (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in Brighton Rock (2010), W.E. (2011), Shadow Dancer (2012), Oblivion (2013), Birdman (2014), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Battle of the Sexes, The Death of Stalin, Mandy, Nancy, The Grudge, Possessor, and To Leslie (2022). For the latter, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Kuras</span> American cinematographer (born 1959)

Ellen Kuras is an American cinematographer whose work includes narrative and documentary films, music videos and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few female members of the American Society of Cinematographers, she is a pioneer best known for her work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). She has collaborated with directors such as Michel Gondry, Spike Lee, Sam Mendes, Jim Jarmusch, Rebecca Miller, Martin Scorsese and more. She is the three-time winner of the Award for Excellence in Dramatic Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival, for her films Personal Velocity: Three Portraits, Angela and Swoon, which was her first dramatic feature after getting her start in political documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Collee</span> British screenwriter

John Gerald Collee is a Scottish/Australian doctor, novelist and screenwriter whose films have three times been nominated for Oscars. Master and Commander was nominated for Best Film 2003, Happy Feet won Best Animation in 2006, and Tanna (2015) was nominated for Best Foreign Language Feature in 2015. His many other films, written or co-written, include Creation (2013), Hotel Mumbai (2018) and Lee. His novels include Kingsleys Touch, A Paper Mask and The Rig published by Viking/Penguin. His TV Adaptation of Boy Swallows Universe received critical acclaim upon release on Netflix in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Hume</span> British fashion journalist

Marion Hume is a fashion journalist, editor, and screenwriter based in London, England. She is best known for having been editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Penrose</span> British photographer (born 1947)

Antony William Roland Penrose is a British photographer. The son of Sir Roland Penrose and Lee Miller, Penrose is director of the Lee Miller Archive and Penrose Collection at his parents' former home, Farley Farm House.

Hylda Queally is an Irish talent agent in the Hollywood film industry. She is an agent for a number of major actresses such as Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Michelle Williams, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Noomi Rapace, Jessica Chastain, Brit Marling, Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki. She has consistently been ranked by Elle and many other publications as one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.

Vertical is a global independent film distributor founded by producers Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. Vertical releases films across all mediums, including theatrical, On Demand, physical media and streaming. The company's unique combination of full-service marketing and sales services provides collaborative solutions for filmmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh O'Connor</span> British actor (born 1989/90)

Josh O'Connor is a British actor. After training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he had supporting roles in television series such as Doctor Who in 2013 and Peaky Blinders in 2014. He had his breakthrough playing the lead role of a sheep farmer in Francis Lee's romantic drama God's Own Country (2017), for which he won a British Independent Film Award.

<i>Mare of Easttown</i> 2021 American crime drama television miniseries

Mare of Easttown is an American crime drama television miniseries created and written by Brad Ingelsby for HBO. Directed by Craig Zobel, the series premiered on April 18, 2021, and concluded on May 30, 2021, consisting of seven episodes. It stars Kate Winslet as the titular detective, who investigates a murder in a small town outside Philadelphia. Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, Evan Peters, Sosie Bacon, David Denman, Neal Huff, James McArdle, Guy Pearce, Cailee Spaeny, John Douglas Thompson, and Joe Tippett appear in supporting roles.

<i>Extrapolations</i> (TV series) American anthology drama television series

Extrapolations is an American anthology miniseries created by Scott Z. Burns for Apple TV+. The series premiered on March 17, 2023.

<i>The Regime</i> (miniseries) 2024 American television miniseries

The Regime is an American political satire television miniseries from HBO starring Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant. Will Tracy is writer and executive producer on the series with Stephen Frears and Jessica Hobbs directing episodes and executive producing. Winslet, Frank Rich, and Tracey Seaward are also executive producers. Winslet plays Elena Vernham, a dictator ruling precariously over a fictional Central European country.

Solange Marie Christine Louise de Labriffe, Duchess of Ayen, known professionally as Solange d'Ayen, Solange de Noailles, and Solange de Labriffe, was a French noblewoman and journalist, known for being the fashion editor of French Vogue magazine from the 1920s until the 1940s. She also wrote for the American Vogue. She was born into the House of Labriffe and was named Duchess of Ayen by marrying Jean Maurice Paul Jules de Noailles, the 6th Duke of Ayen, in 1919, with whom she had two children.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wiseman, Andreas (27 October 2022). "Lee: First Look At Kate Winslet As Pioneering War Correspondent & Photographer Lee Miller; Alexander Skarsgård, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, More Join Cast". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lee (2023)". BBFC . Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lee". TIFF . Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. 1 2 Garrett, Diane (9 September 2023). "How Celebrated Cinematographer Ellen Kuras Finally Got a Chance to Direct a Politically Charged Drama With Kate Winslet-Starrer 'Lee'". Variety . Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Canfield, David (6 September 2023). "Kate Winslet Embodies an Unsung American Icon in Lee". Vanity Fair . Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (13 October 2015). "Kate Winslet Attaches To Play WWII Correspondent Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ellen Kuras to Make History as First Woman To Receive ASC Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award". Oscars.org . 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (26 June 2020). "Ellen Kuras To Direct Kate Winslet As WWII Correspondent Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steavenson, Wendell (11 September 2023). "Kate Winslet on War Photographer Lee Miller, and the Film She Was Born to Make". Vogue .
  10. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (21 October 2021). "Kate Winslet Joined By Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough & Josh O'Connor For Film On Model-Turned-WWII Photographer Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  11. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (3 February 2022). "Cinematographer Ellen Kuras Makes History as First Woman to Win ASC Lifetime Achievement Award". IndieWire . Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Marion Cotillard : " Le destin de Charlotte Salomon était plus nécessaire à raconter que jamais "" [Marion Cotillard: "The fate of Charlotte Salomon was more necessary to tell than ever"]. L'Obs (in French). 6 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (25 August 2011). "Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow & Marion Cotillard Try & Stave Off The Virus In New 'Contagion' Photos". IndieWire . Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  14. ↑ Zajović, Milena (1 September 2022). "Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Josh O'Connor, and Marion Cotillard to Shoot Lee Miller Biopic in Croatia". Film New Europe Association . Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  15. ↑ Gajewski, Ryan (18 September 2022). "Kate Winslet Taken to Hospital After Fall While Filming in Croatia". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  16. ↑ Evans, Chris (6 September 2022). "Kate Winslet and Jude Law Starrer, Lee, to Shoot in Hungary and Croatia". Kemps Film and TV Production Services Handbook . Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  17. ↑ Ramachadnran, Naman (1 February 2023). "Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman Star as Sky Cinema Boosts 2023 Slate". Variety . Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "Sky Original film, LEE, starring Kate Winslet, in cinemas from 13 September 2024 in UK & Ireland". Sky Group . 23 February 2024.
  19. ↑ Lang, Brent (8 February 2024). "Roadside Attractions, Vertical Buy Kate Winslet Drama 'Lee'". Variety . Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  20. ↑ "Lee". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 2 October 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  21. ↑ "Lee". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
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.