Longford (film)

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Longford

Directed by	Tom Hooper
Produced by	Helen Flint
Written by	Peter Morgan
Starring	Jim Broadbent Samantha Morton Lindsay Duncan Andy Serkis
Music by	Rob Lane
Editing by	Melanie Oliver
Distributed by	HBO Films Channel 4
Release date(s)	February 17 2007
Country	United States
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Longford is a 2006 drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by Peter Morgan . It stars Academy Award Winner Jim Broadbent and Academy Award Nominated actress Samantha Morton, among others.

1 Plot
2 Reception
3 Awards and nominations
4 Pictures
5 Main Cast
6 Critical Reviews
7 External links

[edit] Plot

The film is a thought-provoking story inspired by real events in the life of British Lord Frank Pakenham, the 7th Earl of Longford, (played by Broadbent) and his controversial headline-making friendship with one of England's most notorious criminals. Longford, a devout Roman Catholic, often visited prisoners because of his passionate belief in forgiveness and society's need for prisoner rehabilitation.

In 1965, upon her request, Lord Longford began visiting Myra Hindley (Samantha Morton), a young woman serving a life sentence for murdering children with her lover Ian Brady (Andy Serkis) as part of the infamous Moors murders case. Though Longford encountered public outrage, discouragement from his wife Elizabeth (Lindsay Duncan), doubt from his family, and criticism from his colleagues and the press, he continued to visit and exchange letters with Hindley. After learning that she once converted to Catholicism, Longford encourages her to return to the church and ask for God's forgiveness.

After the Prime Minister removes him from the House of Lords, he devotes his time to crusading for Hindley and other prisoners. His wife eventually joins the crusade after reading Hindley's letters, meeting her and seeing the horrible prison conditions. She suspects that Hindley is receiving harsher punishment because she is a woman. Longford takes Hindley's cause public, talking to the press about her case and defending her as an accomplice corrupted by Ian Brady.

At first, Hindley is grateful for Longford's efforts and seems to make progress in her return to the church. Later, she unexpectedly rejects his help and shocks him with the news that she lied to him about the murders. Once this information is made public, Longford's good name is damaged even further. Longford begins to question his religious beliefs, but reaches a deeper level in his Catholic faith when he is able to forgive Hindley for her transgressions against him.

Many years later, she asks him to visit her once again and he complies. He shares with her the importance of their friendship to him. Until the end of his life in 2001, Longford continues to visit prisoners, crusading for prison reform. Hindley dies in prison in 2002 after serving 36 years, even though the average life sentence is 12 years for men convicted of similar crimes. To this day, Ian Brady continues to serve his life sentence.

[edit] Reception

Ratings
Australia:	R 18+
Germany:	18
Mexico:	B
United Kingdom:	18
United States:	TV-MA

[edit] Awards and nominations

Longford received the Official Selection for Best Dramatic Picture at the (2007 Sundance Film Festival). The film won for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the (2007 Australian Independent Awards). It also won Best Picture and was nominated for Best Director at (Home Theatre Award)

2007 2007 Sundance Film Festival

Officla Selection - Best Dramatic Picture — Longford (film)

2007 Australian Independent Awards

Won - Best Actress — Samantha Morton

Won - Best Actor — Jim Broadbent

Won - Best Supporting Actress — Lindsay Duncan

2007 Home Theatre Award

Win - Best Drama Movie — Longford (film)

Nominated - Best Director — Tom Hooper

[edit] Pictures

Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley

Lindsay Duncan as Lady Elizabeth Longford

Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford

[edit] Main Cast

Actor	Role
Jim Broadbent	Lord Longford
Samantha Morton	Myra Hindley
Lindsay Duncan	Lady Elizabeth Longford
Tam Dean Burn	Roy
Robert Pugh	Harold Wilson
Kate Miles	Rachel Pakenham
Lee Boardman	Talk Show Host
Andy Serkis	Ian Brady
Roy Barber	Father Kahle
Alex Blake	Paddy Pakenham

[edit] Critical Reviews

The film received generally positive reviews with the review tallying website New York Daily News reporting that the film is one of the best films in 2007 so far giving it (4 stars out of 4). People Magazine gave the film four stars and described it as, " an intimate, intelligent and lingeringly resonant movie " listing it as one of the best film (Sundance Film Festival) of 2007.