Country: USA
Year: 2012
Duration: 95'
The poet and journalist Mark O’Brien, stricken with polio at the age of four years and forced to spend most of his time connected to an iron lung, decided to lose his virginity at the improbable age of thirty-eight. In order to do so, he entrusted himself to a professional of that sector, Cheryl, who introduced him to the world of sexuality during the few hours a day in which he could detach himself from the machine.
Biography
film director
Ben Lewin
Ben Lewin (Poland, 1946) emigrated to Australia as a child, studying law before attending the National Film School in England. He debuted as a director in the BBC Nationwide programme, then making documentaries and current affairs programmes for Thames, Granada and Channel Four Television. In 1979 he wrote and directed The Case of Cruelty to Prawns, awarded as best TV film at the Melbourne Film Festival. With Georgia (1988) he garnered eight Australian Film Institute nominations, while The Dunera Boys (1985) and The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991) won the Awgie Award for best script. He directed a few episodes of Ally McBeal and of the Australian drama series Sea Change for television.
FILMOGRAFIA
Welcome to Britain (doc., 1975), The Case of Cruelty to Prawns (tv, 1979) Destination Australia: The Migrant Experience Since 1788 (coregia/codirector Karl McPhee, tv, doc., 1984), The Dunera Boys (tv, 1985), A Matter of Convenience (tv, 1987), Georgia (La misteriosa morte di Georgia White, 1988), The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (Un pesce color rosa, 1991), Lucky Break (1994), Hollywood Gold (2003), The Sessions (id., 2012).
Declaration
film director
“Mark O’Brien’s article titled On Seeing a Sex Surrogate was to all effects the draft for the film script, however the story is also affected in an important way by my understanding of the subject and its characters. In fact, the meeting with Susan Fernbach, O’Brien’s lover, partner and literary collaborator during the last years of his life, made possible the construction of a much more complex character than the one I would have been able to conceive without her advice, in the same way as meeting Cheryl Cohen-Greene helped me to change Mark’s biography into a sentimental film which I wrote with more pleasure and confidence.”
Cast
& Credits
regia, sceneggiatura/director, screenplay
Ben Lewin
fotografia/cinematography Geoffrey Simpson
montaggio/film editing Lisa Bromwell
scenografia/production design John Mott
costumi/costume design Justine Seymour
musica/music Marco Beltrami
suono/sound Marty Kasparian
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters John Hawkes (Mark O’Brien), Helen Hunt (Cheryl), William H. Macy (padre/father Brendan), Moon Bloodgood (Vera), Annika Marks (Amanda), Adam Arkin (Josh), Rhea Perlman (Mikvah Lady), W. Earl Brown (Rod), Robin Weigert (Susan), Blake Lindsley (dr Laura White), Ming Lo (Clerk)
produttori/producers Judi Levine, Stephen Nemeth, Ben Lewin produzione/production Such Much Films, Rhino Films
distribuzione/distribution Fox Searchlight Italia
fotografia/cinematography Geoffrey Simpson
montaggio/film editing Lisa Bromwell
scenografia/production design John Mott
costumi/costume design Justine Seymour
musica/music Marco Beltrami
suono/sound Marty Kasparian
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters John Hawkes (Mark O’Brien), Helen Hunt (Cheryl), William H. Macy (padre/father Brendan), Moon Bloodgood (Vera), Annika Marks (Amanda), Adam Arkin (Josh), Rhea Perlman (Mikvah Lady), W. Earl Brown (Rod), Robin Weigert (Susan), Blake Lindsley (dr Laura White), Ming Lo (Clerk)
produttori/producers Judi Levine, Stephen Nemeth, Ben Lewin produzione/production Such Much Films, Rhino Films
distribuzione/distribution Fox Searchlight Italia
