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Hanna: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:20:07 +0000

Rarely do you get so much fine acting, action and suspense all packed into one jet-fueled, 70s-Euro-esq thrill ride as you do in Hanna. Step aside Sucker Punch, it’s time for some real bad-ass chicks to take control. The film stars the impressive cast of the young and talented Saoirse Ronan; Cate Blanchette one of the best baddies there is; Eric Bana who provides both the depth and heart needed in the film; and finally Tom Hollander with one of his creepiest performances to date.

Director Joe Wright has made one of the most interesting and yet simple action films in theaters, which (aside from Source Code) is really the only thing worth seeing.Find out why it’s worth seeing below.

The Players:

Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Seth Lochhead and David Farr
Actor: Saoirse Ronan (interview), Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Barden, Tom Hollander
Original Music by: Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (as The Chemical Brothers)
Cinematography by: Alwin H. Kuchler

The Plot:

Hanna has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a soldier; but the brain and social aptitude of a young child. She’s been raised by her ex-CIA father in the wilds of Finland. She is sent into the world by her father on a mission, while a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own tries to hunt her down.

The Good:

Action and Acting: Finally, an action film that actually hires solid actors to give real performances so that when the action scenes kick in, you actually care about them! All the characters have layers that are not fully explained, but felt by the audience and leave you intrigued. Who knew actions films could be so much fun!?
The Music: If you don’t see this film, you must buy the soundtrack. The music sets the pace for the film from the very beginning — it begins with a fast beat that lays underneathth the film like a heartbeat that just keeps beating, faster and faster. It’s relentless. Then they integrate a childlike innocence to it which they bring in at some of the most intense moment — perfectly balancing the naivety of the character with the growing dark and macabre atmosphere . Just be careful if you listen to it while driving, you’ll want to go fast, very fast.
The Pace: As was said about the music, the film sets a fast pace from the first moment the screen lights up and keeps a fast moving pace through to the bitter end. You won’t need to worry about feel the weight of this film’s length, it breezes right along.
The Old/Euro Feel: There’s something this film that reminds you of a 70′s, Italian, action thriller — but brought to modern times and presented in a modern way. It’s absolutely wonderful because it takes the best of that era and brings it to modern cinema. Very nice touch.

The Bad:

The Inciting Event: One could pick apart this and a few other details from the film that really don’t make perfect sense. There are definitely some things that could absolutely never happen, but because of how strong the rest of the film is, for some reason I didn’t really mind the problems with the story and enjoyed some of the more inconceivable action scenes — they all seemed to help the story move along and didn’t outwardly hurt the story. I’m a stickler for this kind of stuff, but they did such a good job of tying it into the film and making it their own that it didn’t really hurt them. So why not!?

Overall:

Really great film that will keep your heart pumping while watching some fine acting on the big screen. Go see it! Make it a double bill with Source Code!

Rating: 8/10

Hanna is in theaters starting April 11th.

Trailer:

Interview: Saoirse Ronan Takes on Hanna

Mali Elfman — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:00:44 +0000

Saoirse Ronan has quickly established herself as one of the most powerful, young actress on the big screen. She took on the complex emotional challenges of Atonement, the psychological depths of Lovely Bones and now mixes them all together in one bad-ass, yet sweetly naive, heroine in Hanna. There are very few 15-year-olds who would be able to handle such a complex role, with multiple languages, intense fight choreography, layers of intrigue, all while leading the way in a Joe Wright action/thriller — yet for Saoirse, it’s all in a days work. Find out how she does it and what crazy artist inspires her…

Growing up, had you always wanted as an actor to play a kickass heroine?

SR: It wasn’t really something I thought about to be honest. I’ve always been quite an active person especially when I was younger. When I was in primary school, I used to play lots of sports. I was a sprinter and I did basketball and swimming and Gaelic football and things like that. So I always thought, I guess, that it would be fun to incorporate that much physical activity and work into a dramatic piece. That’s kind of what this film turned out to be. I thought it was simply just going to be an action film but it ended up being very layered so it was nice to have both and work with both.

What was it like reuniting with Joe after Atonement? What was the experience?

SR: It was fantastic. I mean, the relationship that we had on “Atonement” kind of followed through into “Hanna” and just developed even more so. I suppose just like getting to know a friend better really. Professionally, we got to know each other and understand each other even more so, and on a personal level as well, which was nice. It felt more like a collaboration on this film and it was something that I really felt like we were doing together. It was a new direction for both of us. So we were taking a risk by doing this and it was exciting. It was exciting to share that with someone who I’d gotten on so well with four years prior.

What was your training like? How long did it take you?

SR: I trained for a couple of months before I started and I would do about two hours a day in the gym. I’d work out and I’d do weightlifting and treadmills and benchpressing and things like that. Lovely, lovely things that I want to carry on with. I did martial arts as well for about two hours in the evening. So I’d workout for about 4-1/2 to 5 hours a day for a few months.

Which of the skills you learned will be most useful in real life?

SR: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I use them all. I’ve got my Lugar at home. I didn’t bring it away with me but… well, not the sticks really. When am I ever going to stick fight anyone? Although it is fun. Well guns always come in handy, not in real life. I don’t use guns. But I did a film since then and I did use guns for that. And I kind of knew what to expect and I knew how to handle a gun and I knew right now you’re supposed to put it down when you’re not using it. You know, basic things like that. So I guess that would come in pretty handy.

Your character knows a lot of facts about the world but is kind of experiencing everything for the first time. What was that like for you getting into that head space?

SR: I kind of thought of Hanna’s mind, although in some ways it was very well developed – she’s kind of like a baby. She’s stepping out into the world, and although she’s right about all these things and knows all these facts and is fluent in all these languages, she doesn’t really know about life. I think she’s just constantly in a state of shock and excitement and awe and fascination the whole time throughout her journey. One thing that I find really interesting about Hanna is that she’s only grown up with her father — her whole like that’s the only person she’s had for her company. She’s never really been in the company of a female, so when she encounters Rachel and Sophie who are members of the family that she stays with for a while, she’s fascinated by them and she falls in love with the idea of a more well developed version of her own gender, I guess. And so I really liked that about Hanna.

What is it about emotionally interesting different roles? There’s a lot of actors your age that are not taking on the challenges you’re taking on. What is it that attracts you to these types of characters and roles and what do you look forward to be able to do with them?

SR: They’re very interesting. It’s sort of an impulse thing, I think, when I read a script. I’ll just know from reading it whether it’s a character that I’ve fallen in love with, and if somebody else gets to do it, I’ll feel awful about it. But if they get it, it’s fine. I like to play characters that are different from me and most of the characters that I’ve played have been entirely different from me. And that’s it really. I think just I like to try things that are different, things that are interesting for me and simply a character that I’ve just fallen in love with really. And when I can’t get the character out of my head, and I’m in my bedroom and I start to actually act out the scenes that I’ve read in a script, I think okay, I really want to do this.

What was your favorite and least favorite part of the character of Hanna?

SR: My favorite part is that she loves music. She realizes she loves music. And my least favorite part is she doesn’t kiss the Spanish guy. She throws him to the ground. I don’t know. I’m just going to say that. I don’t really have a least favorite part. But I didn’t agree with her doing that. He was cute, wasn’t he?

We saw that you had a special birthday while you were shooting. Americans call it a Sweet 16.

SR: It’s so sweet! I spent my Sweet 16 in Berlin in a housing estate. I don’t know. I think it was near Leipzig or something. It was very glamorous.

How did you celebrate?

SR: Well the day of my 16th birthday I was working and I remember the scene as well. It was when I was in my grandmother’s apartment. Katrin is the grandmother’s name. And Eric and I have a fight and I jump out the window and do all that stuff. So it was lovely. But my birthday celebration was going to see Lady Gaga. I’m a massive fan.

When she was in Berlin, I’m obsessed with this girl and it was my first time going to see her and I actually took Joe Wright to go and see her. And I don’t know if you’ve met Joe already but he doesn’t seem like a Little Monster. He actually invited himself. We were in the pit of the O2 Arena in Berlin. There were like all these people dressed up, gay guys everywhere, everyone was going crazy. We were all loving Gaga and I turned around every now and again and every single time Joe would just have his hands crossed like this staring at the screen like a granddad, kind of bopping his head. It was very funny.

Check out Saoirse Ronan kick-ass in Hanna, starting Friday, April 8th, in theaters!

New Clips from Hanna: Cate Blanchette and Scary Germans

Mali Elfman — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:03:01 +0000

Two new clips for Joe Wright‘s action-packed thriller Hanna have just been sent over from Focus and they’ve got some great moments in them that you have to check out. The film stars one of the most talented young actresses currently working today, Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Atonement) as Hanna with Eric Bana and Cate Blanchette in supporting roles, and Tom Hollander is one of his creepiest performances to date. In the clips you get to see a lot of the set up that makes the film so great. The action is fun, but it’s the characters that keep us interested and this film has a ton of “colorful” characters. Check them out below…

Cate Blanchette get’s serious in “Safari Club” clip:

Prepare to have this theme stuck in your head after the movie. They do a very clever job of intertwining it into the film in different ways to add a sweet, childlike essence to the evil Germans coming to get Hanna; who you can see in the clip below…

See Saoirse as Hanna in action in this clip entitled “Don’t Follow Me”:

These just make we want to see the film again… or at least put the soundtrack back on. The Chemical Brothers have created an amazing sound for the film that goes great for driving fast through traffic.

You can receive free download of a The Chemical Brothers song (as featured on the soundtrack) if you purchase tickets for the film on Fandango or MovieTickets.

Will you check out the film?

New Photos From Joe Wright’s Hanna

Krystal Clark — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:37:38 +0000

Some new images have premiered online from Joe Wright’s teen assassin flick Hanna. The movie stars Saoirse Ronan as the title character, who looks unassuming on the outside but is a lean, mean killing machine. Aussie actors Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett also star as opposing forces trying to control the teen. Check out the latest batch of photos…

Official Synopsis:

Raised by her father (Eric Bana of Star Trek), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

Hanna opens in theaters everywhere on April 8.

What do you think of the new photos from Hanna? Are you interested in seeing the film?

Source: Cinemablend

Saoirse Ronan Cast in The Hobbit

Krystal Clark — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:39:26 +0000

Earlier today we learned that The Hobbit would undergo a slight production delay. Director Peter Jackson had a bit of a health scare and was required to undergo surgery for an ulcer. Even though that rained on our parade, we have something positive to make up for it. According to IFTN, Jackson’s The Lovely Bones star Saoirse Ronan has joined the cast of The Hobbit!

We seriously didn’t see this casting coming. Thus far, many of the stars featured in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy have been announced to reprise their roles including Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, and even Elijah Wood. Ronan’s character is currently unknown but casting director Ros Hubbard said the actress will have a great time during the shoot.

“[W]orking with Peter Jackson is like working with a family,” says Hubbard, “So they’ll have a great time. Saoirse’s family will go too. Everyone is very close and very loving on those sorts of jobs. It’s not like typical studio movies at all.”

Hmm, but what does this all mean? For those of you who are familiar with The Hobbit, who could Ronan play? Perhaps the younger version of a female character from Lord of the Rings?

What do you think of Ronan joining The Hobbit?

Brand New Poster for Hanna – Adapt or Die

Krystal Clark — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:33:41 +0000

Someone better watch out because Hanna is on the prowl. A new poster has been released for Joe Wright’s juvenile action flick that centers on a teenage assassin. This one sheet gives a new meaning to the term “eye of the tiger.” Check out the rest of Saoirse Ronan and her deadly stare below…

Official Synopsis:

Raised by her father (Eric Bana of Star Trek), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

Besides Ronan, Hanna stars Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, and Jason Flemyng. He’s in everything isn’t he?

Hanna opens in theaters everywhere on April 8.

What do you think of the new poster for Hanna? Are you excited about the film?

The Way Back: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:00:34 +0000

This week in theaters Peter Weir’s epic The Way Back featuring a stellar ensemble cast with Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan freezing in the Himalayas and scorching across the Siberian desert hits theaters this Friday January 21st. The film is an example of a cinema master at work. Everything about this film was exceptionally well crafted. I guess that’s what happens when the film is lead by a director who has been nominated for six Academy Awards. The film literally takes you on the journey with this group of survivors and engrosses you in their experience — the problem is, is this a journey you want to go on?

Let’s take a look….

The Players:

Director: Peter Weir
Screenplay Writers: Keith R. Clarke and Peter Weir
Novel By: Slavomir Rawicz
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexandru Potocean, Mark Strong, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Dragos Bucur
Original Music by: Burkhard von Dallwitz
Cinematography by: Russell Boyd

The Plot:

Based on the novel, “The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom” a group of Concentration Camp survivors escape a Siberian gulag and walk over 4000 miles to freedom in India.

The Good:

The Acting: Many of us fell in love with Saoirse Ronan when we first saw her in Atonement, and she just keeps on impressing us, over and over again. I could highlight every member of this cast, but the truth is, this is truly an ensemble piece led by Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris, but really it’s about the group. The trick with ensemble casts is that everyone has to be good all the time. Whether it be the actors, the casting director, or Weir’s directions, the entire cast worked wonderfully together and literally carried the film on their weary shoulders. Farrell got a bit pushy with his acting in the start, but once he starts drinking he’s back on track!
The Craftsmanship: I would say the cinematography immediately jumps out at you, but the truth is that everything from the use of sound design, to lightly played music, to the make-up, to every detail of the film was extremely well done. There’s no doubt that Weir is an expert filmmaker who surrounds himself with an an exceptional crew.
Severity Without Violence: Though this film is extremely serious in nature, the one thing that it’s missing is graphic violence and all I can say is hallelujah! We get what happens when we see an animal, they pull out a knife and then they’re eating, we don’t need any more information than that! What’s nice about this film is that they don’t go for shock value or gory effects in order to make this the experience that it is.

The Good/Bad:

The LOOONG Walk: You have to give Weir credit for really making you FEEL like you’ve gone on such an extreme journey with these characters, but it’s not one that is always easy to watch nor enjoyable — though that is the point! This journey was extraordinarily difficult and near impossible, sadly at times the weight of the film rests on your shoulders and makes for a very heavy experience. They did a good job at making the audience a part of the film, I just don’t know if it’s the type of journey people are going to be eager to take.

The Bad:

The After Effects: I think this film actually took about 6 minutes of my life just out of pure sadness. As I said, it’s a journey, and it’s well made, but it’s not enjoyable and I found that it stuck with me for sometime after and wouldn’t let me out of that state of mind for some time. Now some people may love this, I respect it, but it just wasn’t for me.

Overall:

This is a powerful film made by some of the finest filmmakers currently working. The craftsmanship is remarkable and the cinematography is stunning.

Rating: 6.5/10

Check out The Way Back in theaters January 21st.

Photo Gallery:

Saoirse Ronan Snaps Necks in Hanna Movie Trailer

Krystal Clark — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:49:33 +0000

Saoirse Ronan is kicking ass and taking names later in the first trailer for Joe Wright’s teen assassin flick Hanna. Unlike Hit Girl in Kick-Ass, Hanna has less of a foul mouth and more of a deadly aim. She’s acrobatic, smart, and quick on her feet. Who do you think would win in a fight? It’s hard to tell. Check out the trailer…

Are we the only ones who get a Jodie Foster from Silence of the Lambs vibe from Cate Blanchett in this trailer? And the choice of music at the end of it is hilarious but odd. Other than that, we’re interested in seeing what else this movie has to offer.

Synopsis:

Hanna (Ronan) is a teenage girl. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider; these come from being raised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Sweden. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

Hanna is scheduled to hit theaters on April 8, 2011.

What do you think of the first trailer for Hanna?

Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini Join Violet and Daisy

Krystal Clark — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:34:30 +0000

Saoirse Ronan is really starting to turn into an untrustworthy character actress. She played a lying manipulator in Joe Wright’s Atonement, she’s also the lead in his upcoming assassin film Hanna, and now she’s getting locked and loaded for another drama called Violet & Daisy. According to Variety, Ronan and James Gandolfini will team up in the film that centers on a couple of “hit girls.”

Violet & Daisy will be directed by Geoffrey Fletcher and follows “a pair of pair of teenage assassins (Ronan and Carey Mulligan) who are lured into what is supposed to be just another quick and easy job, only to find complications as the man they’re supposed to kill is not what they expected.” It seems kind of strange that Mulligan has once gain been cast as a teenager, but she does have a youthful face so we guess it’s believable.

Fletcher will direct from a screenplay he’s written. He previously penned the script for Precious, which he won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for in early 2010. Violet & Daisy will mark his directorial debut and according to him, he wants to make a film that’s “full of left turns.”

What do you think of the premise and cast for Violet & Daisy? Are you interested in the film?

The Lovely Bones: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:50:38 +0000

Peter Jackson took on more than he might have bargained for with the film adaptation of The Lovely Bones. The film is constantly walking the line between disturbing and beautiful, and overall it is a success, just not the full success that it had the potential to be. There is no debating that this is one of beautiful films that you’ll see all year, with phenomenal performances across the board. It is filled to the brim with many wonderful qualities that carry you along throughout the film, and it’s great to see Jackson taking a risk on such a tricky novel. Sadly, as much as I wanted to love the film, I didn’t, at least not as much as I hoped I would.

Lets take a look at what what right and what went not so right…

The Players:

The Director: Peter Jackson
The Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli, Rose McIver
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson

The Plot:

The Lovely Bones is based on the best selling book by Alice Sebold, and is told from the perspective of Susan Salmon, a 14-year-old suburban girl who is raped and murdered by her neighbor on her way home from school. After her murder, she lives in the “in between” and watches her family adjust to her being gone and tries to help them find her killer.

The Good:

Saoirse Ronan: Man can that girl act. She’s open, honest, and takes an extremely difficult role and tackles it head on.
Stanley Tucci: A film is only as strong as its villain. For someone so sweet and charming, he can switch from the guy next door to your worst nightmare in the blink of an eye without any obvious changes.
The Use of Colors: The use of lighting and colors added a tremendous amount to the depth of the film. From the darkness of reality to the beautiful colors during the dream-like sequences while she’s in the “in between”, the film feels like a painting come to life.

The Bad:

The Sign-Posting: Everything is pointed out to you and you’re not left to discover anything on your own. As an audience, we get that certain things in the start of the movie might come into play later, we don’t need to hang on to every tiny little thing for an extra 3 seconds with some eerie music to MAKE SURE that we see exactly what’s coming.
Special Effects: Although they were good, it felt like they forced in a few too many because, hey, they could! The simple effects, such as the flickering light or shifts in color were often far more effective then the big budget extravaganzas.
Run-time: Yet again, it was far too long for its own good. Keep it simple.
Redemption: (Spoiler Alert) The film involves the rape and murder of a child, by a man who seems to be evil for no good reason, as a audience we need some redemption. We need to know that things aren’t that fucked up. In a different movie you could get away with it, but in this film, with this rating, the ending needed to come together in a more satisfying way.
“Huh?” Moments: There are a few moments that character-wise the plot just doesn’t make sense. Yes, these are extraordinary circumstances, but the heart of this film lies in the humanity of it, and therefore the characters have to act like real people. Through no fault of the actors certain events played out in completely unrealistic ways which took away from the dark reality that the film was trying to hit you with. Without the “realness” you’re taken out of the dream and can no longer sit in awe of the beauty that is in front of you.

Summary:

Overall, this is an interesting film and it is beautiful to watch, but something about it made me feel like it wasn’t fully realized or pushed to its greatest potential. If you are going to see it, see it in theaters because that’s where you can take in the full wonder of it, don’t want for the DVD.

Rating: 6/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Interview: The Dark Side of Lovely Bones

Mali Elfman — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:33:48 +0000

What makes The Lovely Bones so special is its extremely disturbing and yet oddly beautiful tone. The only way to get to heaven is through death, and in the case of Susie Salmon, played by Saoirse Ronan, it’s a brutal passage. The film involves a rape and murder of a child, by a man who seems to be evil for no good reason. Peter Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg and Ronan all stepped onto the project weary about the subject matter but optimistic about how the could represent the light that shines through the dark….

What were the challenges when adapting this? I understand that there was a lot of stuff shot that wasn’t in the book….

Peter Jackson: Any film that I’ve done usually shoots scenes that don’t end up in the final cut but in my mind there’s no such thing as a perfect adaptation of a book. The master work is the book. Alice Sebold’s novel is “The Lovely Bones,” that is the work that has got everything in it, every character, every subplot and that’s the way you should experience the story as its more pure form. A film adaptation of any book, especially “The Lovely Bones,” is only ever going to be a souvenir, it’s going to be like an impression of aspects of the book. So to me, to adapt a book is not a question of making a carbon copy, it’s impossible. To include everything, the film would be five or six hours long. It’s a personal impression. Basically Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and myself, the three of us wrote the screenplay, and we read the book, we responded to aspects of the book, especially the emotional themes, the comforting value of the book and things it had to say about the afterlife and that aspect of it, which is very personal to anybody. That’s what we responded to and our adaptation is just elements of the book restructured following our instincts and our tastes. So to me no adaptation can ever be perfect, it’s impossible. You don’t make a movie for the fans of the book, you just can’t do that.

One of the things that makes the movie work is how eerily threatening Mr. Harvey is thanks to the amazing performance by Stanely Tucci who despite all his experience had some difficulties with the role. The first step for him was his physical transformation which included some freaky looking contact lenses which some people thought made him look slightly inhuman…

Stanley Tucci: What contact lenses? No, it was not to make him look slightly inhuman. I guess you thought he did. I didn’t feel that my eyes were the eyes that should be the eyes of this guy an I believe he also needed to be I suppose quintessentially American looking. So skin tone was changed, and hair was added, and the eyes seemed to be appropriate for him. I think that if you look at the scene with Mike Imperioli, where he comes in and starts asking me questions, I think the eyes there, what I’m hoping is that they look sort of normal. I think in those close ups, in certain close ups, like the reflection in the mirror when he’s sitting in his car, then the eyes take on a different quality because of the way it’s lit and because of my horrible thoughts behind them.

You were so creepy.

Tucci: (Joking) Did you like the eyes?

You’ve done so many kinds of different parts and I was wondering if this one was particularly hard to drop at the end of the day?

Tucci: It was hard in every respect. I have kids and I can’t really read anything or watch anything about kids getting harmed or I don’t like things about serial killers. There’s so much serial killer information out there, documentaries constantly, so it;s very hard too stop. A lot of it’s very gratuitous, almost pornographic, the reason it’s being shown. But this was not that. This was a beautiful story about an exploration of loss. Pete, Fran and Phil and the long conversations we had before we started working together, I felt very safe with them. I felt there would be nothing here that would be gratuitous and that we were going to create a person together in Mr. Harvey that was a real person. The more real he is, the more subtle he is, the more terrifying he is, the more banal he is, the more terrifying he is. At the beginning, it was very hard to leave it at the end of the day, to drop it particularly when you’re fresh off your research, and the research was repulsive. But eventually, once you understand who he is, and you find him, for me, then I could drop him at the end of the day. I will say without a question, it was the most difficult thing I have ever done as an actor. I look forward to going into the makeup trailer and taking everything off and having a martini at the end of everyday. At the beginning of everyday too.

Dealing with the dark issues in the novel were easier for some than others…

Rachel: As an actor, you have to imagine all sorts of things. I imagined I was a young woman in 1970, I imagined I was American. You imagine beautiful things, you imagine ugly things, that’s my job. I just don’t think in that way that something is too dark or problematic to go into. When I immerse myself in something, I’ve learnt to come out of it. I’m a mother in real life, I can’t be going to my kids in a state of despair, it’s a skill you might need to learn to juggle. Stories since the beginning of time, bad things happen in stories. Oedipus killed his dad and had sex with his mom, bad stuff happens in stories since the beginning of time and there’s nothing new about it. I guess the uplifting theme of the book and the film, to me is that life is a treasure, and precious, and a miracle and this film made me want to go and hug my son tighter when I get home. It’s hard to remember life is a miracle often, which here’s hoping I don’t forget that.

One of the people who was most effected was the muscle behind the film, Mark Wahlberg….

Mark: Well, my biggest reason for wanting to be a part of this was Peter Jackson. I wasn’t all that thrilled with the subject matter because I have a beautiful little girl and two beautiful boys. I don’t have the God given talent that Rachel has to just snap into it and have these floods of emotion coming out and then turn it all off. So I basically had to live in that head space for the entire time…. I would go home and just grab my daughter and hold her and I would start crying, and she would say daddy what’s wrong with you, she just wanted to play. I would try to talk to her about taking care of herself, and not talking to strangers, she was three at the time. But thankfully I had another movie to go into that was different so I was able to kind of shake that after a while.

When it came down to it, it was Stanley Tucci’s evil smirk and Peter Jackson’s decisions on what to show and what not to show that gave the film it’s “creepy” factor. Although things are alluded to nothing is ever shown and for good reason…

Jackson: There are artistic reasons, moral reasons, practical reasons. The film is about a teenager who is murdered and she goes into an afterlife, and we experience her “in-between.” We wanted to make a film that teenagers could watch. Fran and I have a daughter who is very similar to Susie’s age and we wanted Katey to be able to see this film. There’s a lot of positive aspects of this film and it’s not something that I wanted to shield our daughter from so it was important for us not to go into an R-rated territory at all. Also, I never regarded the movie as being a film about a murder, yet if we shot any aspect of that particular sequence in any way, then it would stigmatize the film. Movies are such a powerful medium with the music and the effects and acting and performance, the everything, the lighting, the camera work, that show a 14 year old girl being murdered in any wave, no matter how briefly, it would completely swing the balance of the movie, and it would frankly make it a film that I wouldn’t want to watch. I would have no interest in seeing that depicted on film.

Every movie I make is a film that I want to see. It’s very important, I make movies that I know I would enjoy seeing in the cinema that would not be one of them. The movie that we did make, we wanted it to become something that was like a crime mystery of what happens when you’re in this world of the subconscious, the world of the afterlife and Susie has to deal with the mystery of what happened to her and there’s a positive aspect to it in the sense that she’s immortal, there is no such thing as death. All of those aspects and themes are were what interested us, not the murder. I’ve shot some pretty extreme things in my time with bad taste, and meet the feables and reindeer. There’s a certain style and sense of humor I believe you can do to get away with that. But to do anything that depicted violence towards especially a young a person that was serious, to me, I would have no interest in filming, it would all be repulsive. So there was a variety of reasons. We felt very determined from the beginning that the film should be PG 13.

Tucci: Before we were shooting, we talked about that and how far we should go. There were pieces in the script initially that were a little more graphic but I think that’s an exploration of where this movie could go, what you really needed. In our conversations, we all agreed. I said, we don’t need to see this do we, and he said no, no, there’s no way we’re going to see it, we don’t need to see it. Somebody did an interview this morning and said a lot of people were upset that they don’t see the rape and the killing. I find that amazing. I don’t get that.

Jackson: How much murder and killing do you need to see to be satisfied? How much to make somebody happy?

Tucci: Obviously a lot. I think anyone who is disappointed in that regard should just go on the internet, they’ll find a lot of stuff like that. It’s so much more interesting what Peter did to me . He left it to the audiences imagination. Our imaginations of rape and murder are much greater what anyone could ever put on film, that’s the beauty of it.

Jackson: One of the things that we did, which is different to the novel in the way we’ve restructured the screenplay is we have her fleeing from her murder and we really like that aspect of sort of the way the story was told. At the point that her spirit becomes disconnected from her body, she’s running, she’s running across that field, she’s running into the streets, she’s running home and Susie doesn’t know what has happened to her, she’s literally confused. Now she finds herself in the in between, which is essentially the world of dream, of subconscious, of this confused state, she has to start to put the pieces together like a mystery. That dictated very strongly that seeing any form of murder was not something that we wanted to do because of the way we restructured the story so that she herself is confused and has to put the pieces together as the story goes on.

Apparently when it was time to shoot, it was easy for the one person, the victim. Saoirse Ronan not only did a brilliant job at portraying the wide ranges of emotions that the character called for, but she also handled the scene like a pro and let Stanley do the worrying…

Saoirse Ronan: Well, for me there was always one scene that stuck out that I got very emotional with and I was drowned in the scene for quite a long time. It was the barely field scene at the end of the movie when Mr. Harvey’s victims come to take Susie to heaven. That’s one of my favorite scenes in the film and it was definitely my favorite scene to shoot as well. It was very emotional and touching. I think we did it for a day, maybe even more. I think everyone on set felt the same way, we we’re all very touched. I always remember shooting that.

Check out The Lovely Bones in theaters December 11th.

Official The Lovely Bones Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:50:22 +0000

An exclusive trailer has finally been released for Peter Jackson‘s adaptation of the popular novel, The Lovely Bones. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as a teenage girl who is brutally raped and murdered by her neighbor (Stanley Tucci). In the wake of her death she watches her family from heaven as they deal with their loss. Her parents will be played by Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz, and her grandmother by Susan Sarandon. The film is adapted from the Alice Sebold book of the same name.

Check out the trailer after the jump!

What do you think of the first trailer for The Lovely Bones?

ScreenCrave.com » Saoirse Ronan

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