NZ first to see The Luminaries

Eleanor Catton’s Man Booker Prizewinning novel The Luminaries is one of the great New Zealand stories. That’s why Catton was adamant that her six-part TV adaptation of her own novel had to be filmed on the West Coast.

‘‘New Zealand’s flora and fauna are unique, and the country’s latitude makes for a very particular quality of light,’’ Catton explains.

‘‘I think that if we’d shot the show anywhere else in the world, the differences would have been palpable – it just wouldn’t have felt quite right.

‘‘The much bigger reason, though, is that the West Coast is not just rich in gold; it is also the source of pounamu, or greenstone, which is central to Ma¯ori life as a treasure and a tool. Pounamu plays such an important part in the story of The Luminaries that it would have been disrespectful to shoot the show offshore.’’

The drama, which began on Sunday, takes place during the gold rush in the 1860s on New Zealand’s untamed West Coast.

It centres on the young adventurer called Anna Wetherall (Eve Hewson), who has travelled from Britain to New Zealand with the aim of starting a new life there.

On the voyage, Anna falls for the hard up, but charming, Emery Staines (Himesh Patel).

However, a series of unfortunate events propels her into the clutches of scheming madame Lydia Wells (Eva Green), who dupes Anna into becoming a prostitute and ensures that she and Emery remain apart.

Green, 39, who has also starred in Casino Royale, Sin City, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children and Dumbo, runs through the reasons why this epic, complex drama appealed to her.

‘‘I loved the fact that it sounded quite exotic,’’ she says. ‘‘It was interesting to discover this world.

‘‘I didn’t know anything about it, before this. I’ve never seen anything about the gold rush in the 19th century over there.’’

The actress adds that, ‘‘I was also interested by the fact that there were so few women over there, in the beginning, and that it was quite rough.

‘‘My character is very feminist and ahead of her time, and she has a fortune parlour. There’s something quite manly about her and she’s a bit like a Lady Macbeth. It’s a very strange mix, but she’s very cool.’’

For Hewson, 28, who has also appeared in The Knick, Bridge Of Spies, Robin Hood and Papillon, Catton’s scripts drew her to The Luminaries.

‘‘It’s a smart and interesting adaptation. Eleanor’s writing is genius, and in a TV series we have all these characters and the time to make the relationships distinct.

‘‘What’s beautiful about the story is it’s a period piece, it’s mystical and wonderful and imaginative.

‘‘But it’s also the story of what women go through today and what they went through back then.

‘‘There have been a lot of conversations about how we approach it and the way it’s dignified and truthful.’’

Anna’s relationship with Lydia lies at the heart of the screen version of The Luminaries.

Catton, 34, who in 2013 became the youngest winner of the Man Booker Prize, reveals that this was a deliberate decision.

‘‘Bringing it back to the two women was a choice about focusing the drama on this essential question of, ‘Do you make your fortune or does your fortune determine who you are?’

‘‘Anna’s relationship with Lydia in the show, more so than in the book, is a seduction. There’s a sense of them testing one another and not being entirely honest with one another.

‘‘It’s such an enormous cast, we could have taken any number of avenues. But the moment we cast these two amazing women, every time they do a scene together, I’m just like, ‘Oh my God’.’’

Hewson, whose father is U2’s lead singer Bono, details how she hopes audiences will react to The Luminaries.

‘‘I just hope people connect with it and they feel what we all felt when we read the scripts. I hope they fall in love with the characters, and they enjoy themselves.

‘‘I hope we have made an entertaining show. Even though it’s well written and directed and the acting’s great, I hope people are still entertained. That’s the joy of TV.’’

– James Rampton, TV Guide

The Luminaries screens on TV1 on Sundays and is available on TVNZ OnDemand.