BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Stuart - A Life Backwards

**Posted by Davina** May 22, 2014 1:31 pm

He was Bane in Batman: Dark Knight Rises, also in Warrior. I bet you would struggle to recognise him physically in with of these films, compared with Stuart or TTSS. He was also I. this Means War with Chris Pine- not a great film but it has some funny, funny bits in it and they are both very pretty guys.

**Posted by tonnaree** May 22, 2014 2:26 pm

Tom Hardy also played an excellent villian in Star Trek - Nemisis.

**Posted by Russell** May 22, 2014 5:10 pm

And don't forget him in 'Inception'! He was awesome there…
But yeah… definitely one of those faces I didn't always recognize in something I saw him in, too! Badly want to see both of those guys in something so physically/emotionally different as this, as soon as I get around to finding it!

**Posted by tonnaree** May 22, 2014 7:30 pm

Oh, one more. He was amazing in Lawless. I would highly reccomend it.

**Posted by Regina Alexandra** June 18, 2014 1:11 am

This was a powerful movie about a friendship between two very different people. Both actors were very well cast and gave excellently crafted performances. Tom Hardy's was Oscar worthy. I am looking forward to seeing Hardy in Locke.

**Posted by Davina** June 18, 2014 10:11 pm

Me too!

**Posted by Wusel** July 30, 2014 10:49 pm

What a beautiful movie! Just seen it.
Benedict is so an absolutely brilliant actor- i have never seen someone before like him- never!
He gives so much meaning and depth in every role he takes.

**Posted by Liberty** July 31, 2014 5:47 am

It's great, isn't it? I love Tom Hardy in it as well. Both of them are wonderful at inhabiting characters, but are quite different.

I've just been looking back through the thread and noticed that people were struggling to hear the words. As Davina said, there is a subtitled (in English) version of the film on youtube now, but be careful - some of the subtitles are wrong. Funnily enough, I often struggle to hear actors in films, but I was impressed by how clear Tom Hardy was, given that his speech was slurred. I could hear just about every word (and certainly enough to know that the subtitles were wrong!). Maybe it's because I'm British and his accent is more familiar?

Last edited by Liberty (July 31, 2014 5:56 am)

**Posted by Ah-chie** January 26, 2015 6:38 pm

Here's the link for it on Youtube (there are Spanish subtitles at the bottom of the screen).

Really good film! I loved both of the actors in this. Ben discusses his approach to this role and the movie in general (as well there are shorts of TH being interviewed) which are quite interesting to view after you watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yccztMxwCuk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek3sf9ZWeak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5SbV8VQBvE

He really cares so much about getting into the skin of the characters he is doing. It motivates him to inhabit them when he is performing. And I think it is a very successful way of bringing realism to his acting. I know from what he said about his time as Alan Turing (referring to the last scene with KK where he actually went over the line and went beyond acting his tears) that he tries to keep a professional line there but when he does dive in with both feet his performance comes across so honest and believeable.

As it does in this movie. He has all the inflections and attitudes of Alexander Masters and you truly (at least I did) feel you are watching him relate a story that he cares so deeply about. TH and BC have such acting chemistry with this one!

Their characters are so opposites in nature and nuture but there is also a bonding of them together at the same time. BC's Masters doesn't quite understand the attraction he has to TH's homeless, violent, abused Stuart but he comes to empathise with him and is truly pained at the end of the film by his death.

Just a remarkable production (no doubt done on a shoestring budget). There is one humour scene that nearly had my side splitting - the one where Stuart and Masters go to the Local Riding rep and Stuart gives her a talk about the increase of homeless dying in the next season. BC's comedic timing is superb when he discovers the beer can he had to confiscate from Stuart overflowing in his jacket pocket and fumbles with it to very funny results. Just brilliant!! I don't know how the other two actors kept a straight face (or maybe they didn't and many takes were needed to get those glorious results).

BC is just sooooo good in this!

If you haven't seen it, I urge you to.

-Val

**Posted by Vhanja** January 26, 2015 6:46 pm

I watched this a couple of months ago, it's kind of a hidden gem. Ben was wonderful, of course, but I was also very imporessed with the guy playing Stuart. And impressed by the story. I love how Ben can choose the most wonderful stories to be a part of.

**Posted by Davina** January 29, 2015 11:09 am

Tom Hardy is a marvellous actor as well. It is hard to imagine how one person (as with Benedict) can be so very different from one role to another- Bane, Stuart, his character Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders, Tommy in Warrior (recommend this as well, if you haven't seen it, with Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton), This Means War (with Chris Pine), so many roles.

**Posted by tonnaree** January 29, 2015 2:44 pm

Davina wrote:
Tom Hardy is a marvellous actor as well. It is hard to imagine how one person (as with Benedict) can be so very different from one role to another- Bane, Stuart, his character Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders, Tommy in Warrior (recommend this as well, if you haven't seen it, with Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton), This Means War (with Chris Pine), so many roles.

I didn't realize Tom Hardy was in Peaky Blinders! Another reason I really need to watch that!

**Posted by Russell** January 29, 2015 7:43 pm

Davina wrote:
Tom Hardy is a marvellous actor as well. It is hard to imagine how one person (as with Benedict) can be so very different from one role to another- Bane, Stuart, his character Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders, Tommy in Warrior (recommend this as well, if you haven't seen it, with Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton), This Means War (with Chris Pine), so many roles.

Seriously… there's quite a few things I haven't seen him in since he/his work wasn't always 'on the radar' to me, other than being 'wow, he's a neat actor' when Tinker Tailor, Inception, and Bane came along. Thanks to hearing about the lesser known 'Stuart' from being a fan here, with those two in it? Man, can't wait to get around to seeing, especially since found someone put it english-subtitled on youtube after forgetting about it for a while, and hearing the above raves again. I heard he was fantastic in 'Locke', too, if you hadn't heard of that new one yet… pretty much carries the whole movie.

**Posted by Russell** February 9, 2015 12:25 am

So after finally getting around to watching 'Hawking', another thanks to Youtube-ers for putting up so much stuff that would be hard to find or see otherwise, to say nothing of also captioning it when accents are tough.

Aww… Stuart… this was a great story and Benedict and Tom were wonderful. Tom's personality/demeanors and downfall especially. Must admit I wasn't always crazy about the cinematography though - probably trying to add some 'oomph'/emphasize harshness with the cartoon interludes? Or maybe that's just me.
It did the job for being 'uncomfortably touching', though. Embarrassing to admit to myself several times while I watched that a lot of us, even if sympathize with those on the streets, still turn away like Alexander did, or feel uncomfortable, depending on the nature of the person/situation, or especially if 'bad elements' are involved. That a lot of us, and myself, are lucky to never see such a hard life. That there are so many who fall through the cracks through no fault of their own and have trouble getting society's help, and Stuart's insistence to Alexander of the boy he was (which he used to bare his soul in a strong message in their campaign 'speeches' together), plus their friendship was just… wow. Color me humbled and touched.

**Posted by ukaunz** March 16, 2015 12:46 pm

I watched Stuart: A Life Backwards today, without knowing anything about it beforehand. Like Alexander I was at first slightly disgusted but intrigued by Stuart. It's easy to judge someone like that by how they appear on the outside, but I'm so glad I was able to see (some of) his story. What a sad and disturbing but at times hilarious and heartwarming story. What a charismatic, intelligent person he must have been. It didn't take me long to feel compassion and affection for him, despite the violence and repugnance of some scenes. Thankfully there is plenty of humour and warmth to lighten this potentially depressing movie. I laughed so much at the scene where Stuart makes a sandwich for Alexander!

Tom Hardy was phenomenal in the role, almost eclipsing Benedict. However Benedict's acting in this film, while not showy, was arresting as usual. He showed Alexander's journey from disinterested shelter employee to becoming Stuart's close friend and confidante/biographer. I could see it was another role that was close to Benedict's heart.

I had downloaded the movie and started watching it this morning, but halfway through it I was struggling to understand much of Stuart's mumbled dialogue and had to look for a subtitle file to download. I'm glad I found one, even though some of the subtitles were incorrect. Someday I would like to read the book, to gain more insight into Stuart's life.

Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch:

Such beautiful men

Last edited by ukaunz (March 16, 2015 12:53 pm)

**Posted by SusiGo** March 16, 2015 12:58 pm

Wonderful film but I had problems in understanding Tom as well. So I read the book afterwards and understood many things that had escaped me before.

**Posted by ukaunz** March 16, 2015 9:05 pm

Oh, and this scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHXwJOWZeiY

I had forgotten about that song, I love it. Brings back fond memories of 1996, my university student days

Last edited by ukaunz (March 16, 2015 9:06 pm)