A musical fantasy for the child in all of us
“Well done! You have thrown every trick in the book at this one…but the young leading lady still steals it.”
Robert Lorrimer, international award-winning UK filmmaker
The Red Rose is a musical fantasy about a modern-day Alice in Wonderland – but whereas Alice experiences the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter, the Girl encounters toy soldiers, marching bluebells, a dancing swan…and a Young Man who is her romantic ideal. With memorable music by Tchaikovsky and a cast of aspiring young dancers delightfully choreographed by Jacqueline Harman, The Red Rose features brilliant rising stars JessieTalulah and Nicholas Anscombe in a magical tale of youthful whimsy and innocence.
Directed by: IAN WOODWARD
Choreography: JACQUELINE HARMAN
Music: PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Screenplay: IAN WOODWARD
Overview
The basic premise of this film is that the female lead character, the Young Woman – short-handed in the script as “the Girl”, the “Red Rose” of the title – has a vivid and at times unfettered head-in-the-clouds romantic imagination.
She is a sort of modern-day Alice in Wonderland. But whereas Alice experiences memorable characters such as the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit, the Girl encounters Toy Soldiers, marching bluebells, a dancing swan – and a Young Man who, in her colourful mind, is Mr Right, her romantic ideal: her Prince Charming.
The Young Man appears throughout the film, but he is always a figment of the Girl’s romantic thoughts. He does not exist in any real or physical sense: he appears in her company without warning, and he invariably disappears in the same unexpected way. He is there, and yet he is not there – not in the real sense.
The romantic episodes which the Girl lives out are vivid and very real to her at the time, but she always becomes seems becomes reconciled to the stark certainty that her imagined bubble will eventually burst and the Young Man will once again vanish.
Concept
The structure of the film is built from a series of different, contrasting, inter-related episodes which develop into a unified whole. The tone of the film is firmly rooted in whimsy and fantasy permeated with an underlying innocence and youthful naivety.
Dialogue
The film is dialogue-free.
Music
The framework and impetus of the scenario is Tchaikovsky’s music. Its different moods, rhythms and harmonies inspire and often dictate the imagery seen on the screen. This is not a film where music is selected in post-production to fit the onscreen action but one where the on-screen action springs directly from the music itself.
Cast
JESSIE TALULAH: The Girl/Princess Victoria
NICHOLAS ANSCOMBE: The Young Man/Prince William
MICHAEL ASTON: The Grand Duke
GREG PAGE: The Cardinal
PHIL SAYER: Voice-over
THE JACQUELINE HARMAN SCHOOL OF BALLET: The dancers
Crew
Hair & Make-up: SOPHIE GREEN
Gaffers: ANDREA ANGELINI, DAVID BEAUMONT, JAMIE MONTGOMERY
IT Associate: PHILIP WOODWARD
3rd Assistant Directors: CLAIRE MORA, CRISTINA PEREZ SOBRÍN
Stills Photographer & Production Assistant: STEFANIE WOODWARD
Production Assistant: PETE APLIN
Catering & Wardrobe: ZENKA WOODWARD
Assistant to Jacqueline Harman: COURTNEY SHAW
Runners: SOPHIE GREEN, ANIKA MITCHELL-MURRAY, SHYAM POPAT,
DAVID LUKE REES, ROWENA WOOLFORD
Conceived, Filmed and Edited by IAN WOODWARD
An ENCORE film © Ian Woodward 2013
Running time: 27min. Format: 16:9 PAL (16:9 NTSC also available)
above:
ENTRY TICKETS
for
THE GREEN BAY FILM FESTIVAL
venue for the 2019 screening of
THE RED ROSE
in Winconsin, United States
