New Zealand Listener - November 5, 2016

NOVEMBER 5 2016 http://www.listener.co.nz

E

ventually Fassbender was game, agreeing to

an initial two nights. After five-and-a-half

weeks, Cianfrance recalls, “I had to pull those

guys kicking and screaming from the location.”

Fassbender: “For the characters it becomes a

prison, but for us it was great because we had

a road leading out of the peninsula, not an

island. We enjoyed it a lot, camping out at such

a beautiful location, living in caravans, catching

crayfish and cooking them on the barbecue.”

Just as Gosling and Mendes became enam-

oured during the making of Place Beyond the

Pines, love blossomed during filming between

Fassbender and Vikander, who says New Zea-

land’s South Island has similar geography to her

native Sweden. “The movie is a witness to what-

ever happened on the set,” says Cianfrance.

Cianfrance brought his comedian wife,

Shannon Plumb (“I’m the tragedy face of my

family!”), and sons for a period of the shoot.

Although the kids were initially reluctant, they

came to love it, too. “It’s like the gem of their

young memories.”

Cianfrance says all of his films stem from his

love for his family. “I’m a romantic and I’m

passionate about love in my life.

“The real reason I wanted to do this film was

because when I was a kid, I always felt like my

family lived on an island because we would

behave differently when people would come to

our house. We’d turn into the perfect versions

of ourselves and then, when people would

leave, we’d go back to being real again.

“I had a house filled with smiling family

pictures, yet we weren’t always smiling. As a

kid, I tried to record arguments in my house

and to take pictures of fights, things other than

just happiness. I’ve felt it’s been my mission as

a film-maker to explore relationships. Families

are built out of love but they’re also built out of

secrets and intimacies.

“I wanted to make a movie that was

challenging. I wanted to ask, can love survive

children?” l

The Light Between Oceans, directed by Derek

Cianfrance, opens in New Zealand cinemas on

November 3.

Author

Jojo

Moyes.

1 THE GIRL ON

THE TRAIN,

by Paula Hawkins

(Random House)

2 SMALL GREAT THINGS,

by Jodi Picoult (Allen &

Unwin)

3 PHARAOH, by Wilbur

Smith (HarperCollins)

4 TWO BY TWO, by

Nicholas Sparks

(Hachette)

5 AFTER YOU, by Jojo

Moyes (Penguin Books)

6 INFERNO, by Dan Brown

(Random House)

7 HOME, by Harlan Coben

(Random House)

8 NEVER GO BACK, by Lee

Child (Random House)

9 DEAD TO ME, by Lesley

Pearse (Penguin Books)

10 MOUNT!, by Jilly Cooper

(Random House)

TOP 10 FICTION

TOP 10 FILMS

1 JACK REACHER: NEVER

GO BACK

2 THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

3 INFERNO

4 KEEPING UP WITH THE

JONESES

5 BRIDGET JONES’S BABY

6 MISS PEREGRINE’S

HOME FOR PECULIAR

CHILDREN

7 OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL

8 THE MAGNIFICENT

SEVEN

9 DEEPWATER HORIZON

10 THE SECRET LIFE OF

PETS

ALAMY; ©NIELSEN BOOKSCAN; ©MOTION PICTURE DISTRIBUTORS’ ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND

INC

The Light Between Oceans: isolated

island life with Michael Fassbender and

Alicia Vikander. Below, Rachel Weisz,

Fassbender and Jack Thompson.