There’s a woman's genius behind this film. This is the work of Christine Jeffs in A Mistake. It’s intuitive, deep, subtle, yet with substantial power. She has skillfully layered the intricacies of a dynamic human experience. Nothing is over the top, and everything is cleverly articulated within the subtleties.
I was fortunate to share a conversation with the director herself to discuss her captivating new film, A Mistake, that opens in theatres this Thursday, 10th October. Members, book your tickets now for a theatre nearest you to see this film.
A gripping cinematic adaptation of the best-selling novel, A MISTAKE delves into the perilous aftermath of surgeon Elizabeth Taylor's (ELIZABETH BANKS) split-second medical decision, unfolding a thrilling exploration of the fatal ripple effects triggered by a single human error.
Christine, was there a personal connection to this story?
Firstly, I really loved the book. In terms of the adaptation, I had to say, well, what can I bring to it personally? What's my point of view? And how would I refocus it into a film story?
It was very personal for me. My partner had undergone a medical misadventure and I'd become an advocate, so I spent time in hospital and ICU and places like that, so the choices I made reflected the personal focus I wanted to have.
Having not made a film for a while, you've got to feel really deeply about the subject matter. So, all those kinds of questions have to be motivated by a particular want to dive into these kinds of thematics.
You just don't want to tell a story for the sake of it. There must be something at stake.
What is a strong female character?
I was recently on a panel at Word Christchurch with Emily Perkins, and we were talking about strong female characters and we talked about what that means. It means that they're nuanced and real and driving the narrative, and that the stories are about their experience, and sometimes that's quite internal. And you ask questions about what's an active character and what's an inactive character. It's also maybe not focusing on plot. Although, A Mistake is very driven by its narrative, it is also driven by a very strong character journey, which has nuance and light and shade and a lot of grey in it.
I'm always attracted to telling stories that reflect that journey for women. I'm not so interested in stories where they are described as blah, 35 attractive with long blonde hair, which is what you often see. So, we need to find active drivers of our stories in female characters and that nuance.
I've been lucky to work with really good actors: Emily Blunt, Amy Adams, and Gwyneth Paltrow and so on, who have been able to really bring the characters to life.
I'm really excited with Elizabeth's performance in A Mistake. I knew that she was happy to deep dive into material. I think that this character of her playing the surgeon is really brave. It's a very intense role and she did a really brave dive into it. I really appreciate that. And, it's my job to support her in that process.
When you are creating this version of the story, you are putting yourself in it. What’s that like?
A lot of it is how I would feel in this situation. You go into this microcosm of what it means to be human and how we are in relation to other people.
In the film you see how these things land differently for different people and what's at stake for them.
I really enjoy both the verbal and the non, what goes on in between the spaces of the words. In the film, there's spaces there where we get to observe those moments of silence where there's definitely stuff going on.
Is that one of the hardest things to put down on paper?
Well, yes, because you've got to know those pictures in your mind of what's actually going on in that space because it can seem dead to a reader, they're not saying anything to move the plot and it’s going slow here. You do have to have the conviction that you know exactly what's going on in that non-verbal space.
You can put a scene together in so many ways, but it's not in the dialogue. Do the whole scene without the dialogue. It's about finding the rhythm that rings true emotionally. That's the challenge.
What does your screenwriting process look like? Do you have a definitive process?
The first thing is just taking a deep breath and then you go, okay, here we go. When I start writing, I have to get up at 5 AM, because I have to really be in the silent space. And then once I'm into it, I can be a bit more casual, but I know when I start, it's like going on an adventure or a big expedition. You pack your bags, you get your thermos, you get your balaclava and your boots, and you head off into the bush and you're like, okay, here I go. I've got my torch and I've got my thermos and I've got my billy or whatever and my compass and I'm just going to get in there, immerse myself and see how it goes.
And how long did it take you?
Oh, it's quite fast because I just write for as many hours a day as I can, six hours or something like that. But there's a point where you can only work on the screen for so long.
Did you do a decent amount of back work before you put that into the script?
There are so many ways of doing it, but my first draft was just straight through. And then when I had that down, I basically worked on unravelling all that, challenging it, and then starting again. I wanted to get a flow going to start and not be too judgmental about what was in and out, but just start at the beginning and see where I arrived. I'd have to look back at the drafts to see what changed from the first one, but I think primarily it would be a process of critical deep diving and elimination and focus.
You've worked with many different teams over your career, what’s that like?
I've been lucky to have really supportive producers. I mean, it takes a village to build a film, cast, and crew. I've always had John (husband and Cinematographer) shoot my films and that's always amazing. It's good to have some continuity. I've worked with my Editor on two films, and my Costume Designer, Kirsty Cameron. There's a lot of people I worked with before. So, there's a lot that doesn't need to be said, although there's always a lot that needs to be explored.
What were the major challenges in getting it made?
Convincing people that the story is worth telling is always a good starting point. Pulling it together, it's delicate.
You think you've got a screenplay that's positive, then you've got to cast it, you've got to find finance, and these things don't sit together. The money's there, then it's not there, or you think you've got an actor that's going to bring it together, then you're not sure.
We were shooting during COVID. Elizabeth came into the country, and Simon and Mickey came in just as the quarantine lifted. And we were not sure because we didn't know if the actors would quarantine. Some would, some wouldn't, so there’s just lots of stuff. I wanted to shoot in real spaces, but we couldn't have access to real spaces because of COVID and then we had to build a set and then we couldn't afford a set. So, Gary, (Production Designer) and John found a building where we created our own little pseudo studio that had quite low ceilings. Everything's a challenge.
Was your financing from New Zealand and overseas?
From the New Zealand Film Commission and then there was the COVID Recovery Fund. We sold the world on the basis of the screenplay, apart from Australia, New Zealand and Canada and America, which has subsequently been sold.
What do you do to celebrate when the film is done?
Oh, yeah, I need a party. It's screening at our local cinema. And I'm really excited about that, and I'm going to do a question and answer. There's a lot of people locally who contributed. We edited the film up here, so, it feels to me like that's going to be a celebration for friends and family. I'm really looking forward to that.
In terms of seeing the film at Tribeca, with John, Frank Ilfman, our composer, and Cornerstone came over, and we saw that with an audience for the first time, and that's always terrifying, and amazing at the same time. I did three Q&As, and that's the point where you get the opportunity to share the audience's journey and connection with the story and the character. And that was quite a profound, strong experience for me because people were very verbal in their response to things that were going on in the movie. They were shouting out and saying things. So, I think, the journey doesn't end in some ways because hopefully it resonates and there's conversations around it. I can forget about it for a while, but not yet. I'm just enjoying having conversations because you work in isolation for so long
Why do you feel drawn to make films? Write? Direct?
I think it's like you said earlier, to be able to animate or amplify feelings and to be able to explore and imagine how they play out in a performance sense and be able to bring visual motifs to that. And it's quite a profound landscape to work in film. It's such a team effort and it requires such chaos and incredible discipline, and you also must be completely on your toes. And things never pan out like you think they're going to. I would have loved to have rehearsal, but the world didn't collide in that way. So, it was just diving straight in and then working very much on instincts and a base knowledge of what I was looking for. So, there's all that kind of stuff that's just...I don't know, it's tough, but it's also really exciting.
I think in the end you do it because you hope that an audience might respond to some of these nuanced truths, untruths or whatever they might be, it's a story that we can relate to in some way. And I think that's why, because I have a profound joy in the technicalities of this, whether it be editing, because my background is in film editing, or imagining how words on the page might play out and working with actors. I had a huge joy working with the New Zealand actors. For me, I would like to do more of it. I really, really enjoy it. And then to be able to bring in Elizabeth, Mickey, and Simon and for them to be able to appreciate being here and working with the actors and the team, the cast and crew here and the landscape and everything. It's just, it's amazing, I don't know, it's just an amazing thing to be able to do.
When you share, there's so many layers - like your films! I really hope that all the seats get filled and conversations get sparked and you feel that fulfilment of this beautiful story that you've executed so eloquently.
Members, go see this brilliant film as soon as you can! Thanks for your time and energy, Christine.
A Mistake opens in cinemas on 10th October.
Congratulations to those folks who won tickets in the giveaway last newsletter!