Ben Mendelsohn stars as Lewis Riley, an unemployed young man who applies for a job as a director/drama teacher at a mental hospital. He lands the job and finds himself directing a production of the Mozart opera Così fan tutte, an elaborate, demanding piece of theatre, an opera in Italian. And it is going to be performed by a cast that he must select from among the patients, who only speak English.
One of the patients, Roy (Barry Otto), sweeps everything along before him, organising auditions, selecting cast members, and criticising the director. The cast chosen include three women: Julie (Toni Collette), Ruth (Pamela Rabe), and Cherry (Jacki Weaver); and two men: Henry (Paul Chubb) and Doug (David Wenham). The musical director is Zac (Colin Hay). The enthusiasm of Roy infects the group, and they charge headlong into a memorable production.
Alongside the story of Lewis, the theme of Così fan tutte is explored as it relates to his personal life. Lewis's relationship with his girlfriend Lucy (Rachel Griffiths), already under pressure, is not helped by a friend called Nick (Aden Young), who seems more interested in testing Lucy's faithfulness than anything else.
The story is loosely based on Nowra's own experience at producing Trial by Jury at Plenty Mental Hospital in suburban Melbourne in 1971.[2]
(Mendelsohn, Otto and Wenham are the only cast members who have performed in the original stage play, portraying the same characters that they do on screen.)
Production
Cosi was directed by Mark Joffe and produced by Richard Brennan and Timothy White. The film underwent pre-production in November 1994-January 1995. Shooting took place between January and March 1995, followed by post-production between March and September 1995. The film had a budget of $3.5 million and was filmed in and around Sydney's Rozelle Hospital.
Bruno Lawrence was originally cast in the role of Errol, the security guard, but during shooting he was taken to the hospital suffering from chest pains and was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Colin Friels took over the role of Errol. Lawrence died a few months later, on 10 June 1995. The closing credits of Cosi include an onscreen dedication to Lawrence.
Critical reception
In 1996, Cosi was the 3rd most popular Australian film at the Australian Box Office. As at 2010, Cosi ranked 71 on the list of Top 100 Australian feature films of all time as compiled by Screen Australia.[3]
David Stratton, writing in Variety, described Cosi as "fast, funny and cleverly acted".[4] He also said it was "warm, generous, sentimental and expert entertainment."[4] The curator at Australian Screen Online said it "has a likeable humour, appealing characters and a compassionate heart. It's not really about mental illness so much as a tribute to the healing power of performance, and the theatre in general."[5]
Not all reviews were positive. James Berardinelli described Cosi as "a half-baked amalgamation of A Midwinter's Tale and Shine, and doesn't excel as either a comedy or a drama."[6]Cinephilia described Cosi as "a concatenation of caricatures in a predictable story of plucky determination and treacly redemption."[7]
Cosi grossed $2,896,980 at the box office in Australia.[8]
Although Cosi was the first Australian film to receive major pre-production investment by Miramax, it did not fare well critically or commercially in America, screening for less than two weeks between 11 and 24 April 1997.
cosi, film, this, article, about, film, play, louis, nowra, così, cosi, 1996, australian, comedy, drama, film, directed, mark, joffe, louis, nowra, wrote, both, screenplay, 1992, play, originally, based, cositheatrical, film, posterdirected, bymark, joffescree. This article is about the film For the play by Louis Nowra see Cosi Cosi is a 1996 Australian comedy drama film directed by Mark Joffe Louis Nowra wrote both the screenplay and the 1992 play it was originally based on CosiTheatrical film posterDirected byMark JoffeScreenplay byLouis NowraBased onCosiby Louis NowraProduced byRichard Brennan Timothy WhiteStarringBen Mendelsohn Barry Otto Toni Collette Rachel Griffiths Aden Young Colin Friels Jacki Weaver David WenhamCinematographyEllery RyanEdited byNicholas BeaumanMusic byStephen EndelmanProductioncompaniesAustralian Film Finance Corporation Meridian Films Miramax Films Smiley ProductionsDistributed byRoadshow EntertainmentRelease date28 March 1996 1996 03 28 Running time100 minutesCountryAustraliaLanguageEnglishBudgetA 3 5 million 1 Box officeA 2 896 980 Australia Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Critical reception 4 1 Accolades 5 Box office 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksPlot EditBen Mendelsohn stars as Lewis Riley an unemployed young man who applies for a job as a director drama teacher at a mental hospital He lands the job and finds himself directing a production of the Mozart opera Cosi fan tutte an elaborate demanding piece of theatre an opera in Italian And it is going to be performed by a cast that he must select from among the patients who only speak English One of the patients Roy Barry Otto sweeps everything along before him organising auditions selecting cast members and criticising the director The cast chosen include three women Julie Toni Collette Ruth Pamela Rabe and Cherry Jacki Weaver and two men Henry Paul Chubb and Doug David Wenham The musical director is Zac Colin Hay The enthusiasm of Roy infects the group and they charge headlong into a memorable production Alongside the story of Lewis the theme of Cosi fan tutte is explored as it relates to his personal life Lewis s relationship with his girlfriend Lucy Rachel Griffiths already under pressure is not helped by a friend called Nick Aden Young who seems more interested in testing Lucy s faithfulness than anything else The story is loosely based on Nowra s own experience at producing Trial by Jury at Plenty Mental Hospital in suburban Melbourne in 1971 2 Cast EditBen Mendelsohn as Lewis Riley Barry Otto as Roy Toni Collette as Julie Rachel Griffiths as Lucy Aden Young as Nick Colin Friels as Errol Jacki Weaver as Cherry Pamela Rabe as Ruth Paul Chubb as Henry Colin Hay as Zac David Wenham as Doug Mendelsohn Otto and Wenham are the only cast members who have performed in the original stage play portraying the same characters that they do on screen Production EditCosi was directed by Mark Joffe and produced by Richard Brennan and Timothy White The film underwent pre production in November 1994 January 1995 Shooting took place between January and March 1995 followed by post production between March and September 1995 The film had a budget of 3 5 million and was filmed in and around Sydney s Rozelle Hospital Bruno Lawrence was originally cast in the role of Errol the security guard but during shooting he was taken to the hospital suffering from chest pains and was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer Colin Friels took over the role of Errol Lawrence died a few months later on 10 June 1995 The closing credits of Cosi include an onscreen dedication to Lawrence Critical reception EditIn 1996 Cosi was the 3rd most popular Australian film at the Australian Box Office As at 2010 Cosi ranked 71 on the list of Top 100 Australian feature films of all time as compiled by Screen Australia 3 David Stratton writing in Variety described Cosi as fast funny and cleverly acted 4 He also said it was warm generous sentimental and expert entertainment 4 The curator at Australian Screen Online said it has a likeable humour appealing characters and a compassionate heart It s not really about mental illness so much as a tribute to the healing power of performance and the theatre in general 5 Not all reviews were positive James Berardinelli described Cosi as a half baked amalgamation of A Midwinter s Tale and Shine and doesn t excel as either a comedy or a drama 6 Cinephilia described Cosi as a concatenation of caricatures in a predictable story of plucky determination and treacly redemption 7 Accolades Edit Award Category Subject ResultAACTA Awards 1996 AFI Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Louis Nowra WonBest Supporting Actor Barry Otto NominatedBest Editing Nicholas Beauman NominatedBox office EditCosi grossed 2 896 980 at the box office in Australia 8 Although Cosi was the first Australian film to receive major pre production investment by Miramax it did not fare well critically or commercially in America screening for less than two weeks between 11 and 24 April 1997 See also Edit Film portalList of Australian films List of films shot in SydneyReferences Edit Production Survey Cinema Papers March 1995 p 60 Cosi AustLit subscription required Top 100 Australian feature films of all time Archived 8 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine a b Stratton David 25 March 1996 Cosi Variety Retrieved 22 August 2010 Byrnes Paul Cosi 1996 Australian Screen Retrieved 22 August 2010 Cosi A Film Review by James Berardinelli Cosi Cinephilia Film Victoria Australian Films at the Australian Box Office PDF Archived from the original PDF on 18 February 2011 Retrieved 28 October 2010 Further reading EditGillard Garry 2001 H231 Australian Cinema Unit Information and Study Guide Perth Murdoch University Press p 65 Malone P Cosi Review in Cinema Papers No 109 April 1996 p 41 O Dometer M Cosi review 1996 O Regan T 1996 Australian National Cinema New York London Routledge page needed Smith M Running the Gamut in Cinema Papers No 109 April 1996 p 6 External links EditCosi 1996 at IMDb Cosi at Oz Movies Australian Screen Cosi Paper by Joanne Ladiges Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cosi film amp oldid 1101671125, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
