Wednesday, August 30, 2017

September Pick: Tulip Fever





We're heading to the Netherlands back in the 1600s for our September outing to see Tulip Fever.  As the author of the bestselling novel of the same name explains in an interview below, it was a time when a craze broke out for betting big on which tulips would blossom first - red, white, orange, striped? 

Christoph Waltz, at his vexatious best, stars as a wealthy man who decides to have a portrait painted of his beautiful young wife, played by Alicia Vikander (who was terrific in The Danish Girl and Testament of Youth). The handsome young artist he chooses (played by Dane DeHaan) turns out to be irresistible to her. And the ever-watchable Judi Dench plays a nun who never hesitates to give advice.

The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 but, for various reasons, took a long time to be released in cinemas. Rumours say that these included funding problems and censorship threats due to a surfeit of sexiness - which we'll judge for ourselves.

WHEN & WHERE: We'll see Tulip Fever on Tuesday, September 5, at the Varsity Cinema (Manulife Centre at Bay & Bloor) for the 1:30 screening - gathering, as always, near the box office about 20 minutes earlier. 

SYNOPSIS:  An artist falls for a young married woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.

TRAILER:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491203/videoplayer/vi3567696153?ref_=tt_ov_vi

INTERVIEW with Tulip Fever author: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-tulip-fever-took-20-years-reach-screen-guest-column-1033766