ENGLAND IS MINE is a new drama about the early days of Morrissey, the
iconic pop star and original front man for the seminal band, The Smiths.
Directed by Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominee Mark Gill, the film stars
Jack Lowden as the artist formerly known as Steven Patrick Morrissey and
Jessica Brown Findlay of "Downton Abbey" fame as his soul mate and
muse.
Set in Thatcher's Britain of the 70's and 80's, a time
when working class Manchester was beset by unemployment and riots, the
film tells the story of 17 year-old Steven (Lowden), a painfully shy,
intellectually precocious loner who lives for, and writes about, the
burgeoning local music scene-a surprisingly vibrant subculture in an
otherwise drab industrial city. Too intimidated to join that scene, he
writes reviews from the sidelines, imagining what he would do if he were
on stage. When one of his write-ups is noticed by kindred spirit Linder
Sterling (Brown Findlay), an aspiring painter, the two become fast
friends, and she pushes him to form a band and take to the stage. Steven
finally works up the courage to book a club date, and performs a
dazzling cover of an old girl-group standard. This is the first time the
world gets to hear the distinctive, emotion-filled voice that would
eventually propel him to stardom.
That very night, a manager
reaches out with an offer. Unfortunately, it's only for guitarist Billy,
not the lead singer, meaning Steven will be left behind. His dreams of a
musical career vanish and he's left with nothing but wasted days at a
soul-crushing civil servant job, and lonely nights holed up in the same
bedroom he's slept in his whole life. Only his mother's unwavering
belief in his talent, and Linder's constant reminder-"be yourself,
everyone else is taken"-give him the strength to keep trying to become
the artist he was always meant to be.
Brian Perera, founder of
Cleopatra Entertainment, says "Our company has deep roots in music, so
we couldn't more excited to bring this film over here to US audiences
and to Morrissey's enormous fan base."
Director Gill, who also
wrote the screenplay (with William Thacker), burst onto the
international film scene with his 2011 short film, "The Voorman
Problem," which earned him an Academy Award-nomination for Best Live
Action short, as well as a BAFTA nomination. Lowden's stage work (which
has already earned him the UK's highest honor, the Olivier Award) was
recently featured in Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk," and films such as "A
United Kingdom" and "'71."
Since capturing, and breaking, hearts
as Lady Sybil in the smash success "Downton Abbey," Brown Findlay has
also been seen in "Winter's Tale," "The Riot Club" and "Victor
Frankenstein."
Baldwin Li, Gill's producer and fellow "Voorman"
Oscar-nominee, produced ENGLAND IS MINE along with Orian Williams,
producer of Anton Corbijn's "Control," the multi-award-winning biopic of
Ian Curtis and the band Joy Division.
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