160 Pages | 130 b&w illustrations

297x210mm, Hardback

9781871164718

Dorset in Film takes an extended tour through one of England’s most beautiful counties as depicted by the many movies that have been filmed here over almost a hundred years.

Pointing out areas of cinematic interest along the way, author Anwar Brett draws upon his long experience as a film journalist as well as more than 50 interviews especially conducted for this book, gleaning insights from some of the talented industry professionals who have visited (and in some cases settled) in the area.

This throws up some curious facts, such as Kevin Spacey selecting Lulworth Cove to double for Big Sur in California in his Bobby Darin biopic Beyond The Sea; or the story of the Hollywood filmmaker who chose his Dorset location after seeing a photograph of it on a music CD; or the true identity of the person under Meryl Streep’s cowl in that iconic scene on the Cobb in The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

In addition elements of local history are put into the context of their cinematic heritage, and there are more in-depth descriptions detailing the creation of such locally shot, internationally acclaimed classics as Tom Jones, Far From The Madding Crowd, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Comrades.

Anwar Brett is a Dorset-based journalist specialising in cinema, and has been ploughing that particular furrow from this improbable location since the late 1980s. In that time he has written for a broad range of different national and regional news-papers and magazines.

He has also contributed to The International Director of Film & Filmakers and the 1995 edition of the Children’s Britannica as well as the odd radio programme. His cinematic tastes range from silent comedy classics to the musicals from Hollywood’s Golden Age; from 1940s film noir to the output of the Pixar Studios.