Pressure

[gentle upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to The Love of Cinema, the Picturehouse podcast.

I'm Lucy, and in the background you might hear rain tapping against my window, which is actually the perfect soundscape for this episode, 'cause today we are talking all about Pressure.

Pressure is the remarkable true story of some of the decisions behind D-Day, also known as Operation Overlord, the massive seaborne invasion of German-occupied Normandy in 1944.

Now, what I didn't know, and what the film lays out in tense, riveting detail, is that the final word about the timing of this invasion actually had to come from weathermen.

Captain James Stagg, the leading meteorologist of the time, was called in to give his forecast, but what he predicted was exactly what the Allied leaders, including future US President Eisenhower, did not want to hear.

Oh, hi, Lucy.

Uh, we're very excited to bring the film to cinemas.

I'm excited to talk to you about Pressure and not about the Band of Brothers reunion that's happening in front of me.

Studio Canal's extensive library of over 6,000 films brings together cinema from around the globe.

If you like genre fare, might I recommend a John Carpenter double bill of They Live and Escape from New York? What about some international treats? The delightful comedy Delicatessen or Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown? Well, perhaps, why not crank the volume up and go back to the 1980s with a pairing of Flash Gordon and Highlander? For this episode, we're heading to the cinema for the brand new drama, Pressure, directed by Anthony Marras, who wrote the script along with David Hague.

It's a story based on Hague's acclaimed stage production.

Set in 1944, it tells the remarkable true story of how weather forecasting played a vital role in the D-Day landings and the incredible tensions surrounding getting an accurate prediction.

Anthony Marras, I'm hoping I'm pronouncing your name correctly.

A very warm welcome to the Studio Canal Presents podcast.

You are the co-writer, the editor and the director of Pressure, which is heading into UK cinemas.

And just in terms of setting a film up, because I figured that's your job, not mine.

So could Andrew Scott theoretically be nominated for two Oscars for two different films? Yeah, very

possibly, because I actually think that his performance in Pressure is absolutely brilliant.

But there's just been so much talk about his other film, Elsinore.

I haven't seen it.

I haven't heard anything about it yet.

But that's the film that people seem to be buzzing more about for him to get an Oscar nomination.

But I personally don't think we should be ruling Pressure out.

Yeah, no, because the reviews have been, he's been sensational.

Moncrief on News Talk.

Later on during Movies and Booze, we will be reviewing the film Pressure, which centres on the crucial role weather forecasting played in World War II, but particularly in advance of the D-Day landings.

And as with any film which deals with a scientific subject, the producers had to be extra careful to get the details right.

The man tasked with preventing their embarrassment was Dr Stephen Burt from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.

Well, it sounds like they were well deserved.

Stephen, thank you very much for talking to us today.

That was Dr. Stephen Burt from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and advisor for the film Pressure, which we will be reviewing later on in the show.

Moncrief.

Moncrief, on Newstalk.

Later on during Movies and Booze, we will be reviewing the film Pressure, which centres on the crucial role weather forecasting played in World War II, but particularly in advance of the D-Day landings.

And as with any film which deals with a scientific subject, the producers had to be extra careful to get the details right.

The man tasked with preventing their embarrassment was Dr Stephen Burt from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.

Well, it sounds like they were well deserved.

Stephen, thank you very much for talking to us today.

That was Dr. Stephen Burt from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and advisor for the film Pressure, which we will be reviewing later on in the show.

Moncrief.

Next up, we're going to hear from Galia Dimitrova, who interviewed Rosanna ahead of the release of her new single and to get the scoop on her involvement in a new Hollywood wartime epic.

Galia started by asking Rosanna about the part she played in Pressure.

So I play the lead operator in Eisenhower's team, who is basically the head person who's in contact with the front line.

So I am the first person to receive the information if D-Day was a success or not.