Page 16 - Fujifilm Exposure_5 The Wings Of The Dove_ok

The Designated Mourner
The Designated Mourner
M ike Nichols, Oscar-winning director of more than a dozen celebrated films from The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the 60s to, most recently, The Birdcage and Primary Colors, now belatedly makes his movie acting debut at
the age 66 in The Designated Mourner.
Adapted from his own play by Wallace Shawn, this complete reconstruction of the original stage show, was directed by David Hare at Pinewood Studios in just three days during its sellout
evening run at the National Theatre
Told entirely in direct address, it’s set in an
unnamed country at an unnamed time and involves the interweaving destinies of three people. Jack
(Mike Nichols) is long married to Judy (Miranda Richardson). Her father Howard (David de Keyser) is a famous intellectual who finds himself out of favour with an increasingly repressive regime.
Said Hare: “The idea of the film excited every- one but crucially DP Oliver Stapleton took a lot of worries off my back and was always totally relaxed about the almost ridiculous idea of shooting 31 minutes of film every day. I can’t think of any British film with which ours can be compared, either in the originality of its screenplay or in the extraordinary method by which it was made.”
Added Stapleton: “I had one meeting with David, I saw the play, I had two days to pre-light and then three days to shoot with three cameras, operated by Jamie Harcourt, Mike Miller and
Roderick Baron. Bob Crowley’s gold set was inspi- rational and quite brilliant as far as I was con- cerned. Gold leaf has a curious quality. If you light it directly and indirectly, it will reflect and create the colour of the many moods of the play.
“When I initially saw the stage play, I felt it had a line which descended from golden light to anar- chy and death. So I wanted to start with the very much warmer, richer tones and work towards the colder, darker and moodier look at the end.” ■
The Designated Mourner was photographed by Oliver Stapleton BSC and originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative.
The Designated Mourner will be screened at the NFT during May and on TV in September
Photos: Top; Miranda Richardson; Mike Nichols; David De Keyser.
Below; Director David Hare; group shot together; Mike Nichols; Miranda Richardson.
EXPOSURE • 16 & 17
in focus