Set in late-1950s England, David Mackenzie's ASYLUM is a Gothic romance filled with erotic obsession, deception, and murder. Natasha Richardson gives a bravura performance as Stella Raphael, an unhappy woman who is forced to move with her son, Charlie (Gus Lewis), to rural Yorkshire when her husband, Max (Hugh Bonneville), earns a post as deputy superintendent of a psychiatric institution for the criminally insane. Among the patients there is Edgar Stark (Marton Csokas), a brooding sculptor who has been imprisoned for the brutal murder of his wife. When Stark gets a job working in the Raphaels' garden and conservatory, the attraction grows between Stella and him as Stark's doctor, Peter Cleave (Ian McKellen), Max's rival, watches closely, harboring his own ulterior motives. When Edgar escapes, Stella must decide whether to remain in her sedate life in Yorkshire or go after the dangerous man she has fallen in love with. Based on Patrick McGrath's 1997 novel, ASYLUM examines the fine line between marriage and passion, between the confined and the confused, as art and beauty combine with deceit and betrayal to tell a powerful story that features excellent performances by Richardson, McKellen, and Csokas, as well as fine support from Joss Ackland and Judy Parfitt. Maria Aitken, who just happens to be the wife of author McGrath, plays Claudia Greene.
Theatrical Release: August 12, 2005
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen - 1.78
Executive Producer
Michael Barlow:
Executive Producer
Natasha Richardson: British actress
Executive Producer
Robert Rehme: Executive Producer, CONVICTION
Source Writer
Patrick McGrath: Novelist/Screenwriter
Director of Photography
Giles Nuttgens: Director of Photography
Review 1:
"[Mackenzie] is a skillful chronicler of mad love, and he gives this film a taut, pulsing energy."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
p.100 07/01/2005
Review 2:
"Mackenzie and his screenwriter, Patrick Marber, have captured the essence of McGrath's novel and skillfully rethought it in cinematic terms."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.54 09/01/2005
Review 3:
"The cast is excellent, as are some of the set-pieces, especially an eerie dream-like drowning sequence."
Source: Uncut
p.138 10/01/2005