Pandaemonium (2000)
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58% of critics liked it
(26 reviews) -
69% of users liked it
(642 ratings)
The troubled friendship and occasional rivalry between two of England's greatest poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, is explored in an unorthodox light in this historical drama from renegade director Julian Temple. As Coleridge (Linus Roache), Wordsworth (John Hannah), and… More The troubled friendship and occasional rivalry between two of England's greatest poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, is explored in an unorthodox light in this historical drama from renegade director Julian Temple. As Coleridge (Linus Roache), Wordsworth (John Hannah), and Lord Byron (Guy Lankester) await the news of who will be Great Britain's new poet laureate in 1816, Coleridge finds himself thinking back to 1795, when he and Wordsworth were two struggling writers involved in radical politics. Embracing the ideal of an agrarian society, Coleridge moves to the country, accompanied by his wife Sarah (Samantha Morton) and their infant son. Wordsworth soon follows, joined by his often argumentative sister Dorothy (Emily Woof). However, the two writers discover the hard work of maintaining a farm is not as conducive to their literary endeavors as they might have imagined, despite taking most available opportunities to shock the local bourgeoisie. It's not until Coleridge discovers laudanum (a tincture of alcohol and opium) that he finds the inspiration to create his first masterpiece, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Wordsworth soon finds his friend's fame is far surpassing his own, which brings an uncomfortable jealousy into their relationship; Coleridge, meanwhile, has developed a dangerous fondness for opium, which threatens to drown the creative spirit that it once sparked within him. Pandaemonium received its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Julien Temple
- Written By
- Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Genres
- Drama
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Jun 29, 2001 Wide
- Studio
- USA Films
Critic Reviews
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Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Goes a long way toward capturing the compelling delirium of opium among a crowd of freethinking British iconoclasts.
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Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times
Literate and handsome.
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Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Historically and dramatically dubious.
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Michael Atkinson, Mr. Showbiz
A harebrained, awkward, and dramatically muddled historical pageant.
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Jessica Winter, Village Voice
The exposition is thick, the characterization choppy, the wigs terrible.
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Cast
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Linus Roache
as Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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John Hannah
as William Wordsworth
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Samantha Morton
as Sara Coleridge
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Emily Woof
as Dorothy Wordsworth
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Emma Fielding
as Mary Wordsworth
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Andy Serkis
as Thelwall
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Samuel West
as Southey
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Michael N. Harbour
as Walsh
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William Scott-Masson
as Poole
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Clive Merrison
as Gillman
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Dexter Fletcher
as Davy
