Hundreds of people have been enjoying their moment of movie limelight
as cameras roll in Bath for a period production.
But as more than 200 extras promenade in 18th-century costume, there has
been little sign of the star of The Duchess.
Actress Keira Knightley has been keeping the lowest of low profiles as
she comes and goes for scenes in the movie, which also stars Ralph
Fiennes.
The Assembly Rooms, the Royal Crescent and Holburne Museum are all being
used as backdrops in the production, based on the real life story of
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was a frequent visitor to the
city.
Amid tight security, Knightley arrived in Alfred Street in a silver Audi
van with blacked-out windows. Wearing her trademark crocheted beret, she
was then quickly ushered into the building for filming.
Fiennes, who plays Knightley's husband, the Duke, has proved more of a
crowd-pleaser. After arriving in a blacked-out Mercedes he circled the
building, casually chatting on his mobile phone.
Onlooker Paul Denning, a senior art worker at city design firm Armadillo,
said: "It was surprising to see Keira up close as she's much shorter
than I imagined, but she is very pretty.
"And Ralph seemed happy to hang around for a while, not caring who saw
him."
Knightley's boyfriend, the actor Rupert Friend, is also staying in Bath
with her.
One extra taking a break on the set said: "I saw Keira and she is much
better looking in real life than she is in the papers.
"She was being friendly and nice but mostly kept herself to herself."
The extras, recruited by Bath firm Mad Dog Casting, were being catered
for in a tent in front of the Assembly Rooms.
But tourists and passers-by who have been gathering in some numbers,
were asked not to take pictures of any of them.
The women were dressed in stunning Regency gowns and tall wigs which
were covered in plastic to protect them from the rain.
The men were dressed in traditional breeches, waistcoats and top hats.
Extra Paul Howlett, of Oldfield Park, said: "I used to be a tour guide
in Bath but I have been doing this for over 50 years.
"I really enjoy dressing up in the period costume because you are
transported back to that era.
"I have seen Keira Knightley but like many of these big stars, she doesn't
really get involved with us."
Filming began in Bath on Sunday and was due to finish today, with the
cast also being taken to Bristol for other scenes.
The production has also seen filming in London and Norfolk.
The city's film commissioner, Maggie Ainley, said the filming for the
movie, which is due out next year, had gone well.
Ms Ainley, who runs Bath and North East Somerset Council's Bath Film
Office, said yesterday: "It looks wonderful. I have had a call from
someone on set this morning who said it was all going well.
"It is like seeing ghosts at the Assembly Rooms because you see these
wonderful costumes from the mid-1700s and you think, 'My God this is
what would have happened at the time,' and there is always a frisson
seeing that.
"It is great for Bath. The city was in the script anyway but I think it
is one more achievement for the way that the different departments of
the council can facilitate filming of this scale, and this sends a very
clear message out to the industry that we do operate a film-friendly
policy."
At the weekend, crowds flocked to watch carriage scenes involving extras
being shot at the Holburne Museum in Great Pulteney Street.
The museum will feature as the rented property of the Duchess on her
visits to Bath.
The film office has spent the last six months preparing for crews to
descend on the city.
Jamie Lengyel, location manager with the movie, said: "We have had to
work closely with the traffic police to enable filming to go ahead with
as few problems as possible for both the filming team and people
travelling through Bath.
"The police have been very helpful and we have had a lot of support from
the film office."
October 1, 2007 (from Yahoo! India news)
German setting for Nicole Kidman's movie
British film director Stephen Daldry wanted a run-down building with
an old-fashioned heating stove and a rear courtyard where a carpenter's
workshop could be built. His production team found the ideal location in
Landeskronstrasse, a street in the picturesque east German town of
Goerlitz, close to the border with Poland.
"The director was delighted," remembers Frank Schacher, the estate agent
who owned the house that will feature in Daldry's movie adaptation of
Berhard Schlink's best-selling novel, "The Reader".
Schlink, a German writer with a legal background, published "The Reader"
in 1995. It has since been translated into more than 30 languages.
Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes will head the cast in
the story about a teenager who has an affair with a woman in her
thirties who suddenly vanishes.
Although filming started this week, Kidman is not expected to make an
appearance in Goerlitz until December.
The house in the Landeskronstrasse has been turned into a film set. A
sign reading "R. Berger - Carpenter," is affixed to the crumbling facade
of the building, rekindling the atmosphere of the 1950s, the period in
which part of the novel is set.
For the outdoor scenes, cobblestones were placed over the asphalted
roads to add to the authenticity. Ten vintage cars were hired from a
Hamburg company specializing in movie requisites.
Firms in the region have also profited from the movie making, which has
been the main talking point in Goerlitz since the hiring of extras began
in August.
Electrical supplier Frank Meissner provided the electrical plugs for the
set and also repaired two chandeliers and refitted the wiring of the
flat that will serve as Kidman's home in the film.
"They insisted on original parts," says Meissner, who was lucky enough
to have equipment dating back to the 1950s in his storage cabinets.
Goerlitz, which has a well-preserved old town, has served as a backdrop
for other films, including the Hollywood comedy adventure "Around the
World in 80 Days", starring Jackie Chan.
In "The Reader", German actor David Kross, 17, plays 15-year-old
schoolboy Michael Berg, who has the affair with Kidman's Hanna Schmitz.
They meet again years later when he is a law student visiting a trial
about war crimes in which Schmitz is one of the accused. Berg is the
only one who knows the reasons behind her admission of guilt.
The filming in Goerlitz lasts until Oct 2, before resuming again in
December. Then two vintage trams will be plying the streets in another
touch of authenticity.
The local transport authority has agreed to alter its timetable to
accommodate the filming schedule, even if this causes minor disruptions
to services.
But Goerlitz residents won't mind, especially if they can take a peek at
Kidman playing the role of a tram conductress in their town.
September 6, 2007 (from Metro.co.uk)
Ralph to play Keira's Duke
Ralph Fiennes has been lined up to play Keira Knightley's husband in
new period film The Duchess.
Set in the 18th century, the movie tells the tragic story of fashion
icon and mother Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and will begin shooting
in London on September 23.
It also stars Dominic Cooper as The Duchess' lover Earl Grey and Hayley
Atwell as her best friend Lady Elizabeth Foster, who shares a threesome
with the Duke and Duchess.
A spokesman for Pathe Productions, who is working alongside BBC Films on
the production, said: "The Duchess is a very contemporary tale of fame,
notoriety and the search for love.
"Although the story unfolds at the end of the 18th century, the
passionate tale of Georgiana bears uncanny parallels with that of her
descendant, Diana, Princess of Wales.
"Beautiful and adored by the public, Georgiana was the most fascinating
woman of the age. But her extravagant tastes and appetite for gambling
and love made her infamous."
The Line Of Beauty director Saul Dibb will be overseeing the flick from
a screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher which is based on the best-selling
historical biography, Georgiana, Duchess Of Devonshire by Amanda
Foreman.
August 24, 2007 (from Daily Mail)
Romping Regency love triangle as Hayley Atwell joins the people's Duchess
By BAZ BAMIGBOYE
Keira Knightley and Hayley Atwell will soon be sharing a Regency bed
with Ralph Fiennes.
Keira and Ralph will portray 18th-century power couple the Duke and
Duchess of Devonshire in The Duchess, which starts filming later in the
autumn. Hayley will play the Duchess's closest friend Bess, Lady
Elizabeth Foster, who later became even closer to the powerful Duke.
According to historian Amanda Foreman, whose bestselling book Georgiana,
Duchess Of Devonshire, is the main source material for director Saul
Dibbs's film, Bess and the Devonshires lived in a menage a trois for 25
years.
At one point, both women were with child by the Duke - and both produced
daughters.
Georgiana was a popular figure and there are those who now perceive her
as the 'people's Duchess', a sort of Princess Diana of her day. So you
won't be surprised to learn that she was, in fact, Diana's
greatgreat-great-great aunt.
Director Dibbs and producer Gaby Tana have also signed up Dominic Cooper
to play one of Georgiana's lovers, and on Wednesday night some of the
actors gathered at the Wolseley restaurant opposite the Ritz Hotel in
London for a bonding session.
Fiennes will play the Duke in between shooting Stephen Daldry's latest
picture The Reader, with Nicole Kidman.
Hayley has just completed playing Julia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited
and will go to the Venice Film Festival next week for the launch of
Woody Allen's film Cassandra's Dream.
Keira will also be in Venice, where Joe Wright's movie Atonement — the
best film of the year so far - opens the festival.
A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, an ancestor of Princess Di who was alternately celebrated and reviled for
her extravagant political and personal lives.
