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Cover: The Boys are Back
[Tue 06/10/2009 11:20:02]
Scott Hicks returned to South Australia to direct The Boys are Back after more than a decade away. But as Adam Coleman discovers, there was nearly no happy homecoming.
Returning to Australia to film The Boys are Back, director Scott Hicks and the film’s producers scouted for a location with the feeling of paradise.
But like Joe Warr – the film’s lead protagonist played by Clive Owen – they discovered that even in paradise things don’t always go to plan.
Funding and scheduling issues, combined with a long-standing debate about where to shoot the complex family drama, almost derailed the film.
“The producers put the finance building blocks together and it literally collapsed twice,” Hicks says. “On the first occasion we were all set to go and Clive decided he really had to have a break because he had come off some really tough shooting. So I went off and did No Reservations and when Clive became available again I was doing my [Philip] Glass film.”
Several months passed before both director and star were again ready – and with final funding locked in only two weeks prior to filming – Hicks’ return to his home state was complete.
And The Boys are Back – his first SA-shot feature since drama Shine in 1996 – does mark a return to form for the Oscar-nominated director. Hopes are high that audiences will respond well to his “chamber piece of interconnected relationships” based on Simon Carr’s critically acclaimed memoir about his wife’s death and subsequent challenges raising children.
The story charts Joe’s journey from part-time dad to full-on fatherhood as he learns to deal with his own grief over wife Katy (Laura Fraser) and, for the first time, tune into the needs of his sons Artie (Nicolas McAnulty) and Harry (George MacKay).
“It was beautifully written in that I was emotionally, completely engaged and yet oddly there is very little of the writer telling you how to feel. The emotional engagement came absolutely through the characters,” Hicks says.
The strength of the ensemble, which also includes Emma Booth as Joe’s love interest Laura, hinges on the role of six-year old Artie.
“While I absolutely loved the script, the huge terror was how we can possibly find a six-year-old who can play this part?” Hicks says.
“Every day we would wake up thinking ‘What if we can’t find this kid?’ Clive was adamant that we can’t make the film unless we find him. At the same time everything else is gearing up, but you are still looking…"
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