Extract from SONG OF SONGS
A feature film by Josh Appignanesi
Starring Natalie Press and Joel Chalfen
Special Commendation from the Jury Best British Film - Edinburgh International Film Festival 2005
Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, Producer Gayle Griffiths - London Film Festival
Official Selection: Rotterdam, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, Sofia, Cannes ACID
ACCLAIM
"A cinematic milestone… a challenging, unashamedly intellectual rigour to it. Song of Songs confirms [Natalie Press] as a star. In both style and content, the film reveals a distinctive and bold new voice in British cinema."
Jason Solomons, THE OBSERVER
"A powerful and confident work and shows that Appignanesi is seriously committed to cultivating a real cinematic language."
Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
"Appignanesi’s intelligent low-budget feature debut… Press is compelling. The film modulates into a kosher version of Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terribles… assembled with considerable psychological authority."
Philip French, THE OBSERVER
"Boasts superb playing from Press and Chalfen... It is framed edited and scored with a precision and confidence belying its limited resources, and the script is brimming with provocative ideas… Appignanesi is clearly a talent to watch… Press confirms [her] considerable promise."
Michael Brooke, SIGHT & SOUND
"Terrific performance from Press... something uncomfortably compelling about this tale of murky deviant flipside of religious ecstasy. A daringly original debut."
Wendy Ide, THE TIMES
"A brave debut… Persuasive playing from [Press] and Chalfen… the atmosphere is suitably claustrophobic."
Derek Malcolm, EVENING STANDARD
"Sparkling with originality… an unashamedly austere and powerful film about religion, repression and sex. Press confirms herself as a startling actress. There’s no resisting the power of the film’s emotional flow."
MAIL ON SUNDAY
"An imposing first feature… a collision between Pinter and the Pentateuch. Appignanesi gives many scenes an undeniable if enigmatic intensity… Press acts with utter conviction." THE SUNDAY TIMES
"Not exactly Almodovar, or even Kieslowski, or even Bergman… the core of this drama is raw and compelling. Press and Chalfen work with a will, she a face tugged and knotted into self-abnegation as surely as her scraped-back hair, he a face halfway between angelic and satanic."
NIGEL ANDREWS, THE FINANCIAL TIMES
Directed by Josh Appignanesi
Written by Josh Appignanesi and Jay Basu
Produced by Gayle Griffiths
Director of Photography Nanu Segal
Production Designer Erik Rehl
Line Producer Tracy O'Riordan
Editor Nicolas Chaudeurge
Sound Editor Joakim Sundstrom
Casting Julie Harkin, Lucy Townsend
A Wild Horses production 2005
Distributed in the UK by Soda Pictures
joshappignanesi.com
songofsongsmovie.com