Parade’s End and Saint Flora Castle

In the previous posting “1914 – 2014 preparations” I gave already a glimpse of the works been done to commemorate the Great war.

Who is best in putting history in a modern form? The British are the best in historical drama. 1914 could not escape the 2014 moving pictures celebrations.

The realistic décor of the neo-classical castle of Sint Flora - © Photos: Tim Dirven

Saint Flora Castle is by many known as a place to buy cigarettes and spirits at greatly discounted prices but the neo-classical castle of Sint Flora, near the Flemish coastal town Koksijde has become the scene of a film crew.

Whom better than Sir Tom Stoppard to offer a script for a five-part drama adaptation of Parade’s End, a 1920s four-book series by British author Ford Madox Ford about love and duty between the twilight of the Edwardian era and the end of the First World War. He is the man of my heart for chronicles.

The love triangle between English aristocrat Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch), his beautiful but cruel wife Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) and Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens), a young suffragette with whom he falls madly in love shall take seven weeks of filming in Belgium, including scenes at the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral in Brussels, the De Borrekens water lock in Vorselaar (serving as a Scottish castle, hunting lodge and German spa resort) and a field near Namur for the trench scenes. Some €4.5 million of the total budget is set aside for the Belgian shoots.

Rebecca Hall - Image via Wikipedia

Parade’s End also benefited from a €150,000 grant from the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, but the most important financial contribution has been provided by the Belgian Tax Shelter System, which annually channels about €60 million into audiovisual productions and has transformed the rather artisanal local film sector into a solid professional economy (see p6).

Flemish producer Martin Dewitte was enlisted, along with broadcaster VRT and the BNP Paribas Fortis Film Fund as a local producer, helping find many locations. “It’s a major circus organising this,” says Dewitte, who runs his own company, Anchorage Entertainment. “I’ve never been involved with anything like it.”

+

09/12/2011

Find more about this project:

The British have landed Flanders’ fields are the authentic setting for a big-budget British TV drama series

+

Preceding articles: 11 November, a day to remember #1 Until Industrialisation + 11 November, a day to remember #2 From the Industrialisation + 1914 – 2014 preparations

Dutch preceding articles / aansluitend bij Nederlandstalige artikels : 11 november, al of niet vergeten #1 Tot de Industrialisatie + 11 november, al of niet vergeten #2 Vanaf de Industrialisatie

+++

Related articles (Update 28/03/2012)

• Rebecca Hall turns ghost buster (bbc.co.uk)
  After prominent roles in films like The Town and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Rebecca Hall takes on her first leading role in period chiller The Awakening.
• Wildcards make film talent dream (expatica.com)
  The wildcards awarded by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund VAF to winners of a talent contest is a welcome boost for filmmaking talent. A handsome prize of 600,000 euros for two fiction films and one animated cartoon or 40,000 for two documentaries gives winners the opportunity to start a new film as soon as they complete their studies.
• Frankenstein actors share the glory at theatre awards (telegraph.co.uk)
  a best actor prize
  The judges said that they felt it would be “invidious” not to recognise both Cumberbatch and Miller for performances of equal merit.
• HBO Miniseries ‘Parade’s End’ casting actors and extras in London (filmtvcasting.wordpress.com)
  The five-part miniseries is currently casting guest stars, day players, extras, stand-ins, and photo doubles for the film’s stars.
• U.S. publishers rush out books about Edwardian and wartime Britain to cash in on American success of Downton Abbey (dailymail.co.uk)
  Downton Abbey is inspiring a resurgence in publishing in America with a wave of releases to cash in on the trend.
  Dozens of 20th century novels about the British aristocracy are being promoted by New York-based publishers to capitalise on the TV series.
  +
  Stephen Morrison, the editor in chief and associate publisher of Penguin Books, said: ‘We’re just riding that Downton Abbey wave.
• The Story the Oscar-Nominated “War Horse” Doesn’t Tell (alternet.org)
  Stephen Spielberg’s War Horse opened on 2,376 movie screens and has collected six Oscar nominations, while the hugely successful play it’s based on is still packing in the crowds in New York and a second production is being readied to tour the country.