Plot
Two actors, as their make up is applied, talk about the size of their parts. Then into the film: Laurence Sterne's unfilmable novel, Tristram Shandy, a fictive autobiography wherein the narrator, interrupted constantly, takes the entire story to be born. The film tracks between "Shandy" and behind the scenes. Size matters: parts, egos, shoes, noses. The lead's girlfriend, with their infant son, is up from London for the night, wanting sex; interruptions are constant. Scenes are shot, re-shot, and discarded. The purpose of the project is elusive. Fathers and sons; men and women; cocks and bulls. Life is amorphous, too full and too rich to be captured in one narrative.
Written by
Laurence Sterne, Frank Cottrell Boyce
Directed by
Michael Winterbottom
Crew
Production Countries
United Kingdom
Production Companies
Revolution Films, East Midlands Media Initiative, EM Media, Baby Cow Productions, BBC Films, Scion Films
Languages
English
Awards
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award2 wins & 14 nominations total