We look at getting the 1950s detail just right in Mike Leigh's new film Vera Drake, with production designer Eve Stewart and actress Heather Craney. In the film, set in 1950 when abortions were illegal, Vera's happy family life is shattered when it is revealed that she has been helping girls who have got themselves into trouble.
Vera Drake, certificate 12A, will be released in cinemas on 7 January 2005.
House of Flying Daggers
New martial arts film House of Flying Daggers is set towards the end of the Tang Dynasty, it's a chase between two police deputies after an assassin, who just happens to be a beautiful and blind young woman. We discuss the film with its director Zhang Yimou and Tony Rayns, an expert on the films of East Asia.
House of Flying Daggers, certificate 15, is released in cinemas on 26 December 2004.
La Dolce Vita
Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita follows a hack, played by Marcello Mastroianni, as he attends a series of decadent parties, drives through Rome and witnesses what may be a miracle. Francine Stock discusses the classic with screenwriter Michael Tolkin.
La Dolce Vita, certificate 15, will be screened in a newly restored print at the National Film Theatre in London from 17 December 2004.
Gone with the Wind
On Christmas Day we will have a special programme about the 1939 film Gone with the Wind. If you have any experiences or memories associated with Victor Fleming's classic please let us know - either by post at The Film Programme, BBC Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA or by email at [email protected].
