Kaleidoscope Entertainment
To coincide with the critically acclaimed new film Scarborough, a moving story of forbidden love from the executive producers of Lady Macbeth, we caught up with writer-director Barnaby Southcombe (I, Anna) to discuss his latest project.
In the film, two mismatched lovers arrive at the British seaside town of Scarborough, seeking an escape from the constraints of real life. Liz, desperately shy and beautiful, seems older than her companion, the happy-go-lucky and impulsive Daz. In their faded hotel room, amongst the peeling wallpaper and away from the prying eyes of their hometown, they laugh, quarrel, make love and enjoy their anonymity.
In an identical room in the same hotel, the sensitive artist Aiden and Beth, a fiery and impulsive young woman, tell the same story. As both couples are forced to come to terms with the illicit nature of their impossible love, power shifts from one lover to the other, and joy turns to heartache as they reel from the destructive force of illicit love.
The film stars Jodhi May (Netflix’s The Witcher), Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders), Edward Hogg (Jupiter Ascending), Jessica Barden (The Lobster, The End of the F***king World) and is adapted from a play by Fiona Evans.
Kaleidoscope Entertainment
We spoke to Barnaby (above)at the premiere to learn about the origins of his film.
How did you first discover the play?
I saw the play at the Jerwood Theatre, upstairs at the Royal Court in London. It was one of the first things that Jack O’Connell did. I was really affected by it and saw it on my own, but I had to talk to people about it afterwards. The story shows a mirrored portrait of two virtually identical relationships. In the play, it’s held throughout and taken in one direction with one couple and then repeated with the next couple and I found it really interesting and thought provoking. It challenged my feelings about gender and how that influenced how I felt about each of the couples.
Later, I was supposed to do another film which I’d been working on for a while and it fell through at the last minute. I really wanted to do something light and fast, without overthinking. I wrote a draft screenplay adapting Scarborough and contacted playwright Fiona Evans, who let me have the rights, and that was the genesis.
How did you approach casting?
Casting can be such a lengthy affair because actors are so solicited by producers and filmmakers, so it can take a long time. The spirit of the film was to kind of run away, much like in the story. I approached actors I’d worked with before, Jodhi May and Edward Hogg, to play the teachers. I’ve had great experiences with them and they came on board very quickly. For the students, it was a more traditional casting call where we organised script readings, and that’s how we found Jessica Barden and Jordan Bolger who came in and were incredible. They were also chosen because they showed great chemistry with the actors we already had.
Kaleidoscope Entertainment
How does your film vary from the play?
They start in similar ways and present identical versions of the same scenes, played out one after the other, with the same dialogue and the same locations. Although things look different and the gender roles are inverted, a male teacher with a female student and a female teacher with a male student, that was the statement of the play. As well as exploring the gender bias that we have, both male and female, I wanted to explore the cyclical aspect of historic abuse which is something new I brought that wasn’t in the play.
The film has been praised for very strong and natural performances. Did you spend a lot of time rehearsing or did you keep it organic?
We did have rehearsals but it was less around specific text and instead we made trips out with the actors to just hang out, improvise around scenes and moments, even going off on tangents that had nothing to do with the film. It was to get a sense of the character relationships before the film even started. For actors, on small or independent films, the shooting time is always limited so you don’t have much time to get to know your characters during filming. I feel most film actors hold back until the cameras are actually there. In the past I’ve done lengthy rehearsals to try and iron out problems. Until the actor comes face to face with the problem on set, it doesn’t always hit home in a rehearsal. Since then, I’ve moved away from formal rehearsals and more towards getting a sense of who the characters are before filming starts.
What do you hope audiences take from Scarborough?
It’s a story about finding love in the wrong places. It’s not an easy thing to accept and I’m not saying we should condone teacher-pupil relationships. What I’m trying to examine is how this does take place and how I don’t think it’s discussed very often. If it does happen, normally people are politely asked to leave, so it becomes brushed under the carpet. I think there’s a lack of understanding from the outset and as the film shows it can happen in very complicated and ambiguous ways.
Kaleidoscope Entertainment presents Scarborough out now in selected cinemas.
