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''Emotional Backgammon'' is a 2003 British
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
-
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
about couples strategizing to repair relationships, with unexpected results.
[Russell, Jamie (22 August 2003).]
''Emotional Backgammon'' review
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The film was written by
Leon Herbert
Leon Herbert is a British actor. Herbert is known for appearances in films including ''Salome's Last Dance'' (1988), ''Scandal'' (1989), '' Batman'' (1989), ''Alien 3'' (1992), '' Double X: The Name of the Game'' (1992), ''Point of No Return'' ...
and Matthew Hope, directed by Herbert, and stars Herbert,
Wil Johnson
Wilbert Charles Johnson (born 18 April 1965) is an English actor, who has had notable television roles in '' Waking the Dead'' and '' Babyfather'', and on stage in '' Othello''. He played Dom Andrews in ''Emmerdale'' from 2012 to 2014.
Early ...
,
Daniela Lavender
Daniela Lavender, Lady Kingsley ( Barbosa de Carneiro; 14 December 1974) is a Brazilian actress, appearing on Brazilian television and on English-language television, film and stage, including touring with the British Shakespeare Company.
Ear ...
, and Jacqueline de Peza. It is Herbert's first feature-length film.
During its development it was featured on UK Channel 4's ''Movie Virgins'' series; upon its release, it received mixed reviews.
Plot
John is crushed when his girlfriend, Mary, announces that she's leaving him to "find herself", at the very moment John was about to ask her to marry him. John seeks out advice from his best friend Steve on strategies to win her back. Steve uses backgammon as a metaphor for approaches to take, telling John to "roll the dice, for love is a game." At the same time, Mary begins taking advice from her best friend, also employing complicated strategies. It is revealed that both John and Jane share a bitter, complicated past.
Cast
* Leon Herbert as Steve
* Wil Johnson as John
* Daniela Lavender as Mary
* Jacqueline de Peza as Jane
* Bob Mercer as Paul
* Steve Weston as Cab driver
* Steve Edwin as Psychiatrist
* Dee Cannon as Theatre Director
[''Emotional Backgammon''](_blank)
IMDb Full Credits.
Production
Herbert and Hope stated that, "The script idea was drawn from countless conversations with friends in problematic relationships. It is a story about emotional black-mail, but also an analysis of insecurities, and the charged and complex control tactics we resort to in the game of love."
The film's production was featured on UK
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's series ''
Movie Virgins''.
With a budget of £6,000, it was shot on location in
London, England
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
"in a total of 18 days in July 1999"
in
35mm 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
by award-winning cinematographer
Koutaiba Al-Janabi. Soundtrack artists included
Kelly Le Roc, Lamarr,
Incognito
Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity".
Incognito may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Danish film
* ''Incognito'' (1997 film), an American crime ...
,
David Lynden Hall,
Fierce and
Shola Ama
Shola Ama (born 8 March 1979) is a British singer from London, who scored her biggest hits with "You Might Need Somebody" (1997), a cover of Randy Crawford's 1981 hit, " You're the One I Love" and "Still Believe" (1999) which was one of the f ...
(title track).
Reception
The film was met with very mixed reviews. The BBC review called it neither "a diamond hiding in the rough, or even a half decent feature", referring to the acting as "woeful", the soundtrack "cloyingly overbearing", which "deadens each scene", and the films sexual politics "dubious, unironic, and completely uninterrogated."
According to the reviewer, the film's lack of understanding of sexual politics is illustrated by Steve's taking a role in Shakespeare's ''Taming of the Shrew'', and the film is a "clunking, and offensive, drama."
Rich Cline called the film an "enjoyable low-budget British relationship comedy
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
has a serious sting in its tale at the end that almost undoes it altogether."
[Cline, Rich (21 August 2003)]
"''Emotional Backgammon'' (review)"
Shadows on the Wall. Cline enjoyed the film's "style and substance", "visuals" and acting, but found the plot to be similar to ''
Two Can Play That Game''. He appreciated the use of London locations, intercut with "witty fantasy sequences" for character point of view, but found the film to take "seriously disturbing turns" in which misogyny, "rape, murder, and homosexuality" are introduced at the climax of the film, and "seriously weaken the clever and funny film that went before."
Angela Swift wrote that even though she hoped it would succeed, and was prepared to grant considerable latitude for any faults, the film "unfortunately, does not measure up to our hopes or expectations."
Some of the "admirable work" includes the nearly all-black cast, portraying "unabashed ethnicity" and the film's "almost clever" idea with "a few good twists". Swift found the backgammon-human-relationship simile to be overused, though visually interesting: "overkill drowns out any notion of ingenuity", and the film's repeated use of a pun on "Taming of the shrew" to be "without subtlety or insight." Overall, the film is "relatively unfunny and unsophisticated".
The ''
Time Out'' reviewer wondered "Are Steve and Jane to blame for what ensues? Or
..Shakespeare
..", and found that, although model/actor Johnson "manages to cut an intriguing figure, the film leaves the viewer perplexed. Is Herbert just playing with his audience? If so, it's a dangerous game."
According to ''The Guerrilla Film Maker's Handbook'', the film grossed £1056, for 209 tickets sold.
References
External links
*
*
* . Simeon Brody, 2000. ''New Producer'', New Producers Alliance.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emotional Backgammon
2003 films
2003 comedy-drama films
Black British films
British independent films
British comedy-drama films
2003 independent films
2000s English-language films
2000s British films
Backgammon
Films about games
English-language comedy-drama films