KILLING ME SOFTLY
Year: 2002
UK: Pathe Distribution
Cast: Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Ulrich Thomsen, Ian Hart, Jason Hughes, Helen Grace, Olivia Poulet, Ronan Vibert, Ian Aspinal, Nicholas Aaron, Amy Robbins, Yasmin Bannerman, Rebecca Palmer, Kika Markham, Lucila Alves, Oliver Ryan, Tim Faraday, Donald Gee, Richard Green, Lee Boswell, Neil Roberts, Patrick Field
Director: Chen Kaige
Country: USA
UK: 100 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains strong sex, violence, and language
UK Release Date: 21 June 2002
Synopsis
To be struck by lightening, or as the French call it a 'coup de foudre' - it's that rare moment when two people lock eyes and the world melts away in the powerful intensity of instant attraction.
The film tells the story of a young woman, Alice (Heather Graham), who experiences such a moment. Alice is an American living in London. She has friends, a career, a flat and a loving boyfriend. Her life seems destined to follow a comfortable conventional route until one morning on her way to work her eyes lock with a mesmerising stranger as she crosses the road. The encounter unsettles her, although no words have been exchanged between them. She leaves her office at lunchtime, using a visit to the hairdresser as an excuse. She sees the man inside a local bookshop. Catching sight of her staring through the window, he emerges and hails a cab. He signals that she should join him and, enthralled, she does. The cab takes them to his flat in North London. Once the doors are closed they kiss, then they make love, with more passion than she has ever experienced before. As she leaves he asks her to return the next day. When she says she can't, he tells her to return whenever she decides to - he'll be waiting for her.
Alice returns to the flat she shares with boyfriend Jake. It's the first anniversary of the day they got together, and Jake has organised a celebration with their friends. Alice has been in England for eighteen months and knew Jake as a friend before they became lovers. That night, as they make love, she yearns for the passion she found with the stranger rather than the comfort she has with Jake. Unable to forget her electrifying encounter, she risks everything to be with this man whose life is shrouded in mystery.
After discovering he is Adam Tallis, a famous mountaineering hero, Alice is further drawn into his private and mysterious world. Caught up in a total whirlwind of infatuation and romance, she immediately leaves Jake and after a matter of weeks, agrees to marry Adam. Sharing a desperately intense love, Adam has a controlling influence on all aspects of Alice's life, dominating all her thoughts and actions, as their passion takes an ever darkening twist.
Though Alice is happy, she gradually admits to herself that Adam is still very much a stranger to her. Whilst she has met his sister Deborah (a fellow climber) and a number of his mountaineering friends, who clearly idolize Adam, she is keen to learn more about the man she married. When anonymous letters start arriving warning Alice that her husband is dangerous, she is forced to act upon her concerns and investigate his shrouded past...
From a script by Kara Lindstrom and based on the best-selling novel by Nicci French, Heather Graham (AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, FROM HELL) and Joseph Fiennes (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, ELIZABETH) star in this erotic thriller. KILLING ME SOFTLY is director Chen Kaige's first English language film, following the international success of the Palme D'Or winner FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE and, most recently, THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN. KILLING ME SOFTLY was shot in London in late 2000, produced and financed by Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock's Montecito Pictures
DVD EXTRAS
Certificate: 18
Feature Running Time: 96 minutes
Language: English
Subtitles: English/Hard of Hearing
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (16 x 9)
Sound Quality: 5.1 Surround
Special Features:
Featurette: "Killing Me Softly"
Theatrical Trailer