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Authors: Jim Maloney
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one-dimensional caricatures who talk like professional wrestlers plugging their next feud.’
The critic from the Sunday Telegraph appeared to waver between like and dislike – ‘This film is historically one-dimensional , ethically distasteful and frequently ludicrous. It is also, however, hardly ever boring’ – but the Daily Mail was as sure-footed as a sandal-clad Spartan in its scathing review. ‘Messrs Miller and Snyder have joined forces to make the most preposterous picture of 2007,’ it said. ‘It’s hilariously humourless, violently homophobic yet weirdly camp – a unique, if hardly praiseworthy, combination.’
Despite the critics’ opinions, 300 made a huge impact: it was tremendously successful and brought Michael to the attention of America. After his premature attempt to crack America following Band of Brothers , Michael had waited to have another go and now the time was right. ‘After 300 , I thought, “All right, I’m in a good position now to come back and get an agent.”’ But his next move was a step back to his early days of acting.
Since leaving drama school Michael’s acting work had been almost exclusively for television, so he welcomed the chance to tread the boards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006. There he appeared in a play by the journalist Mary Kenny called Allegiance , based on a meeting in London in 1921 between Winston Churchill – at that time colonialsecretary in David Lloyd George’s government – and Michael Collins to discuss an Anglo-Irish peace treaty and a measure of independence for Ireland.
In this fictitious account of their meeting, the two men – with widely different upbringings, political beliefs and ambitions – start off wary of each other and then enjoy the cut and thrust of conversation on subjects such as imperialism and resistance. Later they discover an empathy with each other and there is a touching moment when Churchill – played by Mel Smith – cries at the memory of his deceased youngest daughter and Collins instinctively puts a consoling hand on his opponent’s shoulder.
Michael was both excited and amused to be playing Collins, aware of his family’s belief that they are descended from the legendary Irish revolutionary. For her part, author Kenny, a columnist with the Irish Independent , said she was thrilled that such a good-looking man as Michael Fassbender was to play Collins. She told the newspaper, ‘Michael Collins was a devastatingly handsome man – all the newspapers at the time mentioned his stunning appearance. Michael Fassbender is perfect casting to Mel Smith’s wonderful portrayal of a thoughtful, sometimes brooding Winston.’
The play ran for a week at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms to generally good, although varied, reviews. The Sunday Times commented, ‘Smith handles adequately enough an almost impossible part.’ But it was far less complimentaryabout Michael’s portrayal: ‘As Collins, Fassbender is too oikish by far. Collins’s myth derives, in part at least, from his hard-edged charisma and Fassbender’s performance has none of it. The shortcomings of Fassbender, however, are as nothing compared with the stasis of the production and the theatrical illiteracy of Kenny’s script. Collins and Churchill sound as if they have swallowed encyclopaedias.’
The Independent , by contrast, was impressed by both men. ‘With his jowl spilling over his collar, his neck stiffening and his fingers wagging, Smith has slipped most convincingly into Churchill’s shoes. He smacks his lips, sometimes swallows his words and punctuates sentences with a gravelly grunt. Fassbender endows Collins with a magnetism and quiet intelligence. An absorbing entertainment.’
The Guardian added, ‘As is so often the case with drama in Edinburgh, the play feels more like a snippet than a fully-fledged play, and it comes from that old-school drama where people talk endlessly at each other. But the piece mostly transcends these
The critic from the Sunday Telegraph appeared to waver between like and dislike – ‘This film is historically one-dimensional , ethically distasteful and frequently ludicrous. It is also, however, hardly ever boring’ – but the Daily Mail was as sure-footed as a sandal-clad Spartan in its scathing review. ‘Messrs Miller and Snyder have joined forces to make the most preposterous picture of 2007,’ it said. ‘It’s hilariously humourless, violently homophobic yet weirdly camp – a unique, if hardly praiseworthy, combination.’
Despite the critics’ opinions, 300 made a huge impact: it was tremendously successful and brought Michael to the attention of America. After his premature attempt to crack America following Band of Brothers , Michael had waited to have another go and now the time was right. ‘After 300 , I thought, “All right, I’m in a good position now to come back and get an agent.”’ But his next move was a step back to his early days of acting.
Since leaving drama school Michael’s acting work had been almost exclusively for television, so he welcomed the chance to tread the boards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006. There he appeared in a play by the journalist Mary Kenny called Allegiance , based on a meeting in London in 1921 between Winston Churchill – at that time colonialsecretary in David Lloyd George’s government – and Michael Collins to discuss an Anglo-Irish peace treaty and a measure of independence for Ireland.
In this fictitious account of their meeting, the two men – with widely different upbringings, political beliefs and ambitions – start off wary of each other and then enjoy the cut and thrust of conversation on subjects such as imperialism and resistance. Later they discover an empathy with each other and there is a touching moment when Churchill – played by Mel Smith – cries at the memory of his deceased youngest daughter and Collins instinctively puts a consoling hand on his opponent’s shoulder.
Michael was both excited and amused to be playing Collins, aware of his family’s belief that they are descended from the legendary Irish revolutionary. For her part, author Kenny, a columnist with the Irish Independent , said she was thrilled that such a good-looking man as Michael Fassbender was to play Collins. She told the newspaper, ‘Michael Collins was a devastatingly handsome man – all the newspapers at the time mentioned his stunning appearance. Michael Fassbender is perfect casting to Mel Smith’s wonderful portrayal of a thoughtful, sometimes brooding Winston.’
The play ran for a week at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms to generally good, although varied, reviews. The Sunday Times commented, ‘Smith handles adequately enough an almost impossible part.’ But it was far less complimentaryabout Michael’s portrayal: ‘As Collins, Fassbender is too oikish by far. Collins’s myth derives, in part at least, from his hard-edged charisma and Fassbender’s performance has none of it. The shortcomings of Fassbender, however, are as nothing compared with the stasis of the production and the theatrical illiteracy of Kenny’s script. Collins and Churchill sound as if they have swallowed encyclopaedias.’
The Independent , by contrast, was impressed by both men. ‘With his jowl spilling over his collar, his neck stiffening and his fingers wagging, Smith has slipped most convincingly into Churchill’s shoes. He smacks his lips, sometimes swallows his words and punctuates sentences with a gravelly grunt. Fassbender endows Collins with a magnetism and quiet intelligence. An absorbing entertainment.’
The Guardian added, ‘As is so often the case with drama in Edinburgh, the play feels more like a snippet than a fully-fledged play, and it comes from that old-school drama where people talk endlessly at each other. But the piece mostly transcends these
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