Joe Wright — the man behind films like Atonement and Pride and Prejudice — attempts his first big studio film with Friday release Pan, a visual extravaganza that recasts the traditional Peter Pan story, penned by J.M. Barrie. For us in India, the 43-year-old British filmmaker is also jamai babu — Anoushka Shankar’s husband, Ravi Shankar’s son-in-law. t2 caught up with Wright for a phone chat on the process of Pan and his Calcutta plans this winter.
Growing up, what did the story of Peter Pan mean to you?
I grew up with a lot of children’s stories. My parents were puppeteers and they told me these wonderful stories — mostly fairytales. Peter Pan was one which I really didn’t have a close relationship with, but it was very much part of my collective social consciousness.
Peter Pan is not just a children’s story… it has a lot of complex psychological layers. Was that something you discovered later and wanted to explore in a film?
Very much so. I think the story works on different levels for different age groups. For kids, it’s a story about a boy who can fly and he doesn’t grow old. There is a lot of depth in the story that is very fascinating. It doesn’t surprise me that Barrie was writing this story at the same time as (Sigmund) Freud and other writers who were exploring depth never seen before in the world of the written word. It’s a strange and wonderful book.
Pan is a revisionist rendering of the Peter Pan story. What is the mindset with which you went into making this film?
Well, it’s a complete reframing of the Peter Pan story… it’s about how Peter became Pan. It’s the story of this young boy searching for his mother and on that journey, discovering himself. I had recently become a father myself for the second time and I wanted to bring in something that would speak to my boy (Mohan Shankar Wright) about the very deep relationship he shares with his mother and also talk to him about his fears and how to overcome them with courage and imagination. It felt important to me to be able to do that for my boy.
How apprehensive are you about how purists will react to your version of Peter Pan?
It doesn’t worry me. At the premiere, we had 1,600 people in the auditorium… so many children. Watching them enjoy and be captivated by the story was special. I loved watching the boys identify with the story as if they were Peter Pan (played by Levi Miller) themselves and watching the girls taking inspiration from Tiger Lily (played by Rooney Mara) who is this amazing heroine — strong, competent and never a damsel in distress.
This is your first big-budget studio film. Did that get daunting for you at any point?
Yes, it was really. But it was also an exciting challenge. I’ve never made a film like this before and for me, it was an experiment to see how I would enjoy it and whether I would be able to maintain the important thing, which is the tender story at the heart of this juggernaut of a movie. That, I think, was the greatest challenge.
So how did you manage to strike a balance between the spectacular visuals and the intimate and emotional core of the story?
There were endless meetings about action sequences and the special effects, but my focus was always to protect the emotional kernel of the movie. I had to protect Levi Miller, playing Peter, to make sure that none of the responsibility would be on his shoulders. I just tried to make it a relaxing and creative experience for him and for the other actors.
What did each member of your principal cast bring to their roles and what was your process of picking them?
We saw over 4,000 videotaped auditions of kids to choose Peter. That was a gruelling exercise and we had representatives out in every English-speaking country in the world. Levi’s face popped up and I had a kind of epiphany and I was like: ‘There he is… that’s our guy!’ With Hugh Jackman (who plays the antagonist Blackbeard), I knew I wanted someone who had to be larger-than-life because all the characters are an offshoot of the imagination of an 11-year-old. Hugh, with his background in theatre, was someone who I knew wouldn’t be shy of that performance.
And Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily was, obviously, a controversial choice (because Tiger Lily is supposed to be an Indian princess and Mara is Caucasian), but J.M. Barrie, in his book, hasn’t been specific about Tiger Lily’s tribe and her nationality. I decided that her tribe should be made up of the indigenous people of the world and they fight against the colonial powers, represented by Blackbeard. So, casting her made sense to me. For Tiger Lily, we auditioned girls from all over the world, including some wonderful actresses from India and Japan and China, Iran and so many other countries. Tiger Lily is described in the script as being this “warrior princess” and Rooney has this regal quality and at the same time, she isn’t someone to be messed with… Rooney will kick your arse! (Laughs) I needed a Tiger Lily who young girls would feel empowered by because I feel it’s important to empower young women these days.
What do you want your audience to take away from Pan this weekend?
I want the kids to feel like they can be whoever they want to be and that they can triumph over adversity. And I want the adults to remember the child within themselves and maybe be a little bit more open-minded and kinder.
Given your direct connection with India, what do you think of our films? Have you watched many?
Yeah, very much so. It obviously started with the great Satyajit Ray who hailed from your town. I am a lover of Indian movies and the continent as a whole. I am incredibly excited to be coming to Calcutta this winter (December). It’s the one part of India I have never been to and I know it’s one of the most important. Anoushka is going to be playing some concerts all over India and we will be coming to Calcutta.
Do the two of you discuss work and is suggestion and advice sought?
We do, for sure. It’s really good to be married to a musician because our art forms may be very different, but at the same time, we have a good understanding of each other’s process. Right now, I am a producer of Anoushka’s new album (Home) and to work together and bring up our two sons (Zubin and Mohan) together is really very exciting.
Priyanka Roy
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WRIGHT’S WINNERS
Pride and Prejudice: Wright shot into the spotlight with this 2005 retelling of the Jane Austen classic, with Keira Knightley stealing the show as the spunky Elizabeth Bennet. Earned four Oscar nominations, with Wright winning a Bafta for ‘Most Promising Newcomer’.
New York Times review: In a little more than two hours, Wright and the screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, have created as satisfyingly rich and robust a fusion of romance, historical detail and genial social satire as the time allows.
Atonement: Nominated for seven Academy Awards and starring favourite Keira Knightley, Wright’s most critically acclaimed film traversed a tumultuous course across several decades, starting from the 1930s.
The Daily Telegraph review: It is ambitious, terrifically acted, moving, and for the most part far transcends its status as a historical drama.
Hanna: Wright’s next was the gutsy and gritty tale of 15-year-old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) who is trained from birth to be an assassin.
The Daily Telegraph review: Wright has made a terrific transition from the stuffed-shirt gentility of his earlier work. For the first time, I’m eager to find out what he’ll do next.
Anna Karenina: Wright went back to Knightley to reframe Tolstoy’s classic, earning praise for a film that was “bold and visually stylised”.
New York Times review: It is risky and ambitious enough to count as an act of artistic hubris, and confident enough to triumph on its own slightly — wonderfully — crazy terms.
