BRITISH AND IRISH FILM FESTIVAL
Elsinore
In 1989, actor Ian Charleson receives the opportunity of a lifetime: playing Hamlet at London’s National Theatre. Living with AIDS and confronting his mortality, he pours his remaining strength into a performance that will become his defining triumph.
Director
Simon Stone (The Dig)
CAST
Andrew Scott • Olivia Colman • Billie Piper • Johnny Flynn
RATING
RUNTIME
1h 51m
COUNTRY
United Kingdom, Italy
GENRE
Biography, Drama, LGBTQ+
LANGUAGE
English
WATCH TRAILER
FILM NOTES
A stirring celebration of courage, artistry and the life-giving power of the stage.
Elsinore recounts the final chapter in the life of Scottish actor Ian Charleson, celebrated for Chariots of Fire and Gandhi. In 1989, after Daniel Day-Lewis withdrew from the National Theatre’s Hamlet, Charleson stepped into the role while seriously ill with AIDS. Screenwriter Stephen Beresford and director Simon Stone frame his celebrated performance within the fear and prejudice surrounding the HIV epidemic.
Andrew Scott brings wit, warmth and luminous intensity to Charleson, joined by Olivia Colman as his compassionate doctor and Billie Piper as a devoted friend. Moving without losing sight of joy, the film honours the courage required to create while facing mortality. It is an intimate tribute to theatre, friendship and an artist determined to be remembered.
Elsinore is generating Oscar buzz after it received a massive standing ovation at its recent Toronto International Film Festival screening. Don’t miss this stirring and transcendent film.
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