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The Beguiled (2017 film)

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The Beguiled
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySofia Coppola
Screenplay bySofia Coppola
Produced by
  • Youree Henley
  • Sofia Coppola
Starring
CinematographyPhilippe Le Sourd
Edited bySarah Flack
Music byPhoenix
Production
companies
Distributed byFocus Features
Release dates
  • May 24, 2017 (2017-05-24) (Cannes)
  • June 23, 2017 (2017-06-23) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[2]
Box office$5.2 million[3]

The Beguiled is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, based on the novel The Beguiled (originally published as A Painted Devil) by Thomas P. Cullinan. It stars Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning. A film of the same name, also based on Cullinan's book, was released in 1971.

It premiered on May 24, 2017 and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival,[4][5] where Coppola won the Best Director award, becoming only the second woman to do so.[6] It was released on June 23, 2017, by Focus Features.

Plot

Martha Farnsworth is leading a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War. By 1864, almost all of the students, teachers, and slaves have left. Only teacher Edwina Morrow and five students stay with Miss Farnsworth.

While out in the woods searching for mushrooms, Amy, one of the students, comes across John McBurney, a corporal in the Union Army who was wounded in the leg during battle and has since deserted the battlefield. Amy brings McBurney to the school where he falls unconscious. The women lock McBurney in one of the rooms while Miss Farnsworth tends to his wounds. All the women and girls in the school are immediately fascinated by the handsome man.

At the beginning, some residents want him to be delivered as a prisoner of war to the Confederate Army, but Miss Farnsworth decides that they will let his leg heal before they decide what they will do with him. When Confederate soldiers arrive at the school, Miss Farnsworth does not tell them that a Union soldier is on the premises.

While he is recovering, the women and girls fight for McBurney's attention and affection, giving him presents, wearing jewelry and preparing a luxurious dinner for him. He is returning the affections, especially concentrating on Miss Morrow and Miss Farnsworth. When he is able to move again, he begins helping in the garden. It becomes clear that he fears returning to the war again.

When Miss Farnsworth indicates that he is healthy enough and will have to leave the school in a few days, he tries to convince her to let him stay as a gardener. He furthermore tells Miss Morrow that he has fallen in love with her.

One night, he tells Miss Morrow to await him in her room. But when he does not appear and she hears strange noises, she investigates and finds him in bed with Alicia, a teenaged student. When McBurney tries to calm Miss Morrow down, she pushes him away, leading to him falling down the stairs and badly breaking his already injured leg. Miss Farnsworth decides that the only way to save him is to amputate his leg.

When McBurney awakes the next day and realizes he has lost his leg, he is devastated and furious, accusing the women, and especially Miss Farnsworth, of having punished him for the chaos he brought to the school. He is locked up in his room but threatens Alicia to get him the room key. He then breaks out, steals a gun, threatens the women, and then storms off. Miss Morrow follows him to his room where they have passionate sex.

Meanwhile Miss Farnsworth tries to find a solution for the current situation. One of the students suggests killing McBurney by preparing a dinner for him using some poisonous mushrooms, to which she agrees. During the dinner, Miss Morrow, who is not informed of the plan, is deterred by the others at the last minute from putting the mushrooms on her plate. McBurney does not get suspicious and eats the mushrooms. Seconds later he falls to the floor, dead.

While the others are sewing McBurney's body into a shroud, Miss Morrow looks on, devastated. The film ends with the women dragging his body to the road to let him be fetched by the next soldiers who come by.

Cast

Production

Previously Coppola had expressed an aversion to a remake, but after watching the 1971 version at the urging of production designer Anne Rose, she was left contemplating ways she could update the film.[7] Specifically she became interested in showing the story from the woman's point of view as opposed to the man's point of view. [8] The material came to Coppola at a time where she wanted to do a more optimistic film than 2013's The Bling Ring, stating that she wanted to "cleanse myself" from what she terms was "such a tacky, ugly world".[7]

In March 2016, it was announced Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, and Kirsten Dunst had been cast in the film, while Colin Farrell entered talks that July.[9][10][11] The music for the film is composed by the rock band Phoenix.[12]

Filming

Principal photography began on October 31, 2016, and concluded on December 7, 2016.[13][14]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival; Coppola won the Best Director Award, making her the second woman to ever win in that category, 56 years after the first female director won.[15][1] The film had a limited release on June 23, 2017, before it opening in a wide release on June 30, 2017.[16]

Box office

In the film's limited opening weekend it made $240,545 from four theaters (a per-theater gross of $60,136), finishing 20th at the box office.[17]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 77% based on 155 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Beguiled adds just enough extra depth to its source material to set itself apart, and director Sofia Coppola's restrained touch is enlivened by strong performances from the cast."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film an "A−", saying, "Coppola's film is told with surgical precision and savage grace."[20] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stated: "Other than to place slightly more emphasis on the female empowerment angle...it's hard to detect a strong raison d'etre behind Sofia Coppola's slow-to-develop melodrama."[21]

References

  1. ^ a b "2017 Screenings Guide" (PDF). festival-cannes.com. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  2. ^ Thompson, Anne (May 23, 2017). "With 'The Beguiled,' Sofia Coppola Seeks Cannes Redemption with a Southern-Gothic Remake". Indiewire.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Beguiled (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "The 2017 Official Selection". Cannes. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  5. ^ "2017 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, 'Twin Peaks' and More". IndieWire. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  6. ^ Debruge, Peter (May 28, 2017). "2017 Cannes Film Festival Award Winners Announced". Variety.
  7. ^ a b Sollosi, Mary. "The Beguiled: Sofia Coppola on how she made the remake her own". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. ^ Lopez, Kristen. "IN CONVERSATION WITH SOFIA COPPOLA". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  9. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 29, 2016). "Sofia Coppola to Write, Direct Remake of Clint Eastwood Drama 'The Beguiled'". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  10. ^ Gettell, Oliver (March 29, 2016). "Sofia Coppola to remake Southern Gothic drama The Beguiled for Focus". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (July 14, 2016). "Colin Farrell In Talks to Star in Sofia Coppola's 'Beguiled' Remake (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  12. ^ Erbland, Kate (May 10, 2017). "'The Beguiled': French Rockers Phoenix Providing Score for Sofia Coppola's Latest Period Piece". Indiewire.com. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  13. ^ Fanning, Elle (October 31, 2016). "#thebeguiledmovie began filming today... Happy Halloween!". Instagram.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  14. ^ Calvaro, Liz (December 8, 2016). "'The Beguiled': Kirsten Dunst Shares Photo With Elle Fanning From Last Day on Sofia Coppola's Set". Indiewire.com. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  15. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy; Evans, Greg (April 13, 2017). "Cannes Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, Noah Baumbach, 'Twin Peaks'". Deadline.com. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Kay, Jermey (November 2, 2016). "Focus to release 'The Beguiled' in June 2017". Screen International. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  17. ^ "Why 'Transformers' Is Screaming For Reboot After $69M Start; 'Wonder Woman' & 'Cars 3' Fight Over 2nd Place". Deadline.com. June 25, 2017.
  18. ^ "The Beguiled (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  19. ^ "The Beguiled reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  20. ^ Ehrlich, David (May 24, 2017). "'The Beguiled' Review: Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst Subvert Male Fantasies in Sofia Coppola's Sensational Southern Potboiler". Indiewire.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  21. ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 24, 2017). "'The Beguiled': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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