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| Man on Wire director Marsh steps into drama | Man on Wire director Marsh steps into drama |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| By Emma Jones Entertainment reporter, BBC News | By Emma Jones Entertainment reporter, BBC News |
| British director James Marsh has won acclaim from documentary making with films such as the Oscar-winning Man on Wire and Project Nim. Now he's turned his attention to the Troubles in Northern Ireland - but this time, as a feature film. | |
| Shadow Dancer, starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough, is a thriller set in the early 1990s. Riseborough's character, Collette McVeigh, is a Republican single mother living in Belfast with her hardliner IRA brothers. | Shadow Dancer, starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough, is a thriller set in the early 1990s. Riseborough's character, Collette McVeigh, is a Republican single mother living in Belfast with her hardliner IRA brothers. |
| When she is arrested over an aborted bomb plot in London, she is given a choice by a MI5 officer played by Clive Owen: Go to prison, and miss seeing her son grow up; or go home and inform on her family. | When she is arrested over an aborted bomb plot in London, she is given a choice by a MI5 officer played by Clive Owen: Go to prison, and miss seeing her son grow up; or go home and inform on her family. |
| It was originally a novel written by ITN correspondent Tom Bradby when he was based in Northern Ireland during the conflict, and was, according to him, a way of "writing down the stories we couldn't put on the TV news every night". | It was originally a novel written by ITN correspondent Tom Bradby when he was based in Northern Ireland during the conflict, and was, according to him, a way of "writing down the stories we couldn't put on the TV news every night". |
| Yet two years ago, when his adapted screenplay fell into Marsh's hands, the director admits his heart was heavy. | Yet two years ago, when his adapted screenplay fell into Marsh's hands, the director admits his heart was heavy. |
| "It was about Ireland and the Troubles and we are all glad to have got beyond that, so I was sceptical," he says. "But when I started reading it I realised there was a great premise in the story. | "It was about Ireland and the Troubles and we are all glad to have got beyond that, so I was sceptical," he says. "But when I started reading it I realised there was a great premise in the story. |
| "With the time that has passed since the original story was written, the perspective we have is useful. There's no ongoing active conflict to worry about, and the early 1990s was a time when the majority were yearning for peace. | "With the time that has passed since the original story was written, the perspective we have is useful. There's no ongoing active conflict to worry about, and the early 1990s was a time when the majority were yearning for peace. |
| "And there's an international dimension to the story that's dramatic. There are extraordinary tales of deceit and betrayal from the time of the Troubles, and they remind me of some of the Cold War spy stories we have. | "And there's an international dimension to the story that's dramatic. There are extraordinary tales of deceit and betrayal from the time of the Troubles, and they remind me of some of the Cold War spy stories we have. |
| "So was I reluctant to direct it? Yes and no. I am nearly 50 years old, so I am old enough to have lived through the recent story of Northern Ireland. I thought: 'Do we really need another film about Northern Ireland?' | "So was I reluctant to direct it? Yes and no. I am nearly 50 years old, so I am old enough to have lived through the recent story of Northern Ireland. I thought: 'Do we really need another film about Northern Ireland?' |
| "In the end the script convinced me as I was sure I could do something interesting with it. It's about a mother's predicament, so it has a very strong female perspective, and that already makes it different." | "In the end the script convinced me as I was sure I could do something interesting with it. It's about a mother's predicament, so it has a very strong female perspective, and that already makes it different." |
| However, at this stage, the screenplay still had a strong political direction, and Marsh wanted to focus on the thriller aspect of the story. He was allowed to adapt it further to make it "more of a universal story with local colour". | However, at this stage, the screenplay still had a strong political direction, and Marsh wanted to focus on the thriller aspect of the story. He was allowed to adapt it further to make it "more of a universal story with local colour". |
| "We can all understand what it is like to betray our family and betray our own political conviction," says Marsh. | "We can all understand what it is like to betray our family and betray our own political conviction," says Marsh. |
| "The fact it is set in Northern Ireland at a certain time is a circumstance that allow these things to happen but it's not really about politics." | "The fact it is set in Northern Ireland at a certain time is a circumstance that allow these things to happen but it's not really about politics." |
| Even so, the change in focus of the script made it easier to attract funding, with both BBC Films and the then UK Film Council coming on board. | Even so, the change in focus of the script made it easier to attract funding, with both BBC Films and the then UK Film Council coming on board. |
| Shadow Dancer ended up being filmed in Dublin, rather than Belfast because of financial considerations rather than political sensibilities, says Marsh. | Shadow Dancer ended up being filmed in Dublin, rather than Belfast because of financial considerations rather than political sensibilities, says Marsh. |
| "Whenever things don't happen in films, it's always to do with money," says Marsh | "Whenever things don't happen in films, it's always to do with money," says Marsh |
| "Sadly we couldn't come to an agreement with the Northern Ireland Film Commission to make it in Belfast. However, I think it worked out in Dublin. We found a nice monotone grey-looking estate in Dublin to film in, and we weren't run out of town for the subject matter. | "Sadly we couldn't come to an agreement with the Northern Ireland Film Commission to make it in Belfast. However, I think it worked out in Dublin. We found a nice monotone grey-looking estate in Dublin to film in, and we weren't run out of town for the subject matter. |
| "We actually showed it in Belfast recently - and they didn't run us out of town either. In fact, the only question they asked was: 'Why didn't you make it here?' It's great to know they welcomed our film. At the end of the day though, the border is irrelevant to me. Shadow Dancer is an Irish co-production and that's what's important." | "We actually showed it in Belfast recently - and they didn't run us out of town either. In fact, the only question they asked was: 'Why didn't you make it here?' It's great to know they welcomed our film. At the end of the day though, the border is irrelevant to me. Shadow Dancer is an Irish co-production and that's what's important." |
| Marsh has worked outside the documentary genre before, most notably in directing the Channel 4 drama Red Riding 1980, as well as the 2005 film The King, which was presented at Cannes. | Marsh has worked outside the documentary genre before, most notably in directing the Channel 4 drama Red Riding 1980, as well as the 2005 film The King, which was presented at Cannes. |
| But Shadow Dancer marked his return to dramatic narrative, following his success with Man on Wire and Project Nim. | But Shadow Dancer marked his return to dramatic narrative, following his success with Man on Wire and Project Nim. |
| Just how hard was it to make the switch? | Just how hard was it to make the switch? |
| "I wasn't overly enamoured with trying to make Shadow Dancer as real as possible, but of course we did try to make the backdrop authentic and to ground the fiction in reality. For me, the main difference was the freedom of making pure film, moving the cameras in different ways to documentary-making. | "I wasn't overly enamoured with trying to make Shadow Dancer as real as possible, but of course we did try to make the backdrop authentic and to ground the fiction in reality. For me, the main difference was the freedom of making pure film, moving the cameras in different ways to documentary-making. |
| "In terms of the difference of working with actors instead of interviewees, I've always thought with actors, just cast the ones you want and then let them work. | "In terms of the difference of working with actors instead of interviewees, I've always thought with actors, just cast the ones you want and then let them work. |
| "Really though, you create the same circumstances for both actors and interviewees. You make things comfortable and you create a trust between you so the story can come out, it's the same in both cases. | "Really though, you create the same circumstances for both actors and interviewees. You make things comfortable and you create a trust between you so the story can come out, it's the same in both cases. |
| "I also studied the history of Ireland just to be as well informed for my cast as possible, in case Andrea or Clive had questions. As it turned out though, they'd also picked up history books, and most of the rest of the cast, actors like Martin McCann and Domhnall Gleeson, were Irish anyway." | "I also studied the history of Ireland just to be as well informed for my cast as possible, in case Andrea or Clive had questions. As it turned out though, they'd also picked up history books, and most of the rest of the cast, actors like Martin McCann and Domhnall Gleeson, were Irish anyway." |
| Overall though, Marsh says he had to suspend a documentary maker's quest for truth and accept that in the story he was telling here, there were many shades of grey. | Overall though, Marsh says he had to suspend a documentary maker's quest for truth and accept that in the story he was telling here, there were many shades of grey. |
| "You look for the things you can be certain of but I can't be certain with politics, that's why I turned to the human dynamics, to family and psychology. | "You look for the things you can be certain of but I can't be certain with politics, that's why I turned to the human dynamics, to family and psychology. |
| "For generations, people have been trapped in this conflict, and that collects stories. Shadow Dancer doesn't go into who is right, or who has morality on their side. It is a microcosm, and we aren't attempting to deal with a bigger picture." | "For generations, people have been trapped in this conflict, and that collects stories. Shadow Dancer doesn't go into who is right, or who has morality on their side. It is a microcosm, and we aren't attempting to deal with a bigger picture." |
| Shadow Dancer is released in the UK on Friday 24 August. |