2020-04-01_Total_Film

HOUSEBOUND

TopAnnaAmy

Adamsisfixatedon

thatrearwindow

aboveJulianne

Mooreashernear

neighbourJane

RussellleftWyatt

RussellasAnna’s

tenantDavid

recalled the revelations about :Fbeebhg

Ebmme^Ib^\^l writer James Fray. Mallory,

who had often previously referred to his

mental issue, released a statement

claiming that his dissemblance was due

to severe bipolar II disorder, but the

situation strangely echoed the themes

of his novel. What is true? How does our

mental health inform the way we read

the world? Where is the line between

fact and fiction?

Wright was in post-production

when the scandal unfolded. “We

were quite far down the line of the

process,” he recalls. “I had a look at

the New Yorker piece. I’d met Dan

Mallory in pre-production once, and

he came on to set once. I was really

impressed by his encyclopaedic

knowledge of film noir and film in

general. We kind of bonded over that.

But, you know, the guy’s obviously

been through some difficult times,

and I respect him, and I don’t really

think it’s my place to comment,

frankly.” Life, MhmZe?bef suggests, is

clearly as messy in reality as it’s

depicted in the film. “Isn’t it just?”

Wright nods.

PEOPLE-WATCHING

He would know: his CV is full of complex

characters, some misunderstood, some

misunderstanding – from Lizzie Bennet

and her assumptions about Mr Darcy in

Ikb]^Ik^cn]b\^ to Briony Tallis’

conflicted accusation in Atonement, via

Winston Churchill’s national resilience

in the face of personal depression in

Ma^y=Zkd^lmAhnk. Admitting that his

attraction to his next project is often a

reaction against his previous film, Wright

fancied getting stuck into the thriller

genre after the period-realism of The

=Zkd^lmAhnk.

“Certainly I wanted to do something

contemporary. But also I really enjoyed

the elements of ‘thriller’ about =Zkd^lm

Ahnk. I saw it as a political thriller. And I

really enjoyed the bunker sequences, and

limiting as much of the film as possible to

that location. So I wanted to take that

further – the minimalist opportunity of

seeing whether I could keep an audience

engaged in a film that is totally set in one

house. That creative challenge, especially

trying to never repeat a single shot.”

Working with Letts on the

screenplay, Wright devised a complex

set: a maze-like Harlem brownstone

that would be as much a character as

any of the humans within it. Conceiving

a very deliberate palette that acts as a

road map to audiences unravelling the

mystery (note that purposeful use of

red, the queasy oranges of Anna’s

lounge, the washed-out pastels of her

clothes), Wright also acknowledged the

thrillers that are part of our cinematic

lexicon and featured knowingly in

Finn’s book.

“I love the idea that the film takes

people on an Easter egg hunt. I wanted

to be completely upfront with that,

which is why we use a shot from Rear

Window in the opening sequence, to

immediately acknowledge our debt to

Hitchcock – but also films like Denm^ and

the thrillers of the ’70s and French

thrillers... it was an opportunity for me

to revel in my love of the genre. But I

also wanted to make sure the film had a

deep, emotional core running through

it, which is something often not seen in

those movies.”

INSIDE WOMAN

That emotional core is Anna’s own

mental struggle – written in the first

person in the novel, with a very particular

tone – and Wright was aware that it

would take a special actor to ensure

audience empathy for a woman he

describes warmly as “difficult”. Having

met Amy Adams as a party years earlier,

he’d been searching for a project to work

with her on, and this felt right. He met

her for breakfast with his son in tow due

to childcare issues and the duo convinced

her to take on another troubled,

heavy-drinking woman after her turn on

LaZkiH[c^\ml.

“I like Amy’s performance style,

because there’s always something

slightly odd and there’s always

something slightly ‘off’ about her,” he

says. “She’s like this all-American

woman, but there’s this almost Lynchian

strangeness to some of her [Z\mbg`]

choices. I felt like she was someone who

was willing to go to the places that this

film required. She’s not vain. She doesn’t

need to feel like she’s looking like the

prettiest girl in the world. She embraces

the difficulties of life, the messiness of

life. And I think that’s really powerful.”

‘I LOVE THE IDEA THAT THE

FILM TAKES PEOPLE ON AN

EASTER EGG HUNT. I WANTED

TO BE UPFRONT ABOUT THAT’

Joe Wright

GAMESRADARCOM/TOTALFILM
APRIL 2020 | TOTAL FILM

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW