The Boat That Rocked

Colour, 35 mm
United Kingdom, Germany, 2009, 129 min
Section: Official Selection - Out of Competition

Synopsis

It’s 1966 – British pop music’s finest era – and the only official radio station, the BBC, plays just two hours of rock’n’roll a week. A group of incensed disc jockeys decide to set up a pirate radio station so they can play their favourite music 24/7. And 25 million people – more than half the population of Britain – start tuning in to Radio Rock, broadcasting outside British territory from a boat floating on ethereal waves in the international waters of the North Sea… In serious breach of the law, the pirates are a thorn in the side of Minister Dormandy, who is bent on shutting them down. But will the fans of Radio Rock simply take this lying down? After his romantic comedy Love Actually, successful British screenwriter Richard Curtis offers up another star-studded directorial delight. This story of a band of irate deejays has certain autobiographical traits as well: Curtis used to listen to night-time pirate rock broadcasts as a boy.

About the director

Richard Curtis (b. 1956, New Zealand) grew up in the Philippines and in Sweden, finally settling in Great Britain. He studied at Oxford University (1978) and began working as a scriptwriter for the BBC. He has worked with comedian Rowan Atkinson (comedy series "Blackadder” and "Mr. Bean”). As one of Britain’s most successful screenwriters his filmography includes the sophisticated romantic comedies The Tall Guy (1989, dir. Mel Smith), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994, dir. Mike Newell – Oscar nomination), Notting Hill (1999, dir. Roger Michell), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001, dir. Sharon Maguire) and its follow-up Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004, dir. Beeban Kidron). He won two Emmy awards (for production and screenplay) for his television tragicomedy The Girl in the Café (2005, dir. David Yates). In 2003 he debuted as a director with the romantic comedy based on his own script, Love Actually.