My Name Is Modesty
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My Name Is Modesty
Plot
Peter O'Donnell's novels and comic strip was previously brought to film by actress Monica Vitti and director Joseph Losey in an eponymous 1966 spy spoof. Quentin Tarantino had been interested in bringing the character to the screen for a series of films, but the idea languished. Reportedly, Miramax rushed My Name Is Modesty into production because their option on the material was on the verge of expiring. While there were rumors that Luc Besson was going to direct, with Natasha Henstridge starring, that version never came to fruition. The film was released straight-to-video with Tarantino's imprimatur. Relative newcomer Alexandra Staden plays Modesty, and the film serves as a prequel, an introduction to the character of O'Donnell's work. It opens in the Balkans where some soldiers happen upon a resourceful little girl, a wild child. The film then flashes forward to Modesty as a young adult running a casino for the shady businessman, Louche (Valentin Teodosiu). When ruthless bandits attack the casino and the staff is taken hostage, Modesty secretly signals her partner, Garcia (Raymond Cruz), that there's trouble, then buys time by engaging the bandit leader, Myklos (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of the original Nightwatch), in a battle of wits. She uses the roulette wheel to barter the lives of the hostages for bits and pieces of her life story. And so the film flashes back to her orphaned past, showing how she was taken in by Lob (Fred Pearson), a wily older gentleman, who taught her to read and write several languages and how to thrive in a dangerous world. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Alexandra Staden - Modesty Blaise
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Myklos
- Raymond Cruz
- Fred Pearson
- Valentin Teodosiu
Credit
Paul Yamamoto - Co-producer, Oana Paunescu - Costume Designer, Scott Spiegel - Director, Michelle Harrison - Editor, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Cary Woods - Executive Producer, Paul Berrow - Executive Producer, Michael Sy - Executive Producer, Modesty Blaise - Executive Producer, Deborah Lurie - Composer (Music Score), Cristian Niculescu - Production Designer, Vivi Dragan Vasile - Cinematographer, Ted Nicolaou - Producer, Michael Berrow - Producer, Marcelo Anciano - Producer, Patrick Giraudi - Sound/Sound Designer, Thanos Kazakos - Sound/Sound Designer, Lee Batchler - Screenwriter, Janet Scott Batchler - Screenwriter, Quentin Tarantino - Presented by, Peter O'Donnell - Book Author| My Name Is Khan (2010 Film), My Name Is Kate (1994 Film) | |
| My Name Is Smith (2010 Film), My Name Is Tanino (2001 Film) |
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My Name Is Modesty
| My Name Is Modesty | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Scott Spiegel |
| Produced by | Marcelo Anciano Michael Berrow Ted Nicolaou |
| Written by | Lee Batchler Janet Scott-Batchler |
| Starring | Alexandra Staden Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Raymond Cruz Eugenia Yuan |
| Music by | Deborah Lurie |
| Cinematography | Vivi Dragan Vasile |
| Editing by | Michelle Harrison |
| Studio | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
My Name Is Modesty is a 2003 American action film that was released direct-to-DVD. The film is based on the early years of the character Modesty Blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent.
This is the third production that brings Peter O'Donnell's character Modesty Blaise to the screen, following the feature film Modesty Blaise with Monica Vitti in 1966 and the TV pilot Modesty Blaise with Ann Turkel in 1982.
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Contents
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Premise
The film stars British actress Alexandra Staden as Modesty and chronicles a crucial event in the character's life some time prior to the start of the comic strip.
Cast
- Alexandra Staden
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
- Raymond Cruz
- Fred Pearson
- Eugenia Yuan
- Valentin Teodosiu
- Bianca Ana Tudorica
Production
After director Scott Spiegel filmed From Dusk till Dawn 2 in 1999, producer Harvey Weinstein asked Spiegel to direct My Name Is Modesty. Quentin Tarantino joined the filming as an executive producer.[1] Filming took place in Bucharest, Romania and lasted 18 days. The film was produced pro forma for Miramax Films to maintain rights to the source material, the Modesty Blaise comic strip.[2]
Release
My Name Is Modesty was released straight to DVD. Juan Morales of The New York Times called the film one of the "vivid examples of Mr. Spiegel’s sly, visual directing style".[1] Joe Leydon of Variety opined that the film "isn't half-bad" and is a "mildly diverting time-killer".[3] He went on to note, "Scripters Lee and Janet Scott Batchler concoct a scenario that often plays like the pilot for a syndicated teleseries. Budgetary and scheduling restraints require vet vidpic director Scott Spiegel... to keep most of the action within the casino set. Still, Spiegel sustains a reasonable level of tension while Modesty stalls for time. Climactic smackdown is suitably brisk, if predictable. Handsome lensing by Vivi Dragan Vasile is a plus."[3]
References
- ^ a b Morales, Juan (May 6, 2007). "His Friends: A Who’s Who. Him: Just ...Who?". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/movies/moviesspecial/06mora.html.
- ^ Ingram, Susan (2007). "Of Ruinous and Wasted Idylls: The Modesty of a Once-and-Future Literary History". In Gow, Andrew Colin. Hyphenated Histories: Articulations of Central European Bildung and Slavic Studies in the Contemporary Academy. pp. 52–57. ISBN 90-04-16256-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=Z33lYP30tCMC&lpg=PA52&dq=%22my%20name%20is%20modesty%22%20spiegel&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q=%22my%20name%20is%20modesty%22&f=false.
- ^ a b Leydon, Joe (November 30, 2004). "My Name Is Modesty". Variety. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5tTY8Kz9u.
External links
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Mentioned in
My Name Is Modesty
(2003 Action Film)
Peter O'Donnell
(Actor, Comedy/Action)
Modesty Blaise
(disambiguation)
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