''Beautiful People'' is a 1999 British satirical

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

Jasmin Dizdar Jasmin Dizdar (born 8 June 1961) is a British-Bosnian film director, screenwriter and author best known for his feature film '' Beautiful People'' and his World War Two thriller '' Chosen''. Jasmin Dizdar also published a book on cinema, which achi ...

. The film won an award for the best film in

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

category at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. ''Beautiful People'' is set in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

during the time of the Bosnian War.

Plot

In London during October 1993, England are playing the Netherlands in the World Cup qualifiers. The Bosnian War is at its height, and refugees from former Yugoslavia are arriving. Football rivals and political adversaries from the Balkans all precipitate conflict and amusing situations. Meanwhile, the lives of four English families are affected in different ways by an encounter with the refugees; one of the families improbably becomes involved with a Balkan refugee through the England vs Netherlands match.

Cast

Rosalind Ayres Rosalind Ayres (born 7 December 1946) is an English actress, director and producer. Active since 1970, Ayres is well known for her role in the 1997 film ''Titanic'', in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. Her husband, Martin Jarvis, playe ...

as Nora Thornton *

Julian Firth Julian Firth (born 8 January 1961) is an English actor, best known for his roles as troubled inmate Davis in the cinematic version of the film '' Scum'' and as Brother Jerome in the long-running television series '' Cadfael''. Firth has enjoye ...

as Edward Thornton * Charles Kay as George Thornton *

Charlotte Coleman Charlotte Ninon Coleman (3 April 1968 – 14 November 2001) was an English actress best known for playing Scarlett in the film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'', Jess in the television drama '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', and her childhood ...

as Portia Thornton * Edward Jewesbury as Joseph Thornton * Danny Nussbaum as Griffin Midge * Heather Tobias as Felicity Midge *

Roger Sloman Roger Sloman (born 19 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work in theatre, film, and television. Early life and education He grew up and was educated in South East London. He trained to be a teacher and then went to East 15 acting sch ...

as Roger Midge * Walentine Giorgiewa as Dzemila * Kenan Hudaverdi as railway worker * Faruk Pruti as Croat *

Dado Jehan Dado may refer to: Architecture and joinery * Dado (architecture), an architectural term for the lower part of a wall * Dado rail, a type of Moulding (decorative), moulding fixed at mid-height horizontally to the wall * Dado (joinery), a woodwork ...

as Serb * Linda Basset as a nurse * Nicholas Farrel as Dr Mouldy * Thomas Goodridge as Youth on Mobile Phone

Reception

The film was selected as an

entry at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French– Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festi ...

. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars (out of four), and made several comparisons: ''Beautiful People'' "loops and doubles back among several stories and characters, like Robert Altman's ''

Short Cuts ''Short Cuts'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film, directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver. The film has a Los Angeles setting, whic ...

'' and Paul Thomas Anderson's ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

''"; "it is fairly lighthearted, under the circumstances; like ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-ch ...

'', it enjoys the paradoxes that occur when you try to apply logic to war." James Berardinelli gave it the same rating and made most of the same comparisons; according to Berardinelli, "Dizdar has accomplished what few filmmakers are capable of—taking a serious subject and crafting an effective comedy from it that is defined by rich characters, genuine laughs, and an unpredictable plot." He concluded:

After appearing as an 'Un Certain Regard entry in the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, ''Beautiful People'' received international acclaim through film festival screenings and during its regular U.K. release (the screenplay was nominated for a
British Independent Film Award The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...
). However, the most impressive thing about this film is not the recognition it has received, but the accessibility of the humor. While ''Beautiful People'' is best described as a black comedy,... it is funny, not merely grimly amusing. This makes ''Beautiful People'' one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking comedies to reach U.S. theaters in early 2000.

Unlike those made by Ebert and Berardinelli, the comparisons made by the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...

'' are more precise: the film "combines British

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

with the bitter, jagged humor of Balkan directors like

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

('' Underground'') and Srdjan Dragojevic ('' Pretty Village, Pretty Flame'')." According to Scott Tobias of the A.V. Club, "Though its title seems ironic at first, ''Beautiful People'' is boundless in its optimism, growing increasingly contrived as it progresses, steering the messy lives of about 25 interconnected characters in the same hopeful direction.... izdardisplays a gift for light absurdist comedy... but as lively and skillfully orchestrated as it is on the whole, ''Beautiful People'' adds up to curiously little, limited in large part by Dizdar's narrow view of humanity. In his enthusiasm to resolve the cultural differences between his former and present home, his disparate characters are all tossed into the same flavorless, homogeneous soup."

References

External links

* * * ''Beautiful People'' trailers:
UK / USA Amazon
and {{Un Certain Regard 1999 films 1999 comedy films British comedy films Bosnian War films Films set in London British independent films Films directed by Jasmin Dizdar Yugoslav Wars in fiction Trimark Pictures films 1999 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films 2000s British films