23-758: David Leland (20 April 1941 – 24 December 2023) was a British film director, screenwriter and actor who came to international fame with his directorial debut Wish You Were Here in 1987. Leland initially trained as an actor at Central School of Speech and Drama . In 1963, he was part of the breakaway group of Central staff and students who formed Drama Centre London along with fellow students including actor and later theatre director Jack Shepherd and Jon Lord , later keyboard player and co-founder of rock band Deep Purple and Whitesnake . After several small parts as actor he began his collaboration with British television director Alan Clarke in 1981. Their film Made in Britain
46-517: A bowling green , Eric among them, are shocked to see Lynda defiantly pushing her baby in a pram. The film ends with Lynda ringing the doorbell to Hubert's home and embracing her baby. Director David Leland loosely based the film on Cynthia Payne 's adolescence growing up on the Sussex coast. Personal Services , a film about Payne's experiences as an adult woman, was also written by Leland and released prior to Wish You Were Here . Wish You Were Here
69-565: A boy she encounters on the promenade, and Dave, a young bus conductor to whom she loses her virginity, but the relationships fail due to the boys' immaturity, and her father warning off Dave, unbeknownst to Lynda. Meanwhile, Eric, a bookie and one of Hubert's middle-aged friends, takes an interest in Lynda. She initially refuses Eric's predatory advances, but as her relationship with her father grows increasingly strained, Lynda begins sleeping with Eric. When Hubert finds out, he tells Lynda how ashamed he
92-475: A girl's coming-of-age in a small coastal town in postwar England. It is loosely based on the formative years of British madam Cynthia Payne . The original music score was composed by Stanley Myers . The film received acclaim from critics, winning the International Federation of Film Critics prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival , a BAFTA award for Best Screenplay for director Leland, and
115-400: A grudge against a time when such girls were a threat to society, to the interlocking forces of sexism and convention that conspired to break their spirits". Ebert praised Lloyd's performance as "one of the great debut roles for a young actress". Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Lynda's wild outbursts - toward the end of the film, she insults her lover and denounces her father in
138-534: A lower joke rate than sitcoms . In the very influential Greek theatre , plays were considered comedies or tragedies. This concept even influenced Roman theatre and theatre of the Hellenistic period . Theatre of that era is thought to have long-lasting influence, even in modern narrative works. Even today, works are often classified into two broad buckets, dramas and comedies. For instance, many awards that recognize achievements in film and television today, such as
161-585: A reason, a purpose, a history for every character—and for every claustrophobic brick row-house or damp, echoing picture palace". She said the film manages to be funny and dark without becoming maudlin, becoming "something more than the words on a souvenir post card...a cry from the heart". The film grossed $ 12 million worldwide, including £3 million at the UK box office and $ 3.3 million in the United States and Canada. Comedy-drama Comedy drama , also known by
184-620: A star. It was awarded the FIPRESCI-Award at Cannes and the BAFTA for best screenplay . In 1991, Leland directed the successful stage musical A Tribute to the Blues Brothers , which played on the West End and then toured for ten years in the UK and Australia. Leland's next two films, Checking Out (with Jeff Daniels ) and The Big Man (with Liam Neeson ), failed at the box office and with
207-403: A termination. Lynda returns to an abortion place that she previously visited, but hesitates at the doorstep and imagines an old man and a little girl watching her. Several months later, Lynda returns home, alighting at the bus garage where she previously worked—with a newborn baby. She passes by her former haunts, including the promenade where she used to flash her legs at the boys. Onlookers on
230-399: A variety of places, including a ladies' hair salon, a bus depot, and a fish and chip van, but her behaviour always loses her the job. Hubert, with whom Lynda has an adversarial relationship, unsuccessfully tries to correct Lynda's behaviour by taking her to a psychiatrist . Flashbacks reveal Lynda was close with her late mother. Lynda returns the affections of a couple of male suitors: Brian,
253-426: Is fired, but a few customers applaud her rant, including the elderly woman who plays the tea room piano. Desperate and down-on-her-luck, Lynda meets with her Aunt Millie, who tries to persuade Lynda to get an abortion or give the baby up for adoption, as women who have children out of wedlock are looked down upon in society, and no man will want her. Aunt Millie tells Lynda the choice is hers, but leaves her money for
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#1732906293483276-469: Is of her, and how her mother would be too if she were alive. Lynda leaves her home to live with Eric, but instead of the affection and genuine love she craves, she is greeted with his callous behaviour. He ignores her tearful plea for comfort, seemingly only interested in having sex. Lynda eventually leaves him and gets a job as a waitress at a tea room . Eric appears and bothers Lynda, claiming he has missed her, but he stops pestering her when she reveals she
299-429: Is pregnant. Lynda considers an illegal abortion , but realises she cannot afford one. Having learnt of his estranged daughter's pregnancy, Hubert arrives at the tea room demanding to speak to Lynda. Lynda denounces her father after he calls her a slut. Their argument escalates into a public spectacle, with Lynda climbing onto a table and shouting about British respectability and hypocrisy, while insulting customers. Lynda
322-693: The Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards segregate several award categories into these two classifications. The 20th century saw a rise in film and television works that could be described as comedy-dramas. The term is a translation from the French "comédie dramatique". The portmanteau "dramedy" came to be in the 1980s. In January 2022, Rafael Abreu, writing for the StudioBinder filmmaking blog, defined this genre as follows: A dramedy
345-408: The portmanteau dramedy , is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama . In films, serious dramatic themes (such as death, illness, etc.) are dealt with realism and subtlety, while preserving a humorous tenor. In television, modern scripted comedy dramas tend to have more humour integrated into the story than the comic relief common in drama series but usually contain
368-716: The Best Actress Award for Lloyd from the National Society of Film Critics . In the early 1950s, sixteen-year-old Lynda Mansell lives in a small English seaside town with her widowed father Hubert and younger sister, Margaret. Feisty, outspoken, and bawdy, Lynda likes to shock other people with her histrionic behaviour (bicycling on the promenade with her skirt hiked up, inviting young men to compare her legs to Betty Grable 's) and vulgar speech (her favourite insults are "Up yer bum" and "Cock Off") which alienate her from her peers and her sister. Her father finds her employment at
391-540: The critics but have since been successful in the private market. In 1997, Leland co-wrote and directed The Land Girls starring Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel and, in 2000, wrote and directed Episode 6 of the HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers . In 2012, Leland joined the Showtime series The Borgias as co-showrunner and executive producer (alongside Neil Jordan , whom he had worked with on Mona Lisa ), writing
414-515: The genteel tea room where she works as a waitress - are as entertaining as they are cathartic, and Miss Lloyd delivers these strings of epithets as colorfully as Mr. Leland writes them. Miss Lloyd [manages] to seem both feisty and fragile...capturing the full emotional range of this complicated young girl". Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times complimented the film's attention to period detail, as well as Leland's direction, citing "[he] has
437-464: The last five episodes of its second season and directing its last two episodes. He described his stint as co-showrunner and executive producer as a "hands-on" experience and having to commit to extensive research on the Renaissance . After the death of his friend George Harrison , Leland was closely involved in the former Beatle's memorial, Concert for George , and directed a cinematic documentary of
460-664: The night to be put on general release, the DVD of which went platinum. The documentary also won a Grammy Award . His also directed the Dino De Laurentiis produced Virgin Territory , released in 2007. Leland died on 24 December 2023, at the age of 82. Wish You Were Here (1987 movie) Wish You Were Here is a 1987 British comedy-drama film written and directed by David Leland and starring Emily Lloyd , Tom Bell , Geoffrey Hutchings , and Jesse Birdsall . The film follows
483-409: Was directed by Terry Jones and concerned Cynthia Payne , a real-life British madam who ran a private brothel . Julie Walters took the leading role. While Personal Services dealt with the adult life of Cynthia Payne, Leland's next film, Wish You Were Here , concerned her teenage years. This film was a success at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and it made the young British actress Emily Lloyd
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#1732906293483506-469: Was filmed in the Sussex towns of Brighton , Worthing , and Bognor Regis over a period of six weeks. The first day of filming was on Emily Lloyd 's 16th birthday. Wish You Were Here has an overall approval rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of four, describing it as "a comedy with an angry undertone, a story of a free-spirited girl who holds
529-492: Was well received and featured the first screen role of actor Tim Roth . Made in Britain won the Prix Italia (an international Television award) in 1984. In 1986, Leland and director Neil Jordan co-wrote the screenplay for the thriller-drama Mona Lisa , featuring Bob Hoskins . With Jordan, he was nominated for BAFTA , Golden Globe and Writers Guild of America awards. Leland then wrote Personal Services in 1986. It
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