The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
File:The Young and Prodigious TS Spivet poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Produced by	Frédéric Brillion Gilles Legrand
Screenplay by	Jean-Pierre Jeunet Guillaume Laurant
Based on	The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Starring	Helena Bonham Carter Judy Davis Callum Keith Rennie Kyle Catlett
Music by	Denis Sanacore
Cinematography	Thomas Hardmeier
Edited by	Hervé Schneid
Production companies	Epithète Films Filmarto France 2 Cinéma France Télévisions Orange Cinéma Séries Tapioca Films
Distributed by	Gaumont
Release dates	28 September 2013 (2013-09-28) (DSSIFF) 16 October 2013 (2013-10-16) (France) 31 July 2015 (2015-07-31) (USA)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	France Canada Australia
Language	English
Budget	$33 million
Box office	$9.3 million

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet is a 2013 Franco-Canadian-Australian adventure drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-written with Guillaume Laurant, an adaptation of the 2010 book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet written by Reif Larsen. The film stars Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, Callum Keith Rennie, and Kyle Catlett.

Plot

T.S. Spivet (Kyle Catlett) is a 10-year-old prodigy with a passion for cartography and scientific inventions. He lives on a ranch in Montana with his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) who is obsessed with the morphology of beetles; his father (Callum Keith Rennie), a cowboy born a hundred years too late; and his 14-year-old sister (Niamh Wilson) who dreams of becoming Miss America. His twin brother Layton (Jakob Davies) died in an accident involving a firearm in the family's barn, which no one ever speaks of. T.S. was with him, measuring the scale of the gunshots for an experiment, and he doesn't understand what happened. One day, T.S. receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian Institution, telling him that he is the winner of the very prestigious Baird prize for his invention of a perpetual motion machine and that he is invited to a reception in his honor where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train across the United States to reach Washington, D.C.

Cast

• Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Clair Spivet, mother
• Judy Davis as G. H. Jibsen
• Callum Keith Rennie as Tecumseh Eli Spivet, father
• Kyle Catlett as T(ecumseh). S(parrow). Spivet
• Niamh Wilson as Gracie Spivet
• Jakob Davies as Layton Spivet
• Rick Mercer as Roy
• Dominique Pinon as Two Clouds
• Julian Richings as Ricky
• Richard Jutras as Mr. Stenpock

Production

After writing and directing Micmacs, Jeunet preferred his next film to be in someone else's world, to be based on an existing story. Before Larsen's book was published, he had already shortlisted several of his favourite directors to make a film based on the book, and was subsequently contacted by Jeunet. Filming was done from June to October 2012, mainly in Quebec and Alberta, Canada, with some scenes in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. It was director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's first 3D film.

Awards

At the 39th César Awards the film won the award for Best Cinematography.

Home media

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 4 June 2014 in France, and on 3 November 2015 in the United States.

External links

• The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet at IMDb
• The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet at Rotten Tomatoes