by Jim Maloney
The film follows the rise and fall of an ambitious romantic novelist, Angelica ‘Angel’ Deverell, at the turn of the 20th century. The 15-year-old Angel dreams of becoming a writer and leaving her life above her mother’s grocery shop behind. The magnificent Paradise House nearby symbolises for her the finest things she wants in life. Although her writing might not be very good, it attracts the attention of a London publisher (Sam Neill) and her subsequent books earn her a fortune. Later she comes into contact with two siblings – struggling artist Esmé, who becomes infatuated with Angel, and his sister Nora.
Romola Garai – who had played the teenage Briony Tallis in Atonement and the title role in the TV adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma – was cast as Angelica. Michael was so keen to work with Ozon that he endured five auditions before he was finally given the role of her love interest and later husband, the broody and penniless artist, Esmé. ‘I really wanted to work with him because he is so open to ideas,’ Michael said later, but he had found the preliminaries nerve-racking. ‘I had no idea if he’d pick me. I really wanted to work with him but I was nervous. Five auditions, for God’s sake!’
The magnificent, Gothic-style Tyntesfield House (near Bristol) – with its spiralling turrets, terraced lawns, interior balconies, oak-panelled walls and estate – was used for Paradise House, which Angelica buys.
Ozon revealed that a Hollywood studio had been interested in making the film with him but he had refused after they insisted that he work with an American screenwriter for a year and come up with a happy ending. ‘If I did that, they promised they’d get me an American star!’ he scoffed. ‘I preferred doing the film my way, with lesser-known actors and a smaller budget. I worked with a wonderful English casting director who introduced me to the current crop of young British actors. I did careful screen tests and chose actors who were enthusiastic and available, and who hadn’t yet gotten their big break in England.’
He chose Romala Garai because he felt she really understood the role and wasn’t afraid of the more grotesque aspects of Angel’s character. Plus she brought charm and naivety to the part. He chose Michael to play Esmé because he sensed a strong chemistry between the two actors. ‘The young painter needed to be real, carnal, charismatic, insolent. Michael Fassbender has those qualities; he’s a mix of irony and brute force. He’s Irish; he has a different accent and a different manner than the English. He’s more quirky and raw.’
Ozon was impressed by his experience of working with English actors and thought they added something new to the process. ‘They brought depth and complexity to the scenes, along with a level of acting that I have rarely seen,’ he said. ‘They prepared their roles in advance, using my indications and our conversations to really get inside their characters and bring them to life. Whereas French actors tend to work on a day-by-day basis, English actors are more like distance runners.’
For the role Michael actually had to paint – a skill, along with a knowledge of the subject of art, which he freely admits that he does not possess. ‘I’ve got two left hands,’ he said. ‘I’m intimidated by a blank canvas. For me, art is about how you see the world around you and how you express it.’ But there was an artist on set to advise him and they spent a lot of time ensuring that he looked professional in his approach to the canvas. He even had to be taught how to hold a paintbrush correctly.
Michael was surprised to find that Ozon actually operated the camera as well as directing. He told Michael that he was unable to visualise what he was doing if he’s not looking through a lens. The pair discussed whether Esmé and Angel genuinely loved each other or if their relationship was just a move to benefit him financially. They decided that he never really loved Angel but had convinced himself that he did. ‘Esmé is the black sheep of the family,’ Michael explained. ‘He lives to enjoy his life on a sensual level with women, gambling and drink, but he’s frustrated and insecure. He’s a contradiction. He tries to appear blasé but he actually cares very deeply about his work, which everyone else thinks is rubbish.
‘She’s such a strong personality and so different, even nerdy, and all those things appeal to him,’ he said. ‘She awakens something in him that other women never have when it comes to his work. She trusts him and lets him into her world, which knocks him off balance, unsettles him and therefore interests him.’
But Angel is also manipulative, unpleasant and egotistical. This initially worried Michael because he felt she needed some redeeming qualities. ‘When I first read the script, I longed for her to do something nice,’ he said. ‘It was something that concerned me right up till we started filming but, once I saw the way François filmed it and Romola played her, I realised that you couldn’t help admiring Angel. Her belief in herself and determination to do what she wants to do in a world dominated by men is quite something. If you walk away from the film unmoved, with no admiration or pity for her, you’ve missed the main idea of the film.
‘I think you have to feel sorry for her. Here is this creature constructing her life as she does her books: she decides what love should be, what her life should be, how important her status in society is, but I don’t think she gets any genuine pleasure or nourishment out of any of it. I mean, look at the sex! She does it because she thinks that is what is required, rather than from any real desire.’
Following a formal press conference for Angel in Rome, Michael was interviewed by the pretty Italian actress Marina Limosani for TV. At least, she was trying to interview Michael but it was a long-winded procedure because he does not speak Italian and she only understood a little English, so a middle-aged Italian man interpreted her questions to Michael and then interpreted his replies in Italian straight to camera. It would have been difficult for anyone to engage properly with the questions under such circumstances: there are long, awkward pauses in the footage and Michael looks a little bemused. But it is also clear that he has other things on his mind – he flirts outrageously with a coquettish Marina.
As she introduces him to the viewers he interrupts her with a question of his own: ‘What’s your boyfriend’s name?’ She grins and blushes while he smiles and laughs. The sexual tension between them is evident as he continues to glance at her while the straight-faced interpreter talks to camera. She flicks her hair back and bites her bottom lip, looking a little embarrassed. With the interpreter carrying on oblivious to what is going on behind him, Michael jokingly tries to sneak a look at the questions on her sheet of paper. She pulls it away and they both grin and he whispers, ‘I can’t read Italian.’
Later, a high-spirited Michael puts his arm around the interpreter and playfully remarks, ‘I love this guy.’ At the end of the interview he puts his arms around them both and encourages them to join him as he launches into a few lines from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, singing the aria Se vuol ballare, in which Figaro vows his revenge on the Count who is plotting to sleep with his fiancé, Susanna. The Italian pair are flummoxed and do not know the words but Michael carries on regardless.
The film, however, was critically panned. ‘A formulaic period film,’ said the Daily Mirror. ‘This really is a failure – an honourable failure, arguably, but a failure, and a pretty complete one at that,’ said the Guardian. For its part the Express considered the film a missed opportunity: ‘A major disappointment, feeling creaky and clumsy in a way you wouldn’t expect from the director of Under the Sand and 8 Women.’ The Observer was one of the few to be upbeat, calling it a ‘fascinating film curio’.
In the same year Michael had a small role in a Channel 4 TV comedy drama that was as far removed from the glamour of Angel as you can imagine. Written by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, Wedding Belles was an earthy and ribald piece set in the working-class community of Leith, Edinburgh, which focused on the lives and loves of four women who have been lifelong friends.
As Amanda (Michelle Gomez), a hairdresser on probation for GBH, prepares to marry the man of her dreams – airline pilot Joshua – her pals take stock of their own lives,
which have failed to live up to their dreams. Ex-fashion model Rhona (Shauna Macdonald) is still mourning the death of her fiancé and falling into drug dependency. Kelly (Shirley Henderson) is battling her demons and managing to upset all those around her and Shaz (Kathleen McDermott) works in an old people’s home, selling black-market Viagra to the residents.
In his brief appearance as a character called Barney Ross, a former love of Amanda’s and recently released from prison for armed robbery, Michael had a memorable dance scene. People give way to him when, full of swagger, he struts onto a club dance floor wearing a black suit with red shoes and tie. His stylistic, high-kicking movements are reminiscent of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
With its scenes of Viagra-fuelled lust in an old people’s home, drug taking and sex with a Catholic priest, Wedding Belles chimed with some while others thought it a clanger. The critics too were divided. The Guardian described is as a ‘dire comedy drama’ while the Sunday Times lambasted Welsh for being an author who has ‘mined the same thin vein of inspiration for far too long and now comes up with more dross than ore’. But the Observer enjoyed the pace and quality of the production, commenting, ‘What stopped Wedding Belles looking like parody was not only the acting but the directing and the photography and the editing and the music and the sheer hard-nosed, breathlessly bloody-minded energy of it all. If you like your drama dark and down and dirty, you’d be pushed to find a better example.’ And to the Daily Telegraph it was ‘a fabulously noirish piece of entertainment’.
In the summer of 2006 Michael also had a cameo role in Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream. The film, set in London, starred Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor as brothers Terry and Ian, who are hard up for cash. When gambler Terry (Farrell) has a big win at the greyhound track, he splashes out on a sailing boat that he names Cassandra’s Dream, after the dog that won the race. They enjoy taking the boat out onto the water but the name turns out to be a bad omen: they are blissfully unaware that Cassandra’s Dream refers to the ancient Greek seer whose accurate prophecies of doom went unheeded by those around her.
Terry’s good luck doesn’t last long and he ends up owing a lot of money to a violent loan shark who warns him to pay up or suffer the consequences. Around this time, the brothers’ successful businessman uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) arrives in town, looking for a favour from his nephews. He admits that he is about to go to jail because of accusations from his business partner, who plans to testify against him. There’s only one way to silence him. After initial reluctance, the two brothers agree to murder him in exchange for Howard paying their financial debts.
Although he was only in the film for a brief period, Michael jumped at the chance to work with the acclaimed director and thoroughly enjoyed the way in which he operated. ‘Working with Woody Allen was a learning experience,’ he told the Irish Times. ‘He gives a lot of space to the actors to find their own way into a character or through a scene. I was also impressed by the way Allen finished each working day by 4pm, which is unusual in film, so that he could spend time with his family. And you have to admire his ability to raise funding for projects that really aren’t mainstream.’
But if Michael was impressed by Allen, it was hard to find others who were, once the movie was released. ‘A clumsy, clichéd morality play that may actually represent the lowest point of Allen’s recently chequered career,’ said Empire magazine. ‘This feels like it was knocked together by complete amateurs,’ said the Guardian. To the DailyTelegraph it was a ‘lead-footed fiasco’ and the Independent was equally as blunt: ‘Quite stupefyingly terrible.’
By this time Michael had begun a relationship with Australian singer Maiko Spencer and the pair had started living together in a London flat. She is the stepdaughter of the actor Sam Neill, who had married her Japanese mother, make-up artist Noriko Watanabe. Maiko had led a cosmopolitan life, growing up in Sydney and then moving to New York before settling in London.
The year 2007 was to be a turning point in Michael’s fortunes in a big way. After a visit back to Fossa in April to see his parents and celebrate his 30th birthday with friends and family, he flew to Romania to start shooting the Joel Schumacher horror movie Town Creek, later renamed Blood Creek. Schumacher, who had helmed the likes of St Elmo’s Fire, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, was one of Michael’s favourite directors, so he was excited to be working with him.
The beginning of this tale of terror takes place in 1936, as the Wollners – a poverty-stricken German-American family living in Town Creek, West Virginia – are contacted by the Nazi Third Reich with a lucrative offer to host a visiting scholar, Professor Richard Wirth, played by Michael. But Wirth – all slicked-back hair, suit and tie – is not an ideal dinner companion. On his first night in the house he points out that Germany will soon rule the world. He is, in fact, on a secret mission for the Nazi regime to recover ancient Viking artefacts that can bestow immortality. Outside in the barn, which the family have built on a Viking stone, he touches the stone and gains the power to bring back to life their daughter’s dead bird. Oblivious to the occult experiments being conducted around them by Wirth, the Wollners take him in – a decision that will haunt their family and their town for decades.
The story then jumps forward to 2007 when Victor Marshall (Dominic Purcell) vanishes into thin air while camping near Town Creek. Determined to discover the true fate of his missing brother, Evan Marshall (Henry Cavill) searches for answers. But just when it appears that none are to be found, Victor reappears, mysteriously saying that he had been abducted and tortured for two years. The brothers pack guns and return to Town Creek determined on revenge but they encounter a super-powerful Wirth who is able to command the dead to do his bidding.
The movie had a limited release before going to DVD but it gained a cult following. ‘Blood Creek is dumb, gory, post-pub fun,’ said Total Film magazine. The sci-fi and horror magazines and websites thought it enjoyable in the main. ‘This is a whole new side of Joel Schumacher and I like it,’ said horrornews.net. ‘Despite its flaws, Blood Creek is dark, intriguing, energetic and at times brutal.’ But Starburst magazine thought that Michael was wasting his time. ‘Michael Fassbender seems like he is slumming it here and gets the best from the scenes he is in but really feels wasted when we know he is capable of so much more.’
But Michael was enjoying the variety of his roles and the directors and actors he was working with. All the time he was learning his craft, taking it very seriously and pleased that he was getting so much work. From the end of July to September 2007 he began shooting another scary movie called Eden Lake.
In this he played middle-class Steve who drives to the countryside with his girlfriend Jenny (Kelly Reilly) for a romantic day by the lakeside, where he plans to propose to her. But while lounging by the lake their peace is disturbed by the noise of five hoodie teenagers with blaring music and a Rottweiler. In what The Times called ‘one of the most terrifying movie moments of 2008’, Steve approaches to ask them to turn the music down. It’s a fateful moment that will lead to him getting beaten up, tied and stabbed as one of the teenagers records it on a mobile phone. The terrified couple end up running for their lives after their romantic day has turned into horror.
It was a grim, tense but engrossing movie about the violence of youth and the clash of different cultures in a remote setting and echoed such movies as Deliverance, Straw Dogs and Clockwork Orange. Written and directed by James Watkins, it was filmed in Buckinghamshire at Frensham Ponds, Black Park and Burnham Beeches. ‘I didn’t want the couple Jenny and Steve to be the usual bland Californian Ken and Barbie horror fodder,’ said Watkins. ‘You know, the kind that has the audience wanting them to die. We had to care about them; we had to feel their love before we feel their pain. I deliberately kept the context on Steve and Jenny clipped and spare. I wanted them to be every young couple in the audience, making us all ask, “What would I do? Take responsibility or turn your back? Stand up or step away?”’
Fo
r Kelly, the loving relationship between Steve and Jenny was at the heart of the movie and made their grim ordeal all the more unbearable. ‘Eden Lake isn’t all about the violent repercussions,’ she said. ‘James had exactly the right handle on the most touching moment between Jenny and Steve. Jenny doesn’t know until it’s too late that Steve has organised the weekend solely as a device to propose marriage. When he’s fatally injured and she tries to patch him up, she comes across the Tiffany engagement ring in his pocket. It’s an incredibly intimate moment, heart-breaking to play and sensitively done. Both Mike and I knew this scene had to count because it was all about what might have been, not the vicious reality of what is. Steve and Jenny’s rosy future is vanishing fast and it was as solid an acting piece as I’ve ever had to play.’
Filming such terrifying, violent and often gruesome scenes resulted in the cast being particularly considerate to each other and having fun whenever they could, to distance themselves from the horror of the story. Thomas Turgoose, who played a gang member named Cooper, told the website LastBroadcast, ‘Cooper’s darkest moment is when he stabs Steve in the mouth. Mike was tied to a tree stump all day, barefoot, cold and uncomfortable, but not once did he complain. It clearly wasn’t easy for him yet time and again he gave a great performance. I wasn’t looking forward to this scene at all but Mike’s hard work and good humour throughout meant it went smoothly. He always asked if I was fine because it was such a strong emotional moment for me and I really appreciated his concern.’
In the evenings the cast went out together to eat at restaurants and played games in the hotel games room. On the last day of shooting Michael took the young cast – who nicknamed him ‘Fassy B’ – to Thorpe Park theme park, near Slough. ‘Michael Fassbender is one of the funniest guys in the world. Ultra-cool too. I never stopped laughing,’ Thomas added.