Hollywood is awash with speculation, spin and yes, self importance but this year, with donald trump in the white house and america deeply divided, real life has thrown up a melodrama which makes the movies look tame. My guest today isjohn madden, and oscar winning director whose latest film is set in the murky world of washington politics. But is hollywood doing justice to the times were living in . John madden, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Lets start by discussing the process of making your most recent movie. Its called miss sloane. But perhaps the most striking thing about it is that you were working in washington, making a film about the underbelly of washington politics at the very time america was experiencing a political earthquake. How disconcerting was that . Well, you know, it was really like, i suppose if i use a movie metaphor, its two trains kind of colliding. But we had no idea this other train was on the track. Im sure im explaining the obvious here but obviously when
Hollywood is awash with speculation, spin and yes, self importance but this year, with donald trump in the white house and america deeply divided, real life has thrown up a melodrama which makes the movies look tame. My guest today isjohn madden, and oscar winning director whose latest film is set in the murky world of washington politics. But is hollywood doing justice to the times were living in . John madden, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Lets start by discussing the process of making your most recent movie. Its called miss sloane. But perhaps the most striking thing about it is that you were working in washington, making a film about the underbelly of washington politics at the very time america was experiencing a political earthquake. How disconcerting was that . Well, you know, it was really like, i suppose if i use a movie metaphor, its two trains kind of colliding. But we had no idea this other train was on the track. Im sure im explaining the obvious here but obviously when
Hollywood is awash with speculation, spin and yes, self importance but this year, with donald trump in the white house and america deeply divided, real life has thrown up a melodrama which makes the movies look tame. My guest today isjohn madden, and oscar winning director whose latest film is set in the murky world of washington politics. But is hollywood doing justice to the times were living in . John madden, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Lets start by discussing the process of making your most recent movie. Its called miss sloane. But perhaps the most striking thing about it is that you were working in washington, making a film about the underbelly of washington politics at the very time america was experiencing a political earthquake. How disconcerting was that . Well, you know, it was really like, i suppose if i use a movie metaphor, its two trains kind of colliding. But we had no idea this other train was on the track. Im sure im explaining the obvious here but obviously when
to the subject matter. but i think if you just want to know how the story played out, it s all in there. and, politically, is it coming from one particular point of view? well, it s a very patriotic british film, i would say. this isjohn madden, who gave us shakespeare in love, i mean, the producers of the king s speech, it s that sort of flavour. i wouldn t say it s up there with those kind of awards worthy films, but it s a very safe bet if you like this kind of subject. and i think he s playing to the right kind of crowd with this film. because we ve seen darkest hour. we saw the king s speech years ago. i mean, these films can really take off, and it sounds like maybe this one doesn t quite? i think it will play well in certain cinemas. i think for an older crowd, i think it s got a lot of appeal. i certainly found it pleasant viewing, interesting viewing. i thought sometimes when it attempted comedy, it didn t quite work cos it is tough subject matter to mine for comedy, but i thi
on what feel incredibly current at the moment, don t they, and my children, i know, have been intrigued by this story for years. does the film do justice to the facts? i think the level of detail is fascinating, and i think that s what i found the strongest element of this, is the detail that you see that they go into. there are a lot of scenes with two secretaries that helped out, played by penelope wilton and kelly macdonald, and the four of them have this wonderful repartee. there s a love triangle you don t need. i wasn t interested in that, but i think in terms of that detail, it s told in quite a safe, plodding fashion. there s a lot of fairly obvious exposition. it s quite reverent to the subject matter. but i think if you just want to know how the story played out, it s all in there. and, politically, is it coming from one particular point of view? well, it s a very patriotic british film, i would say. this isjohn madden, who gave us shakespeare in love, i mean, the producers o