After falling out with just about everyone in Hollywood off the back of star Edward Norton’s re-editing of American History X, director Tony Kaye has found it mighty difficult to follow up his acclaimed feature film debut. However, it looks as if the British filmmaker is finally set for a breakthrough with the announcement today that Tribeca Film have acquired the US rights to his latest project, Detachment.
Described as ‘a vivid ensemble drama’, Detachment features a stellar cast of acting talent including Adrien Brody (The Pianist), James Caan (The Godfather), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Blythe Danner (Little Fockers), Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Vol. 1), William Peterson (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk). Take a look at the synopsis:
“Adrien Brody stars as Henry Barthes, an educator with a true talent to connect with his students. Yet Henry has chosen to bury his gift. By spending his days as a substitute teacher, he conveniently avoids any emotional connections by never staying anywhere long enough to form an attachment to either students or colleagues. When a new assignment places him at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry soon becomes a role model to the disaffected youth. In finding an unlikely emotional connection to the students, teachers, and a runaway teen he takes in from the streets, Henry realizes that he’s not alone in his life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world.“
Following the release of American History X in 1998 and subsequent lawsuit against the Director’s Guild of America, Kaye went on to direct the controversial abortion documentary Lake of Fire (2006). He also adapted Carsten Stroud’s novel Black Water Transit, attracting a cast that included the likes of Karl Urban (Judge Dredd), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) and Stephen Dorff (Blade), although the film is yet to receive any kind of release after premiering in Cannes back in 2009. Nevertheless, Kaye’s latest project will hit a range of platforms in the US in 2012, while Celluloid Dreams have acquired all worldwide sales rights for Detachment and distribution deals are also in place in Canada and France.
Originally published September 8, 2011. Updated April 10, 2018.
