<< Return To Your Search Results

The Lost World of Mr Hardy
	In Stock, Ships Immediately!		DVD: $19.99

		fly fishing, documentary, angling, fishing, history, business, England, archive, salmon, trout

Film Overview

Directed By: Andy Heathcote Directed By: Heike Bachelier View Official Website	Release Date: 2008-03-15 Running Time: 1:37 Content Rating: GA (General Audience)	DVD Region: 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories Media Format: NTSC-DVD Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Audio Language(s): English Subtitle Language(s): English, French, Japanese
Genres: Documentary >> History :: Documentary >> Sports :: Documentary >> Places :: Documentary >> Art & Artists :: Documentary >> Biography :: Documentary >> International :: Special Interests >> Outdoor Recreation :: Hard to Classify :: Sports >> Fishing :: Travel >> Europe :: Travel >> Special Categories Influences: A river runs through it // modern times // etre et avoir // a passion for angling // rod and line // one six left // note by note

Synopsis

Documentary – UK - 96 minutes

Once upon a time people made things with their hands, beautiful, intricate items like cane fishing rods and exotic salmon flies. One company did this best and were loved the world over; Hardy's fishing tackle was adored by royalty, maharajas and film stars alike. Their attention to detail and quality brought fulfilment and pride to a work place where whole generations of families worked together. Now this has all but gone and we live in a world of mass production, globalisation and outsourcing. But do we miss those days? Is there something special about the pride and feel of the handmade that reflects a deeper need in our everyday life?

Cast

himself: James L. Hardy | bio
Ex director House of Hardy
himself: Jon Ward-Allen | bio
Publisher of Waterlog magazine and the Medlar Press
himself: Edward Barder | bio
Rod builder
himself: Chris Lythe | bio
Centre Pin Reel maker
himself: Richard Sanderson | bio
MD Hardy' & Greys Ltd
himself: L. R. Hardy | bio
MD Hardy Brothers & Hardy's of Alnwick

Crew

Director: Andy Heathcote | bio
I was a fanatical fly fisherman in my youth until I had to move south (UK) and trade in my angler’s pipe and Corona silk line for a camera and a career in filmmaking. After a degree in photography I progressed to camerawork and then editing at the BBC and commercials companies in London’s Soho. Film school took me to Lodz, to the renowned Polish Film School. Since then I have directed nearly forty films of all shapes and sizes, won many film prizes and my films like “English Goodbye” and “Sound Like Sunlight” have been selected for many of the most best film festivals in the world.

After many, many years away I took a trip back up to Scotland and could finally rediscover my fishing. A big relief. (However I must admit to being pretty rubbish compared to the 15 year old, I once was.)

Fly fishing had always been an excuse to be in the countryside yet to feel like I had a purpose there. Filmmaking however was another animal, a way to explore and better understand the world we live in. If only I could combine these, the two greatest passions of my life.
Director: Heike Bachelier | bio
A few years ago seeking refuge from the mad media circus where I spend most of my life I escaped to Scotland's Outer Hebrides. It was an unforgettable holiday. It was here that Andy introduced me to fishing. The damage was done and I soon cheerfully abandoned my salaried television production career to instead make more meaningful films. The following year I was persuaded to take a professional casting lesson. I was soon hooked on fishing and spent many frustrating days at crystal clear streams in beautiful countryside scaring fish with my furious casting techniques. When Andy suggested making a film about Hardy’s I jumped on board.

I must admit that making a film about fishing was never my first ambition. However I was astounded at what the film revealed about our world of today by tracking the evolution of angling and showing the fortunes of one family business in our changing times.

My own career began in Munich, Germany, studio directing TV shows whilst studying for my Master’s in Political Science. On graduation I produced feature films and documentaries for German public television. After that came the enforced solitude that accompanies the writing of two feature film scripts. These complete it was then fantastic to realise that with the recent developments in technology it’s now possible to pack all the gear we need into a modest car, drive off into the sunset and make the films we always wanted.
Director of Photography: Andy Heathcote | bio
I was a fanatical fly fisherman in my youth until I had to move south (UK) and trade in my angler’s pipe and Corona silk line for a camera and a career in filmmaking. After a degree in photography I progressed to camerawork and then editing at the BBC and commercials companies in London’s Soho. Film school took me to Lodz, to the renowned Polish Film School. Since then I have directed nearly forty films of all shapes and sizes, won many film prizes and my films like “English Goodbye” and “Sound Like Sunlight” have been selected for many of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

After many, many years away I took a trip back up to Scotland and could finally rediscover my fishing. A big relief. (However I must admit to being pretty rubbish compared to the 15 year old, I once was.)

Fly fishing had always been an excuse to be in the countryside yet to feel like I had a purpose there. Filmmaking however was another animal, a way to explore and better understand the world we live in. If only I could combine these, the two greatest passions of my life.
Picture Editor: Heike Bachelier | bio
A few years ago seeking refuge from the mad media circus where I spend most of my life I escaped to Scotland's Outer Hebrides. It was an unforgettable holiday. It was here that Andy introduced me to fishing. The damage was done and I soon cheerfully abandoned my salaried television production career to instead make more meaningful films. The following year I was persuaded to take a professional casting lesson. I was soon hooked on fishing and spent many frustrating days at crystal clear streams in beautiful countryside scaring fish with my furious casting techniques. When Andy suggested making a film about Hardy’s I jumped on board. I must admit that making a film about fishing was never my first ambition. However I was astounded at what the film revealed about our world of today by tracking the evolution of angling and showing the fortunes of one family business in our changing times. My own career began in Munich, Germany, studio directing TV shows whilst studying for my Master’s in Political Science. On graduation I produced feature films and documentaries for German public television. After that came the enforced solitude that accompanies the writing of two feature film scripts. These complete it was then fantastic to realise that with the recent developments in technology it’s now possible to pack all the gear we need into a modest car, drive off into the sunset and make the films we always wanted.
Composer: Stephen Daltry | bio
I really enjoyed exploring “The Lost World of Mr Hardy” even if my own fishing experience is limited to catching mackerel in Lyme Bay at twelve. I grew up on the other end of Hadrian’s Wall from Alnwick, up on the Solway Firth and I will always remember watching the half-net fishermen there. However, I feel a strong connection with the landscape and people of this film. Nature has always been important to me. It is no coincidence that I am influenced by composers like Debussy and Delius. They also had a very strong connection with nature.

For me part of the profound nature of music is that it can transport you back to the past and propel you forward. The stories and skills of people like fly dresser Ken Middlemist are important and fascinating to me. They are the voices of a disappearing world and it is rewarding if my music can underline this.

I met Andy at the National Film School, where I studied composing for films, and wrote the music for his short drama “Katarzyna” which was followed by several corporate films together and then his drama “English Goodbye” in 1999. Andy has a strong connection to nature too, which shows in his films. The characters are always influenced by their surrounding, landscape speaks for them, reveals their thoughts. Maybe that is why our working relationship has grown; it is driven by a similar force.

I specialise mainly in documentaries -”The Hunt” (BBC/ZDF, Winner of the Cultural Prix Italia 99), two films about Princess Diana for ITV, films about Catherine Cookson and Oscar Wilde and I am currently composing for a film about the life of Grand Duchess Charlotte for Luxembourg cinema and TV.
Sound Design: Peter Hodges
Production Company: Trufflepig Films

Accolades

Festivals

Moray Film Festival, Scotland
Festival of Fishing, Cumbria

Press Reviews

Fieldsports Magazine, Jason Hill | show/hide snippet
"Savour the glorious story...relish every minute".

Set aside an hour and a half of your time, close the door and settle into an easy chair. Then watch The Lost World of Mr. Hardy and savour the glorious story of how a small company from the tiny town of Alnwick in Northumberland managed to capture the very hearts and minds of anglers throughout the world.
Angling purists, anyone who has North East connections, avid Hardy collectors and everyone who respects traditional craftsmanship will relish every minute of this film, a firstclass documentary that entertains, teaches and inspires in equal measure.
Classic Angling Magazine, Keith Eliott | show/hide snippet
"Unmissable. Buy it now".

Ah, but those golden days! Hardy was once the biggest employer in the Northumberland town of Alnwick. For fishermen, a trip to London and visiting Hardy’s in Pall Mall was akin to seeing
Buckingham Palace. Hardy ruled the world, supplying tackle to maharajahs, film stars and royalty.
The film-makers, Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier, tell the Hardy story with sympathy and a touch of hope, not for Hardy’s perhaps, but for those who still believe in hand-making beautiful things. Every reader of this magazine will love this DVD ... it has pace, some wonderful anecdotes, sensitive filming and tight editing. You know the ending, but you won’t want it to end.
Enhanced by great footage from the Hardy archives of the 1920s, including a quite wonderful sequence of a ghillie doing all the hard work with a 40lb Norwegian salmon, while the angler claims the glory and leaves the ghillie to carry back both rod and fish. Unmissable. Buy it now.
Taunted By Waters by Editor Jeffrey Prest | show/hide snippet
Pressure of space in Trout Fisherman magazine’s review section meant that the books squeezed out this delightful DVD. No way could I let it pass into the ‘out’ tray un-noted, however.
I had two reservations as I slid it into the DVD player: firstly, that it would be a dry, earnest and ultimately dull backtrack through the annals of Britain’s famous Hardy company. Secondly, that it would show every sign of the director being in thrall to the company’s PR department.

Completely wrong on both counts. As fascinating as it is independent, Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier’s film fuses grainy footage and photographs from the company’s past with an enchanting score composed by Stephen Daltry.
Always staying the right side of sentimentality, it is an oral history; its script written as it happened by the recollections of men who invested much of their working life in what is a British angling institution. To a man, they are noticeably unfaltering in their speech and memories; a sign, perhaps, of people discussing a passion rather than just a job.
And the PR people, you suspect, got nowhere near it. The camera is unflinching as it records the visible unease of the managing director recalling the sleepless nights he had while preparing to implement the fresh directions in which he felt Hardys had to move.

Flyfishing is not without its ugliness, be it pollution, declining stocks or the anti-social jerk who thinks his fly box is covered by the Official Secrets Act. Yet it retains a calm and gentleness capable of enchanting even the outsider. For all the wistfulness of its tale, The Lost World of Mr Hardy captures those qualities perfectly and is a credit to its makers and Hardy alike.
Trout & Salmon Magazine, Richard Baker | show/hide snippet
"Essential".

The Lost World Of Mr. Hardy tells the story of the Hardy tackle company by way of glorious archive films and photographs, and interviews with current and retired Hardy workers, with contributions from modern independent craftsmen, notably reel maker Chris Lythe and rod maker Edward Barder. It is nostalgic and romantic. On one level an historic record, on another a lament for lost manufacturing prowess... Simply, you are left wanting more. This is a beautiful film, several cuts above much angling viewing, and one that could be broadcast on mainstream television. Essential.
Fly Fishing & Fly Tying Magazine, Magnus Angus | show/hide snippet
When The Lost World of Mr Hardy arrived I sat down to grab a few minutes viewing over a cup of coffeee. Ninety three minutes later I watched the last frame... We can get the film quality out of the way quite quickly: superb image quality, first class editing, excellent sound, pleasing original music. A good start then... An exceptionally well made, hugely entertaining and thought-provoking documentary - I can't recommend it highly enough!
Fishingmagic.com website, Bryan Baron | show/hide snippet
Filmmakers Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier have created an excellent documentary and the big companies could learn a thing from these two independent film makers. This DVD will appeal to all who have a passion for angling and I think it will be a future classic. I therefore give it 10 out of 10.
Viva Lewes (The What's On Guide) | show/hide snippet
In the 1880s a pair of Northumbrian brothers started making fly fishing reels and rods with the sort of laborious care that perfectly suited this gentle and precise sport. Within a couple of decades they had created a business which was a byword for excellence, becoming the market town’s biggest employer, and the market leader in quality fishing tackle of all sorts, from split cane fly rods to huge bespoke reels for marlin fishing.
This documentary using modern-day interviews with employees of the company and old footage, examines the heyday of Hardy’s, and its inevitable modern-age metamorphosis into a different type of company where mass production of fishing tackle is largely done in the Far East.
The slow-moving, languid style of the documentary suits its subject matter perfectly, and you find yourself transported into another world, when quality products were built with love and care, to last forever. It’s not preaching to the converted: while fishermen of all types will delight in this film, it’s geared to the layman, too, as the story it tells is universal. Oh, and it’s beautifully shot, too, and weighted as precisely as an expert cane-rod fly cast.
I asked the film-makers, who are based in Selmeston, to send me a review copy, and they kindly obliged. I’ve already started raving about it. There’s a happy ending, too, of sorts, as it looks at a handful cottage-industry craftsmen who have stepped into the gap in the market, still using the laborious techniques and natural materials that made Hardy’s such a well-respected company.
Pure Piscator, Malcolm Cullen | show/hide snippet
"A lush and beautifully made film"
...and a real treat for anyone interested in the traditions of quality vintage fishing tackle and the history of Hardy's. The filming is excellent and has the feel of a big screen production rather than that of a television documentary. You will find no snappy editing or quick 'bites'; there is plenty of time to enjoy the places and the people involved, both past and present, in making fine fishing tackle. The music has been specially composed by Stephen Daltry, and I am sure many will be ordering the film score music CD when it is available from Trufflepig Films.
The Lost World of Mr.Hardy is a film to enjoy again and again, not just for the information but for a hefty dose of that misty, nostalgic comfort of the past. It shows the age of the British Empire, when Hardy's were at the top of their game, their fishing tackle the best, created mostly by hand in Alnwick by the people who used it. The film has been described as a 'requiem' for British manufacturing in the face of global competition, but that aspect is almost incidental to the main theme, which is the very human story behind the manufacture of what was the finest fishing tackle in the world.
Malcolm Cullen, Pure Piscator
The Times, Ken Russell | show/hide snippet
"Spectacular new fishing documentary casts its spell"

Customer Reviews

My film review...
My first reel was a gift from my father, it was a Hardy. He has a breathtaking collection of Hardy reels from his many years of being involved in the Fly Fishing industry. I was given the opportunity to photograph many of them recently for him. My favorite was his "The Perfect Fly Reel" I can not wait to gift this Film to him and view it with him. I will post an update once viewed.
-Robin, Burien, WA, United States