My Name Is Modesty

My Name Is Modesty
DVD cover
Directed by	Scott Spiegel
Produced by	Quentin Tarantino (executive) Marcelo Anciano Michael Berrow Ted Nicolaou
Written by	Lee Batchler Janet Scott-Batchler
Starring	Alexandra Staden Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Raymond Cruz Eugenia Yuan
Music by	Deborah Lurie
Cinematography	Vivi Dragan Vasile
Editing by	Michelle Harrison
Studio	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	2003 (2003)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

My Name Is Modesty is a 2003 American action film that was released direct-to-DVD. The film is based on the early years of the character Modesty Blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent.

This is the third production that brings Peter O'Donnell's character Modesty Blaise to the screen, following the feature film Modesty Blaise with Monica Vitti in 1966 and the TV pilot Modesty Blaise with Ann Turkel in 1982.

Premise

The film stars British actress Alexandra Staden as Modesty and chronicles a crucial event in the character's life some time prior to the start of the comic strip.

Cast

• Alexandra Staden
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
• Raymond Cruz
• Fred Pearson
• Eugenia Yuan
• Valentin Teodosiu
• Bianca Ana Tudorica

Production

After director Scott Spiegel filmed From Dusk till Dawn 2 in 1999, producer Harvey Weinstein asked Spiegel to direct My Name Is Modesty. Quentin Tarantino joined the filming as an executive producer.^[1] Filming took place in Bucharest, Romania and lasted 18 days. The film was produced pro forma for Miramax Films to maintain rights to the source material, the Modesty Blaise comic strip.^[2]

Release

My Name Is Modesty was released straight to DVD. Juan Morales of The New York Times called the film one of the "vivid examples of Mr. Spiegel’s sly, visual directing style".^[1] Joe Leydon of Variety opined that the film "isn't half-bad" and is a "mildly diverting time-killer".^[3] He went on to note, "Scripters Lee and Janet Scott Batchler concoct a scenario that often plays like the pilot for a syndicated teleseries. Budgetary and scheduling restraints require vet vidpic director Scott Spiegel... to keep most of the action within the casino set. Still, Spiegel sustains a reasonable level of tension while Modesty stalls for time. Climactic smackdown is suitably brisk, if predictable. Handsome lensing by Vivi Dragan Vasile is a plus."^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Morales, Juan (May 6, 2007). "His Friends: A Who’s Who. Him: Just ...Who?". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/movies/moviesspecial/06mora.html. 
2. ^ Ingram, Susan (2007). "Of Ruinous and Wasted Idylls: The Modesty of a Once-and-Future Literary History". In Gow, Andrew Colin. Hyphenated Histories: Articulations of Central European Bildung and Slavic Studies in the Contemporary Academy. pp. 52–57. ISBN 9004162569. http://books.google.com/books?id=Z33lYP30tCMC&lpg=PA52&dq=%22my%20name%20is%20modesty%22%20spiegel&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q=%22my%20name%20is%20modesty%22&f=false. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Leydon, Joe (November 30, 2004). "My Name Is Modesty". Variety. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5tTY8Kz9u. 

External links

• My Name Is Modesty at the Internet Movie Database