Well, depending on your disposition (and the amount of chemicals you've ingested today), you'll either find the trailer for "Song for Marion" to be hopelessly charming or an absolute disaster that makes you want to cover yourself in bread crumbs and be slowly devoured by a flock of hungry seagulls. You'll have to wait a little bit for our Toronto International Film Festival review (the film closes the festival in ten days or so, but hey, the trailer is worth a watch at least. Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Eccleston, Terence Stamp, and the almost painfully adorable Gemma Arterton, it's a movie about an old folks choir. Guh.
Basically, "Song for Marion" (courtesy of Hey U Guys) looks like just another entry in the bizarre subgenre of heartwarming old-person-doing-something-unexpected genre that is almost always British and includes the likes of "Calendar Girls" and "The Full Monty." In this case, the "something unexpected" is a choir competition, something that grumpy Terence Stamp doesn't want to do until his wife or partner or whatever Redgrave falls ill and asks him to step him for her. Arterton plays the annoyingly perky choir teacher.
Director Paul Andrew Williams made a terrific debut with "London to Brighton" and made back to back (less successful) horror pictures after that, so this is a definite change of pace, and we're not sure that we're entirely convinced it's the right one. Still, it could be right up Oscar's street, particularly with the Stamp and Redgrave performances, and with The Weinstein Company putting it out, it may figure into the conversation whether it's any good or not.
Anyway, you'll hear what our man in Toronto has to say about "Song for Marion" shortly. The movie doesn't have an American release date yet, but probably will before the festival is out.