Frears: Balance is key in ‘Philomena’
Stephen Frears is an eclectic sort, his directing career including such comedies as “High Fidelity” and dramas like “The Queen.”
He straddles both sides of the drama-comedy line in “Philomena,” in which Judi Dench plays a woman who gave up her son for adoption 50 years before; Steve Coogan plays the journalist who helps her find out what happened to him.
Frears, riding home in a car in England, talked recently about the process of finding a balanced tone and what drew him to the film.
Question: How did you find the movie? Did you know the story?
Answer: No. I was sent the script. ... It’s very hard to answer your question. The truth is, I never quite know “oh, that’s why I made that film.” I like the idea of it being a comedy as well as a tragedy. I thought that was very, very good. Q: The balance is tough. A: Yeah, but I found that interesting. But I don’t really know why I choose them.
Q: So you weren’t familiar with the story? A: No, not at all. I mean, I knew there’s a certain amount we knew about the Magdalene laundries (the abbey where Dench’s character lives after having the baby). But the idea of babies being sold was really outside my experience. Q: You get the script and then what? A: I don’t know. Something catches your imagination. Then you go to work on it and you realize you’ve been hooked. Then you realize you have to do it. I liked the idea of Judi and Steve very much. I thought that would be interesting. Q: They’re an odd combination, but it works. A: Yeah, but that’s what was good about it. It was like an odd couple.
Q: You know Coogan could do the comedy. Were you worried about the drama?
A: Well no. The truth is, if you’ve got Judi Dench, you’re OK. She’s brilliant. So in a sense it’s cheating, she’s so brilliant. And so upsetting. And he is so funny. So in a sense I thought I’ve got the people in the right places. If you don’t have the right people, you’d be in trouble. And I thought I had the right people to do this.
Q: At what point do you egg them on and what get out of way?
A: A lot of your job is getting out of the way, because it’s very easy to make things worse. You’re having a sort of conversation with them and trying to get the tone right. But a lot of it is keeping out of the way. Woody Allen said so.
Q: Do you work differently now from when making, say, “My Beautiful Laundrette” (in 1985)?
A: I think so, yeah. Now I’m old and experienced. But yeah, I’d imagine I’m much more decisive and clear. You know when there’s something wrong, and then you set about making it right.
Q: The tone shifts so much, and shooting is so fragmented. Isn’t it tough to stay consistent?
A: Listen, that’s the job. If you can’t do that, don’t start, really. These are very good actors. They made it pretty easy for me.
Q: When you start, do you see visually how the film should look?
A: No. I don’t. I don’t have visions. I’m much more at home with narrative and characterization.
Q: But you have the final say on how it looks, for instance.
A: Well the film kind of tells you what it looks like. When you make a film in Washington, you end up doing exactly what Frank Capra did. But anyway, I don’t have visions in my head.
Q: Well is the final film different from how you envisioned it?
A: I don’t envision anything. I just don’t think like that, have that imagination. Gradually the story sort of sorts itself out. What’s you’re really doing is slowly getting clearer about what the film is about, and removing the obstacles that are in the way that you couldn’t see. It gradually becomes clear.