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The response was wholly unexpected, both for what it was and because I had never considered what it might be. Which is a naivete I will only have this once and feel so grateful for. We’d spoken a lot in the edit room about the film’s legibility and how it might connect with audiences, but without any thought to what that meant. I don’t think we ever thought very many people would see the film, which was a reasonable expectation. Newcomer Corio stuns with her incredibly natural performance, and while she’s new to the screen, the young actress quickly adapted to life in front of the camera. Short-form stories are better suited for films because they’re about the tone and provide space to build a world.
‘Aftersun’ Ending Explained: Did Sophie Get To Meet Her Father In The End?
His childhood was not a pleasant one; we can sense that he was neglected. He expressed how, after leaving his hometown, he never felt like he belonged there anymore. Edinburgh was where he grew up, but he could not relate to the people or the place. He prefers living in London and hopes to rent a house there with his business partner, Keith. While he did seem unsure about his business venture, he found comfort in dreaming about having his life together and renting a flat right outside London where Sophie could have her own room and visit him time and again. Even though he was suffering financially, he always tried to conceal his troubles.
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I made Aftersun in a vacuum with my friends and then it reaches people and makes them feel strongly. People want the connection between artist and art to be so strong. It’s funny hearing people describe it as my memory because that it truly is not. The events that were in the script that were closely based on a conversation or an interaction – many of them aren’t in the final film. I think that’s because I am keen to serve the film and not my own past and whatever I’m exorcising with my own past is still the core of the film. And that’s a really easy thing to admit because, as I said, this to me was a form of expression and that is what I was ultimately expressing.
In 'Aftersun,' Charlotte Wells makes a shattering debut - Malta Independent Online
In 'Aftersun,' Charlotte Wells makes a shattering debut.
Posted: Sat, 27 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Film
To those reading the runes, there were signs that Aftersun might become something special. One was the name Barry Jenkins on the credits, the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight serving as a producer. “An amazing person to have in my corner,” enthuses Wells, who lives in New York. Many more have been moved by “Aftersun.” Devastated, actually, is more like it. Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, “Aftersun” has accumulated a rare kind of buzz. I see so many readings on the film and I’m very reluctant to invalidate them because the core expression is kind of similar, regardless of your take.
The turkey trip was not just significant from the aspect of the father-daughter relationship but also because it was during the trip that Sophie started to come of age. She recalled how teenagers were discussing their sex lives while she was in a bathroom stall. Sophie felt she was too old to hang out with the kids at the pool, but at the same time, she struggled to completely understand or be a part of a teenage group.
The pressure of being a parent, of knowing what the next step is, of not being a disappointment, is such that their lives as individuals are completely lost. Only after growing up does, one understands the other side of the story. Sophie realized how broken her father was, yet he pretended that his life was in order.
He has since lived in Portland for the last 30 years, and is a father to two young children, he said. At the ceremony, he sported a sash representing his Iu Mien heritage. Sophie’s attempt to cheer up her father – encouraging a crowd to sing him ‘Happy Birthday’ – becomes the most adorable moment. And her testimonials on-camera calling Calum “the best dad” would warm the coldest of hearts. Calum struggles with money issues, whilst also trying to create a memorable holiday with Sophie.
Before starting her career in the film industry as a producer, Wells helped run Digital Orchard, a company specialising in film, finishing images, developing film and digital imaging. Wells was a fellow at the 2020 Sundance Institute Screenwriters and Directors Labs with her feature film debut Aftersun, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. She received many accolades as a breakthrough director and appeared on numerous year-end lists. Aftersun received an Academy Award nomination for Paul Mescal's performance. The above makes it sound like Aftersun is a heartwarming story about family, but it takes an unexpected turn as the film progresses.
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It was the only time he could spend all by himself, and with a sense of peace, he swayed to an inaudible rhythm. The father-daughter dynamic was a frequent topic of conversation after her first feature-film debut Aftersun, a film about a father and daughter. 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) goes on summer vacation to a Turkish resort with her father, Calum (Paul Mescal), who lives apart. The two spend happy, precious moments with each other, sometimes conversing awkwardly with a camcorder in one hand. In writing Aftersun, she played back old Mini-DV tapes that her father shot of her, sometimes drawing dialogue from the footage.
In an interview with Brief Take, director and writer Charlotte Wells states that the overall arc of the movie is adult Sophie looking back and reflecting on this trip and her father. At the very beginning, the recording freezes and you can see a reflection of adult Sophie watching these home videos. Ultimately, I was flipping through some old holiday albums and I think that’s where the idea really crystallized. I was struck by how young my dad looked — I was probably around the age that he was in the photographs. I continued to work on it and took myself on a holiday after finishing film school to Cypress with one of my classmates. Getting permission for the music you want is a very real thing.
When Sophie asked Calum how he had spent his eleventh birthday, he mentioned that nobody in his family remembered that it was his birthday. His mother was angry when he reminded her and made his father drive to a toy store to get him something. By capturing Calum’s reflection on the television set, Wells hints at the complexity of the character and the distance that exists between the audience and Calum.
As the major awards shows loom, Wells spoke to THR about what the positive reception has been like, what she considers the most pivotal scenes and how she chose the tunes for the movie’s crucial musical moments. Wells was born and raised in Edinburgh, but moved to the US in 2012 to study film at New York University. That lucidity is everywhere in Aftersun, which paints its characters’ interior lives in quiet, telling strokes reminiscent of Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, who served as a producer on the film. Does it speak to an audience hunger for films that aren’t too prescriptive? One thing that struck me was the second we finished screening in Cannes, this young man came up to me and shared his own and his mother’s experience with depression. Many scenes in Aftersun feature little to no dialogue, and that restraint proves essential.
The film then freezes on her as a child waving goodbye to her father. Adult Sophie has paused the video on her home videos from that vacation. I first saw Aftersun in October 2022 at the Chicago International Film Festival. The ending doesn’t have to shout to speak volumes about the fate of the characters and the crippling weight of memories, loss, and mental health issues. One thing I’m still learning is the difference between words on a page that convey a specific sensation and how to transfer that to the screen.
During their big balcony moment, Princess Charlotte enjoyed a giggle with her brother as they waved to the throngs of royal well-wishers lining the Mall. The youngster sweetly flashed a warm smile as she observed her brother making a series of cheeky faces. Princess Charlotte protectively held Prince Louis' hand as the sibling duo made their way into Westminster Abbey ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla's spectacular coronation ceremony.
But that’s the kind of question that will become informed by every viewer’s own life experience. Wells, who has received a DGA nomination for first-time feature directing, crafted an intimate yet ambitious memory film about a young father and his daughter making the most of their shared time together. “Be gentle with me,” she seemed to be saying, but a little under two hours later it was the rest of us that needed support, the audience rising unsteadily to its feet for a two-minute standing ovation. It was like a meteor had smashed in through the roof and landed square in my lap, all glowing embers of grief I didn’t know what to do with.
Jenkins, himself a maker of richly vivid, lyrical films that compress present and past, was intimately involved in the process. He estimates that through the edit, he’s seen the film 12 to 15 times. He would come up a lot,” Wells said, brightening with his memory.
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