Latest news with #TheThingWithFeathers
Express Tribune
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Cumberbatch talks grief during Berlin film fest
Benedict Cumberbatch was overtaken by grief at unexpected moments while playing a widower in his new family drama The Thing With Feathers, the British actor said on Tuesday in Berlin, as per Reuters. "Odd moments would just sideswipe me," Cumberbatch told journalists about the film, playing in the Berlin Film Festival's non-competitive Special section. He recalled how one scene of his character folding his dead wife's clothes and putting them in a box caught him off guard. "I'm 48. I've been through a bit. I've lived. I've experienced grief," he said. "It just really struck a chord." Cumberbatch stars as the father of two young sons whose wife has unexpectedly died, and he begins to receive visits from a large, otherworldly crow figure that eventually forces the family to confront their grief. Part of the role involved letting go and not trying to control what grief should look like, said Cumberbatch, who made a name for himself by playing Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Strange. "It sounds perverse when talking about grief, but as far as the artistry of making something feel or look or be real in that moment for a character, you just leave it alone and it happens," he said. Meanwhile, US actor Ethan Hawke recalled how he had to wait more than a decade for director Richard Linklater to decide he was old enough to star in his new music movie Blue Moon. The film, which is competing for the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, follows lyricist Lorenz Hart, one half of the legendary US songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart, on the opening night of the musical Oklahoma! The Broadway hit marked the first time Hart's partner Richard Rodgers collaborated with another lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, with whom he went on to create several successful musicals. Hawke told Reuters the Oscar-nominated director had sent him the script for the first time about 12 years ago, and he loved it. "I called him up: 'Let's make this movie.' And he said, 'No, we have to wait a little while'," Hawke said. After repeated calls to Linklater, Hawke finally got the answer he craved last year, and the two embarked on their ninth feature film together. Blue Moon, which also stars Irish actor Andrew Scott, is closer to a stage play than a typical film in that it takes place on one night, at the same setting. "Most people would say this isn't a movie and nothing happens. It's just people talking," Linklater said. "But I've made 30-plus years of movies that I think are cinematic, that I believe that can be cinema."
Euronews
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Berlinale 2025 review: 'The Thing With Feathers' - Benedict Cumberbatch gets Babadooked
Grief is the gutting of the soul. Grief is love with no place to go. Grief is a revealing force. Grief is also the thing with feathers. Adapted from Max Porter's astonishing debut novella 'Grief Is The Thing With Feathers', writer and director Dylan Southern's big screen adaptation takes this fantastical yet deeply relatable story of loss and transforms it into a one-note cinematic fable that is just about saved by one of Benedict Cumberbatch's best performances. The central conceit sees an unnamed father (Cumberbatch) devastated by the unexpected death of his wife. A seemingly malign presence begins to stalk him in the house he shares with his two boys (Richard and Henry Boxall) – in the form of a crow. Is the graphic artist losing his grasp on reality or is has an uninvited house guest really burrowed its way into the family's life? If you're coming at The Thing With Feathers with a healthy appreciation of the source material – and if you were lucky enough to watch Cillian Murphy in the stage show – this cinematic take on Porter's novella will frustrate more than enthral. Granted, the film sticks closely to the chapter-like sectioning (Dad, Boys, Crow and Demon), but there's something missing here. For those coming blind, there's enough to admire, specifically Ben Fordesman's horror-coded cinematography and Cumberbatch's stellar performance. Whether he's fighting off despair through wallowing or indulging in whiskey-fuelled dancing, Cumberbatch manages to convincingly convey the full emotional scope of a mourning father trying to hold his family together and losing the ability to communicate. The way he delivers lines like 'you had an amazing mum' with his voice gently cracking is nothing short of heart-wrenching. Sadly, Cumberbatch's committed turn as a grieving widower is faced with on-the-nose needle drops (The Cure's 'In Between Days' and the dirty blues of Screamin' Jay Hawkins will always be welcome but are here utilised far too literally) as well as a feathered beastie which is given far too much screen time. Had the macabre depiction of grief been kept hidden a tad more, the film would have been stronger for it; by the final stretch, every time Corvus makes a cameo, you're praying for some wing clipping. In the stage version, Cillian Murphy played both Dad and Crow and this dédoublement worked wonders; here, the beaked Babadook may have been unavoidable as a cinematic character but it would have fared better as either a possessed doppelganger or a more eclipsed golem. David Thewlis does deliver the goods with his sinister delivery of lines like 'humans are incredibly dull except in grief' and 'you're such a cliché – you'll have the photo album out next!'. However, the anthropomorphic crow, while necessary, becomes a manifestation of grief that can't emerge from the shadow cast by Jennifer Kent. Add the absence of the novella's dark humour in favour of a pummelling-into-submission tonal level which could have done with more crescendos, and any self-awareness makes grief more frustrating than terrifying. Southern clearly understood the concept and intention, but transposing it on the big screen comes with a checklist of inevitable cinematic conventions that sadly eclipse some of the novellas' most heartrending moments and transform something unique into a forced metaphor. His valiant effort, nobly-intentioned as it is, just isn't as profound or radical as it could – and should - have been.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Doctor Who' Theme and More: The Legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Archive Is Now Available
The archive of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop is being made available for the first time for use by musical artists and producers in a move set to continue a legacy of helping invent and develop electronic music and sampling. The Workshop created legendary sounds and music for radio and TV series, such as Doctor Who, including its famous theme, Tomorrow's World, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, giving, as the BBC noted, 'the TARDIS an engine and the Daleks a voice.' The move comes thanks to a licensing deal and collaboration between Spitfire Audio, a London-based technology company that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production, and BBC Studios. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was launched in 1958, rose to prominence at its Maida Vale Studios in London, and closed in March 1998. More from The Hollywood Reporter Benedict Cumberbatch on 'The Thing With Feathers,' Being an Advocate: Society Has "a Very Easy Time Sidelining" Those in Need Todd Haynes on Resistance, Reinvention and the Art of Letting Go Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater on 'Blue Moon,' Cash vs. Art: "When We Prioritize Money, We Get Generic Material" Spitfire touted that under the partnership 'an unprecedented package of samples' will be available from Wednesday, which will be priced at £149/€179/$199 at with an introductory price of £119/€143/$159 available until March 6. 'For 40 years, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was the place to go for the sound of the impossible – the unruly engine behind the music and effects of Doctor Who, The Goon Show, Blake's 7, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Living Planet and countless other productions from the BBC,' the partners said. 'It was a place of other worlds and of other sounds. From scraping pianos and hitting lampshades to manipulating tape loops with milk bottles, the Workshop's unconventional methods produced a distinctive sonic signature that continues to inspire artists.' And they highlighted: 'Its work paved the way for much of the popular music of the 21st century and has been cited as an influence by everyone from Brian Eno to Orbital to Hans Zimmer. The sample library will now be available to musicians and producers, preserving an important musical heritage for generations to come.' BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Courtesy of BBC Studios) The Doctor Who theme is one of its famous creations. Ron Grainer wrote it, and Delia Derbyshire, who has been called 'the unsung heroine of British electronic music,' recorded and arranged its first version at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 'As a kid born in the 1960s, I realized there was a department at the BBC that was purely for making bonkers noises,' said composer, sound designer, and Radiophonic Workshop archivist Mark Ayres. 'It blew my mind! I'm the youngest member of the core Radiophonic Workshop – and I'm 64! We're not going to be around forever. It was really important to leave a creative tool, inspired by our work, for other people to use going forward. I hope we've made an instrument that will inspire future generations.' The Workshop library being offered by Spitfire features sounds from original tapes, as well as new recordings and experiments by Workshop members and associates, including Mark, Kieron Pepper, Bob Earland, Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland, Roger Limb, Glynis Jones, and Peter Howell. 'We're not just looking back at what the members were doing way back when,' explained Harry Wilson, Spitfire Audio's head of recording. 'We're projecting a strand of their work into the future and saying: if the Workshop was engaged with a similar process now, what would it sound like?' Said Dominic Walker, global business director for BBC Studios: 'We are thrilled to be collaborating … with Spitfire Audio in bringing the legendary sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to a new generation of musicians and composers with this valuable online library.' Check out a trailer for the new offering here. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2024: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo and More
Express Tribune
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Benedict Cumberbatch embraces vulnerability in films, challenges traditional masculinity
Benedict Cumberbatch discussed redefining masculinity in cinema at a press conference for The Thing With Feathers. Speaking at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, he shared insights on playing a grieving father struggling with loss. The film, based on Max Porter's book, had its world premiere at Sundance and is set for its European debut in Berlin. Cumberbatch, who also produced the movie through his company SunnyMarch, attended the event alongside director Dylan Southern and co-stars Richard and Henry Boxall. During the press conference, Cumberbatch emphasized the importance of portraying emotional vulnerability on screen, saying it allows for deeper storytelling. 'Uncertainty and emotional vulnerability are not top of the agenda of the alpha male or the strong man image of what masculinity is, so I'm very happy to be part of storytelling that goes in the opposite direction of that,' he said. The Doctor Strange star described his commitment to exploring complex human emotions, even in difficult roles. 'So whether it's losing a child or whether it's child abuse, whether it's addiction, whether it's hatred… I think part of my job, when I lean into difficult characters, is to explore what is their humanity—if there is any left,' he explained. Cumberbatch added that he believes society has a responsibility to support those in need, a conviction that has driven his career choices. MK2 Films is handling international sales for The Thing With Feathers, with U.S. distribution rights still available.
Reuters
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Benedict Cumberbatch unexpectedly sideswiped by grief in 'Thing With Feathers' drama
BERLIN, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Benedict Cumberbatch was overtaken by grief at unexpected moments while playing a widower in his new family drama "The Thing With Feathers," the British actor said on Tuesday in Berlin. "Odd moments would just sideswipe me," Cumberbatch told journalists about the film, playing in the Berlin Film Festival's non-competitive Special section. He recalled how one scene of his character folding his dead wife's clothes and putting them in a box caught him off guard. "I'm 48. I've been through a bit. I've lived. I've experienced grief," he said. "It just really struck a chord." Cumberbatch stars as the father of two young sons whose wife has unexpectedly died, and he begins to receive visits from a large, otherworldly crow figure that eventually forces the family to confront their grief. Part of the role involved letting go and not trying to control what grief should look like, said Cumberbatch, who made a name for himself by playing Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Strange. "It sounds perverse when talking about grief, but as far as the artistry of making something feel or look or be real in that moment for a character, you just leave it alone and it happens," he said. The film, which was adapted from the book "Grief is the Thing with Feathers" by Max Porter, is British filmmaker Dylan Southern's debut fiction feature. "I had never read anything like it, it's so dense with kind of profound ideas and character detail, but it's packed into a tiny little novella," Southern told Reuters about the book. The director of documentaries such as "No Distance Left to Run," about the band Blur, said he wanted to capture the experience of grieving with the family that the book conveys. "It was kind of a challenging but really rewarding kind of project to dive into," he said.
