Why it’s love, actually, for caring Keira
KEIRA Knightley has been praised for ‘leading from the front’ to ensure her latest film finished shooting before the pandemic-induced shutdown.
‘We finished by the skin of our teeth — because of her,’ said Matthew Vaughn, producer of the untitled movie, a dark romance set around Christmas described to me as Love Actually with a killer sting.
Vaughn told me last night that he’s ‘thrilled’ that they managed to get the film shot before the coronavirus derailed it; and laid much of the credit at his leading lady’s door. ‘Kiera’s exceptional in the film,’ he said, ‘and she was exceptional behind the scenes as well. She really led from the front.’
He added that the actress, star of the recently released Misbehaviour, ‘lifted our spirits’ during filming.
Some have been calling the picture Silent Night, but Vaughn told me it won’t be released with that title.
Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Camille Griffin, it stars Knightley as a woman married to a character played by Matthew Goode.
Their screen son is played by Roman Griffin Davis, who played the eponymous Jojo Rabbit in the Oscar-nominated film. His mother is Ms Griffin.
Knightley and her film ‘family’ gather with friends and relatives for what’s supposed to be a festive celebration.
The true nature of the gathering is being kept strictly under wraps.
Post production — the editing, scoring and fine-tuning — will have to wait until life returns to a semblance of ‘normal’.
However, Vaughn revealed that he’s going to go through footage that has already been edited and cut a promo reel to sell in the market place at the Cannes Film Festival. Last night, the film bonanza in the South of France was postponed; and a new date in late June is being considered.
But I imagine that even then there will be a series of global ‘meeting rooms’, with call-ins for scores of people, so buyers can bid for films like this one.
Sales agents and distributors from around the world will be able to sit in their offices in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome or Sydney and participate in an auction to buy rights to release the movie.
It’s gonna be the new reality. For a while, at least.