Fishtales
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| Fishtales | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster. |
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| Directed by | Alki David |
| Produced by | Alki David Billy Zane (co-producer) |
| Written by | Alki David Melissa Painter |
| Starring | Kelly Brook Billy Zane Alki David Amber Savva |
| Cinematography | Aggelos Viskadourakis |
| Editing by | Alki David |
| Distributed by | 111 Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 24, 2007 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom Greece |
| Language | English Greek |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Fishtales is a 2007 family comedy film directed by Alki David about a single father who falls in love with a mermaid. It was released theatrically in the UK on August 24, 2007.
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[edit] Plot
The film takes place on the Greek Island of Spetses, where widowed Greek-History Professor Thomas Bradley (Billy Zane) is about to lose his research grant studying ancient love spells. He knows he is close to a major academic breakthrough and desperately wants to continue his research. Thomas is given one last chance to continue his work on a Greek island, at the home of the supportive Oxford don, Professor Coulter. Joined by his 12 year-old daughter, Serena (Amber Savva), Thomas departs to the Greek island looking for the inspiration he needs to finish his thesis. Serena knows that what her father needs most of all is to find love again after the loss of his wife. Initially, Serena tries her hand at matchmaking with the local women on the island, who are less than impressed by the awkward and clumsy Thomas. Very much in tune to the ancient spirits herself, Serena meets Nereid (Kelly Brook) a beautiful mermaid. However, menace is present in the form of the evil Captain Mavros (Alki David), an island fisherman intent on killing Nereid and getting his claws on her priceless jewel-encrusted tail. Serena realises that she has finally found the ideal match for her father and employs her father's ancient Greek love spells to make them fall in love. Eventually Nereid sacrifices her immortality to become a mortal human being, joining Thomas and Serena back in Oxford where Thomas's thesis is received in triumph.
[edit] Production
The film was shot on location on the Greek Island of Spetses during the summer of 2006, with extra footage filmed later in London. The film premiered at Cannes in 2007 and is released in August 2007.
Of note, Brook and Zane are engaged to be married later this year. This is the second film that the couple have worked on together, the previous being 2006's Survival Island, where they met.
Brook and her stunt double, Hannah Stacey, had tails that were moulded individually to fit each of them and took three and a half months to build.
[edit] Underwater sequences
Director Alki David, is an avid dive enthusiast, thus he has paid particular attention to the quality of the underwater sequences. Alki David's companies, 'BIOS' and 'Full On Entertainment' sponsor and film free-diving world record attempts on the island of Spetses where the film is set and was filmed. Specialist equipment was required to achieve the underwater scenes in the film.
During shooting for the film, Brook, when attempting to surface between shots, hit her head on the underside of a rock and almost drowned in her full costume.
Brook had a stunt and body double for the portions of the film that involved swimming beyond her ability, the job was given to a 29 year old free-diver from Cornwall. The double, Hannah Stacey, currently holds the UK's free diving woman's record of 54m (177ft) on a single breath.
[edit] Release
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and was released in August August 2007 in cinemas across the UK, USA and Canada.
