Local director’s film debuts in Norwich

Nov 24, 2010, 16:55pm

Cuckoo, a thriller shot partly on location in Norwich, goes on national release next month. Its director, Richard Bracewell, who lives in south Norwich has chosen Cinema City to host the first public screening. Sharp-eyed cinema-goers will spot scenes filmed in Earlham Park, Colegate and at West Norwich hospital. The films stars Richard E. Grant as “a creepy professor who has designs on his star student…”

Based on experiences the director’s partner had while pregnant, Richard Bracewell both wrote and directed the film. The main character, Polly, starts to hear her boyfriend’s voice when alone in her flat. The film’s tagline “It’s all in the mind…” leaves viewers having to piece together a puzzle: “I think it genuinely is thrilling. It leaves you talking about it for days afterwards.”

Rather than calling on a cast of thousands, Richard Bracewell filmed the bonfire scenes at a fireworks display in Earlham Park. Twenty thousand people at Sparks at the Park provided the backdrop, while the actual scenes involving actors were shot later in Yarmouth.

As part of their research, they visited the cardiology department at the N&N, and went on to film many of the corridor shots at the former West Norwich hospital on Bowthorpe Road: “The hospital was empty when we filmed there, and it really was like the set of a horror film.” Large warehouses in Colegate, as well as The Last Wine Bar where also used in the filming.

It was quite a coup to land Richard E. Grant for the film. Richard Bracewell puts this down to his casting director, Dan Hubbard, who’d worked on films such as The Bourne Ultimatum and Lord of the Rings. He cast Richard E. Grant in the role just after he’d finished filming a short film with Madonna: “It was all thanks to our casting director, who’s the lynch pin in making any film.”

Around 75% of the film’s £1 million budget was spent locally, which is why the director is pleased the film will debut in Norwich.

On December 14th, there’s a chance to attend a Director’s Q&A at Cinema City, before the film goes on general release on December 17th.

Richard Bracewell is currently filming a comedy. He also directed The Gigolos, a film listed by The Telegraph as one of the most under-rated films ever made: “Getting films made doesn’t get any easier, simply because you get more ambitious, and you set the bar higher every time.”