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Young Adam

  • 20032003
  • NC-17NC-17
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
14K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Ewan McGregor, Emily Mortimer, and Tilda Swinton in Young Adam (2003)
HV
Play trailer2:06
2 Videos
38 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama

A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.

IMDb RATING
6.4/10
14K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • David Mackenzie
  • Writers
    • Alexander Trocchi(novel)
    • David Mackenzie
  • Stars
    • Ewan McGregor
    • Tilda Swinton
    • Peter Mullan
Top credits
  • Director
    • David Mackenzie
  • Writers
    • Alexander Trocchi(novel)
    • David Mackenzie
  • Stars
    • Ewan McGregor
    • Tilda Swinton
    • Peter Mullan
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 121User reviews
    • 105Critic reviews
    • 67Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 17 nominations

    Videos2

    Young Adam
    Trailer 2:06
    Young Adam
    Young Adam
    Trailer 2:06
    Young Adam

    Photos38

    Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor and Emily Mortimer in Young Adam (2003)
    Tilda Swinton in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor and Emily Mortimer in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor and Emily Mortimer in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor and Peter Mullan in Young Adam (2003)
    Peter Mullan in Young Adam (2003)
    David Mackenzie in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor in Young Adam (2003)
    Ewan McGregor in Young Adam (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ewan McGregor
    Ewan McGregor
    • Joe Tayloras Joe Taylor
    Tilda Swinton
    Tilda Swinton
    • Ella Gaultas Ella Gault
    Peter Mullan
    Peter Mullan
    • Les Gaultas Les Gault
    Emily Mortimer
    Emily Mortimer
    • Cathie Dimlyas Cathie Dimly
    Jack McElhone
    Jack McElhone
    • Jim Gaultas Jim Gault
    Therese Bradley
    Therese Bradley
    • Gwenas Gwen
    Ewan Stewart
    Ewan Stewart
    • Daniel Gordonas Daniel Gordon
    Stuart McQuarrie
    Stuart McQuarrie
    • Billas Bill
    Pauline Turner
    Pauline Turner
    • Connieas Connie
    Alan Cooke
    • Bob M'bussias Bob M'bussi
    Rory McCann
    Rory McCann
    • Samas Sam
    Ian Hanmore
    Ian Hanmore
    • Freight Supervisoras Freight Supervisor
    Andrew Neil
    • Barmanas Barman
    Arnold Brown
    • Bowler Hat Manas Bowler Hat Man
    Meg Fraser
    Meg Fraser
    • Stall Womanas Stall Woman
    Stuart Bowman
    Stuart Bowman
    • Black Steet Pub Manas Black Steet Pub Man
    Wullie Brennan
    • Black Steet Pub Manas Black Steet Pub Man
    Rony Bridges
    Rony Bridges
    • Black Steet Pub Manas Black Steet Pub Man
    • Director
      • David Mackenzie
    • Writers
      • Alexander Trocchi(novel)
      • David Mackenzie
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Joe, a rootless young drifter, finds work on a barge travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh, owned by Les and his wife Ella. One afternoon they discover the corpse of a young woman floating in the water. Accident? Suicide? Murder? As the police investigate and suspect is arrested, we discover that Joe knows more than he is letting on. Gradually we learn of Joe's past relationship with the dead woman. Meanwhile an unspoken attraction develops between Joe and Ella, heightening the claustrophobic tensions in the confined space of the barge. —Anonymous
    • sex scene
    • public sex
    • outdoor sex
    • hand job
    • female nudity
    • 176 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ewan McGregor's nude scenes were originally going to be cut from the U.S. release, but after McGregor objected, the full-frontal nude scenes were put back in.
    • Goofs
      In a wide shot of the skyline of Glasgow from Kelvingrove Park, the Glasgow Tower can be seen on the horizon. The tower wasn't built until 2000.
    • Quotes

      Les Gault: What'd you do that for?

      Joe Taylor: I had no use for it.

      Les Gault: Must be worth something, though.

      Joe Taylor: Not to me.

    • Alternate versions
      The UK version contains a sex scene featuring Ewan McGregor. The MPAA has cut it from the US release for 2004.
    • Connections
      Featured in Indie Sex: Censored (2007)
    • Soundtracks
      THE RIO GRANDE
      Traditional

      Performed by Peter Mullan

    User reviews121

    Review
    Top review
    Knife in the Water
    If you love film, you know the first Polanski project, "Knife in the Water." It is a simple project: a couple, plus an extra man, confined on a boat. Sex.

    It is an important project, taking the seat of the characters and extending it into a space around them. The challenge for the actors is to project out into a haze that surrounds them. It only works because the space is confined, incidentally in a boat. Orson Welles conceived the idea but his project was unfinished. Polanski finished it.

    Polanski's project was told from the perspective of the couple. Presumably the man is a lawyer with his out-of-law wife (his mistress). It is all about laws of various kinds.

    Now imagine a project with the identical approach but told from the point of the drifter. What is his story? What is his haze?

    Watch the two together if you dare. This time around we have a more ostentatious art: beautiful staging, terrific lighting, hazy score. Absolutely controlled and contained acting. And yet at the same time we have the haze extending to grit, humanity, sweat, rutting.

    This time around that reality gives us more explicit and human sex. And more explicit law.

    You need to watch this, folks. It is intrinsically deep and engaging. Slow. Meditative. As with a Rembrandt, the meditative but intense emotion draws you into the haze, here shown many times as shadow (or coal dust, or water).

    One of our most serious actresses is Ms Tilda. I'll watch anything she chooses to throw herself into.

    Ewan chooses intelligent projects. You will discover that our drifter is a writer trying to do something different. It is why things are so hazy and non-linear, the typewriter underwater. The one explicitly folded shot quotes his "Moulin Rouge" folded typing.

    If you want to understand how actors put themselves on their skin, then their sweat, then the haze around them that is shared, then into your own haze... watch this.

    Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
    helpful•18
    6
    • tedg
    • Oct 27, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 26, 2003 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • France
    • Official site
      • Sony Picture Classics (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Thời Trai Trẻ
    • Filming locations
      • Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, UK
    • Production companies
      • Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
      • Scottish Screen
      • Film Council
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,400,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $767,373
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $50,278
      • Apr 18, 2004
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,561,820
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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