Nowhere Boy
Filmmaker: Sam Taylor-Wood
UK / 2009 / English
Opening Weekend Date: 26 December 2009
Cinemas screening the film: Curzon Soho, Odeon Covent Gdn, Vue West End & Nationwide
Read the review on the BEV blog.
Imagine John Lennon's childhood... Liverpool 1955: a smart and troubled fifteen year-old is hungry for experience. In a family full of secrets, two incredible women clash over John. Mimi, the buttoned-up Aunt who raised him, and Julia, the prodigal mother. Yearning for a normal family, John escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll where his fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney. Just as John begins his new life, tragedy strikes. But a resilient young man finds his voice - and an icon explodes into the world.
Sam Taylor-Wood's debut feature, Ecosse Films' Nowhere Boy, recounts the story of John Lennon's teenage years. The film features rising star Aaron Johnson (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) as John Lennon, Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) as Lennon's Aunt Mimi, Anne-Marie Duff (Notes on a Scandal) as his mother Julia. The young Paul McCartney is played by Thomas Brodie Sangster (Nanny McPhee) with newcomer Sam Bell as George Harrison. The strong supporting cast includes David Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl) playing Bobby Dykins, Julia's long-term boyfriend, and David Threlfall (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) as Mimi's husband, George Smith. Nowhere Boy was produced by Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae for Ecosse Films (Brideshead Revisited) and Kevin Loader (In the Loop).
About the Director: Sam Taylor-Wood
Sam Taylor-Wood was born in London in 1967, she graduated from Goldsmiths College and was identified as a member of the Young British Artist's movement. She has had numerous worldwide group and solo exhibitions, including being nominated for The Turner Prize (1998) and winning the Most Promising Young Artist, at the Venice Biennale (1997) Solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Zurich (1997), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek (1997), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (1999), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2000), Hayward Gallery, London (2002), State Russian Museum, St Petersburg (2004), MCA, Moscow (2004), BALTIC, Gateshead (2006), MCA Sydney (2006) MoCA Cleveland (2007) and the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston (2007).
In 2008, Taylor-Wood directed her first narrative short film Love You More written by Patrick Marber and produced by Anthony Minghella, which was screened in Main Competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for a BAFTA in 2009. Nowhere Boy is her feature film directorial debut.
"A Star is born"
The Times
"The best music movie of the decade"
GQ
"A pleasing invigorating success"
Time Out