Double picture show at Teatro Greco for the fourth evening of the 67th Taormina Film Festival and it’s an all-British night for families. The first feature is dedicated to a much younger audience, the second one is based on real events, in the best tradition of British cinema.
Peter Rabbit, the most famous rabbit in UK
Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published in 1902. It’s a children’s novel starring a rabbit wearing an elegant blue jacket with golden buttons. Peter lives in a den, furnished like a typical English country house, with his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters. Peter is an adventurous and also quite cheeky rabbit, his favorite target is Mr. McGregor’s garden, who of course is not happy to have his vegetables eaten by the cute rodent.
Peter Rabbit’s success was immediate and soon became a true icon of children’s literature. It’s popularity is still intact after more than a century, culminating in an animation-live action film series directed by Will Gluck and starring Domhnall Gleeson and Rose Byrne.
Peter Rabbit (2018) has carved out a spot in cinema history, having been the first film to be allowed to shoot in Harrods, the London luxury department store.
In Peter Rabbit – The Runaway we find Peter living in harmony with young McGregor who eventually married Bea. She wrote a book about Peter, but he’s not happy to discover that she described him as a very mischievous bunny. Offended, Peter runs away and then begins a series of adventures that we do not reveal.
David Oyelowo and Elizabeth Debicky are the new entry of the cast, while James Corden still plays Peter and Margot Robbie his sister Flopsy.
Dream Alliance, Dream Horse
Janet Vokes was a waitress in a small Welsh village pub. Until 2000 her greatest experience as a breeder were pigeons. Then one day she decided to raise a thoroughbred racehorse. She found the right mare, the proper stallion, and so Dream Alliance was born, a horse supported by a whole community to become a winner.
An incredible story, told first in a documentary and now in a feature film directed by Euros Lyn, Welsh director with a solid television background (he also directed an episode of Black Mirror) and starring Toni Collette (Knives Out, Muriel’s Wedding) and Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions).
Dream Horse is the second screening of the fourth evening of the Greek Theater of the 67th Taormina Film Festival, a comedy full of good vibes that renews the tradition of British popular cinema made of unexpected International hits such as Full Monty, Brass Off, Calendar Girls and many other films always supported by magnificent performances.
