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Detachment (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Detachment' is a 2011 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and distributed by Tribeca Film. It was written by Carl Lund. Its story follows Henry Barthes, a high-school substitute teacher who becomes a role model to his students and others. It stars Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, William Petersen, Bryan Cranston, Tim Blake Nelson, Betty Kaye, Sami Gayle, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, and James Caan.
The film was produced by Greg Shapiro, Carl Lund, Bingo Gubelmann, Austin Stark, Benji Kohn, and Chris Papavasiliou and was released on March 16, 2012. It grossed $10,739 during its opening weekend and $1.68 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews and has a approval rating based on reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Plot
'Detachment' is a chronicle of one month in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of a substitute teacher named Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody). Barthes' method of imparting vital knowledge to his temporary students is interrupted by the arrival of three women in his lifea damaged and naive sex worker, Erica (Sami Gayle), a fellow teacher, Sarah (Christina Hendricks), and a troubled teen named Meredith (Betty Kaye). These women all have profound effects on Barthes' life, forcing him to both re-discover aspects of his own personality, and to come to terms with both the tragic suicide of his mother and the impending death of his grandfather (Louis Zorich). The film is punctuated with flashbacks of scenes of Barthes' young childhood and his mother's suicide.
Sub-plots include the struggles of Dr. Parker (Lucy Liu) within her role as the school counselor and the painful torment of Principal Dearden (Marcia Gay Harden), who faces her dismissal as head of this deeply flawed school.
Cast
Production
Filming took place in Mineola Middle School and Mineola High School on Long Island, New York.
In March 2012, cast member Bryan Cranston was asked about 'Detachment' during an interview for Collider. The reporter told Cranston that he loved the movie and then started to ask his question. "Wait," Cranston said, "did you like 'Detachment'?" The reporter said again that he loved it, and Cranston seemed surprised. "I haven't seen it," he told the assembled press. "I'm surprised to hear that actually." When asked to clarify, he continued, "Because I felt that Carl Lund, the writer of 'Detachment,' wrote a really beautiful, haunting script. And I didn't feel that it was honored."
Shocked by Cranston's frankness, the reporters pushed him for more on that disagreement. "I was upset with that. I really was. And so I didn't see the movie." He sighed, resigned, and continued, after searching for the right way to phrase himself, "Tony Kaye is a very complicated interesting fellow." He smiled as he chose his words carefully. "I don't believe that I'll be working with him again. I didn't not get along with him on a personal level. But I just honor the writing. I really think that writing is the most important element there is. It is the springboard. It is where everything starts. And if you don't honor that -- which I didn't feel it was -- then where are you?" He leaned in as if telling everyone a secret. "And I'm not the only actor on that film to feel that way."
In the same month, director Tony Kaye touched upon the issue in a separate interview. "My agent sent me this fantastic piece of writing by a guy called Carl Lund. A writer. One of the things that I felt was how real it was. And writing is really about research and speech and I thought this guys really done his homework. In fact it turned out that he had been a teacher. So then it all became very clear. And then when it really began, if you like, really really began was when Adrien Brody sort of popped up and said Ill do this. A couple of weeks before we were supposed to start to shoot. And then I decided myself at that point Im gonna hang the whole thing on you [Brody]. And try to build out your character of Henry much more and make it all everything about you. Just you. The interviewer then asks Kaye if he rebuilt the script at that point. Kaye responds, Well I reinterpreted it, yeah. When Carl first wrote it, I believe it was a very vignette ensemble thing." Carl's script was very impressionistic, and [a] part of what I do, sometimes, [is] very impressionistic storytelling. I used that to its full, here, to try and make sense of it all.... There's more [footage] of Marcia Gay Harden and Bryan Cranston [which] I've got in the hard drives, and I'm hoping to [get] it out, in maybe a longer cut."'
Release
'Detachment' premiered on April 25, 2011, at the Tribeca Film Festival.Gordon, Cox (April 4, 2011). [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/detachment-rocker-doc-join-tribeca-1118034915/ "'Detachment', Rocker Doc Join Tribeca"]. Variety. Pretty Pictures acquired rights to distribute the film in France.Tartaglione, Nancy (April 29, 2011) [http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/tribeca/tribeca-news/pretty-pictures-takes-french-rights-to-detachment/5026759.article "Pretty Pictures takes French Rights to Detachment"]. Screen International. In September 2011, Tribeca Film acquired U.S. distribution rights with Celluloid Dreams repping worldwide sales rights.Fernandez, Jay (September 8, 2011) [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/tribeca-film-picks-up-tony-232921 "Tribeca Films Picks Up Tony Kaye's Detachment for U.S."] The Hollywood Reporter. Territories sold include Benelux (Wild Bunch), Italy (UBU), Middle East (Shooting Stars), Russia (CP Digital), Latin America (California), India (Pictureworks), Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam (PT Parkit) and Taiwan (Cineplex).Wiseman, Andreas (November 4, 2011) [http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/buyers-attached-to-celluloid-dreams-detachment/5034220.article "Buyers attached to Celluloid Dreams' Detachment"]. Screen International.
On September 9, 2011, 'Detachment' screened in competition at the 37th Deauville American Film Festival in France.Keslassy, Elsa (August 17, 2011) [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/deauville-sets-competition-1118041416/ "Deauville Sets Competition"]. Variety. It won both the Revelations Prize and the International Critics' Award.Leffler, Rebecca (September 10, 2011) [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/deauville-2011-take-shelter-wins-233753 "Take Shelter Wins Grand Prize"]. The Hollywood Reporter. On September 18, 'Detachment' was announced as the Closing Night Film at the Woodstock Film Festival, where Kaye was the recipient of the Honorary Maverick Award.Cox, Gordon (September 20, 2011) [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/detachment-closes-woodstock-1118043133/ "Detachment Closes Woodstock"]. Variety.
On October 12, 2011, 'Detachment' screened in competition at the Valenciennes International Festival of Action and Adventure Films in France, where it won the Grand Prize and the Audience Award.(October 16, 2011) "Detachment Double Crown in Valenciennes" La Voix Du Nord. Later, on October 26, the film screened in competition at the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival.Schilling, Mark (September 21, 2011) [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/detachment-joins-tokyo-fest-lineup-1118043169/ "'Detachment' joins Tokyo fest lineup"]. Variety. It received the award for Best Artistic Contribution, sharing honors with the film 'Kora'.Schilling, Mark (October 30, 2011) [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/untouchable-wins-tokyo-grand-prix-1118045284/ "'Untouchable' Wins Tokyo Grand Prix"]. Variety.
'Detachment' also screened in competition at the 35th So Paulo International Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Foreign Language Film, sharing honors with 'Chicken with Plums'.(November 3, 2011) [http://35.mostra.org/ "35 Mostra Internacional de Cinema"]. 35.mostra.org. On November 16, 'Detachment' screened at the 53rd Muestra Internacional de Cine in Mexico.Gijon, Bernardo (November 3, 2011) "53 International Film Festival" El Punto Critico.
In January 2012, 'Detachment' won Best Picture at the Ramdam Film Festival in Tournai, Belgium.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "'Detachment's heart is in the right place, but overall it doesn't offer any solutions to its passionate ranting." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52% based on reviews from 20 critics.
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the performances of Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden and Lucy Liu. "'Detachment' gets to you. It hits hard", he wrote.[https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/detachment-20120315 Detachment]. Rolling Stone (March 15, 2012). Retrieved on April 24, 2014.
A reviewer for Student Handouts, which reviews books and films for those working in education, said: "It easily makes 'Dangerous Minds' look like a pandering Lifetime made-for-TV movie."[http://www.studenthandouts.com/01-Web-Pages/Books-Films/popular-film-reviews/03-2012-detachment-movie-review.htm Detachment (2012) Movie Review for Parents and Teachers]. Student Handouts (March 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 24, 2014.
References
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