BEYOND ROMANCE: artistic symbiosis

By Andrea Guachalla

“What kind of movies do you like?”

Have you ever been asked that question? 

You must surely have. 

Several times. 

Have you ever felt hesitant when answering it though?

You probably have if the genre you like most is ROMANCE.

It’s kind of an unspoken thing, right? If you say that the kind of films you like most are action, or science fiction, or biographic films, or even horror films you’re good to go. BUT somehow, regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman, it’s weirdly not so cool to admit that yes, you like romantic films. 

Why is it embarrassing?

One of the reasons must be that you think that admitting you like romantic films will come with some sort of judgment on behalf of the person asking the question. And truth be told, when I could finally and freely admit that I love that film genre as much as I love any other genre, I did experience that subtle judgment that one dread. I had a couple of people looking at me as if I was a weird bug, or as if I had suddenly become less smart, or as if I had unconsciously given them the power to categorize me as “that kind of girl.”

What can I say?

Stereotypes…

Unfortunately, I get how stereotyping people by knowing such a small part of them makes you feel in control as if you had a non-sensical-human superpower that gives you the freedom to categorize them.

I know this because I USED TO BE THAT PERSON.

The one with the superpower of judging people by shallow things like the movies they watch or the music they listen to! And having been the judgy person once is what made me more ashamed of admitting that I like romantic films myself.

Funny thing… But it served a purpose. And I hope that after reading this article you will stop feeling ashamed for liking romantic films and if you are one of those judgy ones… Then I hope you see beyond the shallowness.

Now…

Let me explain myself.

Over time, trying to understand why I felt attracted to that particular film genre and not being able to explain it accurately, I came to realize the real reason I and perhaps other people love these films so much and it has nothing to do with the films being romantic or not…

How did I come to that conclusion?

The answer is: “Pride and Prejudice”, “Atonement”, and “Anna Karenina”. 

The most loved, must-watch romantic-drama films of this century. 

Have you watched any of those films?

I have.

Probably a dozen times each.

I must say now that some people love them, and some people hate them. But the fact that the three of them were the most worldwide acclaimed cinematographic pieces on the romantic-drama genre of films says one thing:

Whether you like them or not, 

THEY ARE SUPERBE. 

But why?

What makes them so special?

Is it Keira Knightley as the protagonist of the three films? It needs to be acknowledged that she is utterly talented for these kinds of roles, where she has to play women from past centuries. But… Is that it?

I don’t think so.

Is it the romantic story itself? Maybe the script? Maybe the secondary actors and actresses? What about the fact that the three films were based on novels? That’s certainly something special. What about the fact that the three of them portray the culture of different centuries? That’s something unique.

To all that I say: it could be.

However, there is something more to them, something that would make a person go from hating romantic films to love them. It must be something difficult to explain… Perhaps it’s about the things you think you see, but don’t really see, or the things you leave unnoticed, perhaps it’s about the melodies that stick in your mind and play uninvited in your head every once in a while.  

Perhaps what makes those films unique is what goes on behind the obvious, behind the lights, perhaps the people that are part of the artistic symbiosis taking place but never appear on camera…

Yes, that’s it!

What’s special about those films is not the actors saying their lines by heart so graciously. It’s the guy sitting on the opposite side of the room, the director. That one guy that yells “Action!” and then “cut!” 

It’s Joe Wright. The guy with whom the artistic symbiosis for the three movies started.

A man who never finished high school, but somehow made it as one of the most talented directors in the film industry these past decades. This guy and his mind twin: Thomas Neppa.

But before I talk about Thomas you must know this: It is a common thing while producing a film to have what’s called a “second unit”. Which is a group of filmmakers who, in order to save time and be more effective, have to direct and produce some scenes of the film simultaneously to the first unit.

The notable thing here is: the second unit does the shooting without the main director because, remember, he is busy with the first unit. Which can only mean one thing: they need their own director.

Sounds easy, right?

Well…

IS NOT.

The second unit director has to be someone who can imitate the first unit director as accurately as possible. 

Why?

Because the goal is that no one can tell the difference between the scenes shot by the main director and the second unit director!

The direction has to be exactly the same! Same style, same photography, same feeling. Even the minor details that could influence the acting has to be under control.

Here is where Thomas Neppa (Joe’s mind twin) enters the play or better said the symbiosis. Probably the only one that can tell the scenes apart is he himself. His direction is flawlessly accurate and beautiful.

The direction itself is enough to admire those three films, but there is more than that.

Something more visual… A perfect imperfection on the scenes, the red carpet on the floor, the green dress that matches perfectly with the painting on the walls. It’s the so-well thought designs, and the women behind all of that:

Sarah Greenwood (production designer) and her dear friend Katie Spencer (set decorator). The two people that can actually, with their fine taste in design and decoration, bring to life the settings that once upon a time were only real in the minds of those who wrote the novels on which the films are based.

So their role in the symbiosis is not only about getting what the director thinks is more suitable, but about representing Elizabeth Bennet’s dining room according to her British social context, about giving life to the ballrooms of the Russian high social class of the XIXth century where Anna Karenina used to dance, and about making you feel that Cecilia was truly born to two rich and powerful American parents and lived in a huge mansion back in the 1940s.

And is not even only about that but also about creating the environment that would finally be the bridge between the two directors and the next actress and vital part of the symbiosis: Jacqueline Duran, one of the greatest costume designers of the United Kingdom.

The one who, like Sarah and Katie, can make the wildest and dreamiest costumes a reality. The one who makes everything go in harmony, and who can create everything from ordinary dresses from the XVIIIth century to the high-class Russian costumes, and can also replicate the uniforms that soldiers used to wear in the 2nd World War. 

These six people are the real actors of those films. Those are the ones who for years aimed to create the perfect environment for exploiting talent in whatever form it comes. 

But, if you didn’t notice by now, there is something still missing.

All of those six people respond to the film’s visibility and logistic, to the artistic and objective side of the production. But there is something equally important that hasn’t been mentioned yet.

The music.

As opposed to the rest of the group, the composer of the three soundtracks doesn’t dance with the rest of the crew so often. He doesn’t decide the designs, the costumes, or the colors, he doesn’t have a word on the directing style or the gracious dialogues. And still, he is the one who connects all of them with YOU.

The spectator.

That’s his job.

And he does it right.

Dario Marianelli, an Italian composer, is the one who sits at the piano for endless hours finding the way to express the feelings of people he never met, the one who writes the music in paper sheets with his own hands.

He is the one that, fifteen years ago, was discovered by Joe Wright and was asked to score a film for the first time in his life: Pride and Prejudice, and the one who was later asked to score Atonement and Anna Karenina. Because he proved to be the right guy for the three films, and many others.

Now the symbiosis is complete.

The real actors of three of the most epic loved and renowned romantic films of the past decades, and the ones that made a random person explore beyond the romance and unashamedly admit that…

“Yes! I love romantic movies!”