Bryce Dallas Howard, Paul Giamatti and M. Night Shyamalan were the centre of attention in Leicester Square last night, as the award winning director’s latest movie Lady In The Water swam into London for its European premiere.
Therecently announced mother-to-be Bryce Dallas Howard was the first to sweep along the blue carpet – see what they did there? – flanked by fans, all eager for a glimpse of “The Lady” herself. Even though shereceived plaudits galore for her part in Shyamalan’s The Village, the offer of the lead role in the helmer’s next project still provided oodles of excitement and anticipation, as she enthused, “Night put me in a very painful position as he offered me the part eight months before it was even written – on the day I first saw The Village – so it was a very dramatic and moving moment [and] the wait was somewhat treacherous.”
Paul Giamatti, this fairy tale’s bumbling anti-hero, was slightly more matter of fact when asked to recall his first encounter with the script: “I was told Night wanted to meet me, so I went and met him. He said he had a script that he wanted me to read, so I read it…I was particularly struck by the fact it was astory that was aware it was a story, a movie that was aware it was a movie, and an allegory that was aware it was allegory.”
It seems “going with the flow” was Shyamalan’s main aim when developing the idea, which began as his children’s favourite bedtime tale before morphing into fully-formed big screen mythology. As he explained, “when I watch The Wizard Of Oz or Peter Pan you get a sense of the free-spirit of the author. It’s like they’re following a light.That’s what I felt when I was telling the story to my kids and I really wanted to bring that feeling to the movie”. This self-confessed obsession with “pure forms of storytelling” is evident throughout the film – no doubt highlighted with the help of Australian cinematographer Chris Doyle: “[Chris] has made some of the most beautiful movies ever”said Shyamalan. “In The Mood For Love is one of my favourite movies so he was a great inspiration throughout the shoot.”