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TAKING A SLOW STRO
TAKING A SLOW STRO
or...Pandaemonium in the countryside
In the idyllic setting of a Somerset country house last autumn, history was being made. Or rather, it was being re-made, as charac- ters that we might have thought familiar were given a re-appraisal by some of British cinema’s hottest talents. Overseeing the whole process was Julien Temple. The enfant terrible who brought The Great Rock & Roll Swindle to cinema screens
in the late 70s - as well as the recent Sex Pistols doc- umentary The Filth & The Fury - Temple is all grown up now, but just as fasci- nated with the excess and intrigue that typically fol- lows fame and glory.
Pandaemonium
recounts the friendship,
and professional collabo-
ration between two of
England’s great Romantic
poets, William
Wordsworth (John
Hannah) and Samuel
Taylor Coleridge (Linus
Roache). Along with
William’s sister Dorothy
(Emily Woof) and Samuel’s
loyal wife Sarah (Oscar
nominee Samantha
Morton) they form an unlikely alliance during a time of political uncertainty and social upheaval. And between them they came up with some of the most famous lines of verse ever written.
“I’m interested in how people make those cre- ative breakthroughs,” Temple explains, between set ups. “Hopefully this film does get behind why these men were writing those classics, but I hope it also gets behind them as human beings. After all, they were people who were far more accessible than you may have learnt about at school.”
Hannah sees the relationship as early Lennon- McCartney: “At first it’s productive and fruitful, but ultimately those two egos can’t continue to create and enjoy it. But that’s very human I think.”
Roache also confides that one of his costumes makes him look like a cross between Adam Ant and Sid Vicious, so the one thing audiences can be sure of is that this is not your typical period tale. This is undoubtedly an attraction for Temple, but there is another, more personal reason for his interest.
“My father’s family is from down here,” he adds, “and even as a boy I knew that they wrote some of
the finest poems here, as opposed to the Lake District, which every- one associates them with. Then I started reading the books again, and realised how good a story this is, just in human terms. It’s a tragic journey. All of them have an amazing journey in this script, and it’s interesting to do a film where you have four leads really.”
For Roache the idea of doing another period film so soon after The Wings of the Dove - successful as that was - was not something that held much appeal. But what persuaded him was Temple’s radical approach to these dusty and remote liter- ary figures, as well as the promise of a vibrant and surpris- ing film.
“I though a period film by Julien Temple would have a very
different feel to it,” says Roache cheerfully. “And it does, it feels really exciting and dynamic in the way it’s being done. It’s big and theatrical as well. It has many different levels. You never know when you’re making a film how it’s all going to piece together, but this had something very big spirited and outlandish to it that made me think it was a risk worth taking.”
In costume, and complete with ink stained fin- gers, the actor jokes that the only research he under- took was learning to hold a quill properly. But he did re-read Coleridge’s work, especially the classics: Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. “Reading Kubla Khan over and over I came to realise what a genius he was. It’s very challenging to portray genius, and very exciting. You freeze up
sometimes, but really you just have to let go and throw yourself at the spirit of it and show it in the way you approach the whole piece.”
The idea of the romantic hero figure Coleridge, all big cuffs and long flowing hair, contrasting with the dark and brooding manner of his good friend Wordsworth seems a solid enough starting point. But in attempting to capture the creative spark with- in him, in Coleridge’s case often fuelled by his opium addiction, director Temple and cinematogra- pher John Lynch are aiming for a visual style that combines the classic with the unconventional.
“We’ve got an out of sync Arri 3,” explains Lynch, “which basically means the film is pulled through the gate before the shutter has got into position. So you have an image that’s half exposed. It’s like when you paint something and get a rag and brush half of it off.
EXPOSURE • 6 & 7
on location