Typist Artist Pirate King
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''Typist Artist Pirate King'' is a 2022 British film written and directed by
Carol Morley Carol Anne Morley (born 14 January 1966) is an English film director, screenwriter and producer. She is best known for her semi-documentary '' Dreams of a Life'', released in 2011, about Joyce Carol Vincent, who died in her North London bedsit ...
, about the life and art of artist,
Audrey Amiss Audrey Joan Amiss (1933 – 2013) was a British artist, whose art was re-discovered and recognised after her death in 2013. During her lifetime, Amiss was not well known as an artist and spent large periods of her life in psychiatric hospitals ...
. It stars
Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in ''Appropriate Adult'' (2011) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting R ...
as Amiss, as well as
Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...
, and
Gina McKee Georgina McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' (2007) ...
. The film had its world premiere at the
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF), or PÖFF (Pimedate Ööde filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014, it was ...
on 19 November 2022; and a UK premiere at the
Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...
on 8 March 2023 at
Glasgow Film Theatre The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) is an independent cinema in the city centre of Glasgow. It occupies a purpose-built cinema building, first opened in 1939, and now protected as a category B listed building. History and architecture Predecesso ...
.


Synopsis

The film is a fictionalised portrait of the late "avant-garde and misunderstood" artist
Audrey Amiss Audrey Joan Amiss (1933 – 2013) was a British artist, whose art was re-discovered and recognised after her death in 2013. During her lifetime, Amiss was not well known as an artist and spent large periods of her life in psychiatric hospitals ...
. Amiss was an artist who studied at the
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, but was unable to complete her training after being hospitalised due to mental illness. She died in 2013, leaving behind a vast collection of artworks and writings which were discovered after her death, and subsequently donated posthumously to
Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the W ...
. The film centres on a fictionalised road trip with Amiss, played by
Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in ''Appropriate Adult'' (2011) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting R ...
, and her psychiatric nurse, played by
Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...
, in which they travel north and reconnect with key individuals and moments from Amiss's past. The film is based on extensive archival research into Amiss's archive at
Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the W ...
, undertaken while writer-director
Carol Morley Carol Anne Morley (born 14 January 1966) is an English film director, screenwriter and producer. She is best known for her semi-documentary '' Dreams of a Life'', released in 2011, about Joyce Carol Vincent, who died in her North London bedsit ...
was a recipient of a Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship. The film uses imagery and artworks from the archive collection, creating a fictionalised narrative of a real life individual, drawn from archival sources.


Cast

*
Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in ''Appropriate Adult'' (2011) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting R ...
as
Audrey Amiss Audrey Joan Amiss (1933 – 2013) was a British artist, whose art was re-discovered and recognised after her death in 2013. During her lifetime, Amiss was not well known as an artist and spent large periods of her life in psychiatric hospitals ...
*
Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...
as Sandra *
Gina McKee Georgina McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' (2007) ...
as Dorothy *
Christine Bottomley Christine Bottomley (born 27 April 1979) is an English actress. Her television roles include playing Kirsty in ''EastEnders'' (2001), Melanie in '' Early Doors'' (2003–2004), Susie Ward in '' Heartbeat'' (2003), and Zoey Wyatt in '' Shameless ...
as Joan *
Kieran Bew Kieran John Bew (born 18 August 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying Hugh Hammer in ''House of the Dragon'' , 'Big' Bill O’Hara in ''Warrior'', Alfonso, Duke of Calabria in ''Da Vinci's Demons'', '' Hans Christian Andersen: My ...
as Gabe Patier * James Jaysen Bryhan as Kitchen Porter *
Kya Brame Kya, kya or KYA may also refer to: People or fictional characters * Kya Lau, chef and contestant on ''MasterChef Junior'', season 4 * Kya, mother of Katara and Sokka, in ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' * Kya, daughter of Aang and Katara in ''The ...
as Pouting Pamela * Joanne Allen as Knitting Nelly * Gavin Kitchen as Policeman * Matilda Firth as Magic Girl


Production

Carol Morley Carol Anne Morley (born 14 January 1966) is an English film director, screenwriter and producer. She is best known for her semi-documentary '' Dreams of a Life'', released in 2011, about Joyce Carol Vincent, who died in her North London bedsit ...
was awarded a Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship in 2015, where she was introduced to the
Audrey Amiss Audrey Joan Amiss (1933 – 2013) was a British artist, whose art was re-discovered and recognised after her death in 2013. During her lifetime, Amiss was not well known as an artist and spent large periods of her life in psychiatric hospitals ...
Archive by archivists at
Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the W ...
. The archive had recently been acquired by Wellcome in 2014, donated by Audrey's niece and nephew a year after Amiss's death in 2013. Morley undertook extensive research at Wellcome using Amiss's archive, with the aim of developing a film about Amiss. The archive comprises hundreds of sketchbooks, scrapbooks, log books, photo albums, account books, record books, and paintings. Morley made use of the collection while it was uncatalogued, with cataloguing later beginning in 2018 to ensure that the collection could be made more widely available for public use. (The collection has since been fully catalogued and is now freely available to consult for research in the
Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is a free library and Museum based in central London. It was developed from the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the ...
.) During the research process, she also met with members of Amiss's family and others who knew her in life, as well as speaking with archivists, conservator, and other Wellcome staff. She wrote about her experiences researching Amiss for a 2016 piece in ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''. The title of the film derives from Amiss's passport, where she listed her occupation as: 'typist artist pirate king'. The passport is held in Audrey Amiss' archive at Wellcome Collection. Morley received funding from the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
to write and produce the film. In November 2021,
Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in ''Appropriate Adult'' (2011) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting R ...
,
Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...
, and
Gina McKee Georgina McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' (2007) ...
were announced as being on-board the project, with
Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...
acting as executive producers and
Metro International Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the freesheet newspaper ''Metro''. The company was founded by Per Andersson, and started as a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group along with Viasat Broadcast ...
handling sales. Also involved were director of photography
Agnès Godard Agnès Godard (born 28 May 1951) is a French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis. For her work, she has won a César Award. Life and career Godard originally studied journalism, but s ...
and production designer Janey Levick. Additional funding also came from BCP Asset Management, MBK Productions, LipSync, Genesis Entertainment,
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...
, and
BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...
. Producers for the feature were Ameenah Ayub Allen and Cairo Cannon. Filming started in November 2021 in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
. The film entered post-production in 2022.


Release

The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on 19 November 2022. The film had its UK premiere on 9 March 2023 at the
Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...
. In May 2023,
Metro International Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the freesheet newspaper ''Metro''. The company was founded by Per Andersson, and started as a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group along with Viasat Broadcast ...
sold distribution rights to the film for the United Kingdom and Ireland to Modern Films. Planned limited release is set for 27 October 2023, with a wider release one week later on 3 November 2023. The film was released on the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
streaming service on 12 July 2024.


Reception


Critical reception

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...
in ''
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 ...
'' described a "warm and sympathetic film" and that the "casting works with the writing and the black comic and tragicomic nature of their ordeal is often hilarious." Later in the year, Bradshaw named Carol Morley’s directing and mentioned the performance of Dolan as among the best on film in 2023.


Box-office

The film grossed £28,654 at the UK box office in its opening weekend, where it played in 25 theaters in the territory. For its second weekend in cinemas, the film recorded a 73% drop on its opening weekend, only managing to gross £7,739, making a total of £53,298.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Typist, Artist, Pirate, King 2020s English-language films 2020s British films Films about artists Films shot in Yorkshire