Tuesday 11th May at 8 p.m.

Me and Orson Welles
UKUSA 2008 | 114 mins | 12A
On a day trip to New York in 1937, a chance encounter with Orson Welles results in high school student and aspiring actor Richard Samuels landing a supporting role in the Mercury Theatre production of Julius Caesar. Working alongside such theatrical luminaries as Joseph Cotton, John Houseman and George Coulouris, Samuels quickly finds himself pulled into Welles’ world and transformed by his sometimes punishing working methods. Based on Robert Kaplow's semi-fictionalised account of the play’s production, Me and Orson Welles is Dazed and Confused and A Scanner Darkly director Richard Linklater’s most upbeat and energetic film, boasting at its centre a compelling portrayal of the brilliant but power-driven Welles by Christian McKay.

Richard Linklater

Houston born writer-director Richard Linklater first made his mark with the 1991 low budget independent film Slacker, which he followed with the 1993 Dazed and Confused, one of the most highly regarded portraits of American youth of late twentieth century cinema.

He subsequently directed Before Sunrise (1995), SubUrbia (1996) and The Newton Boys (1998), before attracting widespread attention for his digitally rotoscoped Waking Life (2001), whose quasi-animated technique was also the foundation his 2006 Philip K. Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly, which was screened by us in a previous season.

Between those two films his output has been varied and has included the 'inspirational teacher' film School of Rock (2003), a sequel to his own Before Sunrise in Before Sunset (2004), a remake of The Bad News Bears (2005) and a drama adaptation of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (2006).


Watch the railer for Me and Orson Welles
Me and Orson Welles
director
Richard Linklater
starring
Zac Efron
Claire Danes
Christian McKay
Ben Chaplin
Zoe Kazan
Eddie Marsan
Kelly Reilly