A Voyage Round My Father (1982)

A Voyage Round My Father (1982) (DVD) (*)

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Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Emmy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
81 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Biographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1982 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Alvin Rakoff

Written By:
John Mortimer

Actors:
Laurence Olivier ..... Clifford Mortimer
Alan Bates ..... John Mortimer
Jane Asher ..... Elizabeth
Elizabeth Sellars ..... Mother
Michael Aldridge ..... Headmaster
Alan Cox ..... Sons as a Boy
Norman Bird ..... Ham
Albert Welling ..... Japhet
James Downer ..... Reigate
Susan Littler ..... Miss Cox
Gay Wilde ..... Miss Baker
Anthony Sharp ..... Film Director
Ann Davies ..... A.T.S. Girl
Judy Riley ..... A.T.S. Girl
Jonathan Newth ..... Boustead

Synopsis:

In the screen adaptation of the highly acclaimed West End play A Voyage Round My Father, Alan Bates stars as John Mortimer and Laurence Olivier as `the father' in an affectionate, anecdotal tribute to fathers everywhere. When Clifford Mortimer develops blindness in middle age, his battles in the courtroom as an eccentric lawyer continue - despite his inability to care for himself. Picking up the pieces is his son John, whose relationship with his father suffers as he tries to come to terms with his conflicting feelings towards him.

Before creating the beloved courtroom drama Rumpole of the Bailey, writer John Mortimer found inspiration in his own life for this portrait of a difficult but enduring love between father and son in mid-20th-century Britain. Screen legend Laurence Olivier stars as the eccentric patriarch--a blind barrister so stubborn and cantankerous that he refuses to acknowledge his sightlessness. Alan Bates (Gosford Park) portrays his devoted son, who follows his father's footsteps in the law while longing to become a writer, with Jane Asher (Brideshead Revisited) as his wife. Adapted for the screen by Mortimer himself and filmed largely on location at his family estate in bucolic Oxfordshire, this production garnered multiple awards, including an International Emmy for best drama. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, it captures the special bond between father and son, which at times seems unbearable--but ultimately unbreakable.

John Mortimer's autobiographical play Voyage 'Round My Father was given a class-A TV adaptation in 1984. Mortimer, best known for his Rumpole of the Bailey stories, has fashioned an unexpurgated but affectionate portrait of his highly eccentric lawyer father Clifford Mortimer, played by Sir Laurence Olivier. Alan Bates costars as the younger Mortimer, who must deal with his father's decreasing ability to take care of himself. This was Olivier's second major TV appearance of 1984: the first was King Lear. Filmed in Britain, Voyage 'Round My Father was syndicated to American TV outlets as part of the Mobil Showcase Network series.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 11 May, 2015.