Chromophobia
Directed by
Martha Fiennes
written by
Martha Fiennes
Credited cast:
Clive Carter .... Peter Soam
Ben Chaplin .... Trent
Penélope Cruz .... Gloria
Ralph Fiennes .... Stephen Tulloch
Robbie Gee .... Ricky
Michelle Gomez
Nicola Grier .... Sadie
Ian Holm .... Edward Aylesbury
Rhys Ifans .... Colin
Damian Lewis .... Marcus Aylesbury
Liam McKenna .... Gavin Mcteer
Al Palagonia .... Brian
Archie Panjabi
Nathalie Press .... Fiona
Jason Rayford .... Orderly
Michael Rispoli .... Max
Kristin Scott Thomas .... Iona Aylesbury
Hannah Stokely .... P.R Woman
Sam Talbot .... Young Journalist
Clem Tibber .... Orlando
Jason J. Tobin .... Fat Boy
Harriet Walter .... Penelope Aylesbury
(more)
As the film goes along, every individual's connection with each other becomes clear. Everything falls into place with time. Despite the slow pace, it does not seem boring at all. In fact, it gives us time to digest all the information that is given.
Acting by the cast is excellent, particularly Kristin Scott Thomas and Penelope Cruz. Kristin Scott Thomas is a frustrated mother who destresses herself by being a shopaholic. The minimalistic house she resides in also adds to the atmosphere that she is trapped in a bare castle. Penelope Cruz is a single mother who is battling with cancer. Her performance is also excellent.
I am also amazed by how the filmmakers actually got footage of a female breast being cut open for breast augmentation surgery. It looks too realistic to be fake!
What do you do when your wife Iona Aylesbury (Kristin Scott Thomas) can't tell the difference between a shrink and a shop, your eight year old son Orlando may have serious psychological problems, while his gay godfather Stephen (Ralph Fiennes) lies half beaten to death in an hospital?
Your boss is drawing you into a scam which could cost you your career, your father Edward Aylesbury expects more of you than you feel you can deliver and your stepmother Penelope's (Harriet Walter) bond with her dogs is your best role model of a loving relationship. And what could the secrets of streetwalker Gloria (Penelope Cruz) that her social worker Colin (Rhys Ifans) is digging up possibly have to do with you? Every family has secrets it hides behind the walls of its home - these are the dilemma and secrets of Marcus Aylesbury (damian Lewis).
When Marcus's old "friend" Trent (Ben Chaplin), an intelligent investigative journalist, gets wind of a story that might make him a media star the good old virtues of honesty, loyalty and friendship are sacrified to the new morality of success and celebrity. Pushed by his powerhouse editor, Trent is forced to bend his ideals of using journalism to make a difference - and instead focuses on writing "sexy stories that sell". This darkly comedic drama relentlessly pulls these characters into situations which threaten their stable place in a society where privilege and birth are no longer powerful enough to protect the fortunate few, and where the American values of money, beauty and success have become the cornerstones of contemporary London life.