"That Hamilton Woman" was the only movie(other than educational films) I could find about the life of Lord Nelson. Could this be true? It would be like having no movies about George Washington. Hey - wait a minute - there aren't any films about him either!
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There may be a taboo in the film industry (or at least a great deal of caution) about venturing into the lives of national heroes. Sixty years ago such a film would have been made with reverence, but more recently, the spin would be different - like the dark side of the hero, or maybe a musical comedy!
With any approach, many people would get offended.
I think an interesting appoach would be a film that brought the person to life for us in the 21st century. We think the past took place in a sepia tone with everyone walking around stiffly, but they were just as alive as we are - maybe more so.
Antiquity is a easier. There's a small army of Ceasars and Cleopatras.
But national heroes... How about "Shakespeare in love" or "Becoming Jane"? I know it's a different kind of national figure, but it were the only comparable movies I could think of.
And there's this movie coming up with tom cruise as the German resistance hero Von Stauffenberg, although that's just another case of hollywood stealing other people's history. And I fear it may turn out to be really pointless.
William Shakespeare and Jane Austen were writers, not war heores... hardly a comparison ....Better movies would have been "Sergeant York" starring Gregory Peck... I cannot believe you compared Austen, who dont get me wrong I love her books, to Nelson, who lost an arm and his eyesight in one eye...
shareGary Cooper was Sergeant York, not Gregory Peck. Good grief!
shareWilliam Shakespeare and Jane Austen were writers, not war heores... I can't believe you thought to compare the horrible movie Becoming Jane to this one...And I find it even harder to believe that Austen and Shakespeare were the best comparison you could come up with... What about "Sergeant York" starring Gary Cooper or "Patton" starring George C Scott...
shareSure. But those are somewhat older and you just have to happen to know they exist; and on top of that, they have the advantage of being American heroes which doubles their chances for their own biopic.
shareThere is another movie about the same subject- THE NELSON AFFAIR, a British movie made in 1973, starring Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson.
shareThe Nelson Affair is a remake of The Divine Lady from 1929, apparently.
shareThere is an episode of that notorious time waste, THE TIME TUNNEL, which is about an attempt on the life of Lincoln. I commented about that episode that it shows a common error committed when depicting historical characters such as the 16th POTUS: portraying them as dull solemn marble robots whose every saying is a dull solemn marmoreal quotation. Needless to say, that doesn't make for interesting characters, and actors strongly resent portraying such stiff lifeless nonhumans.
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
Sorry I can't help you about Lord Nelson, I'm sure someone will, but I assure you that there some fine movies about Washington. The Indispensable Man (I think it was the subtitle of the movie, it was of the book) with Barry Bostwick certainly whet my intersext for Washington.
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?1=10126182
Washington is a peripheral character in several others: "1776" (his dispatches anyway), "The Crossing" with Jeff Daniels, about the attack on Trenton in 1776. There was a recent movie about Bendict Arnold with Aidan Quinn in the title role, and Kelsey Grammer as George Washington. No doubt there are some others, but it is true that he shows up mostly in serious biographies and history pieces.
Panic, chaos, and disorder: my work here is done.
Yes, I understand that this is the only serious film about Lord Nelson. It's a shame because although this film is very excellent, it is mainly more about the love affair with Emma Hamilton than about Nelson and his life. This film is clearly Hollywoodised in many parts (especially the part where she runs out on the balcony to meet him), and it just mainly focuses on Emma Hamilton far more than Nelson. I know that's what they clearly wanted, I just wish it had been a film where Nelson was the main character and not her.
Also Olivier gives a far far better performance in this than Vivien Leigh does. Olivier does give an outstanding performance as Nelson but the script does limit his ability to bring out Nelson's far more complex character. The script makes him out the more of a romantic hero whereas Nelson was full of self loathing, had at times very little confidence in himself and was none too likeable a character, despite the fact he could be both cruel and kind in literally the same minute. Nonetheless, it is a good film about the events and both characters and shouldn't be missed if you are fan of both actors, or interested in the main characters or the events.
I do think we should have a new big budget film or maybe a BBC series about Nelson, with possibly Toby Stephens playing him as he could bring out Nelson's character perfectly. It should focus more on Nelson's naval career and battles rather than just his affair with Emma Hamilton. I wish we could have a film like that, if enough attention and care were paid to it it would be outstanding.
England expects every man will do his duty - Lord Horatio Nelson, Trafalgar 1805
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She was better in the second half than in the first but I still think her character is less difficult and complicated than Olivier's character. Emma was a society woman who hadn't before her meeting with Nelson had a particularly difficult time during her life. Not in comparison to Nelson anyway. She had a good relationship with her mother and had been well brought up. She had far more confidence in herself than Nelson did. Nelson suffered from severe chronic seasickness, fought in many battles for the Royal Navy before the events this film deals with and due to that he utterly loathed himself for a lot of the time. He was haunted by himself for most of his life and felt tormented by his ambition. Emma didn't have the burden of any of these things, both gave great performances but Olivier had much more work to do than she did.
England expects every man will do his duty - Lord Horatio Nelson, Trafalgar 1805
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Lord Nelson died before Emma, so since they wanted to show you how horrible her life had become, which they had to do at that time because there was a code that stated anyone who entered into an affair had to have something terrible happen and also because Emma really did end up poor and in debt, it had to be told from her point of view... Not to mention Gone with the Wind was the biggest movie of its time and Vivien Leigh was the star of this movie
shareCan a movie made in the UK be "Hollywoodized"? Was this movie, directed by Alexander Korda, made in Hollywood or the UK?
shareIt was "Hollywoodized" enough so that all the spanking and paddling scenes that were in the original were removed for fear the Yanks might not "get" such a very English interest.
shareI do think we should have a new big budget film or maybe a BBC series about Nelson...It should focus more on Nelson's naval career and battles rather than just his affair with Emma Hamilton. I wish we could have a film like that, if enough attention and care were paid to it it would be outstanding.