On a Clear Day (2005)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gaby Dellal

Writer:

Alex Rose (writer)

Release Date:

18 August 2005 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Anything is possible.

Plot:

Frank determines to salvage his self-esteem and tackle his demons by attempting the ultimate test of endurance - swimming the English Channel.

Plot Keywords:

Swimming | Friendship | Marriage | English Channel | Beach

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Peter Mullan	...	Frank
Brenda Blethyn	...	Joan
Sean McGinley	...	Eddie
Jamie Sives	...	Rob
Ron Cook	...	Norman
Benedict Wong	...	Chan
Jodhi May	...	Angela (as Johdi May & Jodhi May)
Billy Boyd	...	Danny
Anne Marie Timoney	...	Michelle
Shaun Dingwall	...	Observer
Tony Roper	...	Merv the Perv
Paul Ritter	...	Mad Bob
Andrew MacLennan	...	Andrew
James MacLennan	...	James
Irene Ann Burt	...	Vera
Nigel Lindsay	...	Sharp Suit
Stevie Hannan	...	Gus
Ann Scott-Jones	...	Danny's Ma
Michelle Rodley	...	Shop Girl 1
Carolyn Calder	...	Shop Girl 2
John Yule	...	Driving Instructor
Jay Manley	...	Man in Job Centre
James Martin	...	Old Man in Library
Mark McDonnell	...	Dough Belly 1
Robert Read	...	Dough Belly 2
Eric Barlow	...	Delivery Man
Aaron Wilkie	...	Aaron
Eleanor McKinlay	...	Water Therapy Carer
Cameron Coyne	...	Water Therapy Child
Michael Love	...	Water Therapy Child
Martin Forry	...	Lifeguard
Hamish Johnson	...	Boy on Beach
Penny Dyer	...	Self-Help Coach (voice)
Raf Fellner	...	Young Stuart
Phillip Carse	...	Young Rob
Ella McGee	...	Young Joan

Directed by
Gaby Dellal

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alex Rose		writer

Produced by
Bill Allan	....	executive producer
Dorothy Berwin	....	producer
Steve Christian	....	executive producer
Martha Coleman	....	co-producer
Leonard Crooks	....	executive producer
Sarah Curtis	....	producer
Keith Evans	....	executive producer
Nick Hill	....	executive producer
Amy Lo	....	associate producer
Andy Mayson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Stephen Warbeck

Cinematography by
David Johnson

Film Editing by
Robin Sales
John Wilson

Casting by
Gail Stevens

Production Design by
Mark Leese

Costume Design by
Kate Hawley

Makeup Department
Dorka Nieradzik	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Polly Duval	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Martin Harrison	....	first assistant director
Michael Queen	....	second assistant director
Stuart St. Paul	....	second unit director

Art Department
Mat Bergel	....	stand-by propman
Tristan Carlisle-Kitz	....	stand-by props
Paul Connelly	....	construction stagehand
Martin Kelly	....	assistant art director
Bob Orr	....	property master
Lorraine Tolmie	....	petty cash buyer

Sound Department
Paul Apted	....	sound editor
Peter Brill	....	sound mixer
Tim Dyer	....	sound trainee
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist
David Gerard	....	additional sound effects editor
Mike Grimes	....	sound effects editor
Stewart Henderson	....	adr editor
Miha Jaramaz	....	additional sound effects editor
Hugh Johnson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gareth Llewellyn	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Miriam Ludbrook	....	dialogue editor
Rashad Omar	....	sound effects
Bernard O'Reilly	....	sound editor
James Perry	....	sound editor
Jeremy Price	....	supervising sound editor
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
Jennie Evans	....	additional sound effects editor (uncredited)
Tim Hands	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)
Hal Levinsohn	....	adr supervisor: New York (uncredited)
Jennifer Ralston	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Paul Beard	....	visual effects line producer
Robin Beard	....	digital effects artist
Karl Derrick	....	creature effects supervisor/designer
Simon Frame	....	visual effects supervisor
Tom Hocking	....	digital compositor
Isaac Layish	....	digital compositor
Isaac Layish	....	digital effects artist
Tom Pegg	....	digital artist
Paul Shore	....	digital film supervisor

Stunts
Michael Scott-Law	....	stunt coordinator
Stuart St. Paul	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Joss Barratt	....	still photographer
Julie Bills	....	focus puller
Peter Davies	....	electrician
Jaime Feliu-Torres	....	additional focus puller
Iain Harrison	....	rigger
Iain Johnstone	....	grip
Steve Kitchen	....	gaffer
Ossie McLean	....	additional camera operator
John Taylor	....	steadicam operator
Mark Wolf	....	underwater camera operator

Animation Department
Ben Bradley	....	digital artist

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
William Davies	....	casting associate
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anna Lau	....	assistant costume designer
Michael Weldon	....	wardrobe master

Editorial Department
Greg Barrett	....	senior digital grade producer
Michael Nollet	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Chris Dibble	....	scoring mixer
Andrew Glen	....	music editor (uncredited)
Paul Kegg	....	musician: cello (uncredited)

Other crew
Ruth Atkinson	....	script supervisor
Pauline Burt	....	risk manager (as Pauline Larkkom)
Stephen Burt	....	location manager
Michael Campbell	....	location assistant
Cherry Fiddaman	....	production accountant
Richard Fiddaman	....	assistant accountant
Angus Finlayson	....	runner
Barbara Gibson	....	tutor
Andy Greethan	....	title designer
Tonia Pearson	....	assistant to producers
Tony Rolink	....	location maintenance
Matthew Sanders	....	unit publicist
Mario Spanna	....	head technician: Libra
Sian Sutherland	....	location manager
Eve Swannell	....	assistant production coordinator
William Butler Yeats	....	poet: "To a child dancing in the wind"

Production Companies

• Baker Street
• Forthcoming Productions
• Glasgow Film Finance
• InFilm Productions
• Isle of Man Film
• Scottish Screen
• Take Film Partnerships

Distributors

• Icon Film Distribution (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Focus Features (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2005-2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)

Other Companies

• Clear Cut Hires  editing equipment - lightworks
• Fatts  post-production script services
• Gearbox Sound and Vision  additional ProTools systems supplied by
• Midnight Transfer  post-production facilities
• Pepper Post Production  HD video mastering
• Set Meals  catering
• Videosonics Cinema Sound  sound post-production
• Videosonics Cinema Sound  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

An einem klaren Tag (Germany) (TV title) [de]
Mia kathari mera (Greece) [el]
Une belle journée (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language.

Runtime:

98 min | France:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | France:U | Australia:PG | Malaysia:(Banned) | Finland:K-7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12A | Ireland:12A

Filming Locations:

Dover, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Baker Street

Trivia:

The toy that Rob takes away from his son at school is Thunderbird 2, based on the television series "Thunderbirds" (1965). Ron Cook played Parker in the theatrical remake Thunderbirds (2004).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Danny is in the pub drinking a beer the amount of head on the beer changes between shots.

Quotes:

Rob: I just don't understand why he is doing this. Swimming The English Channel will NOT bring Stuart back.
Joan: [as she leaves the kitchen, she turns back to her son] It's not Stuart he wants back, Rob.

Soundtrack:

For he is a jolly good fellow

Like a student's quilt, with great pieces that aren't quite put together very well. Huge promise for the future, though!

This movie has strengths and weaknesses. Some of the strengths are its attempt to tell a 'real' story, without recourse to shtick, cliché, or pop-star trickery so common on TV and in movies these days. It seems obvious that the writer and director had visions of something deep, meaningful, as well as entertaining. Another strength is the reliance on the humans, and their real-world behaviors, fears, and hopes (etc.) for the 'current' flow of the movie. The camera lingers, the dialogue is written to enlighten us about the emotions (pleasant as well as despairing) of the characters. It may be said this is a character driven movie, perhaps? And, all of the cast do a commendable job of providing us with the characters' humanity and depth.

Some of the weaknesses, however, are how all of the individual components of the writer and director's vision are executed. Many of the threads of the story simply go nowhere--- not that we necessarily need a big plot-ish conclusion to everything. But we do need some sense, anyway, of what various expositions mean. Sure, we could accept a bit of non-convention, and even artiness, but some of the elements of this story never were stitched together with any other parts of the movie. Worse, those orphaned parts were never really stitched up as themselves--- i.e., they never really completed themselves, nor made any real sense in and of themselves. Without discussing plot details, let me breezily mention the parts with Chan, the Chinese chippy guy, for example. These had neither a start, nor a finish--- we simply saw one brief middle, as it were.

Overall, this is a pleasant movie--- but it isn't a great one. I looked up the director and the writer online, and didn't find much. If they are young, or young-ish, this effort might bode well. That is, this movie resembled a good student-like product from young and promising film makers. Young, in their careers anyway, regardless of their actual calendar year age, but very talented. People to watch in the future.

'On A Clear Day' made me think of quilt makers. Imagine a master-to-be quilt maker; a quilt making artist whose work will be celebrated in the UK and America, and featured on PBS and BBC documentaries and featured in museums, etc. And then imagine this future master's last 'student' project, when she was 17 years old or so, before the magic clicked and she got great. This student work shows genius and promise, both undelivered as of now. That's what 'Clear Day' is like--- a quilt whose individual pieces are great, showing bright and future success, but not put together very well, showing immaturity and a student just beginning to blossom. Oh, the cast was great, and they obviously did everything they were asked to do, and they did it very well. The ill-fitting chunks weren't their fault--- they were just an artifact of the awkward and 'green' directorial efforts.

Go see it anyway--- support the growth of these folks! I gave this an encouraging 8 out of 10.