An irreproachable bank clerk name Mahowny has an uncontrollable urge to gamble. His position at the bank is high enough to allow him relatively easy access to the bank’s money: embezzlement allows him to fully devote himself to his passion. At first everything goes well.... A true story with virtuoso performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Minnie Driver.
Dan Mahowny, a modest and irreproachable bank clerk, has an uncontrollable and devastating urge to gamble. His position at the bank is high enough to allow him relatively easy access to the bank’s money: embezzlement allows him to fully devote himself to his passion. He invents fictitious clients, falsifies bank transfers and collects money in their names. But Mahowny’s interest isn’t gain, he doesn’t play for money – even when he wins he doesn’t put any aside. All he wants is the excitement he has while playing. At first everything goes well, no one suspects him. And at the casino he becomes a respected guest thanks to the amount of cash he drops while playing. Mahowny’s never changing face and behaviour fools everyone around him, everyone, that is, except his girlfriend Belinda. Eventually she starts fighting to save their relationship. This fascinating story based on true events provides a vehicle for virtuoso performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Minnie Driver. Richard Kwietniowski’s bravura direction captured the advancing pathology of Mahowny’s gambling as well as the glitzy and exciting atmosphere of the casino.
105 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Richard Kwietniowsky
/ Screenplay Maurice Chauvet
/ Dir. of Photography Oliver Curtis
/ Music Richard Grassby-Lewis, The Insects
/ Editor Mike Munn
/ Producer Andras Hamori, Seaton McLean, Alessandro Camon
/ Production Alliance Atlantis Pictures International
/ Cast Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chaykin, John Hurt, Sonja Smits, Ian Tracey, Roger Dunn, Jason Blicker, Chris Collins
/ Contact Alliance Atlantis Pictures International
www: www.sonyclassics.com/owning
Richard Kwietniowski (b. 1957, London) studied film and literature at Kent University and at the University of California, Berkeley. At the beginning of the eighties he began shooting short experimental films. At the Berlinale in 1987 he was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Short (Alfalfa). Kwietniowski has also cooperated with British Television. His feature debut Love and Death on Long Island, adapted from the Gilbert Adair novel and starring John Hurt, took many awards in Britain as well as at international film festivals. Shorts: Interference (1983), Startled Insects Filmwork (1983), Underworld (1985), What’s Cooking (1986), Next Week’s Rent (1986), Questions in the House (1987), Alfalfa (1987), Ballad of Reading Goal (1988), Flames of Passion (1989), Proust’s Favorite Fantasy (1991), Cost of Love (1991) and Actions Speak Louder than Words (1992). Features: Love and Death on Long Island (1997) and Owning Mahowny (2002).
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Phone: +1 416 967 1174
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Richard Kwietniowsky
John Hurt
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