Thursday 30 December 2021

Notting Hill (1999 Roger Michell)

 Was the script written for her? Had she seen Four Weddings?

Julia admits to being hooked by the film from the time she received the script. "The script was great. When I sat to read it I did not have any great expectations. I had been given a brief synopsis and it sounded unappealing.

"But when I read it, from the very start with her going into the bookshop and she seems very mysterious and there is this guy having all these troubles and they leave and collide and she is at his house and she kisses him, I thought 'Jesus Christ, this is great', I was completely sucked in.

(Freelibrary.com.) Well, I've spent half an hour Googling this.. Actually didn't just Google the question. Hang on a minute........ No, not really. This is on Wikipedia:

Julia Roberts was the "one and only" choice for the role of Anna Scott, although Roger Michell and Duncan Kenworthy did not expect her to accept. Her agent told her it was "the best romantic comedy she had ever read".[2] About the Production". Notting Hill.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2007... 

No, come on - it's been about three quarters of an hour now, and I'm especially bored of having to click 'Agree' or 'Accept All Cookies' or not be able to see something without subscribing or being asked to donate or reading the same story that's been reposted. I shall just ask Richard Curtis.

Um. Good editing, by Nick Moore - The Full Monty, About a Boy, Love Actually, Leap Year, Morning Glory, She's Funny That Way, Burnt.

Hadn't realised before (well, that's impossible to say, having seen the film 14-20 times over the years) that the pregnant woman at the beginning of the 'Seasons' sequence has had her baby at the end. IMDB claims 'The long shot where William Thacker walks through Notting Hill during summer, fall, winter, and spring was actually four different shots, all filmed the same day. Computer technology morphed Hugh Grant seamlessly from one shot to the next' but that's unsubstantiated.  There's certainly what looks like a hidden edit going into summer where the whole shot is momentarily obscured by a person in front of the camera. Again, I need to ask Michael Coulter. (Or Nick Moore.)

It's a great supporting cast, of course, but you have to give it to Roberts and Grant, who are both fabulous.



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