Lion (2016 film)

Lion
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Garth Davis
Produced by	Iain Canning Angie Fielder Emile Sherman
Screenplay by	Luke Davies
Based on	A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley
Starring	Dev Patel Rooney Mara David Wenham Nicole Kidman Abhishek Bharate Divian Ladwa Priyanka Bose Deepti Naval Tannishtha Chatterjee Nawazuddin Siddiqui Sunny Pawar
Music by	Hauschka Dustin O'Halloran
Cinematography	Greig Fraser
Edited by	Alexandre de Franceschi
Production companies	See-Saw Films Aquarius Films Screen Australia Sunstar Entertainment Narrative Capital The Weinstein Company
Distributed by	The Weinstein Company Transmission Films Entertainment Film Distributors
Release dates	September 10, 2016 (2016-09-10) (TIFF) November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25) (United States) January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19) (Australia) January 20, 2017 (2017-01-20) (United Kingdom)
Running time	118 minutes[1]
Country	Australia United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$285,099[2]

Lion is a 2016 Australian-American-British drama film directed by Garth Davis and written by Luke Davies, based on the non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley. The film stars Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, Nicole Kidman, Abhishek Bharate, Divian Ladwa, Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sunny Pawar.

The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016,^[3] was released in the United States on November 25, 2016, by The Weinstein Company.

Plot

Saroo Brierley, who was lost from his family at the age of five and was adopted by an Australian family, searches for his long-lost family using Google Earth.

Cast

• Dev Patel as Saroo Brierley^[4]
  • Sunny Pawar as Young Saroo^[4]
• Rooney Mara as Lucy, Saroo's girlfriend (based on Lisa Williams)^[5]
• David Wenham as John Brierley, Saroo's adopted father^[5]
• Nicole Kidman as Sue Brierley, Saroo's adopted mother^[4]
• Abhishek Bharate as Guddu Khan, Saroo's biological brother^[4]
• Divian Ladwa as Mantosh Brierley, Saroo's adopted brother^[5]
• Priyanka Bose as Kamla Munshi, Saroo's biological mother^[6]
• Deepti Naval as Saroj Sood, founder of the Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption (ISSA)^[6]
• Tannishtha Chatterjee as Noor^[6]
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Rawa^[6]

Production

On April 24, 2013, it was announced that Garth Davis would make his directorial debut with the Saroo Brierley's biopic based on his memoir A Long Way Home for See-Saw Films and Sunstar Entertainment.^[7][8] The story revolves around Brierley, a five-year-old Indian boy who gets on the wrong train and is ferried thousands miles away from home. He is adopted by an Australian couple and, 25 years later, finds his birth parents using Google Earth.^[8][9] In May 2014, The Weinstein Company bought the worldwide distribution rights to the survival drama titled Lion for $12 million.^[9] Luke Davies adapted the book into the film, which Screen Australia and Fulcrum Media Finance would co-finance, while See-Saw, Sunstar, and Aquarius Films would produce the film. Iain Canning, Angie Fielder and Emile Sherman would be attached as producers.^[9] In October 2014, Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman were cast in the film for the lead roles.^[4] In January 2015, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Deepti Naval joined the cast.^[6] In April 2015, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Divian Ladwa also joined the cast.^[5] Pallavi Sharda also joined the film's cast to play Saroo's friend.^[7] Hauschka and Dustin O'Halloran composed the film's score.^[10]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in January 2015 in Kolkata, India.^[6] In mid-April, filming moved to Australia, where it took place in Melbourne and Hobart. Kidman filmed her scenes in Australia.^[5][11]

Music

Sia wrote the song "Never Give Up" for the film which also includes the song "The Sun, The Sand And The Sea" from noted songwriter Jimmy Radcliffe.^[12][13]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016.^[14] The film served as the opening night film at the Zurich Film Festival on September 22, 2016.^[15] It also screened at the London Film Festival on October 12, 2016,^[16] and at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 7 and 8, 2016.^[17] The film was released in the United States on November 25, 2016.^[18] The film will be released in Australia on January 19, 2017.^[19] and in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2017.^[20]

Reception

Critical response

The film received positive reviews with the performances of Patel and Kidman receiving praise after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[21][22] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80%, based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The critical consensus reads, "Lion's undeniably uplifting story and talented cast are more than enough to make up for a fact-based story whose traditional Hollywood formula skims over a number of interesting real-life details."^[23] On Metacritic the film has a score of 66 out of 100 score, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[24]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website
• Lion at the Internet Movie Database
• Lion at Rotten Tomatoes
• Lion at History vs. Hollywood
• Sunstar Entertainment