THE SON

[jo]

Even if I have already read the play, those scenes made for tension-filled moments! What may seem like an ordinary family upheaval, it seems that there is something that suggests a foreboding of a tragedy! Thank you to all the actors for what may be one of the best portrayals of a family in crisis! Wishing the film the best in Venice, Toronto, on Nov 11...and hopefully at the Oscars!


Jo

[jo]

On Twitter --

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Watch the teaser in full screen mode.

Click on the sign ( 2 arrows in different direction -Lower right hand corner) for full screen mode.

The atmosphere seems more tense and very cinematic.


Jo

[jo]

Wikipedia notes --

Motion pictures
Main article: Film producer
In films, executive producers may finance the film, participate in the creative effort, or work on set. Their responsibilities vary from funding or attracting investors into the movie project to legal, scripting, marketing, advisory and supervising capacities.[4]

Executive producers vary in involvement, responsibility and power. Some executive producers have hands-on control over every aspect of production, some supervise the producers of a project, while others are involved in name only.[5]

The crediting of executive producers in the film industry has risen over time. In the mid-to-late 1990s, there were an average of just under two executive producers per film. In 2000, the number jumped to 2.5 (more than the number of standard "film producers"). In 2013, there were an average of 4.4 executive producers per film.[6]

[jo]

From an actor who worked in the movie --

[jo]

Aug 30, 2022 20:08:03 GMT -5 jo said:

In that sense, one must first see the full exploding drama before comparing the 2 movies.

Jo

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[jo]

[jo]

Translation of tweet --

In 2018 it was said that Hugh Jackman was going to be nominated for The Front Runner, now it is rumored that for #TheSon . See the trailer, what do you think?

[jo]

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[jo]

The two contrasting images of the man that Peter has become when his son comes back to his life --

[jo]

People.com has drawn attention to THE SON. Hopefully, the public awareness brought on by this feature on People.com will prod SONY PICTURES CLASSIC to consider a much wider release for the movie on Nov 11 or an acceleration of the expansion of screens following its Nov 11 release.

[jo]

This site breaks down each scene and each piece of dialog from the trailer!

[jo]

screenrant.com/highly-anticipated-movies-venice-film-festival-2022/

The Son

Hugh Jackman in The Son

Florian Zeller is back for another adaptation of his plays to the cinema. His deeply tear-jerking debut, The Father, offered the heartbreaking story of an aging man presenting signs of dementia, earning Anthony Hopkins another Oscar. Following the same emotional approach, The Son will star Hugh Jackman in the role of a father who sees his life turn upside down after his ex-wife turns up with their estranged teenage son.


Hugh Jackman has an extensive filmography, but is overdue for an Oscar ever since his deserved Best Actor nomination in 2013. Zeller's The Father offered a roller coaster of feelings and The Son has everything to be a movie as heartfelt as his debut, hopefully filled with outstanding performances that match Hopkins and Colman's work.

[jo]

The Page of THE SON at La Biennale di Venezia --

www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2022/venezia-79-competition/son

Of note --

Screenings -- they seem to have expanded the number of screenings.

PROGRAM CINEMA 2022 (PUBLIC)
09/07 19:15 Sala Grande
09/07 20:15 PalaBiennale

PROGRAM CINEMA 2022 (PASS HOLDERS)
09/07 08:30 Sala Darsena
09/07 11:30 Sala Grande
09/08 08:00 PalaBiennale

SYNOPSIS
A drama that follows a family as it struggles to reunite after falling apart. The Son centers on Peter, whose hectic life with his infant and new partner Beth is upended when his ex-wife Kate appears with their son Nicholas, who is now a teenager. The young man has been missing from school for months and is troubled, distant, and angry. Peter strives to take care of Nicholas as he would have liked his own father to have taken care of him while juggling work, his and Beth’s new son, and the offer of his dream position in Washington. However, by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto Nicholas in the present.


DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
The Son is a film about guilt, family ties and ultimately—love. I had been wanting to direct it for several years. I was so determined to tell this story that I couldn’t have told any other story but this one—through this particular lens. It is partly inspired by emotions that I am familiar. I wanted to share these with an audience as I know that many people are dealing with mental illness and that there exists a shame and a stigma associated with these issues which can hinder necessary, and sometimes vital conversations.

[jo]

[jo]

Wow!

Who sez THE SON will not get the big, big attention??

The young man playing the title role ( Zen McGrath) gets the full treatment from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER!


(IF Hugh does not realize it - he had better be careful or this young man and fellow Aussie will be the toast of THE SON )


www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-son-zen-mcgrath-next-big-thing-1235207452/

Venice Next Big Thing: ‘The Son’ Star Zen McGrath on Handling the Drama’s Emotional Intensity

Cast over Zoom to star in Florian Zeller’s hotly anticipated follow-up to his Oscar-winning debut 'The Father,' bowing in Venice, the 20-year-old Australian has gone from relative obscurity to holding his own alongside Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern.




BY ALEX RITMAN

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AUGUST 30, 2022 10:30PM
Zen McGrath in 'The Son'
Zen McGrath in 'The Son' COURTESY OF SEE-SAW FILMS


Among the props Zen McGrath admits to swiping from the set of The Son is a photo of his much younger self Photoshopped on a beach alongside a smiling Hugh Jackman.

“I took it because it looked so funny,” he says. “I just thought, I need that for myself.”

The Son, having its world premiere in Venice and the follow-up to Florian Zeller’s Oscar-winning directorial debut The Father (and another adaptation of one of his stage plays), sees McGrath play Nicholas, a 17-year-old New Yorker whose deteriorating mental health begins to rip apart his deeply loving but painfully impotent family, including father (Jackman), mother (Laura Dern) and stepmother (Vanessa Kirby), the arrival of whom and his parent’s divorce he largely blames for his depression.


It’s an astonishing — and emotionally devastating — turn by the young Australian actor who was just 18 when he was cast by Zeller over Zoom during lockdown to play his key role, the two only meeting three days before shooting kicked off in London.

But the cleverly spliced photo of a young McGrath — now 20 — and Jackman, while a wonderfully unique keepsake, also offers a somewhat charming representation of his career so far.

Because it wasn’t long after the original shot was taken, when McGrath was just 10 years old, that he landed his first role, putting the wheels in motion.

As he explains, in the early 2010s the McGrath family — neuroscientist mother Heidi, anesthetist father Craig, eldest brother Gully (short for Gulliver), middle child Zen (“this is a big secret, but that’s my second name, my first name’s actually Augustus”), and youngest brother Winta (actually Hudson Winta McGrath) — moved from their hometown of Melbourne to Birmingham in the U.K., primarily for his mom’s research.

By this point, Gully — four years older — had already appeared on a few Australian TV shows and films, and his auditions and roles only got bigger while in England (parts in Hugo, Dark Shadows and Lincoln would come in quick succession).

“But then one day he was offered an independent film about a brother and his little sister,” says McGrath, speaking from Melbourne (they moved back after a few years). “But I think the film was delayed, and he couldn’t do it, so he suggested that me and my little brother should audition for the role.”

Neither had acted before, but the producers were so impressed with the siblings that not only did they cast Zen as the brother, but they switched the gender of the little sister, giving the role to Winta (three years younger).

“So me and my little brother both worked on our first project together and as brothers,” he says, adding that, just to complicate matters, they called Winta’s character Gully (“I was very confused”).



The film in question was Aloft, writer/director Claudia Llose’s frosty and hypnotic drama led by Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy. While it may not have set the box office alight, it did take all five McGraths to the 2014 Berlin Film Festival for the world premiere (“I had an absolute blast over there, it was really fun,” says Zen). Soon after he would pick up representation with London’s Artists Rights Group.

In the years that followed, a sprinkling of roles would come, most notably a recurring part in USA Networks’ Jerusalem-set miniseries Dig and, once back in Australia, family comedy Red Dog: True Blood. But McGrath then decided to take a break to focus on school.

“I was interested in science and physics and wanted to get the grades. I just thought … options,” he says. “My mom and dad have always said, always do what you love, but leave your options open.”

And so, barring a small guest role on Australian comedy series Utopia, for his last two years of high school McGrath turned his back on acting to bury himself in his education. “But when those were done by mum basically asked me if I wanted to do any more auditions and I was like, yeah sure, I may as well. But I just thought it would be a side thing.”

About four months later, with McGrath having signed up to do a science degree at Melbourne University, the audition for The Son came along. He sent over a self-tape he’d made with his dad.

“It was funny, because my dad was doing Laura’s part. And it was quite an emotional scene,” he says. A week went by and he got an email for a callback, followed by a Zoom with Zeller. Another week passed, and McGrath got another email, one slightly more seismic. This time it told him that he was “frontrunner” for the role.

“So I Zoomed with Florian again — the second time I met him — and he basically wanted to check that it was something I wanted to do and talked about the intensity of the role and possible exposure, and explained that it was not going to be easy,” he says. “It was quite strange and almost felt like a prank, because I effectively got hired over Zoom without having met anyone officially. And I didn’t see anyone officially for another two months.”

By the time shooting kicked off in the fall of 2021 in London (where an entire New York apartment was built inside a studio), McGrath had undertaken voice coaching sessions to polish his American accent and had been introduced to fellow Australian Jackman (again, via a video call). He’d also put in his own research, first by immediately watching The Father (which he says is “such a beautiful film”) and then trying get under the skin of his character.

“Because of the dark nature of the role, I talked to a lot of people about their own personal struggles, and just talked about what Nicholas is going through and about how to empathize with him.”





But even with his research, little could prepare McGrath for the intensity of playing someone suffering from clinical depression day after day. In between takes, he tried to break character and lighten the mood, playing pranks by moving props around and convincing some of the assistant directors to say made up Australian slang. “Because to be in that headspace for so long is incredibly draining.”

And at the end of each day, if there was time he’d go for walks around London or watch TV with his dad (who accompanied him for the entire shoot), or play Minecraft online with his friends. “I played a lot,” he says. “Although it wasn’t very fair as I could only play for a couple of hours a night, so I’d come back, and my friends would have built over my base or just destroyed everything.”

Sometimes, the requirements of the shoot saw McGrath remain in Nicholas’ deeply troubled character, notably when a particularly brutal scene was filmed in a hospital over two days.

“Because I had to be in such a nervous state and so riddled with anxiety, in between takes I would just sit there and stare at the ground, with no distractions to try to phase everything out,” he says. “It was a lot harder to go in and out of that state, so I just stayed in it for several hours.”

Despite being set in the city, McGrath only had about a week’s filming in New York. But he was there long enough to be introduced to Anthony Hopkins (who won the best actor Academy Award for The Father and was brought back for The Son by Zeller for one small, but pivotal, scene). Although the two don’t share the screen, the director invited his young star to watch Jackman shoot alongside the Welsh icon in upstate New York.

“I remember feeling a bit nervous meeting him, because when he first looked at me, his eyes sort of pierced my soul,” he recalls, adding that Hopkins would later impress him and Jackman with his best Australian accent.

McGrath, quite rightfully, was blown over by Hopkins’ scene in The Son, claiming that his “incredible” few minutes in front of the camera is likely to “take the spotlight.” And while much attention may be focused on The Father’s Oscar-winning lead returning for Zeller’s hotly-anticipated sophomore feature, plus the knockout performances from the film’s trio of top-tier talent, a great deal of the applause should be reserved for its titular star, whose fragile, vulnerable portrayal of a teenager descending into despair is the drama’s central pillar.





For the first time since Berlin in 2014, the whole McGrath family is planning to hit the red carpet together for The Son’s world premiere in Venice (they’ve already seen the film at a special screening in Melbourne, a screening Zen says reduced his dad — who had been with him every step of the way — to tears).

The siblings are all at different phases of their careers now. Gully recently wrapped a couple of Australian shows and is now planning to move to London full-time to be closer to the action, while Winta — seen in HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves — is approaching the end of high school and auditioning. And as for Zen —who says having two brothers also in the industry helps create a “self-sustaining eco-system” — his experience on The Son has reinvigorated his passion for acting.

“The whole thing was a dream project. I totally understand this may not always be the case, but Florian, the other cast members, and the whole crew were so nice and welcoming. It was really meaningful for me to be part of something like that,” he says. “I would definitely pursue acting now and attempt to do something like that again, especially while I have an opportunity like this. I do love it.”

The science degree is currently “deferred,” and McGrath has had a few auditions — “and a few close calls” — since The Son wrapped. All could change once the film moves to Toronto and its surely inevitable awards season run gathers pace.

But whatever happens and wherever this exciting young actor’s career takes him, he’ll always have that delightfully doctored photo of himself on a beach with Jackman. “No one else would get the joy I get from owning that.”

[jo]

[jo]

THE SON will have a gala premiere at the Zurich Film Festival. The Festival runs from Sept 22 to Oct 2, 2022!


www.screendaily.com/news/the-woman-king-the-son-bros-among-2022-zurich-galas/5173962.article?referrer=RSS

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter talks to Florian Zeller!

www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-son-florian-zeller-hugh-jackman-interview-1235208672/

Venice: Florian Zeller on Tackling Mental Health in ‘The Son’ and Hugh Jackman’s Personal Request to Star
"I couldn’t have done any other film but this one," says the director, whose directorial debut The Father was a critical and commercial hit, and won two Oscars.


BY ALEX RITMAN

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AUGUST 31, 2022 11:30PM
Florian Zeller


Few enjoy the sort of directorial debut Florian Zeller experienced with The Father. The 2020 drama — based on his own acclaimed stage play about dementia and ingeniously dragging its audience into an immersive maze of disorientation and confusion — was a critical and commercial smash hit. The film also became something of an awards season darling, landing Zeller and his co-writer Christopher Hampton best adapted screenplay honors and Anthony Hopkins best actor awards at both the Academy Awards and BAFTAs.

Two years on, and the Parisian is ready to unveil his sophomore feature. Adapted from another of his plays, The Son this time tackles the subject of depression, centering on 17-year-old Nicholas — an extraordinary turn by newcomer Zen McGrath — whose growing struggle with mental health begins to devastate the lives of his parents, particularly his high-flying New York lawyer father (an emotional sledgehammer of a performance by Hugh Jackman). Is his divorce from his loving ex-wife (Laura Dern) and recent baby with new partner (Vanessa Kirby) to blame? While Nicholas makes the accusation, the film — mostly shot in London — doesn’t seek to point fingers (or even suggest there is anything to point at), and just deals with the crippling consequences


Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of The Son’s world premiere in Venice, Zeller discusses feeling the need to share the emotional pain of parenthood’s impotence, battling with himself to tell a far more straightforward story than one with the complexities of The Father, and how Jackman humbly pitched himself for the role. He also describes how he chose his young lead star over Zoom, but didn’t actually meet McGrath in person until three days before the shoot.




When you wrote the original stage play The Father, about dementia, you said it came from your own experiences with your own grandmother. Does The Son also come from personal experiences?

Yes, it comes from a personal place. It’s not my story in terms of the characters or situations, but it has to do with my own emotions. So it’s not because I wanted to tell my own story, it was more because I felt that there are so many people connected to these kinds of issues and thought it would be meaningful to share these emotions. Like with The Father, when we did the stage play, people were waiting for us after every performance to share their own experiences. And I was surprised to be connected to that truth, which is that so many people understand what is going on with the story. Maybe it was because it’s about what it is to be a father or a mother, and that sometimes you have to accept that you’re impotent. That is part of the experience of being a parent. And sometimes love is just not enough and it’s a real pain to accept that. So it was to share these emotions rather than to tell my own story. But it’s true that it was coming from a personal place, which is why it was so important to me to tell that story, and not another one. I couldn’t have done any other film but this one.


The Son doesn’t focus on the cause of depression but just treats it as the monster that it is. What was behind that decision?

Because I think it’s part of the issue with mental health, it’s like a mystery. You cannot exactly understand why it’s there. It could appear unfair, as there’s no clear explanation and in a way is no one’s fault. But because we’re human, we feel guilt. Of course, we mention that there was a divorce, but my plan was absolutely not to tell a story about what could happen if you get divorced, because that is not what I believe. But we try to find explanations for what we’re going through, especially mental health. And in the son’s perspective, he doesn’t understand why he’s going through this pain, so it needs to have an explanation and the easiest way to understand it is that it’s because of his parents. This is what we do. And the father is dealing with his own guilt, thinking that everything is his fault. And that’s why he’s almost like a tragic character.




Most directors don’t have the sort of success with their first film that you had with The Father. Has this created any additional pressure on you with The Son? Do you feel a greater weight of expectation?

I should say yes, but the truth is no. At least I felt no pressure during the filming, because as I said I knew exactly that it was the film I wanted to do. And I knew why I wanted to do it and how I wanted to do it. So I didn’t question anything about what people were expecting from me at all. But now it’s about to be released, but I am starting to think, “Oh, I understand your question.”



Because The Father played out like an unsolvable riddle, which only becomes apparent at the end, as soon as I started watching The Son, I just assumed that you had crafted a puzzle within the story, or that you were going to be playing with me in some way. Was this a consideration at all?

Most of my plays are built like a maze, but actually the only one that isn’t is The Son. It’s very straightforward, very linear. My instinct is always to build more complicated narratives, but with this, I remember I had to control myself to, in a way, dare to be straightforward. Because I knew that in order for the audience to really buy the final scene and make it as powerful as possible, I needed them to have believed in every single moment of the film as the truth.



How easy was it to find your son and how did you land on Zen McGrath?

I saw many young actors on Zoom, because at the time you couldn’t meet people. And it was a very exciting process — I knew that somewhere there was someone who will be this character, and that it’d be an important journey for all of us. But as soon as I saw Zen, it was clear that I wanted him to play Nicolas. It’s very subjective and intuitive and it’s very hard to do it on Zoom. And to make it even more complicated he was in Australia. But I knew he was the right one. I felt the combination of such a strong fragility, sensibility and capability to go through these emotions. But we only met in person for the first time a few days before we started shooting.



Getting Hugh Jackman to play Nicolas’ father was a particularly great piece of casting. How did that come about?

It happened in a very singular way. I was just starting the process and talking to agents, and he wrote to me. It was so special, to me at least. He said that he’d seen The Father and the play The Son and heard that I was working on an adaptation, and if I was already in conversation with someone, then great and please forgive the letter, but if not, then please give him 15 minutes so I could understand why he should do the part. I was so surprised by his humility and his honesty. So we met on Zoom, and after 15 minutes it was really striking, because I really felt that he was exactly that character. He wasn’t cheating or trying to perform, he was just talking with me and being himself, and I felt every element that I needed. He’s a very special human being, quite extraordinary. And I’m not just saying this out of courtesy.


And, without want to give anything away, Anthony Hopkins – your Oscar-winning father in The Father — has a small but superb scene in which he plays a rather brilliant bastard. Is he your good luck charm?

Actually, he was the first person who read the script. As soon as I had finished it, I sent it to him, because I really respect his sensibility. And of course, he noticed that the character’s name in this was Anthony. And what was funny is that it’s really the opposite part from The Father. In this, he’s completely in control.


For The Son you also brought on board See-Saw Films as producers They’re obviously prestige tastemakers with an incredible track record, but what did they bring to the film?

I met Iain Canning, also on Zoom, and we got along really well. I love his films. And he’d also made some films in New York as a British producer — the main one I’m talking about is Shame, which I really, really respected — so I thought he could help me do this translation. Even though I didn’t want to tell an American story, I wanted it to be connected to American reality. Especially when it comes to psychiatry, for example, every country works differently. So he was very helpful in this process. But it was also great to work with a producer who has produced films that you so admire.


Given that you’ve quickly gone from The Father to The Son, are we to assume that you — and Christopher Hampton — are busy adapting the third play in your trilogy, The Mother?

No, I’m not. Yet. I’m still in The Son, to be honest. But it’s true that it’s related to The Father and The Son. It’s crossed my mind.