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FORBIDDEN LOVE
FORBIDDEN LOVE
Any notion that independ- ent British films lack ambi- tion is likely to be con- founded by Conspiracy of Silence. First time writer- director John Deery and producer Davina Stanley have come together in collaboration on an intelligent film that seeks to tell a fascinating story, but one that is also laced with controversy.
The issue of celibacy within the church generally, and the Catholic Church in particular, regularly exercis- es debate within the pages of the broadsheet papers. But few serious films or TV dramas begin from a start- ing point such as this.
Earnest about and sympathetic to the various issues their film raises, Deery and Stanley are prepared for the
entirely predictable backlash in response to the themes that the film sensitively explores.
“There’s no doubt John is some- one who wants to bring about change,” explains Stanley while direc- tor Deery responds to one of his fre- quent calls to set.
“That’s really what enthused me abouthimwhenwefirstmet. We’ve also both been brought up in a reli- gious environment but, I think, in a way that encouraged us to challenge ideas.”
The premise of Conspiracy of Silence is simple but explosive. Young parish priest Daniel McLaughlin loves the Catholic Church. He also loves his teenage sweetheart Sinead. He can’t have both.
“It’s a difficult story,” admits Deery, “and not an obvious choice for
me as a first time writer-director. Getting a film made is difficult anyway, but I was compelled to write this story which is inspired by true events. There’s been a lot of research into it. It’s a drama first and foremost, but it works on many levels – a love story, a thriller and it actually has funny moments as well.
“I’m a practising Catholic myself and have a belief which is not neces- sarily reflected in the film. As a prac- tising Catholic leading up to the Millennium the question that interest- ed me was where Catholicism was going, and how was it going to survive in the 21st century.”
Armed with his own personal faith, and years of experience as an actor before climbing the production ladder, Deery’s work rarely lacks a point of
view. His most significant directing credits prior to this feature were on political films for several trade unions and the Labour Party.
“I’ve always been politically active, and I worked with Hugh Hudson for some time in the 1992 general election which Labour lost. By 1997 I was a direc- tor and actually did the film that launched the Labour election campaign.”
Things, you will recall, can only get better and for Deery that genuinely seems to have come true now that he has his first feature under his belt. His script was painstakingly developed, with the help of script editor Christopher Penfold, and went on to win the Hartley-Merrill screenwriting award for 2001. It was worked on fur- ther as part of the prestigious Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab.
Cornwall doubles for Ireland on controversial
in production