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Roger Michell Interview
ROGER MICHELL
Although he may not be a household name in the UK, Roger Michell is one of the British film industry's most successful directors. With films ranging from the blockbuster Notting Hill to the more intimate The Mother, as well as the US box office smash Changing Lanes, Michell has established himself as a director that consistently delivers thought-provoking and entertaining films that usually have both a commercial and intellectual heart.
His new project is no different: Enduring Love is based on Ian McEwan's most popular book, one which is famed for its opening sequence involving a balloon accident, followed by an unusual story of obsession. It stars Daniel Craig as Joe, a lecturer, who becomes something of a stalking figure for the wild and offbeat attentions of Jed (Rhys Ifans). Jed is convinced that Joe loves him, with no solid evidence to back this up, and Joe finds his life being altered completely, and terrifyingly, by the unwanted attentions of this interloper.
A charming and mild-mannered 46-year-old, Michell is in London to promote his film and explains how his involvement began. 'I was sent the script years ago, and we had the rights, but then we lost them. It was only about three years ago we go them back and started to work on it.' Scripted by theatrical wunderkind Joe Penhall, Michell is keen to impress that the author of the source material was involved. 'We showed Ian the script at various stages along the way, and he was nothing but supportive to us'.
He confesses to being nervous taking on a project to film a book that is hugely loved by anyone who has read it and it widely seen as McEwan's greatest work. 'Everyone talks about that opening scene', he laughs. 'We filmed it first, and it took about ten days to do in Oxfordshire. The difficult thing was that you can't steer balloons left or right, so it was a tricky feat. Especially considering none of us had worked with balloons before'. The results are tremendous and represent one of the year's cinematic highlights, an exhilarating and terrifying opening to the film.
Michell has worked with his two leading actors before - Craig in The Mother and Ifans in his memorable breakthrough role as Spike in Notting Hill - and says that he enjoys working with familiar faces. The two had a week to rehearse their cat and mouse relationship, and it's another timely role for Craig, an increasingly familiar face who this year alone has clocked up notable performances in Sylvia and Layer Cake, as well as having appeared in high-profile Hollywood fare such as Tomb Raider and The Road to Perdition. Michell is effusive with his praise of his leading man. 'Daniel has an unorthodox way of dealing with the lines, and he can be terrifying to watch. You're never quite sure if he's going to go absolutely insane, and in that way he's rather like Jack Nicholson. But not in real life of course'.
Having spent his time working for the studio system in Hollywood, Michell is well aware of the vagaries in pressure that come with the territory, notably concerning the film's financial success. 'It's not quite as critical here, box office-wise. When you open a film in America, you get a phone call in the early hours of Saturday morning, with a figure for not only the whole weekend's predicted takings, but a figure for the whole run of the film', he explains. 'The weirdest thing is that the predictions are usually right. But here I don't think I will hear anything until Monday.' Michell should sleep easily this weekend - whatever the final takings of his new project are, it's bound to rank on many top ten lists come the year's end.
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