Retrospective
of acclaimed Manchester-born screenwriter Robert
Bolt kicks
off HOME’s 2020 film programme
Sun 5 - Wed 22 Jan 2020
HOME is delighted to announce that its annual British
Screenwriters season will be dedicated to Manchester-born and educated Robert
Bolt in January 2020. The acclaimed stage and screen writer initially made his
name in theatre with his 1960 play about Sir Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons, before developing a powerful creative
partnership with director David Lean, collaborating on epic works including Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Dr Zhivago (1965).
Curated by Andy Willis, HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film
and Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford, the season will
screen three of Bolt’s award-winning collaborations with Lean: Lawrence of Arabia, recipient of seven
Oscars in 1963 including Best Film and Best Director, with a Best Screenplay
nomination for Bolt; Doctor
Zhivago, which won Bolt his first Oscar and
Golden Globe; and Ryan’s Daughter
(1970),
a double Oscar-winning epic romance set against a backdrop of
war and political turmoil. Also screening is the 1966 screen adaptation of
Bolt’s internationally successful stage play of the same name, A Man for All Seasons, with Paul
Scofield reprising his West End and Broadway role as Sir Thomas More - for
which he was awarded an Oscar - alongside a cast including Robert Shaw, Orson
Welles, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt and directed by Hollywood veteran Fred
Zinnemann (High Noon, From Here to
Eternity). Rounding off the season is Bolt’s final film, The Mission - the haunting, epic tale of
a missionary in 18th-century South America starring Robert De Niro
and Jeremy Irons and directed by Roland Joffé - winner of the Palme d’Or at the
1986 Cannes Film Festival as well as a final Golden Globe for Best Screenplay
for Bolt.
Curator Andy Willis will kick off the season with a special
One Hour Intro about Bolt and his career on 5 January, he comments:
“Bolt is a true Manchester success story - born in Sale and
educated in Manchester, he studied at Manchester University before and after
serving in World War II. We’re excited to be celebrating this brilliant writer
who enjoyed critical and commercial success across such a vast range of theatre
and film writing, and possessed a true knack for making history contemporary
and tackling moral issues dramatically.”
Alongside the best new independent film releases, HOME’s 2020
film programme will be packed with retrospectives, special seasons and one-off
screenings, full details of which will be announced in due course. Some
confirmed highlights include:
- The recently announced In Her View
season (Wed 15 - Thu 30 Jan) will celebrate women documentary filmmakers,
historically overlooked in the male-dominated documentary film world
- Adaptation: Impossible Novels - a February season dedicated to film adaptations of those
supposedly “unfilmmable” novels, full details announced soon
- ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American
Film Festival will return for its 26th edition, promising
a cinematic celebration of Spanish and Latin American Culture, including UK
premieres, special events and cinema classics (Fri 6 - Thu 26 Mar)
- The Reflecting Screen: Filmmaking on screen - HOME’s major 2020 summer film
season will showcase a range of films that explore the filmmaking process with
its trials and tribulations, power struggles and self-doubt - a rich subject
for a variety of established and emerging filmmakers, both established and
emerging.
#RobertBoltatHOME
@HOME_mcr
https://homemcr.org/event/british-screenwriters-robert-bolt/
BRITISH SCREENWRITERS: ROBERT BOLT
PROGRAMME DETAILS
One Hour Intro/ Robert Bolt
Sun 5 Jan, 13:00
Tickets: £4 full / £3 concs
This One Hour Intro will discuss the work of
Manchester-born screenwriter Robert Bolt. First finding praise as a theatre
writer, then collaborating on a series of memorably epic films with director
David Lean before finding acclaim for his script for The Mission, Bolt’s sometimes controversial career often challenged
the ambition and scope of British cinema.
Led by Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the
University of Salford and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film.
A Man for All Seasons (U)
Sun 5 Jan, 14:15
Tue 7 Jan, 20:20
Wed 8 Jan, 13:00
Dir Fred Zinnemann/GB 1966/120 mins
Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw
In 1960 Robert Bolt enjoyed great success with the
original London production of his play about the final years of Sir Thomas
More, A Man for All Seasons.
Following great international acclaim, Bolt successfully adapted his theatrical
work for this film version directed by Hollywood veteran Fred Zinnemann. The
writer’s script would once again be rewarded with a Best Adapted Screenplay
Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Alongside these, the critical acclaim for the film saw
it awarded further Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Lead Actor
(for Paul Schofield).
Lawrence of Arabia (PG)
Sat 11 Jan, 16:00
Dir David Lean/GB 1962/228 mins
Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness
David Lean’s epic telling of the story of T. E.
Lawrence won seven Oscars including Best Film and Best Director Oscars and made
an international film star of Peter O’Toole. When Lean controversially rejected
screenwriter Michael Wilson’s contribution to his Lawrence of Arabia project he
approached Robert Bolt to work on the script. The result would catapult Bolt
into the higher echelons of international screenwriters and see him nominated
for an Academy Award. Wilson’s contribution to the script was finally
acknowledged by the Academy in 1995.
Ryan’s Daughter (CTBA)
Sun 12 Jan, 16:00
Dir David Lean/GB 1970/195 mins
Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills
Following their great success with Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago writer Robert Bolt and
director David Lean were reunited for another epic tale with Ryan’s Daughter. Here, Bolt once again
turned his imagination to an expansive tale creating a script that told the
story of the romantic entanglements of the inhabitants of a small Irish village
across the years 1917 and 1918 and set against a backdrop of war and political
turmoil.
Doctor Zhivago (PG)
Sat 18 Jan, 14:30
Dir David Lean/US IT GB 1965/200 mins
Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin
An epic tale of love in times of turmoil, Dr Zhivago
proved immensely popular at the global box-office.
Collaborating once again with David Lean, this
adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s novel Dr Zhivago saw Robert Bolt establish
himself as a screenwriter adept at creating works with an epic scope. The film
would receive five Oscars including one for Bolt, who would also win a Golden
Globe for his work on the script.
The Mission (PG)
Sun 19 Jan, 13:00
Tue 21 Jan, 20:15
Wed 22 Jan, 13:00
Dir Roland Joffé/GB FR 1986/125 mins
Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally
Starring Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro, and winner
of both a Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival and a Golden Globe for Best
Screenplay, The Mission once again reveals Robert Bolt’s ability to write
scripts on an epic scale. Completed after the writer had suffered a stroke, The
Mission saw Bolt once again engage with the questions of morality, here around
the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th- century South America, that had
interested him across his career.
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