No one, including Hugh Grant, would have bet on it. Instead Four weddings and a funeral by Mike Newell, released in 1994, was a resounding success. Best British box office in history, two Oscar nominations – best film and best screenplay for Richard Curtis -, a springboard for the career of the actor, awarded with the Golden Globe, who became, thanks to the role of Charles, the icon of British cinema in the era. A success that continues over time: thirty years later it continues to be celebrated around the world, as already happened for 20 and 25 years, when the cast reunited for a charity short film.
On Saturday 14 June the tribute arrived from Pesaro, from a packed Piazza del Popolo (despite the national team match), a cult event of the 60th edition of the International Exhibition of New Cinema directed by Pedro Armocida. «For us it is an infinite joy. But it’s true, at the time we were the most amazed, almost in shock at the success »he tells us Courier the director of Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile And Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. «It began as a low budget comedy: Curtis’ script was inspired by the period in which she found herself attending 65 weddings. She made people laugh intelligently, she was sweet and touching. And he made fun of the world of London posh of the upper class”. In the crosshairs is the “repentant monogamist” (Grant), unable to choose between his girlfriend Henrietta (better known as “chick face”) and the American Carrie (Andie MacDowell) and his historic friends: Angus and Laura, the couple from the first wedding, the vain roommate Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman), the most refined of all, Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas), her brother Tom (James Fleet), Gareth (Simon Callow) and Matthew (John Hannah).
It was Newell himself who wanted Hugh Grant, he says. «I can’t take too much credit for launching it. His was a career waiting to be launched. It was perfect: handsome, with a unique charm and a great sense of humor. We waited almost a year for him because he was making another film. We risked having him die in the opening scene with his friend Rossella, when they run like crazy so as not to be late. He drove the Mini through traffic, we didn’t have enough money to turn it around any other way. I prayed that everything would go well.”
Another successful idea was casting Rowan Atkinson in the role of the priest, among the most hilarious moments. «He was a total comedian, it wasn’t a given that he would work. But he has become a cult scene.” Like several jokes. «Our luck was that the American distributor had the idea of releasing it in the USA first, after the screening at Sundance, than in Great Britain. There it exploded and became the film that everyone wanted to see.”
Very contemporary. One of the first with a happily united couple of men. Until death separates them. But not for AIDS, then in full explosion. «Looking back on it, a small revolution. When Gareth dies, Matthew greets him with WH Auden’s funeral elegy, which had a boom in sales. And the friends understand that theirs was the only truly successful marriage, the two of them the best-matched couple.” Years later, has there been an answer to the film’s secret success? «The friendship that kept that group of friends together. All different from each other, but very close.”
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