Michael Winterbottom | |
|---|---|
 Winterbottom in 2013 | |
| Born | (1961-03-29)29 March 1961 (age 64) Blackburn,Lancashire, England |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford; Bristol University |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Children | 3 |
Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo,Wonderland and24 Hour Party People—have competed for thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival.[1] He and co-directorMat Whitecross won theSilver Bear for Best Director at the56th Berlin International Film Festival for their work onThe Road to Guantanamo.[2]
His production company,Revolution Films, has afirst-look deal with Fremantle.[3]
Winterbottom was born inBlackburn,Lancashire. He went toQueen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, and then studied English atBalliol College, Oxford, before going tofilm school atBristol University, where his contemporaries includedMarc Evans.[4]
Winterbottom's television directing career began in 1989, with a documentary aboutIngmar Bergman and an episode of the children's seriesDramarama.[5] He followed this with the 1990 television filmForget About Me, starringEwen Bremner, which followed two British soldiers who become involved in a love triangle with a young Hungarian hitch-hiker on their way to Budapest for aSimple Minds concert. It was his first collaboration with writerFrank Cottrell-Boyce; they would go on to make six more films together.[6] Shot on 16 mm film, it was shown at a few European film festivals.[7] In 1991, he directed episodes of various TV shows, including the four-part children's seriesTime Riders and an episode ofBoon.[8] In 1992, he directed the television filmUnder the Sun about a young British woman travelling in Greece, starringKate Hardie.[9] It was shot on Super 16 film, and gained him further attention.[7] In 1993, he directed an episode of theInspector Alleyn Mysteries;Love Lies Bleeding, a television film written byRonan Bennett about a convicted IRA member on a 24-hour home leave from prison in Belfast;[10] andThe Mad Woman in the Attic, the pilot ofJimmy McGovern's mystery seriesCracker.[11] He next directed the 1994 mini-seriesFamily, written byRoddy Doyle, the author ofThe Commitments. It was a success in Ireland and led to a debate there about the depiction of both the working classes and spousal abuse in the media.[12] His final early television project was a 1995 episode of the documentary seriesCinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, focusing on Scandinavian silent cinema.[13]
Butterfly Kiss, Winterbottom's 1995 debut feature, followed a mentally unbalanced lesbianserial killer and her submissive lover/accomplice as they fall in love while slaughtering their way across themotorways of Northern England. It found only a limited release.[7]
That same year, he reunited withJimmy McGovern for theBBC television film Go Now, the story of a young man who falls ill withmultiple sclerosis just as he meets the love of his life. Focusing on the turmoil this causes the couple, the film was given a theatrical release in many countries. It was also the first film from Winterbottom's company Revolution Films.[7]
His 1996 filmJude starredChristopher Eccleston andKate Winslet. It was an adaptation of Winterbottom's his favourite novel,Thomas Hardy's bleak classicJude the Obscure, a tale of forbidden love between two cousins. The film brought Winterbottom wider recognition, his first screening atCannes and numerous Hollywood offers.[14]
1997'sWelcome to Sarajevo was filmed on location in the titularcity, mere months after theSiege of Sarajevo had ended. It was based on the true story of British reporter,Michael Nicholson, who spirited a young orphan girl out of the war zone to safety in Britain.[15]
His 1998 filmI Want You is a neo-noir sex thriller set in a decaying British seaside resort town. StarringRachel Weisz andAlessandro Nivola, it was inspired by theElvis Costellosong of the same name and shot by Polish cinematographerSławomir Idziak,[16] who won an Honourable Mention award at the48th Berlin International Film Festival for his work.[17]
He followed that with 1999'sWith or Without You, aBelfast-set comedy starringChristopher Eccleston, about a couple trying desperately to conceive, who each have past loves re-enter their lives.[18]
That same year, he also releasedWonderland, which marked a shift in style for Winterbottom. Its handheld photography and naturalistic dialogue drew comparisons toRobert Altman.[19] StarringGina McKee,Shirley Henderson,Molly Parker,John Simm,Ian Hart andStuart Townsend, it is the story of three sisters and their extended family overGuy Fawkes Day weekend inLondon.[20] It featured an orchestral score by minimalist composerMichael Nyman,[21] who would become a frequent collaborator with Winterbottom.
Winterbottom's biggest-budgeted film up to that point, at $20 million, his 2000 filmThe Claim was an adaptation ofThomas Hardy'sThe Mayor of Casterbridge set in 1860s California. Shot in the wilds of Canada, it was not a financial success and proved an ordeal to make, with Winterbottom himself gettingfrostbite.[22] Many of the production difficulties, including unsuccessful attempts to castMadonna, were explained to the public on the film's unusually frank official website.[14]
24 Hour Party People, released in 2001, documents the anarchic, drug and sex-fueled rise and fall ofFactory Records and the music scene inManchester from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. It would be the first of many collaborations between Winterbottom and actorSteve Coogan, who starred as broadcaster/music-mogulTony Wilson.[23]
His 2002 filmIn This World depicts the journey of twoAfghan refugees fromPakistan, across theMiddle East and Europe to Britain, which they try to enter with the help ofpeople smugglers. Shot ondigital video at a cost of $2 million,[24] it featured non-professional actors and brought Winterbottom numerous awards, including aGolden Bear and aBAFTA for best film not in the English language.[25]
Code 46, released in 2003, is a sci-fi retelling of theOedipus myth, in a world wherecloning has created people so interrelated that strict laws (the Code 46 of the title) govern human reproduction.[26] The romantic mystery film starredTim Robbins andSamantha Morton. It was shot inShanghai,Dubai andRajasthan, which were mixed to create a futuristic multi-ethnic culture.[27]
2004's9 Songs gained attention as the most sexually explicit film ever to receive acertificate for general release in the UK. It charts a year-long relationship between two lovers, almost exclusively through their sexual interaction and various rock concerts the couple attend. The film became notorious in the UK for its candid scenes of unsimulated sex between the leads,Kieran O'Brien andMargo Stilley.[28]
His 2005 filmA Cock and Bull Story, released in the United States and Australia asTristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, is an adaptation of the famously "unfilmable"The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, an early novel.[29] The film is a faux documentary about the making of a film ofTristram Shandy. Steve Coogan stars as himself and as Shandy. The film marked the end of Winterbottom's lengthy collaboration withFrank Cottrell Boyce,[30] who chose to be credited under the pseudonym Martin Hardy.[31]
The Road to Guantanamo is a 2006 docu-drama about the "Tipton Three", three BritishMuslims captured by US forces inAfghanistan who spent two years as prisoners at theGuantanamo Bay detention camp as allegedenemy combatants.[32] It was shot in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran (which doubled for Cuba) in the autumn of 2005. It premiered at the Berlinale on 14 February 2006. It debuted in the UK on television, on 9 March, as it was co-financed byChannel 4.[33]
2007'sA Mighty Heart is based on the book byMariane Pearl, wife of murdered journalistDaniel Pearl.[34] The film starsAngelina Jolie and focuses on the pregnant Mariane's search for her missing husband in Pakistan in 2002. Produced by Jolie's then-partnerBrad Pitt, it was shot in the autumn of 2006 in India, Pakistan and France and premiered out of competition at the2007 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2007.[35]
In 2008, his filmGenova was released. It was a family drama about an Englishman, played byColin Firth, who moves his two American daughters to Italy following the death of his wife. Once there, the oldest girl starts exploring her sexuality, while the younger girl begins to see the ghost of her mother.[36] It co-starsCatherine Keener andHope Davis and was filmed in the titular city ofGenoa, Italy, during the summer of 2007.[34]
In 2009, Winterbottom was reunited with hisThe Road to Guantanamo co-director Mat Whitecross on a documentary based onNaomi Klein's bestselling bookThe Shock Doctrine. The film follows the use of upheavals and disasters by various governments as a cover for the implementation of free market economic policies that benefit only an elite few. Klein at first disowned the film after learning that it would be composed almost entirely of period footage and narration, with virtually no interview material with sources.[37] The film premiered at the 2009Berlin Film Festival[38] and aired in the UK on Channel 4's More4 documentary channel on 1 September 2009. It made its American premiere at the 2010Sundance Film Festival, alongside Winterbottom's following film. At the festival, Klein, who had reconciled herself with the filmmakers' approach,[39] participated in a Q&A with Winterbottom and Whitecross.[40]
Winterbottom's 2010 filmThe Killer Inside Me is an adaptation ofJim Thompson's 1952 noirnovel. StarringCasey Affleck,Kate Hudson andJessica Alba, it follows a 1950s small townTexas sheriff (Affleck), who is also a psychotic killer, through his descent into complete madness. It premiered at the 2010Sundance Film Festival and caused controversy for the realistic brutality of its violence toward women.[36] In his defence, Winterbottom said, "It's not the real world. It's kind of a parallel version of the real world... I was taken in by that world."[41]
This improvised six-episode 2010 comedy seriesThe Trip, filmed in the EnglishLake District and written and directed by Winterbottom, starredSteve Coogan andRob Brydon as the same semi-fictionalized versions of themselves they played inA Cock and Bull Story.[42] Coogan, an actor unhappy with his career, agrees to write a series of restaurant reviews forThe Observer in order to impress his girlfriend Misha (Margo Stilley). As the series opens, she has dumped him and he invites Brydon to take her place on the holiday. Each episode of the series takes place largely over a different gourmet meal. The episodes were edited down into a feature film for the US market, which premiered at theToronto International Film Festival in September 2010,[43] while the full series aired onBBC Two starting in November 2010.[44]
Winterbottom's 2011Trishna is a modern retelling ofTess of the d'Urbervilles is his thirdThomas Hardy film.[45] It starsRiz Ahmed andFreida Pinto and was shot inJaipur[46] andMumbai,[47]India in early 2011. It premiered at theToronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2011.[48] It was released in the UK on 9 March 2012 and in the US on 13 July.[49]
2012'sEveryday, known during its lengthy production first asSeven Days and then asHere and There, starsJohn Simm as a man imprisoned for drug-smuggling and charts his relationship with his wife, played byShirley Henderson.[50] Written by Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat, the film was shot a few weeks at a time over a five-year period from 2007 to 2012 to reflect the protagonist's time in prison and achieve an authentic aging process.[34]Everyday premiered at theTelluride Film Festival on 3 September 2012,[51] and then screened at theToronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2012.[52] The film was produced by Britain's Channel 4[53] and premiered in the UK on television on 15 November 2012,[54] before being theatrically on 18 January 2013.[55] At theStockholm International Film Festival in November, the film won the FIPRESCI Prize.[56]
His 2013 filmThe Look of Love was originally announced asThe King of Soho, until that title had to be dropped due to a legal dispute,[57] A biography of famed British pornographer/strip club owner/real estate entrepreneurPaul Raymond, it reteamed Winterbottom withSteve Coogan, who played Raymond. The film costarredImogen Poots,Anna Friel andTamsin Egerton and was written byMatt Greenhalgh.[58] It was released in the UK on 26 April 2013.[59][non-primary source needed]
Winterbottom filmed a second series of the hit BBC showThe Trip To Italy in the summer of 2013 in Italy.[60] It followed the route of theRomantics –Percy Bysshe Shelley,Lord Byron andJohn Keats.[61] Like the first series, IFC Films distributed it in the US as a shorterfeature-length film,[62] which premiered at theSundance Film Festival in January 2014.[63] The full series aired onBBC Two in April 2014.
Hosted by comedianRussell Brand, the 2015 documentaryThe Emperor's New Clothes focuses on the2008 financial crisis and global economic inequality. It premiered in London on 21 April 2015, followed by its international premiere on 24 April 2015 at theTribeca Film Festival.[64][65]
The 2016 filmOn the Road follows the British bandWolf Alice,[66] focusing on two fictional members of the band's crew, played by Leah Harvey andJames McArdle, while the band is on tour.[67] It premiered on 9 October 2016 at theBFI London Film Festival.[68]
Winterbottom reunited with Coogan and Brydon forThe Trip to Spain in 2017, a third six-episode series in which the duo travel through Spain.[69] As with the previous instalments, it premiered on 6 April 2017 as a 6-part weekly TV series onSky Atlantic,[70] and as a shorterfeature film on 22 April 2017[71] at theTribeca Film Festival.[72] The film was released in the US on 11 August 2017.[71]
The 2018 thrillerThe Wedding Guest starredDev Patel[73] as a mysterious young British Muslim man who travels to Pakistan to kidnap a young woman (Radhika Apte)[74] on the eve of her arranged marriage. It was filmed inJaipur, India and other locations inRajasthan beginning in February 2018[75] and premiered at theToronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2018.[76]
2019'sGreed is a comedy satirizing the lives of the ultra-rich, starringSteve Coogan as a fictional retail fashion magnate,Isla Fisher as his wife,[77] andDavid Mitchell as a journalist hired to write the billionaire's life story.[78] The film is set at the billionaire's disastrous 60th birthday party onMykonos,[79] and explores the divide between the character's wealth and the abject poverty of the workers who produce his products.[80] The project was previously set to starSacha Baron Cohen.[81] Winterbottom completed photography in December 2018.[82] The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2019.[83]
Coogan and Brydon reunited with Winterbottom forThe Trip to Greece, a fourth series of their popular programme, set in Greece and broadcast in 2020.[84] It premiered on 3 March 2020 as a 6-part weekly TV series onSkyOne.[85] It was again edited down into a feature film in the US, whose planned theatrical release by IFC Films in summer 2020[86] was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. It premiered with a digital and on demand release on 22 May 2020.[87]
2021's documentary feature,Isolation, originally announced under the titleEurope C-19, contains five 15-minute segments from directors across Europe, with Winterbottom handling the UK portion. Winterbottom began filming his portion of this film on 5 September 2020. The other portions were directed byJulia von Heinz (Germany),Fernando León de Aranoa (Spain),Jaco Van Dormael (Belgium), andMichele Placido (Italy).[88] The film premiered in September 2021 at the78th Venice International Film Festival.[89]
Winterbottom co-directed the 2022 documentaryEleven Days in May, which focused on the deaths of over 60 Palestinian children killed during the Israelibombing of Gaza over an eleven day period in May 2021. Gaza-based film-maker Mohammed Sawwaf was the other director andKate Winslet provided the narration. It was released in the UK on 6 May 2022.[90][91]
2022's 6-part TV miniseriesThis England focuses onBoris Johnson's leadership of Britain, starting with his appointment as prime minister and continuing through theCOVID-19 pandemic,[92] when Johnson caught the virus and became critically ill, while his partner gave birth to their son, and Britain suffered among the worst death tolls in the world.[93]Kenneth Branagh stars as Johnson, withOphelia Lovibond asCarrie Symonds andSimon Paisley Day asDominic Cummings.[94] Originally titledThis Sceptred Isle, Winterbottom was set to direct every episode of the miniseries, which he co-wrote withKieron Quirke. However, after filming began in February 2021,[95] Winterbottom stepped down from directing in March, reportedly due to health issues.[96] The miniseries was broadcast onSky[97][98] on 28 September 2022.[99]
Winterbottom's 2023 political thrillerShoshana, previously titledPromised Land,[100] had its world premiere at the2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[101] It is set in 1930s/1940sBritish Mandatory Palestine[102] and starsDouglas Booth as Tom Wilkin andHarry Melling asGeoffrey J. Morton,[103] two British police officers huntingZionist militantAvraham Stern. It co-starsIrina Starshenbaum asShoshana Borochov.[104] The screenplay was written by Winterbottom, Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh.[101] Winterbottom has been developing the film for many years. In 2010,Jim Sturgess,Colin Firth andMatthew Macfadyen were announced as its stars. While the film never entered production in 2010, Winterbottom did shoot documentary footage in Israel at the time with surviving participants in the events.[105] Filming began in October 2021 in the town ofOstuni in Italy, which doubled for Tel Aviv.[106]
In February 2025, Winterbottom began production onGaza Year Zero. Reuniting him with hisEleven Days in May co-director Mohammed Sawwaf, the fictional film follows a 13-year-old boy and his family struggling to survive the destruction of war. Sawwaf is directing on location in Gaza, while Winterbottom is co-directing and editing in London.[107]
In 2025, Winterbottom is scheduled to begin filmingThe Trip to the Northern Lights,[108] the fifth series ofThe Trip,[109] with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, in Scandinavia.[110]
In December 2023, it was announced that Winterbottom will direct a new adaptation ofErnest Hemingway's classic novelA Farewell to Arms, starringTom Blyth andOlivia Cooke.[111]
In March 2023, it was announced that Winterbottom will write and direct[112]Fall of the God of Cars, a 6-part miniseries in whichTony Shalhoub is set to play Lebanese/Brazilian auto executiveCarlos Ghosn, who was arrested in Japan, eventually escaping house arrest and fleeing the country and prosecution.[113]
In 2017, it was announced that Winterbottom was developing a 10-part TV series withAnnapurna Pictures about the war in Syria, focusing on the involvement of foreign journalists andNon-governmental organizations.[79] He first announced in May 2017 that he was researching the project.[114]
In May 2014, it was announced that Winterbottom would direct a feature adaptation of Richard Hammer's 1982 bookThe Vatican Connection, the true story of how NYPD detective Joe Coffey uncovered connections between the Vatican and the Mafia while investigating a local New York mobster, leading to a global investigation. It was to be written by Paul Viragh, based on an earlier script by Alessandro Camon.[115]
In October 2011, it was announced that Winterbottom would direct an adaption of Richard DiLello's 1973 book,The Longest Cocktail Party. It was to tell the story ofApple Corps, the record company formed byThe Beatles in 1968. It was to follow the company and its staff, including DiLello andDerek Taylor, from 1968 to its closure in 1970, when The Beatles split. The book was set to be adapted byJesse Armstrong and co-produced byAndrew Eaton andLiam Gallagher.[116]
Winterbottom was attached in May 2011 to directBailout, an adaptation of authorJess Walter's novelThe Financial Lives of the Poets, which Walter adapted for the screen.[117] Set to starJack Black, the film was to follow a man who loses his job and must keep his family afloat by working as a pot dealer.[118]
In 2021, Winterbottom publishedDark Matter: Independent Filmmaking in the 21st Century, a book about the workings of the British independent film industry. It is based on his own experience over his career, and includes interviews with 15 other major British directors:Paweł Pawlikowski,Danny Boyle,Joanna Hogg,Asif Kapadia,James Marsh,Andrew Haigh,Carol Morley,Edgar Wright,Steve McQueen,Lynne Ramsay,Stephen Daldry,Ben Wheatley,Peter Strickland,Mike Leigh andKen Loach.[119]
Winterbottom has two daughters and a son.
Winterbottom is anatheist.[120]
