| Beginners | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Mike Mills |
| Produced by | Leslie Urdang Lars Knudsen Dean Vanech Jay Van Hoy Miranda de Pencier |
| Written by | Mike Mills |
| Starring | Ewan McGregor Christopher Plummer Mélanie Laurent Goran Višnjić |
| Music by | Roger Neill Dave Palmer Brian Reitzell |
| Cinematography | Kasper Tuxen |
| Editing by | Olivier Bugge Coutté |
| Studio | Olympus Pictures Parts & Labor |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
| Release date(s) | September 11, 2010 (TIFF) June 3, 2011 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 minutes [1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $3.2 million[2] |
| Box office | $14,227,969 [2] |
Beginners is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver (Ewan McGregor), a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.
Beginners premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where the Los Angeles Times heralded it as a "heady, heartfelt film" with a cast who has "a strong sense of responsibility to their real-world counterparts".[3]
Contents |
The film is structured as a series of interconnected flashbacks. Following the death of his father Hal, Oliver reflects on his relationship with him following the death of Oliver's mother Georgia. Shortly after her death Hal came out as gay to his son and began exploring that aspect of his life. Hal finds a boyfriend, Andy, and surrounds himself with a circle of gay friends. Hal is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. Following an extended illness during which Oliver helps care for him, Hal dies.
Several months after Hal's death, Oliver meets Anna, a French actress, at a party and they begin a relationship. Oliver's unresolved emotions around his father's death and his parents' life together, along with Anna's conflicted feelings about her emotionally unstable father, initially interfere with their relationship but they resolve to stay together.
The film is based on the true-life coming out of Mills' father at the age of 75, five years before his death.[4]
With cinematography by Kasper Tuxen, Beginners was filmed with the Red One digital camera.[5]
The film has received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Beginners received an average score of 81, based on 36 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim reviews".[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "It's a hopeful fable with deep optimism and a cheerful style that kids itself."[7] Allrovi (All Media Guide) called it "a life-affirming drama" and gave the film four-and-a-half stars out of five.[8]
Beginners won the 2011 Gotham Award for Best Feature, shared with The Tree of Life.[9]
The film is nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer)[10] and is also nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Male.[11]