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Not I, written in English in 1972, features an actress seated on stage with just her mouth spot-lit. The mouth then delivers a long stream of consciousness. Evasion is the principle theme, as is highlighted by Beckett's note to the text in which the mouth's chief endeavour throughout the play is a 'vehement refusal to relinquish the third person'. The mouth undergoes a desperate struggle to avoid saying 'I', marked by four moments of crisis in which her monologue becomes a question and answer with an inner voice not heard by the audience.
'…
out … into this world … this world … tiny little thing
… before its time …'
– Not I
Neil Jordan's film career began with the role of creative consultant on John Boorman's Excalibur in 1981, about which he made a documentary entitled The Making of Excalibur – Myth into Movie. Since then he has made twelve films: Angel (1982); Company of Wolves (1984); Mona Lisa (1986); The Crying Game (1992), for which he won an Oscar for best screenplay; Interview with the Vampire (1994); Michael Collins (1995), which was awarded a Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival; The Butcher Boy (1996), for which he won a Silver Bear for Direction at the Berlin Film Festival; In Dreams (1999); and The End of the Affair (1999) for which he won the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.
'Despite
the theatrical nature of the piece, the startling image at the heart of
it – an isolated mouth – could perhaps be better realised in
the cinema. Also, working within the limits of Samuel Beckett's stage
instructions becomes oddly liberating, like etching a map of the world
on a postage stamp.'
– Neil Jordan
Julianne Moore's film credits include: Short Cuts and Cookie's Fortune, both directed by Robert Altman; The Hand that Rocks the Cradle; Lost World; Jurassic Park; Boogie Nights; The Big Lebowski, The End of The Affair, Magnolia, Safe and An Ideal Husband, among many others.
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