''The Queen of Sheba's Pearls'' is a 2004 Swedish-British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

set in England post-

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Helena Bergström Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (born 5 February 1964) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (''Dramaten'') and the Stockho ...

plays Nancy Ackerman who mysteriously arrives on the Pretty family's doorstep. Ackerman looks eerily similar to Jack Bradley's (James Hawkins) mother who inexplicably died in an WWII-related accident 8 years prior. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Ackerman is the identical twin separated from Jack's mother at birth. Meanwhile Jack's father, a former marine, has clouded feelings for Ackerman; he cannot decide if his feelings for her are growing on their own merits or are based on those towards his deceased wife. Ackerman also proves to be an unsettling force in Jack's life by offering advice that turns out to be eerily omniscient and fairy godmother-like. The movie was produced, directed and written by

Colin Nutley Colin James Nutley (born 28 February 1944) is an English director successful in the Swedish film industry. Career Nutley went to Portsmouth Art College and began his career in British television as a graphic designer. He then turned to drama an ...

who is married to the film's star, Helena Bergström.

Cast

... Nancy Ackerman/Emily Bradley *

Lorcan Cranitch Lorcan Cranitch (born 28 August 1959) is an Irish actor. Born in Dublin, Lorcan Cranitch became involved in drama while a student. In 1980 he moved to London, where he trained at RADA. Career His first major role on British television was as ...

... Harold Bradley *

Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan (born 7 November 1950) is a Scottish actress. On stage, she has won two Olivier Awards (for ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' and ''Private Lives'') and a Tony Award (for ''Private Lives''). She has starred in several plays by Ha ...

... Audrey Pretty *

Tim Dutton Tim Dutton (born 1967) is a British stage, film, and television actor. Dutton's films include '' Darkness Falls'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), The Infiltrator (2016) and ''The Detonator''. He starred in the Academy Award and BAFTA n ...

... Father Talbot * Rolf Lassgård ... Deafy *

Natasha Little Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...

... Peggy Pretty *

Elizabeth Spriggs Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

... Laura Pretty *

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best know ...

... Edward Pretty * Rollo Weeks ... Jack Bradley *

Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Aw ...

... School matron *

Marc Pickering Marc Pickering is an English stage, film and television actor who appeared in '' Sleepy Hollow'', ''Calendar Girls'', and HBO's '' Boardwalk Empire''. Early life and education Pickering was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was first ...

... Dinger Bell *

Simon Day Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show '' The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning ...

... Rektorn * Bohdan Poraj ... Teacher * John Joe Regan ... Geoffrey Thicket * James Hawkins ... Young Jack Bradley * Alexander Goggins ... Mr Jenkins

Awards and recognition

According to IMDb,

Jens Fischer Jens Fischer (born 24 August 1946) is a Swedish cinematographer. According to Criterion Cast, Jens Fischer is known as "one of the most distinguished Swedish cinematographers of the 1990s and 2000s." Early life and education Jens Fischer was ...

was nominated for the Silver and Gold Frogs and won the Silver Frog at the 2005 Camerimage Festival for his work as the lighting director for the film. The Guldbagge Film Festival awarded Lasse Liljeholm and Eddie Axberg Best Achievement for sound editing and Jens Fischer was also awarded Best Cinematography. Finally,

was nominated for the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Reception and reviews

A number of positive reviews followed the release of ''The Queen of Sheba's Pearls''. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine called the film "unquestionably utley'smost substantial movie to date." Sandra Hall, an Australian critic, provides a more clouded review of the film, saying that while Nutley is "not great on plot mechanics and narrative dovetailing. He's into vignettes rather than the big picture. Yet in its anecdotal way, the film somehow hangs together, shaping itself into a benign and sunny take on a plot device we've often seen before in films - about a fraying household rejuvenated by the presence of a seductive stranger." However, while critics, film analysts, and awards committees agreed that the film has superb casting and behind the scenes elements it is not especially popular or well-known with the general public as evidenced by the lack of comments and support on a number of public review sites including

Flixster Flixster is an American social-networking movie website for discovering new movies, learning about movies, and meeting others with similar tastes in movies, currently owned by parent company Fandango. The formerly independent site, allows users ...

and

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

."The Queen of Sheba's Pearls Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes." ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - New Movie Reviews and Previews! Web. 10 Dec. 2010. .

References

External links

*
a review of the film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of Sheba's Pearls, The 2004 films 2000s historical drama films 2000s English-language films English-language Swedish films Swedish historical drama films British historical drama films Films directed by Colin Nutley 2004 drama films 2000s British films 2000s Swedish films