Count Magnus (film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Count Magnus'' is a
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
which is part of the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
''
A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a Anthology series, strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instal ...
''. Produced by Isibeal Ballance and written and directed by
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
, it is based on the
ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
of the same name by
M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...
, first published in the collection ''
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' is a collection of ghost stories by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its su ...
'' (1904), and first aired on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
on 23 December 2022.Count Magnus review: A spooky diversion with a delicious twist
''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'', 23 December 2022
Set in 1863, it stars
Jason Watkins Jason Peter Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Bes ...
as Mr. Wraxhall, a British travelogue writer who visits
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
whilst writing a guidebook to the country and who becomes fascinated by the story of Count Magnus, a 17th-century landowner who was known for his brutality to his tenants. The series' creator
Lawrence Gordon Clark Lawrence Gordon Clark is an English television director and producer, screenwriter, and author, best known for creating the supernatural anthology series ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'', which originally aired on BBC One from 1971–1978, wit ...
, who directed all but one of the original 1971–1978 run, had originally wished to adapt "Count Magnus" as early as 1973, but the budget was never sufficient to allow location filming in Sweden, and it remained unproduced as of the series' end. Gatiss, who began helming the series with ''
The Tractate Middoth "The Tractate Middoth" is a short ghost story by British author M. R. James. It was published in 1911 in '' More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'', James's second collection of ghost stories. Plot Mr. Garrett, an employee of a university library ...
'' (2013), finally got the chance to adapt the story, though it was filmed in England. It received mixed reviews from critics, who found it lacking as a work of horror.


Synopsis

In 1863 a British travelogue writer, Mr Wraxhall, travels to Sweden collecting information for a scholarly guidebook to Scandinavia. He visits the manor-house of Råbäck in Vestergothland, which had been built by one Count Magnus De la Gardie in the early 17th century. He becomes fascinated by the story of the long-dead nobleman Count Magnus, who, it is said, was a "merciless" character known locally for being a harsh landowner, who branded his tenants if they were late with their rent and who burnt down their houses if they were built too near his lands - with them in them. Nielsen, the village innkeeper, has tales to tell about Count Magnus, including that of his journey on a "Black Pilgrimage" to the Holy Land "on most unholy business", bringing something – or someone – back with him.


Cast

*
Jason Watkins Jason Peter Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Bes ...
as Mr Wraxhall *
MyAnna Buring My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää (born 22 September 1979), known professionally as MyAnna Buring (), is a Swedish-born British actress. Her films include ''The Descent'' (2005), ''Kill List'' (2011), and ''The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn †...
as Froken de la Gardie *
Krister Henriksson Jan Krister Allan Henriksson (born 12 November 1946) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for playing Kurt Wallander in the television films based on the novels by Henning Mankell. Early life Henriksson was born in Grisslehamn, Norrtäl ...
as the Narrator * Max Bremer as Nielsen *
Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol University ...
as the Deacon * Jamal Ajala as Gustav *
Krister Henriksson Jan Krister Allan Henriksson (born 12 November 1946) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for playing Kurt Wallander in the television films based on the novels by Henning Mankell. Early life Henriksson was born in Grisslehamn, Norrtäl ...
as the Narrator (voice) * Michael Carlo as Anders Björnsen * Dominic Vulliamy as Hans Thorbjörn *
Toby Hadoke Toby Hadoke ( ; born 2 January 1974) is an English actor, writer, stand-up comedian and comedy promoter. He is known for his work on the Manchester comedy circuit, where he performs regularly, and as a prominent fan of the television series ' ...
as the Grandfather * Linus Karp as Kaarle * Barry McStay as Erik (as Barry Brett-McStay) * Joseph Martin as the Shape * Hannes Husberg as Lukas * Harmony Nanton as Melissa *
Arron Blake Arron Blake (born 23 October 1987) is an English actor and director. A graduate of The Poor School in London, Blake's directorial debut short film '' His Hands'' with Darius Shu premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2019 and was nominated for Best ...
as Policeman


Production

The story was not included in the original 1970s run of ''
A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a Anthology series, strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instal ...
'' for budgetary reasons. Director
Lawrence Gordon Clark Lawrence Gordon Clark is an English television director and producer, screenwriter, and author, best known for creating the supernatural anthology series ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'', which originally aired on BBC One from 1971–1978, wit ...
wanted to make the story in 1978, later acknowledging; "I wanted to make Count Magnus by M.R. James but they wouldn't put up the money for it, which I felt was pretty shortsighted considering the success we'd had with the series." In 2019
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
stated, "The one everyone has always wanted to do is Count Magnus, which eluded the great Lawrence Gordon Clark." Gatiss finally got to make his cut-back version in 2022. In an interview in the ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' published in December 2022, Gatiss revealed that he had introduced a plot twist in his version. He said that the story's narrator is actually Count Magnus, his life unnaturally extended by his deal with the "Prince of the Air" which allows him to narrate his story from within his padlocked tomb. Gatiss said:
"This one needed a narrator, I think, just because there were lots of nice little passages n the original story.. In the story, it's an Englishman. But soon as I thought it could be a Swedish voice, I thought, 'Well, whose voice could that be?' and then the idea came to me of him ount Magnuslying in the tomb, narrating it for his own purposes! So yeah, that's what that came from."Jeffery, Morgan
Mark Gatiss explains why he changed Count Magnus ending with new twist
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
, 23 December 2022


Locations

Filming locations included the
Hall Barn Hall Barn is a historic country house located in Beaconsfield, South Bucks district, in Buckinghamshire, England. History The Hall Barn estate was bought by Anne Waller in 1624. The house was built in the late-17th century by her son Edmund ...
estate in
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...
,
South Bucks South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Beac ...
. The temple beside the house stood in for the mausoleum of Count Magnus. No filming took place in Sweden owing to budgetary restraints.


Critical reception

Of Gatiss's adaptation,
Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...
of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' giving the production 2 stars out of 5, wrote, "The plot is slight, it's far from visually engaging and it manages one paltry jump scare. I've had worse frights from a Misty comic strip.",Ghost Story for Christmas: Count Magnus review – Mark Gatiss's creepy tale could barely be less thrilling
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 23 December 2022
while Orlando Bird of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' gave it 3 stars, writing, "Mark Gatiss's MR James ghost stories have become a pleasurable Christmas TV staple, even if this offering tickled rather than thrilled."A Ghost Story for Christmas: Count Magnus, review: won't scare the Dickens out of you
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 23 December 2022


References


External links

* {{Authority control Films based on works by M. R. James Television films based on short fiction 2022 television films 2022 films A Ghost Story for Christmas Films directed by Mark Gatiss