Award-winning commercial director Christine Jeffs makes her feature film directorial debut with the breathtakingly beautiful coming-of-age tale, "Rain." The film has been warmly received by critics and audiences worldwide, earning numerous awards for its actors and for writer/director Jeffs.
"Rain" tells the story of 13 year-old Janey and her family as they settle into their isolated cottage for another perfect seaside holiday. Janey's days are full of swimming and fishing. At night her parents give parties where the adults drink, dance and flirt. Janey becomes increasingly aware of the cracks in her parents' marriage. Watching her mother begin an affair with a visiting photographer, she starts to discover her own sexuality. Janey decides to grow up quickly. Too quickly...
In this exclusive interview, Christine Jeffs talks about the film, her cast, and transitioning from commercials to feature films.
Why did you choose such an unusual novel for your feature film directorial debut?
I loved the detail in the book. Everything that happens in the film is the culmination of little moments. That's essentially it. I thought it was quite an unusual story in terms of the coming-of-age genre.
The novel is told via flashbacks. What was your reasoning behind changing that format?
I wanted the audience to experience Janey's journey in a very present sense. I wanted them to go on that journey with her, and I felt that that would be more compelling in terms of the emotional intensity of the story. I felt that using the flashback mode, I would really have to use a lot of voice-over. I'd also be introducing an older Janey, an adult Janey character, which just didn't seem right in terms of the story that I wanted to tell. I wanted to keep things very simple.
Adapting a novel into a screenplay and then taking on the additional duty of directing is quite a project. Would you have adapted the novel if you're weren't going to direct the film?
That's a good question. The answer is no, I would not have done it without being the director. I purely adapted it with the idea of directing.
If somebody else would've done the adaptation, would you have still been interesting in directing this film?
That would have depended on how the adaptation turned out. I did actually encourage, or try to find, someone else to do the writing, but it was quite difficult. There's not a very obvious pace because it's a very lyrical, poetic novel, and the narrative is not that obvious. There are some big events that happen in it but it's very detailed, so it wasn't an obvious choice. In fact, if I hadn't of had the vision for it, as a director, it wouldn't have been something that other writers would have chosen.
The film probes a delicate subject matter, that of sexual awakening. That's not a subject that is handled often in films. How hard was it for you to get that feeling portrayed so realistically on screen?
I think it was really the choice of Janey, Alicia Fulford-Wierzbick. She was incredibly realistic in her portrayal and she didn't force any kind of cliché. She was very truthful in terms of the emotional side of the performance. She was incredibly brave, really. She just really went all out to make it happen and I think that all the cast were really very natural in their performances - especially young Jim [played by Aaron Murphy] as well. He had never acted in a film before. I think that really helped the whole sense of reality that comes across in the film.
How did you find the two younger actors?
We found our 'Janey' through the formal casting process. She was workshopped extensively before she was chosen for the part - and before she chose us. Aaron was found outside the formal casting process and then brought into the workshops that we were doing with other boys. He was found actually living in the area where we were going to be filming, which was a rural area. I thought that he had the perfect spirit to play the boy. He just became the boy.
How did you as a director get them to be so natural on screen? Was there any special thing you did to draw the performances out of these young actors?
It's probably the way I work - the overall thing. I encourage informality and spontaneity. You have to work at that and break down any barriers that are becoming formalized, ritualized, and unreal in terms of performances. I really work on that with all of my actors. Aaron didn't have any formal training and I don't think that Alicia had, either. They didn't have any things to hang on to except for what I was sharing with them, in terms of what I wanted. That allowed a very truthful, natural sense to come across, even though both of those children are very different from the characters they portray. They quickly understood that what the character did and what they did were very different things. They could flip from being themselves to being the character very easily.
The film has been described by critics and audiences as being "stunning, luscious and stylish." The scenery seems to almost play as an important role as the actors. How did you select that setting and what is the importance of the physical setting of "Rain?"
The cinematographer, John Toon, helped find that location. One of the decisions that we made early on was that we really felt the film should be shot on location, as opposed to some exteriors on location and the rest in the studio. We used all of our resources to make sure we could live at the place where we filmed. We created a whole family atmosphere. We were there the whole time, in that house, with the water right outside the door. We all lived within 5 minutes or so of that place. We lived in that community.
One of the choices that we made was that we had to be able to have this whole interior/exterior thing going on. That really helps the whole reality side of the picture. If the characters are inside, you can hear the sea, or see the sea behind them, crashing outside behind the door. We let the real lights in - it's actually the real sunshine and the sea, and I think that gives it a particular feel.
I looked for a landscape that was very changeable. The way the tides work as a metaphor for emotion in the film is quite incredible. You can see, for example, when Kate [Sarah Peirse] walks to Cady's [Marton Csokas] boat, she's walking across the dry landscape. When she comes back, she has to walk through the water and she's saturated. There's a whole different feeling to it. I think there's a sense of danger in the landscape and that plays a whole role in the movie. The burning sky, the palm trees with the wind in them, and the changeability of the tides, it just provided a whole feeling for the film, which we thought would be amazing. The whole landscape figures prominently in the book and it just comes through for a reason. At the time, we didn't feel like we were going out getting special shots of the landscape. It just kind of seeps through strongly into the film.
What was the transition process like for you, coming from a background of commercials, and now helming a feature film?
It was pretty straightforward. I've been directing for quite a while in the commercial arena so it was just like a wonderful chance to really get stuck into something meaty. In terms of the day-to-day work that a director does, it didn't feel that different except that the emotional content was completely different. I was able to really get into the performances and deal with things in a much bigger way. My background prior to doing commercials was as a film editor. I worked on feature films for many years as an assistant film editor. I had spent a lot of time in cutting rooms on big films, so I felt like that was where I'd come from in many ways, as much as directing commercials. I had a very strong background in the whole nature of making feature films. It wasn't a difficult transition for me.
You've made "Variety's Ten Directors to Watch" list. Do you feel any pressure to live up to that title?
No, I think I'll look for another project that speaks to my heart and I'm hoping to make another film soon. I'm actually adapting another novel as we speak. I'm looking forward to whatever the next project might be.
In this era of megabudget, action blockbusters, how hard was it for you to get a film like "Rain" made and then noticed?
I think that "Rain" will find its own audience, or the audience will find "Rain." There's been a groundswell of positive feeling towards it since it was at Directors Fortnight at Cannes last year. It's been at Toronto, Sundance and Cannes - so many film festivals - and I've been there for some of those and done question and answer sessions with audiences. I think that word of mouth is the main thing. It had a theatrical release in New Zealand that went for six months; it just went on and on. I think that was primarily from word of mouth. People talk about it so even though it doesn't have the flashy advertising, if people were moved by something, they seem to tell other people and then the word spreads. Obviously the critical acclaim that's been bestowed upon it makes people interested in it, if they want to see a thinking movie.
There are whole different leagues of movies and I think that there are audiences for both - and they mix and match as well, I'm sure.
You co-founded The Girl Film Company. Why did you feel a need to start up your own production company?
I really wanted a small company so that I could work when I wanted to on commercials; there wasn't that sort of pressure to do any old thing that came along. I was able to be more selective in my commercial work and to keep doing quality work with good scripts. It was just really fun starting it up and it's just a chance to control my own destiny more. We have other directors working with us now. They are all interested in making films, and we have kind of a film hub happening there.
Have you ever encountered difficulties while directing commercials, and now with feature films, because you are a woman? Do you ever feel you have more to prove?
It's interesting because I've never thought about it. Maybe it's something that I've never come across. I just go to things that speak to me so I've never thought about being disadvantaged in any way. Maybe I haven't come across that in terms of my own career path. I've been very driven, driving my own projects. I haven't waited for someone to hand me something on a plate.
SPECIAL THANKS: Director Christine Jeffs and Chris Principio at Landmark Theatres
