A MONSTER OF A TALE
J.A. Bayona’s new movie doesn’t pull any punches
Besides a savvy technical talent, J.A. Bayona shares another cinematic trait with Steven Spielberg: He works well with kids.
The unique talent wasn’t the only reason the 41-year-old landed the prestigious Jurassic World 2 directorial assignment. But it was one of Bayona’s abilities admired by Jurassic World executive producer Spielberg.
Maybe it’s because they share the same filmmaker philosophy.
“I treat children very respectfully on set like they are actors and part of the ensemble,” says Bayona at a Manhattan hotel suite. “When they feel how special they are, they can connect easier to their emotions.”
Young performers were featured effectively in Bayona’s 2007 thriller The Orphanage, followed by the 2012 tsunami survival drama The Impossible. The Spanish filmmaker continues to showcase his child-actor aptitude in the dark fable A Monster Calls, which opens Friday.
In the fantasy, a boy (newcomer Lewis MacDougall) tries to cope with his mom’s (Felicity Jones) terminal illness by conversing with a conjured up giant humanoid yew tree (voiced by Liam Neeson). Luckily MacDougall, in his first lead film role, had an experienced cast to back him and an empathetic director to guide him.
“With Lewis, it was about patience because you have to explain the process clearly, and not just the character process, but the whole process of making a film,” Bayona says.
The extra effort was worth it: “Lewis responded to things that were truthful and created something very special in front of the camera.”
It helped that the first things Bayona filmed were the performance-capture scenes between Neeson defining the imposing tree and MacDougall portraying the lost boy. In fact, the special effects experience was new for all three of them. Yet the young actor used the moments as a way to immerse himself into the demanding portrayal.
Jones, as the ill mom, had her challenges, too.
“Felicity understood that I didn’t want her to just play a sick person,” Bayona says. “I wanted her to be the caring mother of her child who is concerned for his well being.”
Sigourney Weaver’s small supporting role as the strict grandmother was equally pivotal “because Sigourney had a vulnerability and humanity, even though she’s really playing the witch in the fable.”
Certainly, the movie tends to be as uncompromising as the Patrick Ness book, which is based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd. Dowd succumbed to a terminal illness before she could complete the story.
To honour Dowd, Ness held out to write the screenplay and then to collaborate with Bayona on its transition to the big screen.
“It is true that a director doesn’t like to work on a movie with the author of a book, and for obvious reasons because Patrick was very protective of the story,” Bayona says. During the collaboration, though, Ness “eventually embraced some of my ideas and I always appreciated that he was very respectful of them.”
Bayona might not have the same creative freedom when he reports for Jurassic World sequel duty next
The fact that I am working with people I really respect like Steven Spielberg makes me super excited. He’s the reason I wanted to do the movie in the first place.
month in London with returning stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. It’s quite a next step for Bayona, with the budget predicted to be more than US$200 million after the Jurassic World reboot earned US$1.67 billion in worldwide box office.
“Everything is a learning experience and all of the movies prepared me for this,” he says of the blockbuster sequel. “You always want to do something next that is more challenging, and in this case it’s my first Hollywood movie.”
Before, during and after the shoot, he can always get advice from his mentor.
“For me, the fact that I am working with people I really respect like Steven Spielberg makes me super excited,” Bayona says. “He’s the reason I wanted to do the movie in the first place.”