Typist Artist Pirate King

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Typist Artist Pirate King
Directed byCarol Morley
Screenplay byCarol Morley
Produced by
  • Ameenah Ayub Allen
  • Cairo Cannon
Starring
CinematographyAgnès Godard
Edited byAlex Mackie
Music byCarly Paradis
Production
companies
Distributed byModern Films
Release dates
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$126,822[1]

Typist Artist Pirate King is a 2022 British film written and directed by Carol Morley, about the life and art of artist, Audrey Amiss. It stars Monica Dolan as Amiss, as well as Kelly Macdonald, and Gina McKee. The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on 19 November 2022; and a UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on 8 March 2023 at Glasgow Film Theatre.[2]

Synopsis[edit]

The film is a fictionalised portrait of the late “avant-garde and misunderstood” artist Audrey Amiss.[3] Amiss was an artist who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, but was unable to complete her training after being hospitalised due to mental illness. She died in 2013, leaving behind a vast collection of artworks and writings which were discovered after her death, and subsequently donated posthumously to Wellcome Collection.

The film centres on a fictionalised road trip with Amiss, played by Monica Dolan, and her psychiatric nurse, played by Kelly Macdonald, in which they travel north and reconnect with key individuals and moments from Amiss's past.[2]

The film is based on extensive archival research into Amiss's archive at Wellcome Collection,[4] undertaken while writer-director Carol Morley was a recipient of a Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship. The film uses imagery and artworks from the archive collection, creating a fictionalised narrative of a real life individual, drawn from archival sources.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Carol Morley was awarded a Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship in 2015, where she was introduced to the Audrey Amiss Archive by archivists at Wellcome Collection. The archive had recently been acquired by Wellcome in 2014, donated by Audrey's niece and nephew a year after Amiss's death in 2013. Morley undertook extensive research at Wellcome using Amiss's archive, with the aim of developing a film about Amiss.

The archive comprises hundreds of sketchbooks, scrapbooks, log books, photo albums, account books, record books, and paintings. Morley made use of the collection while it was uncatalogued, with cataloguing later beginning in 2018 to ensure that the collection could be made more widely available for public use.[5] (The collection has since been fully catalogued and is now freely available to consult for research in the Wellcome Library.)[6] During the research process, she also met with members of Amiss's family and others who knew her in life, as well as speaking with archivists, conservator, and other Wellcome staff. She wrote about her experiences researching Amiss for a 2016 piece in The Observer.[7]

The title, "Typist Artist Pirate King", derives from Amiss's passport, where she listed her occupation as just that: 'typist artist pirate king'. The passport is held in Audrey Amiss' archive at Wellcome Collection.[8]

Morley received funding from the British Film Institute to write and produce the film.[9] In November 2021, Monica Dolan, Kelly Macdonald, and Gina McKee were announced as being on-board the project, with Jane Campion acting as executive producers and Metro International handling sales. Also involved were director of photography Agnès Godard and production designer Janey Levick. Additional funding also came from BCP Asset Management, MBK Productions, LipSync, Genesis Entertainment, Wellcome Trust, and BBC Films.[10] Producers for the feature were Ameenah Ayub Allen and Cairo Cannon.[11] Filming started in November 2021 in Yorkshire.[12] The film entered post-production in 2022.

Release[edit]

The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on 19 November 2022.[13] The film had its UK premiere on 9 March 2023 at the Glasgow Film Festival.[14] In May 2023, Metro International sold distribution rights to the film for the United Kingdom and Ireland to Modern Films.[15] Planned limited release is set for 27 October 2023, with a wider release one week later on 3 November 2023.[16]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian described a “warm and sympathetic film” and that the “casting works with the writing and the black comic and tragicomic nature of their ordeal is often hilarious.”[17] Later in the year, Bradshaw named Carol Morley’s directing and mentioned the performance of Dolan as among the best on film in 2023.[18]

Box-office[edit]

The film grossed £28,654 at the UK box office in its opening weekend, where it played in 25 theaters in the territory.[19] For its second weekend in cinemas, the film recorded a 73% drop on its opening weekend, only managing to gross £7,739, making a total of £53,298.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Typist Artist Pirate King". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "First look at Line of Duty star Kelly Macdonald's new movie". Digital Spy. February 2023. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "' Typist Artist Pirate King': Tallinn Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "Audrey Amiss Archive". Wellcome Collection. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  5. ^ ""Don't tell me I'm mad. This is the truth"". the polyphony. May 22, 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  6. ^ "Audrey Amiss Archive". Wellcome Collection. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  7. ^ Morley, Carol (November 20, 2016). "The amazing undiscovered life of Audrey the artist". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  8. ^ "Audrey Amiss Archive". Wellcome Collection. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  9. ^ "This obscure portrait gave me goosebumps – but I never expected a bidding war". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  10. ^ "Typist Artist Pirate King': Monica Dolan, Kelly Macdonald & Gina McKee Set For Carol Morley Road Movie; Jane Campion Among Exec Producers — AFM". Deadline. November 4, 2021. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  11. ^ "Typist Artist Pirate King". Radio Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  12. ^ "Line of Duty stars team up on new movie". Digital Spy. November 6, 2021. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  13. ^ "Inaugural Tallinn Critics' Picks line-up includes world premiere of Carol Morley's 'Typist Artist Pirate King'". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  14. ^ "Full Festival Programme". Glasgowfilm.org. February 15, 2023. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  15. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 19, 2023). "Carol Morley's 'Typist Artist Pirate King' Gets UK Deal; Kelly Macdonald & Monica Dolan Star In Pic Exec-Produced By Jane Campion — Cannes Market". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  16. ^ "Typist Artist Pirate King". Modern Films. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  17. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (March 8, 2023). "Typist Artist Pirate King review – generous portrait of neglected artist Audrey Amiss". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  18. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (December 22, 2023). "And the 2023 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw's film picks of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Weekend box office figures". bfi.org.uk. Retrieved November 14, 2023.

External links[edit]

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