A childhood story that features grief, darkness and Liam Nesson as a hulking tree, A Monstor Calls is not your average family film. Total Film ventures on set of the fantasy tearjerker...
It starts, as all things must, with an ending. In 2007, British children’s author Siobhan Dowd died of breast cancer, leaving behind an outline for her next book, A Monster Calls. “She had characters, premise, a beginning but not time,” wrote Patrick Ness in the introduction. But “stories don’t end with writers”. With permission from Dowd’s estate, Ness finished the book for her in 2011, with award-winning results.
Heart-rendingly sad, and hauntingly illustrated by Jim McKay, it tells of Conor O’Malley, a schoolboy whose mother is dying of cancer, and who, every night at 12.07, is visited by a monster: the ancient yew tree from the churchyard behind his house, brought to roaring, rustling life. The Monster has three stories for Conor, to carry him through the darkness, stories that “chase and bite and hunt”. One thing’s for sure, awash with grief and gothic realism, A Monster Calls is a tale that sinks its teeth in.
Having proved himself a master of maternal anguish with The Orphanage (2007) and The Impossible (2012), Spanish director J.A. Bayona would seem the perfect choice to translate Ness’ script to the screen. Working with him is super-producer (and “spare battery”) Belén Atienza, who oversaw Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), The Orphanage… basically every decent Spanish-language fantasy of the past decade, and the award-winning team behind The Impossible (who call their boss “Bayona” or simply “Jota”, pronounced “Hayotter”). Even with material this tricksy – and when was the last time you saw a family film about cancer and talking trees? – you wouldn’t bet against them. “It’s not a comedy,” confirms Bayona when we catch up with him on set in Terrassa, just outside Barcelona. Good job we cleared that up.
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Denne historien er fra January 2017-utgaven av Total Film.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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RETURN TO OZ
WICKED Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande defy gravity as the Broadway smash reaches cinemas.
GRIN AND BEAR IT
SMILE 2 Trauma-horror sequel sees the curse latch onto a pop superstar...
BAD ROMANCE
TIMESTALKER Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...
CLOWNING GORY
TERRIFIER 3 Creator Damien Leone says Art the Clown is coming home for Christmas...
SELF EXPRESSION
LAYLA A non-binary, British-Palestinian drag queen navigates their expression of identity.
GENA ROWLANDS
I like difficult roles,' said Gena Rowlands. No kidding. A stage, TV and film actor whose career spanned more than six decades, Rowlands will be most remembered for the series of coruscating dramas she made with her first husband, actor-turned-director John Cassavetes, between 1968 and 1984.
'NOW NOTHING IS ABOUT LOOKS OR ABOUT BEING A LEADING LADY.AND IT'S VERY LIBERATING' EMILY WATSON
Since breaking hearts in Breaking the Waves, Emily Watson has delivered countless screen masterclasses, from Gosford Park and Punch-Drunk Love to Apple Tree Yard. Now, the English star goes toe-to-toe with Cilllan Murohy in Irish drama Smeal/ Things like hese and fronts 1V prequel Dune: Prophecy. Is it her second coming? It's elementary, my dear Watson...
BLODD PRESSURE
BASED ON STEPHEN KING'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOK AND WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY IT SCRIBE GARY DAUBERMAN, VAMPIRE MOVIE SALEM'S LOT FACED AN UNHOLY FIGHT TO GET TO OUR SCREENS. TOTAL FILM HUNTS DOWN DAUBERMAN AND STARS LEWIS PULLMAN AND MAKENZIE LEIGH TO LEARN ALL THAT WAS AT STAKE...
Lucky Man
He broke out in Beatles jukebox musical Yesterday and has a varied slate of juicy projects on the horizon, including a very different take on a superhero franchise. But, as the everhumble Himesh Patel tells Total Film, he puts a lot of it down to luck...
A BUE ABOVE
WORLD-BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE RIDLEY SCOTT IS ALSO THE MASTER OF THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, RESTORING HIS MISHANDLED GEMS INTO MASTERPIECES. WITH THE EXPANSIVE DIRECTOR'S CUT OF NAPOLEON NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM, TOTAL FILM SPEAKS TO THE GREAT SCOTT ABOUT BLOWING UP BONAPARTE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDITING AND WHY BIGGER IS (USUALLY) BETTER.