Release date: January 13, 2006

Tristan & Isolde Review
ContactMusic.com
http://contactmusic.com/new/film.nsf/reviews/tristanisolde

Kevin Reynolds is one of Hollywood’s most unjustly maligned filmmakers. I’m frequently astounded by the fact that his superior craftsmanship is not more widely recognized. Surely his attention to detail and sensual prowess is equal that of championed filmmakers like Ridley and Tony Scott (who both produced this film).

I suspect that most of this disregard is due to the fact that more often than not Reynolds’ films are burdened with clunky and sentimental scripts. Films like Rapa Nui and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves were gorgeously shot and produced but weighed down by melodrama and hobbled by sentimentality. And then there was the whole Waterworld debacle from which it seems Reynolds has never really recovered. The Count of Monte Cristo was a start, but this is the film that should bring Reynolds back to the table. (I happen to think Waterworld is fantastically accomplished and enormously entertaining but don’t tell anyone I said that.)

Tristan & Isolde is, as the ads trumpet, the story of Romeo and Juliet, long before Romeo and Juliet. It is the primordial love story, set in a Dark Aged Britain where all men are hirsute and all women are properly bodiced. The plot concerns the unfortunate romance between Irish princess Isolde (the stunning Sophia Myles) and glowering Tristan (James Franco). After he is prematurely pronounced dead and set adrift on a nautical funeral pyre, Tristan washes up on the wind-blasted coast of Ireland and brought back to life by Isolde. Little does she know that this handsome and exceptionally coiffed young man has butchered her unattractive husband to be, the unhuman Wictred (played by the fittingly named Mark Strong). When Tristan returns home he pines for Isolde but being a dutiful warrior thinks first of his King and the kingdom. To that end he journeys back to Ireland to become champion at a “reconciliation” tournament, the winner acquiring Isolde as a bride. Tristan wins the competition for his King, the delightfully sympathetic Lord Marke (expertly portrayed with the utmost sincerity by Rufus Sewell) and promptly spirals into a gloomy and festering depression when he realizes what he’s done. Isolde is, of course, not happy being married to the King and thus begins a passionate and incredibly risky affair. Since things don’t start well, you can imagine how they end.

Dean Georgaris’ (The Manchurian Candidate, Paycheck) screenplay is dutifully dramatic; even the most minor of characters are prone to attacks of aphoristic stuttering. There is also an enumeration of side plots and twists and counter twists and while they are all wrapped up fine in the end, the going gets a bit bumpy around the midway mark. Eye rolling may ensue.

But the film succeeds most because Reynolds is a preeminent film craftsman. I am frequently disillusioned by the lack of well filmed movies at the cineplexes these days. Most Hollywood productions look incredibly flat, both in color and lighting, and it’s a marvel to behold a picture that actually has depth on screen. There is a grit and a substance in Reynolds’ films that hasn’t been equaled since the '80s. Watching Tristan & Isolde in a purely visual mode is akin to seeing Blade Runner for the first time. It just looks that good, that fresh. And no other filmmaker working in Hollywood can capture nature as magnificently as he can. Reynolds and DP Artur Reinhart create a world that may not have ever really existed, but it is one that certainly everyone wishes they could live in. Another captivating, and essential, piece of the production is Anne Dudley’s (The Crying Game) luminescent score.

Franco is a bit stiff here; he really plays up the tortured soul thing and it gets annoying. You want to just kick the guy in the ass and tell him to buck up. But I’ve always felt that way about Romeo and Romeo-ish characters. Myles is beautiful and she gets to stretch her acting chops in a decidedly more robust role than Franco’s. But the star here is Sewell, who hasn’t had a really powerful role since Dark City. David O’Hara, as the pungent Irish king Donnchadh, is also magnificent.

Tristan & Isolde is one of those rare cinematic experiences that feels whole, that feels authentic. Well acted and expertly crafted, it is an elegant example of work by a mainstream filmmaker at the top of his game.

Nice perm, Tristan.
Reviewer: Keith Breese

He Said, She Said Movie Review: 'Tristan and Isolde' -- A great date movie
By ALLEN LUNDE and MICHELLE MacEACHERN - The Buzz
February 2, 2006
http://www.chicoer.com/buzz/ci_3465236

"Tristan and Isolde" tells the story of two star-crossed lovers who find themselves living in the same castle.

MICHELLE: This starts out slowly, and has some rough spots, but won me over by not taking most of many available clichés. It's a story about two young lovers from opposing kingdoms who fall in love, are separated, then are reunited when she marries her lover's foster father. Instead of everyone hating the father character, they all love him. And they should, because he is a good and just man trying to do the right thing.

ALLEN: While advertisements mention "Romeo and Juliet," the story is more along the lines of King Arthur and Lancelot. The classic love triangle is literally the classic love triangle. The film is tragic because good people, trying to do the right thing, are put in an impossible situation. I didn't expect to like it. I thought it would be a chick film with swords -- which it is -- but it turns out I like chick films with swords.

MICHELLE: We bumped into some friends afterward, and one of them said "It's not 'Braveheart.'" I took that to mean they liked "Braveheart" a lot more. Essentially, this is about the same region, and the same problem of clans warring for control of Ireland and England. But it's a lot less about the war and a lot more about the doomed romance. Isolde seems doomed from the beginning because she refuses to accept her role as a princess -- fated for a marriage based on politics, not love.

ALLEN: While the leads do a fine job, I think the success of the film rests in the performance of Rufus Sewell as Lord Marke. Sewell was born with the face of a villain, but able to portray strength and kindness in equal amounts. You believe he is the type of man other men would be glad to follow. His situation seems the most tragic. It says something that Michelle liked this guy considering he was fighting the King of Ireland.

MICHELLE: I have always liked Sewell. And he really falls for that Irish princess pretty hard. (Poor guy. He really never had a chance.)

ALLEN: James Franco is probably too pretty to look like a Dark Ages hero. I suspect in real life he would have been lucky to have all his teeth. Nevertheless, he played Tristan with plenty of depth and he had real chemistry with Sophia Myles (Isolde). I don't think I've ever seen her before, but she was quite good as well.

MICHELLE: Franco may look familiar because he was in the "Spiderman" movies, and has a jaw that can be spotted across a city block. He's also played James Dean in a television movie. I was more impressed with Myles and Sewell. I thought Franco could've done more with his final stand than he did.

ALLEN: I liked the pacing of the film. Just when you thought the romance elements were dragging, somebody got is or her head cut off. The same idea would have greatly improved "The Piano." Someone's fingers got cut off in that move, but by then it was just too late.

MICHELLE: It was one finger. And not the one I'm thinking of giving you right now.

ALLEN: This film has been out for a while. This is that time of year when Hollywood is releasing what it considers its losers, so I didn't have very high expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. It's not the greatest film in the world, but quite good and a good choice for date night.

MICHELLE: I definitely agree -- it's a good date movie. Pretty people in a pretty place dealing with a pretty romantic problem.

Michelle MacEachern and Allen Lunde aren't professional movie reviewers; they're just a married couple who like to go to the movies.

"A major asset of the picture is Rufus Sewell, who lends both his role and the film a weight and a solidity that center the story and make you care about what happens to him and his people. He carries the force of passion that Franco should have. On the one hand his character is an adversary who stands in the way of Tristan and Isolde's love, but you can't help liking him and almost wishing that Isolde wouldn't be unfaithful to him."

In a way this movie would have been more aptly called "Isolde & Tristan," because the luminous Sophia Myles, as Isolde, steals the show. This true English rose, playing an Irish princess who falls into a doomed romance with a young English warrior, has the emotional intensity and genuine screen presence to carry this film, and she does. From the first time she appears onscreen, you're essentially waiting for the next time. There are some fairly interesting battle scenes, and the sweeping shots of the spectacular Irish and English terrain are often breathtaking, but it's the natural beauty of Myles-both her physical gorgeousness and the affecting naturalness of her acting-that really holds the movie together.

But first, some background: The time is the Dark Ages, not long after the fall of the Roman Empire; the place, of course, is the British Isles, before they were the British Isles. In England, various warring tribes scattered across the land have no king and are the worse for it, because they're essentially helpless before the King of Ireland and his powerful army. Just as the tribes are about to sign a treaty to unite under one lord and stand up to their common enemy across the sea, that nasty Irish army arrives on the scene and slaughters a good portion of them. Two survivors are Lord Marke (the very effective Rufus Sewell), the strongest lord, and the boy Tristan, whose parents are both killed. Lord Marke takes Tristan in and raises him like a son. Nine years later, things are a little more settled: Lord Marke and his people have rebuilt and recovered, and Tristan (James Franco) has grown into a great warrior. But the conflict with both Ireland and the other English tribes rages on. During a battle with Irish soldiers, Tristan is felled by a poison sword and presumed dead. His compatriots set him adrift on the sea in a funeral bier, and Isolde finds him washed up and unconscious on the coast of Ireland. She's immediately smitten and secretly nurses him back to health in a beachside cave. You can pretty much guess where things go from there.

Isolde is a dreamer and a romantic, unsatisfied with her lot as a princess and looking for something greater than herself, and she has the film's best lines about love. (Unfortunately the lines of poetry she reads him, which become a symbolic refrain through the rest of the film, had yet to be written, by John Donne in the 17th century; the filmmakers are off by a millennium or so, but the words do capture something of the story's spirit.) You can certainly see why someone would fall in love with her, but this is where Franco's fairly limited acting range keeps the impact of the movie's message from being as powerful as it could have been. For all his brooding expressions and soulful eyes, he conveys remarkably little real feeling for his beloved. This is a story about a legendary, epic love, yet as Franco plays it you might think it wasn't much more than a summer fling. When the Irish eventually find out that Tristan is alive and on their shores, he must make a quick getaway by boat; his impulsive request that Isolde come with him feels less than genuine, as if he just knows it's what she wants to hear. Bound by duty to her people, she stays behind. Going off this Tristan's manner, I probably would have too in her shoes.

The plot is really set in motion when Isolde's father, King Donnchadh (David O'Hara), invites the English lords to fight each other for the hand of his daughter, as a phony attempt at a peace offering. Tristan, newly returned from the dead and reunited with his people, comes to the contest and wins, but he's fighting on behalf of Lord Marke. It's not until the fight is over that he realizes who Isolde is, and by then it's too late. The fragile truce between England and Ireland is riding on her successful marriage to Lord Marke. She goes through with it and for a while fights her feelings for Tristan, but soon enough love overpowers duty and the two pick up their affair again. It's doomed, of course, and they both know it-they're the precursors of Romeo and Juliet-but as the great love stories of both life and literature will attest, that never stopped anyone.

Those familiar with the myth of Tristan and Isolde will probably notice that this version of the story is not quite the one they remember. The film has altered many of the details, but since there have been numerous and varied retellings of the tale through the centuries, that's no great crime. All the essential elements are here: the grand passion, the conflict between love and duty, the private drama of two people set against the larger, more public drama of two lands at war. Literary purists may be disappointed, but it must be said that the movie is really fairly entertaining. The political intrigues are for the most part integral to the plot and so never feel superfluous to the love story. The film's look is also an understated but central element, surely due, in part, to executive producers Ridley and Tony Scott; many shots and set pieces are visually beautiful, but they never distract from the focus of the story. The balance between the private and public dramas, between tearful romance and engaging fight scenes, is carried off well, and there are few, if any, slow or lackluster scenes. No mean feat for a movie that clocks in at just over two hours and maintains a somber faithfulness to tragedy.

The only real flaw here is in the casting of Franco. He tends to throw off the film's generally authentic look and tone. When we first see him as Tristan, he's sporting just about the only clean-shaven face around-all the better to show off his movie-star features-and a head of bouncy, slightly awkward-looking curls. Maybe that's how Franco's hair naturally is when it grows out, I don't know, but for some reason it often distracted me; at times I wondered if maybe he'd been all set to play Jim Morrison or some other rock star and then got mistakenly thrown into this movie instead. You'll probably recognize Franco as Harry from the "Spider-Man" movies, or as James Dean in the 2001 TV movie. And this may be significant: there's something curiously anachronistic about Franco in this film. He was the only actor in it I was never quite convinced was really a figure living in the Dark Ages. Maybe he just needed a few days' worth of whiskers and a hairdo that didn't seem quite so much like he'd just shampooed and conditioned. But there's also something about his muted line delivery, a modern internalization and underplayed cool made into a popular (and successful) acting style by the likes of Marlon Brando and James Dean, that doesn't quite work here. At one point Tristan is called a man of passion, but watching Franco I found myself wanting someone who would more openly and forcefully express that passion. Part of it is the character's situation, in that he must hide his feelings for Isolde once she's the wife of his adoptive uncle, but even in his scenes alone with Myles, Franco plays things almost too cool. This romance of the ages comes off as all but one-sided.

A major asset of the picture is Rufus Sewell, who lends both his role and the film a weight and a solidity that center the story and make you care about what happens to him and his people. He carries the force of passion that Franco should have. On the one hand his character is an adversary who stands in the way of Tristan and Isolde's love, but you can't help liking him and almost wishing that Isolde wouldn't be unfaithful to him. But the real revelation here is Sophia Myles. She is the heart and soul of the movie, anchoring it in a reality born of true, honest emotion. Time and again her character espouses love as the most important thing in life, something that transcends time and is stronger than death. Myles makes Isolde's love feel real, like it really could be and do all those things and more. Any ability of this film's tragic romance to move the audience is due entirely to her presence. She's one to watch. If it weren't for her radiant, passionate performance, we would probably feel a great deal less for these two star-crossed lovers.

MOVIE REVIEW | 'TRISTAN & ISOLDE'
The New York Times

Young Lovers in a Cave Can't Escape the World

By MANOHLA DARGIS

Not all great love stories are the same; they just sometimes seem that way in Hollywood, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the new studio release "Tristan & Isolde," the lovers of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend and Wagnerian libretto fall for each other far from the violent, Dark Ages machinations plaguing their two warring peoples. Tucked in a cave, they find "a place for us" (see "West Side Story"), discover that "parting is such sweet sorrow" ("Romeo and Juliet") and learn, to their peril, that "men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way" ("When Harry Met Sally"). In between the panting and parting, two young actors are positioned, if somewhat prematurely, for stardom.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Dean Georgaris, whose toniest credit to date is the unnecessary remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" (he also wrote "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life"), "Tristan & Isolde" was once pegged as a project for Ridley Scott, who serves as one of its executive producers. The Sir Ridley connection may help explain the film's fine production values as well as the pervasive air of seriousness, both of which work to its advantage. Mr. Reynolds remains best known for the 1995 debacle "Waterworld" and has directed a handful of features since, most recently the indefensibly diverting "Count of Monte Cristo." Like that earlier period picture, "Tristan & Isolde" has nothing new to say about either love or filmmaking, but that, too, isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Critics often complain that Hollywood has nothing new to offer, but part of the appeal of the old studio system was the regularity of its offerings. One Fred and Ginger movie looks pretty much like another Fred and Ginger movie, only "Swing Time" is better than "Top Hat." We want movies to be different, but not radically so, which helps explain our enduring love for genre and stars. There is something reassuring in the knowledge that a film with Brad Pitt will at least give us the pleasure of his company (though of course you could end up falling asleep to "Meet Joe Black"). Just as there is something undeniably pleasant about an entertainment like "Tristan & Isolde" that delivers exactly what it promises, no less, no more.

To that end, what we get with this very familiar film are the winsome leads - James Franco as Tristan and Sophia Myles as Isolde - reading poetry that hadn't actually been written yet, seminude in a cozy cave tucked into the Irish coast. Tristan, orphaned by the long battle between the English tribes and the Irish kingdom, has washed up on the emerald isle, wounded and in a state of extremely photogenic distress. Isolde, the daughter of the tyrannical Irish king, Donnchadh (the vigorous scene-chewer David Patrick O'Hara), has carted the wounded warrior into the cave, where she warms his body with hers and heals his wounds with medicinal herbs. Tristan soon recovers, only to fall into a more welcome state of helplessness when he casts eyes on his nurse. Fires are lighted, actual and metaphoric, followed by some discreet lovemaking.

It takes about 30 minutes longer than need be for it to go terribly wrong, but of course it does. Tristan returns home to his lord and surrogate father, Marke (a very effective Rufus Sewell), who is trying to join together the fractious English tribes against the Irish. In a scheme to wrest even more power, Isolde's super-mean father decides to auction her off to the best English warrior, and guess who that turns out to be. Tristan wins Isolde's hand, but not for himself. Isolde marries Marke and scurries around the palace with Tristan, throwing caution and perhaps even the fate of a unified nation to the wind. There are stolen kisses, beautiful hills, rousing battles and noble speeches about duty versus love. Happily, Enya is nowhere to be heard.

You've seen it all before; you'll see it all again.

"Tristan & Isolde" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). There is some fairly bloodless fighting and some very chaste lovemaking.

Tristan & Isolde

After incongruously cluttering up Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with a horde of subhuman Celtic warriors apishly lusting after the blood of good clean Saxons, this sometime Texas lawyer has now created the most anti-Hibernian version of Tristan & Isolde yet.

Eschewing the early French and German renditions of this age-old myth, Reynolds and screenwriter Dean Georgaris have left us with a demystified, dragonless romance in which a disorganized proto-England must get its political shit together in order to defeat an eternally treacherous Ireland if it is ever to become a nation worthy of the name. If nothing else, this film made me realize how First Nations viewers must feel every time they see a western wherein small parties of “disadvantaged” white settlers are “forced” to do battle with far more powerful hordes of ruthless “savages”. Even the knowledge that the Irish did half-colonize Scotland, occupy Wales for a few years, and raid the British coast for several centuries takes little of the sting out of this outrageously revisionist account of Anglo-Irish history.

Medieval enthusiasts won’t be any happier than hard-core historical purists by the director’s excessive liberties. In addition to the already mentioned absent dragon, the love philtre that dooms Cornish Tristan (James Franco) and Irish Isolde (Sophia Myles) to mutual attraction is also missing, as is the sword in the bed that Tristan uses to curb his desire for Isolde, King Mark’s intended. Perhaps most heretically of all, the ruler of Cornwall (Rufus Sewell), here demoted to the rank of Lord Marke, is the nicest cuckold ever to wear a pair of horns, being entirely bereft of the ruthlessness that at least partially justified his betrayal in the past.

As for the incidental pleasures, the production design is quite good and the anachronisms, though plentiful, are rarely jarring (with the exception of the still-thriving paganism that we see being practised in sixth-century Irish and Cornish courts). The fights are reasonably well choreographed, and the acting is quite acceptable (although the only truly excellent performance is given by Sewell).

If you care nothing at all for myth, medieval literature, or historical veracity, you might actually enjoy the little that’s left of one of the world’s greatest romantic tragedies: a technically competent, minor costume drama.

An ancient tale of love, longing -- and a spot of beefcake

Tristan & Isolde: Romantic drama. Starring James Franco, Sophia Myles and Rufus Sewell. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. (PG-13. 125 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

Sprawling vistas of jagged rocks and barren British plains cannot compensate for the lack of anything remotely epic in the romance presented in "Tristan & Isolde." In this version, we don't find a tale of transcendent passion but rather of two vain nitwits in a case of routine attraction.

To confront the failure of "Tristan & Isolde" is to wonder how other epic love stories have succeeded. What does this movie lack? Is the missing element a matter of chemistry, or a good script, or sensible casting? The answer in this case may be "all of the above," but the film's most basic lack is one of conviction. For a movie like this to have half a chance, somebody making it has to believe that love is monumental, that passion is unstoppable, and that sex is a commingling of the spirit, as well as an indelible, transformative act from which there can be no going back.

It's difficult to convey the hugeness of love, in our jaded and promiscuous age. It almost requires going back in time to an earlier mind-set. "Tristan & Isolde" goes back in time -- it takes place in Britain and Ireland in the early Dark Ages -- but the demeanor of the characters is entirely modern. So we get a Tristan (James Franco) who acts like an underwear model and an Isolde (Sophia Myles) with the sullen, business-like manner of a competent barmaid. When they get together, it's not Wagnerian. It's more like a typical Friday night.

To make matters worse, director Kevin Reynolds ("Waterworld") and screenwriter Dean Georgaris ("Lara Croft Tomb Raider") seem to be operating out of a fundamental misunderstanding of the story. To them, the Celtic myth of Tristan and Isolde is the tragedy of two people who can't get together, when it's really the tragedy of two people who can't stay apart. That is, it's not "Romeo and Juliet," about the impossibility of perfect love in an imperfect world. Rather it's about something more mysterious and huge, about a physical passion so intense, satisfying and complete that it trumps all other considerations and takes on a spiritual grandeur.

In trying to turn one kind of story into another kind, Reynolds and Georgaris tie themselves into knots. They take a story of mad passion and make the participants into bland, reasonable people, thus blunting the intensity of their attraction -- and its fascination for an audience. Perhaps someone thought that making them reasonable might make them sympathetic, but the strategy backfires: If they're rational, that means they're responsible for the calamitous consequences of their affair, which they enter into with cold calculation. It's one thing to be genuinely out of control and quite another to be a selfish ninny who just wants more.

Maybe kids will like it. The film is full of beefcake shots of Franco's torso, and the movie's point of view is very like that of a young person. At one point, Isolde has the dread misfortune of having to marry a skuzzy older man instead of Tristan. She even has to go to bed with this ancient wreck, and we see her stiffening and wincing as he kisses her. The repulsive older man is Lord Marke, played by handsome, 38-year-old Rufus Sewell.

Every so often, Reynolds lifts the camera and shows the harsh landscape -- lots of rock -- and we get a sense of harsh people on a harsh earth. There are several battle interludes, good sword fights, a convincing early scene of mayhem and slaughter, several neck slashings and one significant decapitation. The action is nicely choreographed, even if it's not always easy to figure out which guy wearing an animal skin is English and which is Irish.

But everything connected with the lovers, who are the point of the movie, is either ordinary or unwittingly funny, and the laughs come early. Here's just one. Isolde first encounters Tristan when she finds him wounded and washed up on a beach. Within a minute, she decides he has hypothermia, and there's only one cure -- taking off her clothes and cuddling with him. That was easy. Tristan is so cool he doesn't even have to be conscious to meet women.

-- Advisory: Sexual interludes and fairly graphic battle scenes.

Counting Down.com
January 4, 2006

Coming to Theaters
Who's in it? James Franco , Sophia Myles

What's it about? After the fall of the Roman Empire, Irish King Donnchadh(David OHara) brutally subjugates tribal England. There, young orphaned Tristan (James Franco) is raised by family ally Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell). As a young man, the charismatic Tristan leads guerilla attacks on Irish occupying forces, ultimately defeating King Donnchadh's elite warriors. Believing himself to be mortally wounded, Tristan requests a funeral boat that eventually washes up on the Irish coast. Discovered by Irish Princess Isolde (Sophia Myles), the two fall passionately in love. All too soon Tristan must flee back to the safety of England. Meanwhile, King Donnchadh invites the English lords to contest for Isolde's hand, hoping to cause further discord among the bickering English barons. Unaware of Isolde's identity, Tristan fights in the tournament as Marke's champion. Tristan is victorious but is devastated to learn Isolde's true identity. Lord Marke weds Isolde and prepares to become King of the now united England, ruining Donnchadh's plan. Despite their best efforts to stay apart, Tristan and Isolde eventually resume their affair. When King Donnchadh arrives in England for Marke's coronation, he deviously unmasks the affair causing an English rebellion. Lord Marke forgives Tristan and Isolde as they defend Castle D'Or from Irish troops. Tristan leads a battle against the Irish but is fatally wounded. As Lord Marke leads the reunited English troops to drive out the Irish, Tristan dies peacefully in Isolde's arms.

Your turn: How much are you looking forward to this movie? Add to your review!
http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3160264/

What's ahead in the entertainment world
Scripps Howard News Service
03-JAN-06

NEXT WEEK AT THE MOVIES
Film critic Betsy Pickle tells you what to watch for at your neighborhood theater beginning Jan. 13:
............
Love threatens peace in "Tristan & Isolde." Based on the classic medieval tale, the film tells the story of a young English knight, Tristan (James Franco), believed dead by his friends, who is secretly nursed back to life by Isolde, the daughter (Sophia Myles) of the Irish king (David O'Hara). Reunited with his mentor (Rufus Sewell), who is trying to bring harmony and unity to England, Tristan is horrified to learn that if he follows his heart, he will destroy a nation and a dear friendship. Kevin Reynolds ("The Count of Monte Cristo") directed.
............
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=POPFOCUS-01-03-06

Sun Entertainment Spotlight
Edmonton Sun.com
Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Here are some highlights - potential highlights:

CARS - Animated Pixar feature about the little stock car that could is voiced by Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt and Cheech Marin, among others.
LADY IN THE WATER - M. Night Shyamalan intends to give you the willies with this story of a woman saved from a swimming pool - only she's no ordinary woman. She's a figure from a fairy tale, trying to get out of our world and back to hers. Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard star.
GHOST RIDER - The Nicolas Cage outing based on a Marvel comic about a stunt driver named Johnny Blaze who turns into a vigilante! Vroom, vroom, etc.
FIREWALL - A security specialist has to rob a bank. We like the sounds of this, as it stars Paul Bettany and Harrison Ford.
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES - Do we have to spell out everything for you? The Brad Pitt western (duh), shot partly in Fort Edmonton Park, stars Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard and Mary Louise Parker.
LUCKY YOU - Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall star. Gambling. Poker. Like that.
THE REAPING - Religious creep-fest with Hilary Swank as a former missionary who goes around investigating weird biblical goings-on. Yeah - until the plague of locusts comes to her house.
THE BLOOD DIAMOND - Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly star in this drama about a priceless gem and the people who'd kill to own it.
TRISTAN & ISOLDE - Ye olde love, ye olde fighting and dying. With James Franco, Sophia Myles and Rufus Sewell.
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Sofia Coppola directs Kirsten Dunst, Marianne Faithful and others. Let them eat cake.
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS - Family saga centres on mom's bipolarity, and check the cast - Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes and Alec Baldwin.
- - -
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Spotlight/2006/01/01/1375261-sun.html

May 31, 2005
Just announced on Fox Movies.com - the release date for Tristan and Isolde will be February 3, 2006

February 23, 2005

Fox Movies.com - Coming Soon

Release date: coming soon
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Screenplay by: Dean GeorgariM
Producers: Zisa Ellzey, Giannina Facio, Noshe Diamant
Executive Producers: Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Jim Lemley, Frank Hubner, John Hardy, Matthen Stillman

Cast: James Franco, Sophie Myles, Rufus Sewell

Synopsis: The longtime dream project of executive producers Tony Scott and Ridley Scott explores the medieval legend of a princess and warrior's love affair, which threatens to tear apart an uneasy peace between England and Ireland. A tale of epic battles, royal intrigue and a timeless star-crossed passion.
http://www.foxmovies.com

Fall 2005, Rating: TBA, ??mins, 20th Century Fox

Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O'Hara, Henry Cavill, JB Blanc, Jamie King, Dexter Fletcher, Todd Kramer, Thomas Morris, Lucy Russell
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Producers: Moshe Diamant, Lisa Ellzey, Giannina Facio, Jan Fantl, Frank Hübner, Anne Lai, David Minkowski, Jim Lemley, Elie Samaha, Ridley & Tony Scott, Matt Stillman
Writers: Dean Georgaris
Trailers: None Presently Available

Plot: This longtime dream project of executive producers Tony Scott and Ridley Scott explores the medieval legend of a princess and warrior’s love affair, which threatens to tear apart an uneasy peace between England and Ireland. A tale of epic battles, royal intrigue and a timeless, star-crossed passion.

February 10, 2005
Some behind the scenes photos from the "Tristan and Isolde" set.

Tristan & Isolde (romantic drama)
Scot Free Prods/Francise Picture, 634 N. Lapeer Dr., LA 90059 310-360-2250
Shooting in Ireland, Prague
Start September 1 2003
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O'Hara, Mark Strong, Bonagh Gallagher, Dexter Fletcher
ExPrd., Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Jim Lernley, Frank Hubner; Prd., Lisa Elzey, Giannina Facio, Moshe Diamant, Elie Samaha; Kevin Reynolds directing.

The Hollywood Reporter
Thanks, Rai and Chris!!

Monday 29th September 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
The following pics of the sets of Tristan & Isolde's sets in Ireland have just been sent in. Thanks to Robert! Click Here

Tuesday 23rd September 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
Just received word today that the filming on Tristan & Isolde has finished it's exterior filming in Ireland and has moved to Prague for six weeks for exterior filming. After that they will then move to studios for 4 weeks of filming.

Thursday 4th September 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
The following press release for Tristan & Isolde has just been released:
Filming has begun in Galway, Ireland on Scott Free’s TRISTAN & ISOLDE, a tale set in the Dark Ages, of a princess and young warrior’s love affair which threatens to tear apart an uneasy peace between England and Ireland, it was announced today by Scott Free Productions.

TRISTAN & ISOLDE is directed by Kevin Reynolds (The Count of Monte Cristo, Waterworld, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and written by Dean Georgaris (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Paycheck, Mission Impossible 3). It stars James Franco, Sophia Myles and Rufus Sewell. The film is being produced for Scott Free by Lisa Ellzey (The Gathering Storm), Giannina Facio (Matchstick Men), Moshe Diamant (A Sound of Thunder) and Elie Samaha (The Whole Ten Yards).

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Irish KING DONNCHADH (David O’Hara) brutally subjugates tribal England. There, young orphaned TRISTAN (James Franco) is raised by family ally LORD MARKE (Rufus Sewell). As a young man, the charismatic Tristan leads guerilla attacks on Irish occupying forces, ultimately defeating King Donnchadh’s elite warriors. Believing himself to be mortally wounded, Tristan requests a funeral boat that eventually washes up on the Irish coast. Discovered by Irish Princess ISOLDE (Sophia Myles), the two fall passionately in love. All too soon Tristan must flee back to the safety of England. Meanwhile, King Donnchadh invites the English lords to contest for Isolde’s hand, hoping to cause further discord among the bickering English barons. Unaware of Isolde’s identity, Tristan fights in the tournament as Marke’s champion. Tristan is victorious but is devastated to learn Isolde’s true identity. Lord Marke weds Isolde and prepares to become King of the now united England, ruining Donnchadh’s plan. Despite their best efforts to stay apart, Tristan and Isolde eventually resume their affair. When King Donnchadh arrives in England for Marke’s coronation, he deviously unmasks the affair causing an English rebellion. Lord Marke forgives Tristan and Isolde as they defend Castle D’Or from Irish troops. Tristan leads a battle against the Irish but is fatally wounded. As Lord Marke leads the reunited English troops to drive out the Irish, Tristan dies peacefully in Isolde’s arms.

Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Blade Runner), Tony Scott (Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Top Gun), Jim Lemley (We Were Soldiers) and Frank Hubner serve as executive producers. Co-producing are Anne Lai and Jan Fantl.

“This has long been a passion of ours and we look forward to collaborating with the wonderful team we have assembled for this film,” says Scott Free.

James Franco, who plays Tristan, is best known for his title role in TNT’s ‘James Dean’ which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Motion Picture made for Television. He next stars in Robert Altman’s The Company and John Dahl’s The Great Raid. Among his other credits are Spiderman I & II, City by the Sea, Nicolas Cage’s Sonny and Never Been Kissed.

Sophia Myles, who portrays Isolde, will next been seen as Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds alongside Ben Kingsley. Her other films credits include the soon to be released Underworld starring Kate Beckinsale, Mansfield Park, From Hell and The Abduction Club.

Rufus Sewell who plays Marke, has starred in a number of television and feature films. He will next be seen in a TV adaptation of ‘Charles II.’ His many film credits amongst others include A Knight’s Tale, Illuminata, Dark City, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet and Schlesinger’s Cold Comfort Farm.

The film also stars David O’Hara (Fever, Braveheart, The Devil’s Own, Some Mother’s Son), Dexter Fletcher (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Topsy Turvy, Jude The Obscure, Caravaggio), Bronagh Gallagher (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Pulp Fiction, The Commitments), Henry Cavill (Hellraiser 7, I Capture The Castle, The Count of Monte Cristo) and Mark Strong (Heartlands, All About Love, Fever Pitch).

TRISTAN & ISOLDE will be released domestically by 20th Century Fox with Franchise Pictures serving as international sales agent. The film shoots in Ireland and Prague through early December 2003.

Monday 21st July 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
British actress Sophia Myles, who plays Lady Penelope in the forthcoming Thunderbirds movie, is to star with James Franco in period romance Tristan & Isolde, directed by Kevin Reynolds. Set in medieval Britain and Ireland, the story is an adaptation of the romantic myth about doomed young lovers. It follows Tristan (Franco), an English knight who attempts to unite England by winning the hand of the Irish king's daughter, Isolde (Myles). The knight falls in love with the future queen, but she is already married to another and their affair threatens the future of Britain.

Thursday 17th July 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
Just received word that Henry Cavill will play Melot in Tristan and Isolde. Thanks to Anon!

Monday 16th June 2003: Tristan & Isolde Update:
The filming on Tristan and Isolde is thought to be starting in the Czech republic at the end of August.
Thanks, Nadine!

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