YOUNG ADAM

Year: 2003
USA: Sony Pictures Classics
UK: Warner Bros
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer, Jack McElhone, Therese Bradley, Ewan Stewart, Stuart McQuarrie, Pauline Turner, Alan Cooke, Rory McCann
Director: David Mackenzie
Countries: UK / France
UK: 97 mins
USA: 93 mins
USA Rated: NC-17 for some explicit sexual content
UK Certificate: 18 contains some strong sexual elements and language
USA Release Date: 16 April 2004 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 26 September 2003


Synopsis

Written and directed by the award-winning short filmmaker David MacKenzie, this is a stunning and highly original adaptation of the novel by the Scottish Beat writer Alexander Trocchi.

Set in a steamy Glasgow of the early 1950s, the film focuses on the existential crisis of Joe Taylor (Ewan McGregor), a rootless young drifter who finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-earth Les Gault (Peter Mullan) and his enigmatic wife Ella (Swinton). One afternoon, whilst working - Joe and Les find a corpse of a young woman floating in the water.

Accident? Suicide? Murder?

As the police investigate the case and a suspect is arrested, it becomes evident that Joe knows more about the drowned woman than he is letting on. Meanwhile, against the background of this mysterious death and the murder investigation, Joe and Ella embark on an intimate and passionate affair.