SHADOWS IN THE SUN

Year: 2009
UK: Artificial Eye
Cast: Jean Simmons, James Wilby, Jamie Dornan, Ophelia Lovibond, Toby Marlow, Clemency Burton-Hill, Tom Reed, Raymond Waring
Director: David Rocksavage
Country: UK
UK: 78 mins
UK Certificate: 12A contains moderate drug references
UK Release Date: 5 June 2009


Synopsis

Hannah (Jean Simmons - GREAT EXPECTATIONS, SPARTACUS) lives alone in a large, remote house on England's north Norfolk coast, where little has changed in fifty years...the marshes, the sand dunes, the pine forests, the long empty beaches and solitary houses under wide, open skies. She and her late husband, a diplomat, bought the house after a life filled with theatre, books and travel. She seems perfectly happy with her poetry, her garden and her much younger friend, Joe (Jamie Dornan - MARIE ANTOINETTE), a handsome, mysterious young loner who brings her cannabis to ease the pain of a long illness.

When Hannah's son, Robert (James Wilby - GOSFORD PARK), arrives with Kate (Ophelia Lovibond - OLIVER TWIST) and Sam (Toby Marlowe), his teenage daughter and ten-year-old son, tensions quickly surface. Robert is shocked by Hannah's intimacy with Joe and is deeply suspicious of his motives, while Kate finds him extremely attractive. Sam, in between excitedly exploring the nearby ship wreck and roaming the countryside, learns about jealousy and loss. A series of dramatic incidents unite the family and create an air of acceptance and understanding of each other...

David Rocksavage has a background in documentary films. His first feature film, OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, which he co-wrote and directed in 1995, was an adaptation of Truman Capote's novel and starred Lothaire Blutheau and Anna Thomson.