Don’t be surprised if you notice well-known actors Jason Schwartzman and Olympia Dukakis strolling the streets of Austin in the coming weeks.
Schwartzman and Dukakis will be in town to shoot 7 Chinese Brothers, written and directed by Austin filmmaker Bob Byington (Harmony and Me, Somebody Up There Likes Me). Filming is scheduled to start later this month and should last about four weeks, according to Seana Flanagan of Austin, producer of the big-screen comedy.
Flanagan said 7 Chinese Brothers zeroes in on “a man trying to get unstuck.” The film is set for release in 2015 — 14 years after Byington penned the script.
“Most of the crew is local,” Flanagan said. “Some of the cast is joining us from out of town, but we’ll cast local talent as well.”
Schwartzman’s film roles include Rushmore and I Heart Huckabees, while Dukakis has appeared in movies such as Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias and Mr. Holland’s Opus.
Flanagan said 7 Chinese Brothers zeroes in on “a man trying to get unstuck.” The film is set for release in 2015 — 14 years after Byington penned the script.
Byington’s previous film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, premiered in 2012 at SXSW. A Texas Monthly article about the movie dubbed Byington “one of those best-kept secrets that fans prefer to keep to themselves, for fear that if everyone knows about him, he won’t seem nearly as cool.”
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For more information or to check out unpaid roles available in 7 Chinese Brothers, visit the Texas Film Commission website.
A Texas Monthly article about the movie dubbed Byington “one of those best-kept secrets that fans prefer to keep to themselves, for fear that if everyone knows about him, he won’t seem nearly as cool.”Schwartzman and Olympia Dukakis strolling the streets of Austin in the coming weeks.
Writer and director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.
Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.
The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.
The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.
But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.
When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.
Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.
Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.
