24/11/2017 - Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall star in a bittersweet comedy directed by Richard Loncraine, world premieres at the opening of Turin Film Festival

Finding Your Feet [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a bittersweet British comedy, has world-premiered at the opening of the 35^th Turin Film Festival. The film was directed by Richard Loncraine, the director of the magnificent Shakespearean Richard III (1995), with a stunning performance from Ian McKellen, and more recently The Special Relationship [+see also:
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film profile], focusing on Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, with a brilliant screenplay by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen [+see also:
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interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile]).

The cast of Finding Your Feet boasts some of the most notable and experienced actors in England: the versatile Imelda Staunton and equally malleable Timothy Spall - now far more than just Mike Leigh's fetish actor – starringalongsidethem are Celia Imrie, David Hayman, John Sessions and the always magnificent Joanna Lumley. The film's title, Finding Your Feet, isabout finding yourself, unsurprisingly, and in Loncraine's comedy, which was written and produced by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard, the person doing said self-discovery is the somewhat unpleasant and snobby Sandra (Imelda Staunton), an upper middle-class woman who leaves her family home, a luxurious house in Surrey, when she discovers that her husband of 40 years has had an affair with her best friend. Sandra takes refuge with her sister Bif (Celia Imrie), a 60-year-old non-conformist who lives in a popular neighbourhood diametrically opposed to her sister's world, "money and titles don’t matter here," says Bif.  Sandra will meet the cheeky but charming Charlie (Timothy Spall), a furniture restorer who lives on a boat, has a cane and whose wife has Alzheimer’s. 

The affectionate group of sixty somethings is somewhat reminiscent of the Marigold Hotel [+see also:
trailer
film profile], only there's no "passage to India" exoticism here or the biting humour of the all-British cast in John Madden's film. There is however irony and witty remarks galore, sometimes not all that subtle, but also some moments that will leave you with a feeling of déjà vu and some not particularly scathing situations. Like in every well-respected film destined for the over-60s, there is an abundance of romance, affection, memories, poignant reflections on life, some good red wine, a dance school, a short and crazy digression (a tour in a well-shot but somewhat stereotypical Rome) an illness, a funeral and a speech. In short, this film is certainly not aimed at the younger generations, but those who can relate will find themselves both smiling and entertained.

Finding Your Feet, sold abroad by Protagonist Pictures, will be released in Italian cinemas on 4 January 2018, distributed by Valerio De Paolis’ CINEMA, while in the United Kingdom it’s scheduled to be released on 23 February 2018 by eOne.