For award-winning, internationally-acclaimed author Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-92). By Anthony Lawton: godson, cousin & literary executor. Rosemary Sutcliff wrote historical fiction, children's literature and books, films, TV & radio, including The Eagle of the Ninth, Sword at Sunset, Song for a Dark Queen, The Mark of the Horse Lord, The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers, Dawn Wind, Blue Remembered Hills.
The Eagle film (movie), based upon Rosemary Sutcliff‘s novel The Eagle of the Ninth, was released on Wednesday (16th February) in The Phillipines, and today (18th February) in Romania. Maybe some people in those countries will stumble on this blog and post at the You Write tab about your views of Rosemary Sutcliff and how well the book is translated to the screen. The film opens in Indonesia on 23rd February and Thailand on 24th. (I have managed to find a Romanian film poster today, 20 February, but not yet any Romanian reviews)
The Eagle does many things right, especially in the first third of the film. The sets and costumes are high-quality, and the film is beautifully shot in Hungary and the Scottish highlands. Eschewing computer-generated effects, The Eagle does a good job of depicting the brutality of ancient warfare, though the editing during the battle scenes is a bit choppy. The film also illustrates the strategic and technological advantages that helped the Romans win so many battles, as well as the obsessive, almost religious militarism that enabled the Empire’s spread and drives Marcus’ quest. Source: Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: The Eagle — Slavery Before Dishonor?
Readers of Rosemary Sutcliff have to expect to be spellbound in the tradition of storytelling that’s much older than reading and writing, when before the days of written records bards and minstrels were entrusted with the memory of a tribe. Rosemary Sutcliff is in this tradition; she says of herself that she’s ‘of the minstrel kind’. Read More »
So how is the film of Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth doing on its release in the US? Before we look at the money data, here is an interesting thing! If you look at the ratings to films given by readers of www.boxofficemojo.com, more people give the Eagle an A or B than any other of the new releases; and fewer lowest grade Fs! So fewer people are going to The Eagle than the other films, but more like it a good deal and fewer hate it than any other movie! What may this mean? Of course it depends on sample size, it is a self selecting set of voters, there are ‘lies, damned lies, and statistics’, but I choose to be encouraged! I imagine marketing gurus have algorithims they use to predict future sales from a combination of early takings and how much people like the film , and over time they may be more interested in the number of visitors and what they pay than their satisfaction, but I suspect there is a correlation … and I would be intrigued to know what the forecasts are.Read More »
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 