Loading
National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
Genres
DramaComedy
Overview
National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.
Details
Budget
$0
Revenue
$0
Runtime
145 min
Release Date
2010-04-22
Status
Released
Original Language
English
Vote Count
1
Vote Average
8
Cast
Meet the talented actors who bring the movie to life.
Richard Griffiths
Fitz / W. H. Auden
Alex Jennings
Henry / Benjamin Britten
Frances de la Tour
Kay
Stephen Wight
Tim / Stuart
Philip Childs
Brian
Elliot Levey
Neil
John Heffernan
George
Barbara Kirby
Joan
Martin Chamberlain
Ralph
Laurence Belcher
Young Boy
Adrian Scarborough
Donald / Humphrey Carpenter
Tom Attwood
Tom
Similar Movies
Explore movies similar to this one that you might also enjoy.
7.0
RSC Live: The Taming of the Shrew
Live from Stratford-upon-Avon. The Royal Shakespeare Company presents The Taming of the Shrew. Turning Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on its portrayal of hierarchy and power.
2019-06-05 | en
10.0
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake comes to cinemas with a fresh look for the 21st century and is ‘as bold and beautiful as ever’ (★★★★★ Telegraph). This thrilling, audacious and witty production is perhaps still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered convention, turned tradition upside down and took the dance world by storm. Filmed Live at Sadler's Wells in January 2019.
2019-05-21 | en
0.0
Hamlet
A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel – and the most famous question in all of drama. Just some of the reasons why Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound.
2016-04-23 | en
7.6
National Theatre Live: A Midsummer Night's Dream
A feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations… with hilarious, but dark consequences.
2019-06-03 | en
8.7
National Theatre Live: Hansard
It's a summer's morning in 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. Diana has a stinking hangover, a fox is destroying the garden, and secrets are being dug up all over the place. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital scrapping quickly turns to blood-sport.
2019-11-07 | en
8.4
National Theatre Live: Present Laughter
As he prepares to embark on an overseas tour, star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life is in danger of spiralling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic and soul-searching.
2019-11-28 | en
7.8
National Theatre Live: Hamlet
A 2010 broadcast of Hamlet returns to cinemas as part of the NT's 50th anniversary celebrations. Following his celebrated performances at the National Theatre in Burnt by the Sun, The Revenger's Tragedy, Philistines and The Man of Mode, Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet in a dynamic new production of Shakespeare’s complex and profound play about the human condition, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is joined by Clare Higgins (Gertrude), Patrick Malahide (Claudius), David Calder (Polonius), James Laurenson (Ghost/Player King) and Ruth Negga (Ophelia).
2010-12-09 | en
4.2
Friend of the World
After a catastrophic global war, a young filmmaker awakens in the carnage and seeks refuge in the only other survivor: an eccentric, ideologically opposed figure of the United States military. Together, they brave the toxic landscape in search of safety... and answers.
2020-08-15 | en
7.0
The Baby of Mâcon
Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.
1993-09-17 | en
0.0
Neighbors
Racial tensions come out of the woodwork when an upper-class white couple puts their suburban home on the market and the listing draws a pair of equally well-to-do African American buyers from Harlem. Fielder Cook directs this Broadway staging of playwright Arkady Leokum's exploration of lingering racial prejudice in 1970s America.
1971-11-18 | en
10.0
The Year of the Dragon
Frank Chin's edgy story breaks down the stereotypes of Asian Americans and centers on San Francisco Chinatown tour operator Fred Eng. Eng hides his contempt for the tourists while dealing with the uproar that occurs within his oddball family after his dying father reveals he's hiding a second wife.
1975-01-15 | en
0.0
Rose
"Rose" is a filmed one-woman theatrical performance. A moving reminder of some of the harrowing events that shaped the century. It remains sadly relevant today as racial tensions escalate, and allegations of antisemitism are rife.
2021-01-27 | en
0.0
The Seagull
What if Konstantin Gavrilovich, from Anton Chekkov's famous play, did not commit suicide and was murdered instead? And who did it? Boris Akunin's take on The Seagull unfolds as a comedic murder mystery.
2017-04-22 | ru
0.0
Semestersångarna
Povel Ramel's 1962 show as filmed for television. This time the usual gang of four is joined by promising young comedian Hasse Alfredsson.
1962-10-20 | sv
0.0
The Turning Point
In The Turning Point, written by Michael Dobbs, Benedict Cumberbatch takes the role of Guy Burgess while Matthew Marsh plays the part of Winston Churchill. The play was part of the Sky Arts Theatre Live! Series, which won the Broadcasting Press Guild Best Multichannel Programme Award.
2009-08-12 | en
0.0
National Theatre Live: Dixon and Daughters
Mary has just been released from prison. She wants to come home and forget all about it but Briana has other ideas. Over a tumultuous two days a family is forced to confront not just their past but themselves. Because even if you refuse to hear the truth, the truth doesn’t go away. Róisín McBrinn returns to Clean Break (Favour) to direct this powerful story of family and forgiveness by Deborah Bruce (The House They Grew Up In). A co-production from National Theatre and Clean Break.
2023-04-14 | en
7.8
Hamlet at Elsinore
The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. An historic BBC production taped on location in and around Kronborg castle in Elsinore (Denmark), in which the play is set.
1964-04-15 | en
7.0
Henry V - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare’s masterpiece of the turbulence of war and the arts of peace tells the romantic story of Henry’s campaign to recapture the English possessions in France. But the ambitions of this charismatic king are challenged by a host of vivid characters caught up in the real horrors of war. Henry V, which opened the new Globe with the words ‘O for a muse of fire’, celebrates the power of language to summon into life courts, pubs, ships and battlefields within the ‘wooden O’ - and beyond.
2012-06-02 | en
7.0
RSC Live: The Tempest
On a distant island a man waits. Robbed of his position, power and wealth, his enemies have left him in isolation. But this is no ordinary man, and this no ordinary island. Prospero is a magician, able to control the very elements and bend nature to his will. When a sail appears on the horizon, he reaches out across the ocean to the ship that carries the men who wronged him. Creating a vast magical storm he wrecks the ship and washes his enemies up on the shore. When they wake they find themselves lost on a fantastical island where nothing is as it seems.
2017-01-11 | en
8.0
National Theater Live: The Crucible
A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller's captivating parable of power with Erin Doherty (The Crown) and Brendan Cowell (Yerma). Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial. Lindsey Turner (Hamlet) directs this contemporary new staging, design by Tony award winner Es Devlin. Captured live from the Olivier stage of the national theater.
2023-01-26 | en