A Handful of dust

United Kingdom, 1988

Film
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Tony and Brenda Last (James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas) appear to be the perfect married ccouple - with money, position, a great country house and an adored son, John Andrew. When Tony inadvertently invites John Beaver (Rupert Graves), an idle and penniless young socialite, to stay for the weekend, he sets in motion a series of events which drastically disrupts the course of all their lives. Brenda drifts into an affair with the worthless Mr. Beaver, with disastrous consequences, particularly for Tony, who remains unaware of Brenda’s betrayal until the tragic death of their young son. As Brenda leaves home to take up a precarious life with her lover in London. Tony sets sail with an eccentric explorer on an expedition to the South American rain forests. Lost in the jungle and stricken by fever, Tony is rescued from death by the eccentric Mr. Todd (Alec Guinness) with unexpected and sinister results.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Charles Sturridge

producer

Derek Granger

production company

New Line Cinema

Stagescreen

Duration

01:58:00:00

Production places
United Kingdom
Production dates
1988

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

305077

Language

English

Audience classification

PG

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1446927

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/83816/ |title=A Handful of dust |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=7 May 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}