Adoration by Mychael Danna

2009 (16 tracks, 41:41)

classical/opera

by The Great White Gypsy

A Serious Man – Written and Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Set in 1967, this black comedy follows a Jewish professor as he attempts to stop his life from unraveling after his wife announces she wants a divorce. It would appear that the Coen dynasty is back in full swing after their three year hiatus between The Ladykillers (2004) and No Country for Old Men (2007). Though longtime Coen teammates Carter Burwell (composer) and Roger Deakins (cinematographer) are back again, the cast for this one is largely unknown. I can’t wait.
Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
October 2

Whip It – Directed by Drew Barrymore, Written by Shauna Cross
Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut about a punk rock outcast (Ellen Page) living in small town Texas who rebels by joining an all girl roller derby league. I’m a fan of Page and Barrymore, and though it was filmed almost entirely in Michigan and features an esoteric chick-indie-punk soundtrack, Barrymore managed to get some good names on the roster. Not cast-wise, as Page and Marcia Gay Harden are the only recognizable ones, but she borrowed longtime Wes Anderson cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, as well as editor Dylan Tichenor (Doubt, There Will Be Blood), and Art Director Kevin Kavanaugh (The Dark Knight, The Prestige). Call me impressed.
Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden
October 2

Zombieland – Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Sure, the writers and director of this Americanized Shaun of the Dead are newbies. And yes, British humor often times prevails when put toe to toe (except the Office, Steve Carrell is a silly bitch). But after watching the previews, how can you not smile and say, “Yeah, I’ll see that eventually.”? If for no other reason that watching little miss sunshine kick some zombie ass would be sweet.
Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone, Amber Heard, Bill Murray
October 2

An Education – Directed by Lone Scherfig,Written by Nick Hornby
Wait…Peter Sarsgaard? In a low profile dramatic role you’ve never heard of until now? Yeah, that sounds about right. About a 17-year-old girl in 1960’s London who abandons her college plans for a wealthy socialite twice her age. You may not recognize any of the names behind the scenes, but Nick Hornby (author, High Fidelity) is enough for me.
Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, Rosamund Pike
October 9

Couples Retreat – Directed by Peter Billingsley, Written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn
Apparently, Ralphie from A Christmas Story is all grown up and wants to be a director. Starting with a screenplay by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn will either be his ticket to greatness, or a nail in his mediocre comedy coffin. Still, Swingers and Made were great, and the cast in this one has me more than confident. If the plot isn’t obvious by the title, you should not see this movie, you might shoot your eye out (fuck you, you knew it was coming).
Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Ken Jeong, Jean Reno, Faizon Love, Tasha Smith, John Michael Higgins
October 9

Peter and Vandy – Written and Directed by Jay DiPietro
In the style of (500) Days of Summer, this relationship film set in New York City jumps back and forth through time telling the story of how Peter and Vandy went from friends to lovers, and how they ended up as a comfortable, yet manipulative couple. The chemistry between Ritter and Weixler looks good, and Sundance apparently loved it. My only worry is, in a non-linear feature film, editor Geoffrey Richman has been limited to documentaries. Ok, he did Murderball and God Grew Tired of Us, but still, a lot’s riding on this guy’s shoulders. DePietro’s first.
Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler
October 9

Trucker – Written and Directed by James Mottern
James Mottern’s first endeavor gives Monaghan an amazing role as a long distance truck driver who must care for the son she abandoned while his father is in the hospital. Interesting cast (I like Adams and Fillion), and behind the scenes, names like Mychael Danna (composer: (500) Days of Summer, Girl Interrupted) and Lawrence Sher (cinematographer: Garden State, The Chumscrubber) intrigue me. Assuming Monaghan’s role is as great as it appears in the preview, I will make a bold statement: If Melissa Leo can be nominated for Frozen Rivers, this might be Monaghan’s year.
Michelle Monaghan, Benjamin Bratt, Joey Lauren Adams, Nathan Fillion, Jimmy Bennett
October 9

Law Abiding Citizen – Directed by F. Gary Gray, Written by Kurt Wimmer
Gerard Butler’s wife and daughter are killed. The D.A. (Jamie Foxx) gives the murderers a plea bargain. Years later, Butler starts exacting his revenge on everyone involved…from the comfort of his jail cell. Wimmer wrote and directed Equilibrium (freaking awesome), but he also wrote and directed Ultraviolet (freaking garbage). Aside from editor Tariq Anwar (Revolutionary Road, American Beauty), everyone involved is a so-so list of random action film participants. So why would you see this one? Cause it’s Friday…you ain’t got no job…and you ain’t got shit to do.
Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Viola Davis, Regina Hall
October 16

New York, I Love You – Directed by Faith Akin and Yvan Attal, Written by Emmanual Benbihy and Tristan Carne
I’m sure even the most skeptical among you can’t say you didn’t enjoy Paris, Je T’aime. It was a great cross-sectioning of different views and stories around the city, told by some great directors (The Coen Brothers and Gus van Sant among them). I gotta say, I’m a little disappointed about the young cast and director lineup (where the F are DeNiro and Scorcese?) But as an overall project, I’m really looking forward to this film. With segments directed by Allan Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, and Brett Ratner.
Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Shia LaBeouf, Blake Lively, Robin Wright Penn, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Christina Ricci, Rachel Bilson, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Justin Bartha, James Caan, Maggie Q, Anton Yelchin, Andy Garcia, Chris Cooper, Olivia Thirlby, Drea De Matteo, Julie Christie, Cloris Leachman, Eli Wallach
October 16

Where the Wild Things Are – Directed by Spike Jonze, Written by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers
Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story about a boy who invents an imaginary world populated with large creatures who name him King. Jonze hasn’t really done many films (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), but he’s an accomplished music video director, and with an adaptation by Dave Eggers, he can’t really go wrong. Effects look good, voice casting is solid.
Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose
October 16

Amelia – Directed by Mira Nair, Written by Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan
From the director of The Namesake, this biopic of Amelia Earhart covers her romance with flight, and her rise to the level of cultural icon. Can’t say it looks like anything really spectacular, but Swank has won multiple Oscars, Phelan wrote Girl Interrupted, and The Aviator was warmly received. Look for this to show up on some Academy Award lists regardless.
Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccelston
October 23

Antichrist – Written and Directed by Lars von Trier
Danish director Lars von Trier has won numerous awards for his films. He has also shocked a lot of people not only by his style, but by his tendency to add super realism to his films by actually having the actors doing whatever the characters are supposed to (meaning if there’s a group sex scene, chances are those people are actually having sex on camera). Antichrist is the story of a couple trying to reconnect in a cabin after the death of their son. What happens next is ridiculously graphic, violent, and spiritually disturbing. While the wide theatrical release will no doubt be heavily edited, the uncut version is something you have to see to fully understand.
Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg
October 23

Saw VI – Directed by Kevin Greutert, Written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton
Don’t think I really need to explain this one. Jigsaw’s dead, but we’re gonna try to fit at least four more storylines into the original script. Director is new, writers have worked on the last three Saw films. I’ll see it, but when an original horror franchise with an awesome theme song allows a Texas Chainsaw Massacre motif into their preview, it worries me.
Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Shawnee Smith, Betsy Russell
October 23

(Untitled) – Directed by Jonathan Parker, Written by Jonathan Parker and Catherine DiNapoli
Shelton plays an art gallery director who falls in love with a struggling artist/musician in New York. Should be good for a few laughs if you can’t stand newagepostmodernretroindieavantgardeabstracthipsterbullshit. Also, Vinnie Jones as an artist, and Adam Goldberg kicking a bucket on stage should be hilarious. Rookie writer/director.
Adam Goldberg, Marley Shelton, Vinnie Jones
October 23

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day – Directed by Troy Duffy, Written by Troy and Taylor Duffy
We’ve had to wait ten bloody years for this film to actually see the light of day. Now it’s here. If you didn’t see the first one (what the hell is wrong with you??) it’s about two Irish brothers who are “called” by God to administer justice and vengeance to society’s scum. I’m actually impressed that after so long on the shelf, the writer/director of the first film is still on board. Can’t freaking wait.
Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr., Julie Benz, Judd Nelson, Billy Connolly, Peter Fonda
October 30

How to Seduce Difficult Women – Written and Directed by Richard Temtchine
Although there are no recognizable names or faces attached to this one, imagine if someone combined Hitch and School for Scoundrels, and then made a GOOD film. The main character, Pierre, decides to teach the ways of French seduction to the floundering American men who have lost the art (stupid French guys with their…sexy accents…). Interspersed with NY street interviews about sex and seduction. Could be interesting.
Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Stephanie Szostak, Jackie Hoffman, Rachel Roberts
October 30

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN

The Ministers – Written and Directed by Franc. Reyes
Kinda like Boondock Saints…except Latin. And they’re serial killers. And Leguizamo plays twins. And I’d bet money Keitel gets naked for no reason. Reyes is a weird cat, but he directed Empire and Illegal Tender, which weren’t bad. Leguizamo’s always good, so we’ll see. Rumored limited release date, nothing solid yet.
John Leguizamo, Harvey Keitel, Wanda De Jesus, Florencia Lozano
October 1 (Limited)

Aladin – Written and Directed by Sujoy Ghosh
Shut up and let me talk. Yes, it’s an Indian film. Yes, it appears there is a bit of singing involved. However, the story of Aladin is one of the most widely known and adaptable myths to come out of the area. And the preview actually gives me a Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) kind of feel. Excuse the hell out of me for trying to broaden your minds. Only release date in India so far. Check it out.
Ritesh Deshmukh, Jaqueline Fernandes, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt
October 23 (India)

Pope Joan – Directed by Sonke Wortmann, Written by Heinrich Hadding
Based on the German novel, this is the story of an English woman born in Germany, who disguises herself as a man and ascends to a seat of power in 9th century Vatican. A German film about gender disguise, and John Goodman’s in it, but Hilary Swank isn’t? That’s so confusing it has to be fattening. Limited release in Germany so far.
David Wenham, John Goodman, Ian Glen
October 22 (Germany)

Title: (500) Days of Summer
Year: 2009
Director: Marc Webb
Writers: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
Music: Mychael Danna, Rob Simonsen (and non-original music)
Distinctions: currently #111 on IMDb’s Top 250
Length: 95 minutes
Synopsis: a guy falls for a girl who doesn’t believe in love
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for concept)

Nice movie. Well made, espcially the writing, but I’d expected more from it. It’s cute how they invite comparisons between the main characters and Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and Ben Braddock (from The Graduate); one could imagine that this movie started with someone wondering, “What two classic movie characters would be the worst for each other?”

(From Business Wire)–New Line Records will release the official soundtrack from the film “The Time Traveler’s Wife” via digital download and Amazon.com’s Disc On Demand program Tuesday, August 11. The soundtrack’s emotionally moving lineup features 23 tracks from the motion picture, which will be released in theatres nationwide on Friday, August 14.

The soundtrack includes the memorable Lifehouse song “Broken,” featured in the film’s trailer, as well as a cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” performed by Broken Social Scene, whose members (Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Andrew Whiteman) make an appearance in the film as a wedding band. Rounding out the soundtrack, the album includes 21 selections from the score composed by Mychael Danna (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “(500) Days of Summer”).

A perfect companion to the timeless love story, the motion picture soundtrack will be available at all digital retailers on August 11.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is based on the best-selling book about a love that transcends time. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler — cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry’s travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” was directed by Robert Schwentke (“Flightplan”) from a screenplay by Academy Award^® winner Bruce Joel Rubin (“Ghost”), based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger. Nick Wechsler and Dede Gardner produced the film, with Brad Pitt, Richard Brener, Michele Weiss and Justis Greene serving as executive producers. The co-producer is Kristin Hahn.

Heading the film’s cast as Clare and Henry are Rachel McAdams (“Red Eye,” “The Notebook”) and Eric Bana (“Star Trek,” “Munich”). “The Time Traveler’s Wife” also stars Arliss Howard, Ron Livingston and Stephen Tobolowsky.

www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com

In 1998, Atom Egoyan almost got an Oscar for killing off a busload of schoolchildren. You may think that’s a terrible thing to get an Oscar for, and maybe it is, but the reason he didn’t is that the award went instead to James Cameron that year, for killing off a boatload of North Atlantic seafarers. Timing!

Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, which he adapted from Russell Banks’ novel, may have lacked Titanic’s transfixing mass appeal, but it did introduce American art-house crowds to an obscure Armenian-Canadian filmmaker whose mindful, marginal perspective on grieving lost life and innocence soon would become highly topical. So if Egoyan’s Adoration, from an original script, now seems late to the table of movies about life in the wake of 9/11, well, maybe timing’s just another aesthetic choice. After all, that wake is long and deep.

Like other Egoyan films, Adoration concerns itself with the technology of human communication, which includes memory, imagination, the Internet, prejudice, fiction, symbols, videography, mass murder, journalism, guilt, religious rituals and high school language education. It takes place within what one character calls a “community of people who remember a catastrophe that never happened.”

Paradoxically, that chimerical event is the part of this story that’s true — the part about a Jordanian jihadist who in 1986 tried to put his Irish girlfriend on a plane from London to Tel Aviv after putting a bomb in her luggage. The plan was to kill about 400 people, including the young woman and her unborn child. It didn’t succeed, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t shake people up.

For instance, when Simon (Devon Bostick), a Toronto high school student, gets an assignment from his teacher, Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian), to translate an old newspaper article about this incident, he decides to let himself and his class think it’s the story of his own deceased parents. Abetted by speculated flashbacks, Simon writes an essay ruminating on martyrdom, moral responsibility, his father’s motives, and how we all are haunted by the past.

As it happens, Sabine is a teacher not just of French but also of drama, and she encourages Simon’s fabrication. Her special interest seems peculiar, but there is the compelling sense of unsettled fate beginning to cohere. Simon’s performance eventually becomes an incendiary viral sensation on the Web, sparking rancorous commentary from his classmates, their parents, passengers from that fateful flight, and even survivors and deniers of the Holocaust.

This all proves especially challenging for Simon’s uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), an exhausted de facto guardian embittered not just by his sister’s death but also by a strained relationship with his own father (Kenneth Welsh), whose inclinations toward bigotry he may reluctantly have inherited. Whether any of them like it or not, Simon and Sabine’s increasingly consuming collaboration will prompt several revelations and test his uncle’s tolerance.

And, OK, ours. As coincidences accumulate, and the filmmaker’s orderliness crosses over into stiltedness, it becomes clear that the way through all this confusion toward closure will just have to be halting and circuitous. Besides, storytelling contrivance is part of what’s being examined here. Adoration, like other Egoyan films, might rightly be described as machinelike, with its own gearworks rather coyly exposed, but at least its power seems to come from striving, reeling human souls. Probably knowing full well that their characters will irk and compel in roughly equal measure, the principal actors–Bostick, Khanjian (Egoyan’s wife and frequent leading lady) and especially Speedman–make many brave and naturally audacious choices. Their implied faith in Egoyan’s earnest approach, like his faith in its potential for profundity, is touching. And of course all the arty brooding is well served by Paul Sarossy’s cinematography and Mychael Danna’s score.

So what’s it like to be a failed terrorist’s son, anyway? Is it ever something worth fantasizing about? Is it like a stifling dream, in which non-events become events and catastrophes, even without actually happening, create communities? You may think these aren’t pressing questions, and maybe they’re not, but neither was the question of what happened on the last days of the Titanic when people kept asking it as least as late as 1998.

Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Saturday’s song is #445:

Mychael Danna – Field 4

Bone-chilling Armenian-flavored instrumental from the score to the 1994 Atom Egoyan softcore porn film Exotica. The soundtrack is rustic and exquisite, a precursor to the Everything Is Illuminated score. The film apparently features a young Mia Kirshner doing stripteases in a Catholic schoolgirl outfit.

Title: Little Miss Sunshine
Year: 2006
Directors: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Writer: Michael Arndt
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Steve Carell
Music: Mychael Danna & DeVotchKa (and non-original music)
Distinctions: Oscars for best screenplay and supporting actor (Arkin); currently #231 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a family takes a road trip to get their seven-year-old to a beauty pageant
Length: 101 minutes
How I saw it: on video, twice (rented from Netflix), most recently October 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography)

The first time I saw it, I was amused but didn’t think much of it. It was a lot funnier seeing it the second time, probably from knowing what things were building to. A simple score would have been much more effective than the standard Hip Indie Rock Soundtrack, but whatever, it’s still good music.

“Fracture” (2007), está dirigida por Gregory Hoblit, un veterano realizador con un amplio historial en series televisivas de género policiaco (“Canción triste de Hill Street”, “Policías de Nueva York”…), del que también hemos podido ver films para la gran pantalla, como “Frecuency” (2000), “La guerra de Hart” (2002), o la estrenada este mismo año, “Rastro oculto”, un thriller que presentaba a un cibernético asesino en serie.

En “Fracture”, Hoblit, también en la línea del thriller, nos cuenta en esta ocasión, una historia que arranca con un intento de asesinato.

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), dispara en su casa a sangre fría, a su esposa con ánimo de matarla, aunque el resultado es que ella queda en coma irreversible. Es detenido en el lugar de los hechos, con la pistola utilizada como prueba, y su propia confesión.

El caso, aparentemente sencillo, lo llevará desde el lado de la acusación un joven fiscal, Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), con las ideas muy claras en cuanto a sus ambiciones profesionales.

Ya en los primeros contactos con el acusado, quedará claro que las cosas no serán lo que parecían en un principio.

Crawford rechaza la defensa de un abogado, acogiéndose a la opción de defenderse el mismo, y se retracta de haber sido el autor del disparo que ha dejado en coma a su mujer.

Durante el juicio nos encontraremos con que su arma no fue la que disparó, y que el policía que lo detuvo era el amante de su esposa.

Este planteamiento inicial de una cierta originalidad, al presentarnos a un asesino al que hemos visto disparar, que confiesa en principio su crimen, pero que aún así no podrá ser condenado, propicia un duelo entre los dos protagonistas, que si en principio se atisba interesante, poco a poco degenera en una trama excesivamente previsible y salpicada de situaciones tópicas.

A pesar de esto, en líneas generales, consigue captar el interés del espectador en espera del desenlace, que finalmente tampoco es especialmente brillante.

Ryan Gosling, a quien hemos podido ver en “El mundo de Leland” (2005), o en la inquietante “Tránsito” (2006), enfrenta a su juvenil fiscal a un veterano Anthony Hopkins, que, lamentablemente, repite punto por punto todos los tic de su personaje más aplaudido y recordado, Hannibal Lecter, y que en mi opinión, no aporta si no mayor lastre a la película. La fotografía, de Kramer Morgenthau, muy cuidada para este film, con su iluminación dirigida al rostro de Hopkins, sobre fondos oscuros, remarca ese, en esta ocasión, nefasto parecido.

La banda sonora lleva la firma de los hermanos canadienses Mychael Danna y Jeff Danna, que en solitario, o en equipo, han puesto música en los últimos años a diversas series televisivas y películas (sirvan de ejemplo, “Sensación de vivir”, “Pequeña Miss Sunshine”, “Silent Hill” y “Resident Evil: Apolypsis”), y a los que se debe una gran aportación al new age, dentro del sonido celta, con sus creaciones “A Celtic Tale”, de 1996, y “A Celtic Romance”, de 1998”, una verdadera delicia para el oído.

Para esta película, su música sin estridencias, aún sin ser lo mejor de ellos, se puede considerar un buen trabajo, y se adapta perfectamente al ambiente del film.

Trailer

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Para ver la ficha de la película, pincha aquí

Swanson 

From Adelaide to Atlantis – director Scott Hicks says his new film holds a mirror up to childhood experience.

Scott Hicks first made his mark on the film world with Shine, his 1996 tale of the troubled musical prodigy David Helfgott. The film made Hicks a Hollywood player and its star, Geoffrey Rush, a household name. Hicks went on to make the picturesque mystery/love story Snow Falling On Cedars, and this month sees the release of latest, and possibly finest work, Hearts In Atlantis.

Based on Stephen King’s novella Low Men In Yellow Coats, and adapted by legendary scriptwriter William Goldman, Hearts In Atlantis is a coming of age story about the friendship between 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) and the mysterious Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) who is haunted by his unusual psychic abilities and is on the run from The Low Men, whose actual existence is uncertain.

‘The content is very emotional,’ says Hicks, ‘but I wanted to make a bittersweet movie, not just a golden romantic nostalgic glimpse of childhood. Something that spoke of love and loss and who you become from your experiences in childhood.’

The film’s stunning visuals and atmospheric style are the result of a collaboration between Hicks and his cinematographer, the late Piotr Sobocinisk, whose highly acclaimed body of work includes the sublime Three Colours: Red.

‘Piotr’s Polish sensibility was enormously valuable and that’s why I chose him,’ says Hicks. ‘On set we were joined at the hip. We had a similar understanding, and excitement, about light and shadow and the mysteriousness of reflection, and how to use mirrors in the story to get glimpses into other worlds. It was very exciting to collaborate with Piotr, and of course, the production designer Barbara C. Ling as well. Once you decide you are going to have a mirror in every scene, the designer has a ball! But it does create all sorts of technical challenges. How do you shoot a scene in a room and avoid seeing the 40 crew people who are standing around?’

As in Hick’s previous work, music is extremely important in Hearts In Atlantis. The film achieves its various moods through the use of classic 60s pop songs and an orchestral score composed by Mychael Danna (The Sweet Hereafter and The Ice Storm).

According to Hicks, the director/composer collaboration is always one of the most difficult parts of filmmaking. ‘You’re talking about very subjective feelings and responses,’ he says. ‘Music is its own language, so finding words to express what you want musically is very difficult. But I’ve been blessed with the composers I’ve worked with, particularly Mychael who has been willing to go the distance with me. I’m very involved with it, right through to actually sitting in the London studio with the conductor, talking about the tone of the clarinet. There’s nothing more thrilling. It makes you feel like a Renaissance sort of Medici who’s standing in a studio with 70 highly competent musicians who are enacting your every whim. I always say that 25 per cent of the emotion content of a movie is through music.’

When casting Hopkins as Ted, Hicks was well aware of the dangerous possibility of an audience seeing the star personae of a famous actor, rather than focusing on the unique qualities of the particular character.

‘I was trying to hold back on introducing Hopkins rather than do the big Hollywood thing of “Here comes your movie star!” I wanted Ted to be intriguing, and for there to be a gradual process of getting to know and understand him. Just as you feel you are beginning to get a handle on him he starts talking about these strange Low Men and you think “My God, he’s got a screw loose!”‘

‘I choose Hopkins because he is one of my favourite actors. He responded to the material, liked my work, and was keen to collaborate with me, which was very exciting. He completely immersed himself in the character. He kept saying his only preparation was to keep reading the script again and again and again and again until it soaks in. He’s very unpretentious about the art of acting. He would say, “I’ll just show up and say my lines,” which is refreshing. There’s nothing precious about it, yet he does the most astonishing things. His finesse is so wonderful to watch.’

Originally appeared in The Big Issue, No. 144, 2002