Longford (film)
Encyclopedia
Longford is a 2006 drama
television film directed by Tom Hooper
and written by Peter Morgan
.
The film centres on Labour Party
peer Lord Longford
and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer
Myra Hindley.
It was produced by Granada Productions
for Channel 4
, in association with HBO, and stars Jim Broadbent
and actress Samantha Morton
. The film was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 26 October 2006 and was the Official Selection for Best Dramatic Picture at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
. Broadbent won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his part.
Longford and Hindley had both died by the time the film was made; Longford in August 2001 and Hindley in November 2002. Hindley's lover and accomplice Ian Brady, played by Andy Serkis
, is still living.
) at the House of Lords
, with Lord Longford, a regular prison visitor, presiding over a reception for a number of ex-convicts whom he had visited and corresponded with when they were incarcerated. He receives a letter from one of the most notorious criminals in Britain, the so-called Moors Murderer
Myra Hindley, who is several years into her life sentence
for taking part in the murder of three children with her boyfriend, Ian Brady.
When he visits her, she asks for books but also for him to arrange for her to meet Brady. Longford is shocked and tells her that it would be in her own best interests to have no contact with Brady, as it might harm any future chances of parole. Hindley seems equally shocked at the idea that she would ever be allowed parole. Longford then begins his campaign for Hindley to be paroled.
The question remains of whether Hindley is indeed reformed — for example, in her decision to convert to Longford's own Roman Catholic faith — or whether she is merely manipulating him and feigning her rehabilitation in an attempt to bring herself closer to release. Longford visits Brady twice; on both occasions, Brady tells him that she is manipulative and that he should turn his back on her.
Longford, driven by his deep religious belief that all people are ultimately good, decides to continue on his course, despite heavy public, political, and family criticism and even though it turns out that Hindley has not been honest with him. In 1986 she reveals that she and Brady were responsible for two further murders.
Even as Hindley's revelations sparked yet more public hostility towards Longford for trying to win her release, he remains loyal to Hindley and continues to back her campaign for release. He is last seen visiting her in prison in the late 1990s, by which time Longford is frail and more than 90 years old, while Hindley is still in her 50s but in a declining state of health.
As the film ends and just before the credits start to roll, we are informed that Longford died in August 2001, while Hindley never got the parole that she spent a generation fighting for and remained imprisoned until her death in November 2002.
The film won for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the 2007 Australian Independent Awards. It also won Best Picture and was nominated for Best Director at Home Theatre Award.
2007 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
2007 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Australian Independent Awards
2007 Home Theatre Award
2007 BAFTA Award
2008 65th Golden Globe Awards
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television film directed by Tom Hooper
Tom Hooper (director)
Thomas George "Tom" Hooper is a British film and television director of English and Australian background. Hooper began making short films at the age of 13, and had his first professional short, Painted Faces, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1992. At Oxford University Hooper directed plays and...
and written by Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan may refer to:* Peter Morgan , British sports car manufacturer* Peter Morgan , 1978 British Formula Ford champion* Peter Morgan , Wales and British lions international...
.
The film centres on Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
peer Lord Longford
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer...
and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer
Moors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least...
Myra Hindley.
It was produced by Granada Productions
Granada Productions
Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....
for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, in association with HBO, and stars Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
and actress Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
. The film was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 26 October 2006 and was the Official Selection for Best Dramatic Picture at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
. Broadbent won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his part.
Longford and Hindley had both died by the time the film was made; Longford in August 2001 and Hindley in November 2002. Hindley's lover and accomplice Ian Brady, played by Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
, is still living.
Plot
The film begins during the late 1960s (during the first premiership of Harold WilsonHarold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
) at the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, with Lord Longford, a regular prison visitor, presiding over a reception for a number of ex-convicts whom he had visited and corresponded with when they were incarcerated. He receives a letter from one of the most notorious criminals in Britain, the so-called Moors Murderer
Moors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least...
Myra Hindley, who is several years into her life sentence
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for taking part in the murder of three children with her boyfriend, Ian Brady.
When he visits her, she asks for books but also for him to arrange for her to meet Brady. Longford is shocked and tells her that it would be in her own best interests to have no contact with Brady, as it might harm any future chances of parole. Hindley seems equally shocked at the idea that she would ever be allowed parole. Longford then begins his campaign for Hindley to be paroled.
The question remains of whether Hindley is indeed reformed — for example, in her decision to convert to Longford's own Roman Catholic faith — or whether she is merely manipulating him and feigning her rehabilitation in an attempt to bring herself closer to release. Longford visits Brady twice; on both occasions, Brady tells him that she is manipulative and that he should turn his back on her.
Longford, driven by his deep religious belief that all people are ultimately good, decides to continue on his course, despite heavy public, political, and family criticism and even though it turns out that Hindley has not been honest with him. In 1986 she reveals that she and Brady were responsible for two further murders.
Even as Hindley's revelations sparked yet more public hostility towards Longford for trying to win her release, he remains loyal to Hindley and continues to back her campaign for release. He is last seen visiting her in prison in the late 1990s, by which time Longford is frail and more than 90 years old, while Hindley is still in her 50s but in a declining state of health.
As the film ends and just before the credits start to roll, we are informed that Longford died in August 2001, while Hindley never got the parole that she spent a generation fighting for and remained imprisoned until her death in November 2002.
Cast
- Jim BroadbentJim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
as Lord LongfordFrank Pakenham, 7th Earl of LongfordFrancis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer... - Samantha MortonSamantha MortonSamantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
as Myra Hindley - Lindsay DuncanLindsay DuncanLindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
as Lady Elizabeth Longford - Tam Dean BurnTam Dean BurnTam Dean Burn is a Scottish actor who has played a wide range of roles on stage and screen, including in Taggart. Recent theatrical roles include being the narrator of the 2009 play 'Year of the Horse', about artist Harry Horse.-External links:*...
as Roy - Robert PughRobert PughRobert Pugh is a Welsh film and television actor.Pugh was born in Cilfynydd and graduated from Rose Bruford College in 1976. In 2007, he co-starred alongside Genevieve O'Reilly and Geraldine James in ITV1 drama The Time of Your Life, where he played a parent whose 36-year-old daughter was...
as Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the... - Anton RodgersAnton RodgersAnton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...
as William Whitelaw - Kate Miles as Rachel Pakenham
- Lee BoardmanLee BoardmanLee Boardman is an English actor and narrator.-Television:He is best known for playing Murray Priestman in Drop Dead Gorgeous as well as the drug dealer Jez Quigley in Coronation Street...
as Radio Talk Show Host - Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
as Ian Brady - Roy Barber as Father Kahle
- Alex Blake as Paddy Pakenham
Awards and nominations
Longford received the Official Selection for Best Dramatic Picture at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.The film won for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the 2007 Australian Independent Awards. It also won Best Picture and was nominated for Best Director at Home Theatre Award.
2007 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
- Nominated - Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie - Jim Broadbent
- Nominated - Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie - Samantha Morton
2007 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
- Official Selection - Best Dramatic Picture
2007 Australian Independent Awards
- Won - Best Actress — Samantha Morton
- Won - Best Actor — Jim Broadbent
- Won - Best Supporting Actress — Lindsay Duncan
2007 Home Theatre Award
- Win - Best Drama Movie
- Nominated - Best Director — Tom Hooper
2007 BAFTA Award
- Won - Best Actor — Jim Broadbent
2008 65th Golden Globe Awards
65th Golden Globe Awards
The 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
- Won - Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Won - Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Jim Broadbent
- Won - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Samantha Morton
- Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Andy Serkis