"Duncan is the butler at Saltburn and he is it's sort of spirit. Here we've got Paul Rhys, who is just one of the greatest actors of his generation. He's just extraordinary. And when I was meeting people for this part, I said, ‘Duncan is Saltburn.’ He could have lived for a thousand years. He could be, you know, one of the, one of the bricks. Everyone else was like, ‘Uh huh, yeah, okay, I kind of get it.’ And Paul was like, ‘Absolutely.’"
-dir. Emerald Fennell
The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. The film captures Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.
A student at Oxford University finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, who invites him to his eccentric family's sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.
The story isn't very original, the characters are not exactly subtle and the target is an easy pick. I was still pleased that the story took the direction I was hoping for. Well, not necessarily the nudity.
Nice to see Barry Keoghan in a lead role.
Pike and Grant can probably play their roles in their sleep. But that doesn't make watching them less enjoyable.
That voice. When I’d last heard it, it was higher, without the low rumble at the back of his throat.
Those eyes. Golden brown shot through with gold and leafy green. They still looked older than his years.
His smile. The left corner had always lifted higher than the right.
‘Jack?’ I choked on the name as my heart constricted.
Jack looked down at me, unsure of his welcome. Leaving no room for doubt, I flung my arms around him. ‘Oh, Jack.’ Jack smelled of coal fires and foggy mornings rather than warm bread, as he had when he was a child. After a moment of hesitation, he enfolded me within long, lean arms. He was older and taller, but he still felt fragile, as though his mature appearance were nothing more than a shell.
The Book of Life, Chapter 18, All Souls Trilogy, Deborah Harkness
Matthew and Diana are in shock when they see Jack turn up with Father Hubbard, a vampire no less. They left him as a little boy in friends’ care back in 1591 London.
Matthew Goode is amazing at portraying that moment of disbelief laced with guilt and understanding of what seeing Jack after so long really means.
📷 Sky/Bad Wolf A Discovery of Witches (2022) my edits/gif