Rosemary Sutcliff often said she wrote “for children aged 8 to 88” or sometimes “9 to 90”. She once said:
“The themes of my children’s books are mostly quite adult, and in fact the difference between writing for children and for adults is, to me at any rate, only a quite small gear change.”
It is a change of gear clearly beyond author Martin Amis! Read More »
The film The Eagle, based on Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth was released yesterday in the USA and Canada, and of course I (as well as the film-makers) are anxious to see what people make of it. Speakeasy is a Wall Street Journal site covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. It is produced by a senior editor with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others.
They review the reviews:
What do you get when you hire a first-rate director to helm an old-fashioned swords-and-sandals movie? A “rip-snortin’” adventure, in the words of Roger Ebert. Indeed, critics are generally taking to “The Eagle,” which was directed by Kevin Macdonald (”The Last King of Scotland”) and stars Channing Tatum as a square-jawed Roman soldier.Mercifully, “The Eagle” also contains no CGI. Points for that alone. Read what other critics are saying. Read More »
Century City News’s reviewer in Los Angeles was not wild about The Eagle; but did list some world-wide release dates:
Canada – 11 February 2011
USA –11 February 2011
Greece – 17 February 2011
Finland – 18 February 2011
Malaysia – 25 February 2011
Germany – 3 March 2011
Netherlands – 3 March 2011
Sweden – 11 March 2011
Egypt – 23 March 2011
Hungary – 24 March 2011
Norway – 25 March 2011
UK – 25 March 2011
Portugal – 30 March 2011
Lithuania – 1 April 2011
Spain – 8 April 2011
The English co-star of Channing Tatum gives his take as a working-class Briton on The Eagle (film of Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth) and its filming, interviewed by the San Fransisco Chronicle. Jamie Bell, first noted for his appearance as Billy Elliot when still a young boy, plays Esca, the Brigante slave of Marcus.
There’s something about ‘the lesser people’ – in England, just being a Northerner, you’re straight into a demographic of being working class, no matter what. From the way you sound, to the industry you come from, to the air you breathe, you’re working class. Which I consider something to be proud of, actually, and to embrace.
And these people (the Brigantes) had a way of life, a culture, that is taken away from them, that is stripped, and other people’s values are then pressed onto them. Which is not too dissimilar to things that are happening today; the invasions of different countries and the pressing of democracy on other people who don’t necessarily want it.”
Radio Interview here with Kate de Goldi about Rosemary Sutcliff on New Zealand radio.
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 