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Tristram Shandy: A cock & bull story - Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Jeremy Northam, Gillian Anderson, Michael Winterbottom

Threat advisory: Low - Low risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Because everyone loves an accurate period piece.

Based on the novel The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, written by Laurence Sterne, this flips back and forth between the 18th Century and the hapless efforts of the 21st Century filmmakers, Tristram Shandy is the making of a movie adapted from the notoriously unfilmable English literary masterpiece.

The story begins with Tristram Shandy (Steve Coogan) narrating his life story as he sees it. Crammed with literary jokes and dark humour, Shandy's warped childhood tales are constantly interrupted by his family and household, inadvertently revealing far more about himself than any conventional autobiography. At the dramatic moment of Tristan's birth, the 1st Assistant Director calls cut, marking the end of a filming day on the set of Tristram Shandy. We then see Steve Coogan, the other actors and crew through the course of a chaotic evening on set. Steve Coogan's wife arrives with their six month old baby, a journalist is chasing him about a scandalous story, his agent has arrived with a load of Hollywood scripts and the film financiers are threatening to pull the plug. A clever, post-modern take on the construction of a film, from an intricate hilariously complex autobiographical novel.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film UK literature drama comedy filmmaking period costume manners star actor on-set

Persons of interest

Steve Coogan .... Tristram Shandy, Walter Shandy, Steve Coogan
Rob Brydon .... Toby Shandy, Rob Brydon
Raymond Waring .... Trim
Dylan Moran .... Dr Slop, Dylan Moran
Keeley Hawes .... Elizabeth Shandy, Keeley Hawes
Gillian Anderson .... Widow Wadman, Gillian Anderson
Naomie Harris .... Jennie, The Runner
Kelly Macdonald .... Jenny, Steve Coogan's Girlfriend
Jeremy Northam .... Mark
James Fleet .... Simon
Ian Hart .... Joe
Shirley Henderson .... Susannah, Shirley Henderson
David Walliams .... Parson
Benedict Wong .... Ed
Elizabeth Berrington .... Debbie
Mark Williams .... Ingoldsby
Kieran O'Brien .... Gary
Roger Allam .... Adrian
Ronni Ancona .... Anita
Stephen Fry .... Patrick Curator, Parson Yorick
Conal Murphy .... Young Tristram Shandy, 6
Joe Williams .... Young Tristram Shandy, 9
Paul Kenyon .... Obadiah
Mark Hadfield .... Leo
Jenny Ogilvie .... Sandy
Ashley Jensen .... Lindsey
Greg Wise .... Greg
Rosie Cavaliero .... Rachel
Laurence Sterne .... Author: The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy Esq
Frank "Martin Hardy" Cottrell Boyce .... Screenwriter
Michael Winterbottom .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Tristram Shandy: A cock & bull story official movie site
Tristram Shandy: A cock & bull story film production notes
Tristram Shandy: A cock & bull story QuickTime movie trailers:

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Awards and film festivals:

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2006: Nominated: Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film (Andrew Eaton, Michael Winterbottom, Martin Hardy)
British Independent Film Awards 2005: Nominated: Best British Independent Film, Best Director (Michael Winterbottom), Best Screenplay (Martin Hardy), Best Supporting Actress/Actor (Rob Brydon), Best Technical Achievement (Peter Christelis - For the editing)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2006: Horizons

Studios and distributors:

Madman Cinema * The AV Channel

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Tristram Shandy: A cock & bull story is a really annoying film to watch. You learn almost nothing about the story in the book and even though you see a lot of the behind-the-scenes of filmmaking you don't get to learn much about the filmmakers (either the real ones or the ones on the screen). Throughout the film, people keep saying that the book is unfilmable; this film proves that case.