Burlesque Fairytales (2009)
Praised as a beautifully made, “truly independent film,” Burlesque Fairytales won the Best Cinematography award at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival and received plenty of kudos at the Toronto Female Eye Film Festival. Altogether, this indie was screened at ten festivals in the U.S., Canada, Italy, France, and the U.K. More exclusively, it was selected as the closing night gala film at three.
Writer/director Susan Luciani explained how important festivals are to filmmakers, especially those who make indies:
After almost two years in the making, it’s always exciting to share your film with an audience in a festival setting, as this is the first time as the director you get a sense of how your film is being received in different parts of the world.
Burlesque Fairytales is a truly independent film; it’s boutique, deliberately so. I wanted to make a film that celebrated the art of storytelling on the big screen, to take the audience on a journey that made them question and interact and decipher the clues for themselves; to give an active audience experience rather than a passive one. This design was built into the construction of the screenplay.
One of the dangers of filmmaking is that it’s such an expensive business [that] the business aspect can take over and stories get watered down in an effort to appeal to all. Sometimes you’ve just got to say “this is the film I want to make” and leave it up to the audience to decide if they want to get on board or not. I think this is why, despite having made this film on a shoestring budget, we’ve had such a positive and passionate audience response.[265]
Burlesque Fairytales has indeed received an exuberant response. Luciani noted that, “By the time Burlesque Fairytales was released [in 2013], Benedict had become an internationally renowned actor, and, as a result, there was audience interest in our film from all over the world. However, theatrical releases are often too expensive for independent feature films, so using the Vimeo platform provided...a global release for the feature film online”.[266]
Cumberbatch fans who stream the film via Vimeo often post mini-reviews soon after seeing it. As might be expected, the comments posted on the Vimeo site (where fans can download the film for 24 hours for $7 U.S.) extol the actor’s excellence as well as the film’s interesting premise:
“This is incredible! Benedict, as usual, is amazing. What an actor! Very engrossing film”.
“The tales are beautifully filmed[;] the plot, the further it progresses, more and more intriguing... Brilliant project, brilliant execution, and a wonderful cast and crew who enabled this magical story”.
“[U]pon each new viewing I am seeing more nuances... There is an amazing amount of detail in each individual fairytale that relates back to issues being faced by the audience.... [Cumberbatch] did not disappoint, but the other actors are wonderful, as well”.[267]
Although, as these and other posts attest, Cumberbatch’s name undoubtedly is the reason why many fans chose to watch Burlesque Fairytales as soon as it was made available on Vimeo, it quickly gained good word-of-mouth reviews on fan sites as much because it is exquisitely filmed and intriguingly plotted as because of its cast.
Nevertheless, Cumberbatch’s name is the one most often attached to the film, a close-up of Cumberbatch’s character is the first image potential renters see on the film’s Vimeo site, and his fan sites primarily promoted the film when it debuted online. The actor’s fans contribute to the continuing demand for Burlesque Fairytales, leading to its greater accessibility as a download viewers can keep and rewatch at leisure and, Luciani added, its future release on DVD in some territories.[268]
Burlesque Fairytales takes place in a London theatre one evening in the late 1930s. As the patrons wait for the performance to begin, they introduce themselves to each other and thus to the film’s audience. Not all the attendees are strangers. A downcast young woman is accompanied by her husband and outgoing sister, and a father tries to keep track of his three young children. Throughout the evening the little group invited especially to this performance draws closer, especially as the events on stage take increasingly strange turns. Perhaps what is most disconcerting is that the guests attending this performance cannot remember how they arrived at the theatre.
Cumberbatch plays Henry Clark, a dedicated father of three. He is the type of parent who frequently carries his youngest while he chases after the two older siblings, who squabble but are devoted to each other. Similar to many of Cumberbatch’s early guest roles on television or small roles in film, he portrays a genial, responsible, considerate young man. This type of character differs greatly from his more recent roles, such as the charismatic but demanding Sherlock or Federation villain Khan, and audiences who know Cumberbatch primarily from his most recent work may not have seen him play such a quiet gentleman. From dialogue among Henry, the office manager for whom he works, and the manager’s wife, audiences understand that Henry is a loyal worker, deferential to his employer, and kinder than his boss. Amiable and soft-spoken, he sets a good example for his children. During the “night of revelation” at the theatre, he is a gentle, nurturing presence, even as a tragedy unfolds.
Getting the best take possible each time the camera rolls is a practical requirement during independent filmmaking, and Burlesque Fairytales, because it was shot on 35 mm film, “which is an expensive option for an independent feature film,” permitted only “two to three takes on each set up. This requires an incredible amount of focus on discipline from cast and crew alike as there’s very little room for error”. Luciani recalled that
One of the greatest challenges for [Cumberbatch] in the role of Henry was that he was performing with three children, the youngest of which was just four years old. At this age, of course, there’s no concept of “work” so filming has to become a game of playing make believe. Benedict knew he’d have to carry his youngest, William, on camera, so as soon as they met, he was playing games with him in-between set ups to build that rapport. This was integral to us getting the shots we needed. To ensure correct eye lines from William, we shone green laser pens in the required direction and pretended Tinker Bell was on set with us![269]
On set, Cumberbatch was “incredibly conscientious; he’s always preparing!” Luciani was familiar with the actor’s work and appreciated that he is “a focused and versatile actor”. She thinks that
one of the reasons he was attracted to playing Henry was so he could take on a character with greater sensitivities. When writing Henry, I wanted to present a certain kind of male hero, one that’s not often celebrated on the big screen, a father, a husband underestimated and undermined. Yes, it’s his awareness and guidance that helps those around him to understand what’s unfolding is not all that it seems. Henry’s is a quiet strength, a strength he doesn’t realise he has until it’s tested when his children are threatened.[270]
By the time Cumberbatch read the script and met with the writer/director to discuss the role, the fairytale sequences already had been filmed, and Luciani could show him some scenes to give him a better idea of her vision. He then agreed to come on board and support the independent feature.
Cumberbatch worked slightly more than a week during the nineteen-day shoot. His scenes were “in a (haunted!) church in Islington, north London, the Union Chapel, which was used as the main theatre auditorium, and at a crypt at St. Paul’s Church in Deptford, southeast London”. These locations were chosen “not only because their architecture was right for the look of the film but also [because,] given the nature of what the theatre reveals itself to be at the end of the film, these locations supported the film’s theme”.[271]
Burlesque Fairytales well illustrates Cumberbatch’s interest in and approach to acting in indie films, especially in the time before he attained global stardom. Because of his past and continuing support of independent film, it is only fitting that his celebrity now brings extra attention to indies and helps mak
e them accessible to a wider audience. (See the photos after page 206.)
The Narrator of Jerusalem (2013)
Radio is not the only medium to employ Cumberbatch for his voice; it also accentuates features, documentaries, and commercials, as well as audiobooks. The Hobbit’s Smaug certainly has been a renowned vocal exercise, requiring mo-cap acting in addition to the character-creating interpretation of lines. The trilogy also led to voiceover roles as Smaug the Golden and the Necromancer for the LEGO The Hobbit videogame released in 2014 and a glowing review of “the dulcet tones of Benedict Cumberbatch”.[272] He also voices roles in animated films and has lent his vocal talents to numerous television programs requiring rich narration. For years Cumberbatch has been the voiceover artist in Jaguar commercials. In addition, he read author William Golding’s The Spire for an audiobook, which was the first unabridged recording of the work. Golding’s family praised Cumberbatch’s “agile and expressive voice” and called his interpretation “fascinating”.[273] Among his many voiceover jobs, in 2013, Cumberbatch again served as narrator, this time for the IMAX film, Jerusalem.
The film crew’s exclusive permission to photograph the Holy Land made this movie especially noteworthy. Co-producer Taran Davis explained that, in order to film in and around Jerusalem, “we met with every single authority that you can possibly imagine meeting,” including “the Israeli government, military, the air force, the governor of East Jerusalem, [and] the Religious Affairs in Jordan,”[274] with the result of presenting images that have never been shown before. Five years in the making, the production brought on Cumberbatch late in the game. The project not only associated him with National Geographic Entertainment’s unique film featuring scholars and scientists, but furthered his connection with National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, for which he has previously narrated programmes.
When Cumberbatch saw the footage during the recording of his narration, Davis reported that the actor asked “Why didn’t anyone teach me about this stuff when I was in school?” Such a comment shared with the media can only enhance the actor’s reputation for always being interested in learning something new and taking an interest in the world. That, more than the now-expected quotation about the quality of the actor’s work (“He’s done such a good job”),[275] helps reinforce Cumberbatch’s celebrity image as “the thinking woman’s crumpet”. The Washington Post’s comment about his “sonorous” voice[276] did not hurt his reputation, either.
The IMAX promotional blurb also helped audiences connect the voice with the face; it identified Cumberbatch with both Sherlock and then-Academy Award-nominated (and later Best Motion Picture winner) 12 Years a Slave.[277] The official film website[278] provides a photograph of Cumberbatch from a few years back and lists in his filmography roles from Hawking to Star Trek and The Hobbit. In such ways, those who have not yet heard of Cumberbatch get a much better idea of the range of his talent and his back catalogue.
Jerusalem screenings began in the U.S. in autumn 2013 before it was featured in cinemas around the world (including London’s BFI IMAX). In 2014 the film was playing in five countries on three continents.
Radio Then and Now
Most actors would consider television and film to be the most important aspects of their career, with, perhaps, the occasional play (particularly on Broadway or in the West End) added for variety and prestige. Especially among American actors, radio is seldom a choice. The career path of Cumberbatch, like many a British actor before him, includes radio dramas or comedies. Once Cumberbatch became a star, however, many people expected him to give up radio. With Cabin Pressure’s conclusion in 2014, listeners anticipated that future opportunities to hear Cumberbatch on radio would be limited to replays of his previously recorded early performances.
To a certain extent, that was true in late 2013-14. Cumberbatch’s name in a cast list draws a large audience from around the world. In May 2014, BBC Radio celebrated the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park by rebroadcasting its 2003 adaptation. Of course, having other notable names, such as David Tennant, in the cast also made the dramatisation highly promotable. During the holiday season in 2013, nearly nine months after its original broadcast, the star-studded Neverwhere also became a special radio event. Whereas Neverwhere provides a more distinctive, dramatically challenging role for the actor, Mansfield Park is an excellent example of the genial, sincere “good man” roles requiring little dramatic range that Cumberbatch often played early in his career.
New works broadcast in 2014, however, balanced the rebroadcast performances. Early in the year Cumberbatch recorded the finale of Cabin Pressure and two new episodes of Rumpole of the Bailey, both in which he has long had a role. His characters could not be more different, and the parts well illustrate radio’s importance in his career but the types of roles for which Cumberbatch has become famous.
Whereas Cabin Pressure’s Martin Crieff is largely a comedic role, he also inspires sympathy, even when he is irritably out of his depth. To a certain extent, young Horace Rumpole also tries, and fails, to control his professional destiny; like Martin, he becomes frustrated when people or situations thwart him. Rumpole, nonetheless, is sharper and more devious. Cumberbatch’s pacing and emphasis in dialogue do not get the laughs in Rumpole that they do in Cabin Pressure, but Rumpole can be a special treat for listeners by getting the character occasionally to break out in song.
As almost a fixture at the BBC these days, Cumberbatch might have been expected to participate in the commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of D-Day. On June 6, 2014, he read the 8 a.m. news bulletin and midnight news from that date seventy years earlier, as well as the morning news from June 8, 1944, and a special warning of the D-Day aerial attack. Listeners who missed the broadcast could later replay all the historic reports read by actors, including Toby Jones and Patrick Stewart, on a special BBC Radio 4 D-Day Reports page.[279] Cumberbatch fans from around the world clicked the link to hear him read, and as the BBC and audiences have come to expect, Cumberbatch made listeners understand the urgency of those historic moments. His voice imbued the brief news reports with both the fear of what might happen should the Allied invasion fail and the exultation of hope that war on the European front would soon be over.
Although Cumberbatch more recently has had to record his performances during a brief break between other projects (including voice roles in movies), he continues to support radio and to use this medium as yet another aspect of his multi-faceted career. Altogether, as discussed in the following sections, Neverwhere, Mansfield Park, Cabin Pressure, and Rumpole of the Bailey illustrate Cumberbatch’s range of radio roles and vocal acting, but they also indicate the shift in his status as an actor and a celebrity during the past decade.
Neverwhere and the Potential Backlash against Stars
In March 2013, Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere was the big news in radio drama. The stellar cast includes James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, and Cumberbatch among the famous actors perhaps better known for their film and television performances. Among the many positive reviews is this glowing description from science fiction/ fantasy website Tor-Com, which praised more than the fine cast:
[I]t’s the production value of the play all around that makes it such an impressive feat. Often, listening to audio dramas can feel tedious.... Neverwhere has managed to avoid [radio production] pitfalls with sharp editing, engaging background audio, and wonderfully unique performers who bring distinct qualities to each role.[280]
The drama was highly publicised before its initial run and brought back during the festive season. BBC Radio 4’s commissioning editor, Jeremy Howe, called Neverwhere “a Christmas treat - albeit quite a dark one,” and, instead of the twelve days of Christmas, BBC radio brought listeners “the six nights of Neverwhere, which was a hit... earlier in the year”.[281]
Thus, it was a surprise to many listeners when Neverwhere failed to earn any
BBC Audio Drama nominations. The series lacked support from the first-round reviewers whose decisions led to the short list for awards consideration. When the awards were presented in 2014, the Guardian noted the glaring absence of the two radio projects given the most publicity and having the highest number of best-known actors in the casts. Neverwhere did not receive nominations for technical achievements, script, or acting, much less as an overall “best drama”. The result possibly was the result of
tacit positive discrimination in favour of unsung writers, actors and producers; but the crudity of the mass snub made it look suspiciously like radio bosses punishing their drama departments for throwing resources at star-stuffed vanity projects that didn’t deliver.[282]
That did not seem to be the case with Neverwhere, described as a hit by BBC 4’s commissioning editor in a year when the network had record figures of more than 10.9 million listeners each week in 2013.[283] Perhaps the snub especially shocked Cumberbatch fans, who are accustomed to seeing the actor nominated for high-profile projects in which he stars or plays a key role in an ensemble. Having the entire cast shut out of nominations seemed odd, but it does represent a trend in theatre and possibly radio in which listeners gravitate to projects starring already-famous actors; audiences may come to see or hear a particular performer rather than to enjoy the story or specific production. Whereas audiences may favour stars, critics and awards-granting entities may not follow suit.
Such a trend is becoming more apparent in all aspects of the entertainment industry, most likely because of popular obsession with celebrity. As Guardian theatre critic Lyn Gardner lamented, “It’s musicals and stars who now drive the West End: that rare beast, a new play, or more likely a revival such as Mojo or Skylight, is now merely rolled out as a vehicle for its stars - the latter opening with Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy in June [2014]”.[284] New works, such as those celebrated at the 2014 radio drama awards, may be promoted on radio far more easily than in other entertainment media, and a backlash against star-driven casts may occur in strikingly unsubtle ways.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Transition Completed Page 18