麻豆约拍

麻豆约拍 Films turns 25 this week. So I had a browse through their online catalogue and picked 25 films that I especially remember – but its only a small selection of the 181 films listed in their .

1.  1990

2.       1993

“Sharon Curley is 20, works in a Dublin supermarket and is pregnant - by her best friend's father. She refuses to tell who's responsible, but how long will she keep her secret?” Stephen Frears brilliant direction of Roddy Doyle’s hilarious and painfully realistic script (adapted from his novel of the same title) kept my teenage self and my ma revisiting this classic.  

3.  1997

“A love affair which broke all the rules: the passionate relationship between Queen Victoria and her loyal Highland servant, John Brown.” Billy Connelly acting – alongside Judi Dench – and being rather wonderful (not to be confused with )

4.          1998

“A Pakistani taxi driver, Parvez, loves all things English - especially Bettina, a local prostitute. But his son discovers Islam and commits himself to cleaning up the community, starting with Dad and the family.” I haven’t seen this film, written by Hanif Kureshi , but intended to when it first came out. It’s firmly back on my ‘to do’ list.

5.  1998

Set in Sixties’ Soho and starring Derek Jacobi and a pre Bond Daniel Craig, “John Maybury's dazzling debut feature is an extraordinarily powerful study of the passions that drove one of Britain's greatest and most controversial painters, Francis Bacon.” 

6.  1999

“Early 1970s - escaping grey London and a failed relationship, a beautiful young woman, Julia, and her two daughters take off for Morocco in search of peace, love and happiness.” I saw this one when I was at university and found Kate Winslett’s strong performance mesmerising and inspiring.

7.  2000

“Northern England, 1974. Billy's mam is dead, his brother beats him up for nicking his Marc Bolan records, his dad's worried about the strike, his granny's lost her marbles, the streets are full of riot police. And Billy wants to be a ballet dancer.” Theatre veteran Stephen Daldry’s film directing debut is the stuff of legend – not least because it was subsequently adapted into an award-winning, long-running West End musical. 

8.            2002

“Illegal immigrant Okwe fights to put an end to the gruesome trade in human organs in this award-winning urban thriller which exposes a dark side of London that most people never see.” With a team of Stephen Frears, Steven Knight, Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sophie Okonedo this was a sure fire winner. 

9.  2002

“The award-winning story of the enduring love between the novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch and her husband, John Bayley. From the romance of their early days at Oxford in the 1950s, to her tragic death from Alzheimer's disease in 1999. Based on John Bayley's Books 'Iris: A Memoir' and 'Elegy for Iris'.” Moving and powerful – watch with tissues close to hand.

10.  2003

“Cassandra and her beautiful sister Rose live in a crumbling castle with their penniless father and eccentric stepmother. When two wealthy young Americans arrive on the scene, both girls find themselves caught up in a world of tangled affections, love and betrayal in this adaptation of Dodie Smith's timeless classic.” Another for my ‘to do’ list, I love the original novel so will be revisiting it in celluloid form soon. 

11.  2004

“The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the legendary comic actor,” it stars Geoffrey Rush and I was genuinely shocked that at times I forgot he wasn’t actually Sellars himself.

12.  2006

“The story of a group of bright, funny history students in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge.” The History Boys started life as a stage play by Alan Bennett  and the film retained most of the original cast and helped launch the careers of James Corden, Dominic Cooper, Russell Tovey and Samuel Barnett.

13.  2007

“Based on Zoë Heller's award-winning novel, Notes On A Scandal is a story of loneliness, loyalty, envy and love.” It starred Cate Blanchett,  Judi Dench and Bill Nighy and is one of those rare things; a film that lives up to the book on which it was based. 

14.  2008

“All the intrigue, passion and drama of Henry VIII's court. Philippa Gregory's best-seller adapted for the big screen.” If you loved Wolf Hall and The White Queen on 麻豆约拍 television – this is for you.

15.  2009

“Written by Nick Hornby, this is the story of a young girl's choice between Oxford and the university of life.” It was my first encounter with the wonderful Carey Mulligan and set in Fifties with beautiful costumes (that I wanted) designed by Odile Dicks-Mireaux.

16.  2009

“A young English aristocrat falls madly in love with a sexy and glamorous American woman and they impetuously get married. When the couple arrive at his new family home, his mother has an instant allergic reaction to everything about her new daughter in law.” More beautiful costumes and fun performances in this film adaptation of a Noel Coward stage play.

17.  2009

“Peter Capaldi and James Gandolfini star in Armando Ianucci's political satire.” Have to confess to being a bit worried when I went to see this one as it is based on 麻豆约拍 Two comedy which I love – but I wasn’t disappointed: sharp satire at its best. 

18.  2010

“The extraordinary story of three Rwandan children and their journey to the 2010 World Cup opening ceremony.”  I watched this one recently and was struck by how deftly the film deals with huge, difficult topics of poverty, child soldiers, HIV/AIDS and child sex workers with an incredible lightness of touch. You’ll also learn how to make a football out of a condom. 

19.  2011

Starring Tilda Swinton this is another cracking adaptation, this time by Lynne Ramsay of the Orange Prize for Fiction best-selling novel from Lionel Shriver.

20.  2013

“The passionate love story of an older woman and a young Muslim man, in a world where security is paramount and nothing is quite what it seems.” This features a stunning central performance from Helen McCrory, edge-of-the-seat stuff. 

21.  2013

“The true story of one mother's search for her lost son.” This starred Judi Dench and Steve Coogan and raked in the awards – justifiably so. 

22.  2014

“A rich comedy based on a true story of a group of gay and lesbian activists who decided to support a Welsh mining community during the strike of 1984.” Another awards’ magnet, this has led us to pen quite . 

23.  2015

“A young maths genius has his logic thwarted by the one thing he can’t make sense of - love.” Although it’s just been released I was lucky enough to see this film at the London Film Festival where I found its direct, non-judgemental depiction of autism touching.

24.  2015

“Sparks fly when a married woman is forced to house a German officer during the occupation of her town.” I caught this new release at the weekend – a beautiful score and excellent performances, I couldn’t take my eyes off Matthias Schoenaerts, phenomenal.  

25.  2015

“Maria Altmann, a Jewish refugee, takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.” Another film about the effects of teh Second World War, this isn’t released until next month (10 April 2015) but looks promising thanks to a cast including Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds.

So there you are – just a selection of 麻豆约拍 Films. They’ve made great movies, stunning adaptations and launched the careers of some incredible writers, directors and actors, over its quarter century. Do let me know which were your favourites in the comments below.

Hannah Khalil is Producer, About the 麻豆约拍 Website and Blog