"Junebug" scribe Angus MacLachlan is back. After the critically acclaimed comedy-drama, stars like Robert de Niro and Edward Norton came to bring the thriller "Stone" to life. His new script however attached interest from another part of the world. This month, "Reliance" had it's world premiere in Sweden.
As he tells MovieZine.se, the psychological drama probably could not have been made in the US.
- I wrote the script in 2003. My agent told me it's a difficult film to make. It's intense and psychological, there isn't much like it in America anymore. A friend of mine read it and sent it to William, who was looking for scripts.
Swedish-born director William Olsson has been working in Hollywood for a few years, his latest was "An American Affair" from 2009. "Reliance" is his first feature film in Sweden. It's a story about a family being torn apart, when the 16 year old daughter is sexually assaulted in their home.
Was it an easy decision for you to give your script away to Sweden?
- As a writer you're always prepared to give your children away, and hope they will get good parents. William loved the script, he wrote a Swedish version, and he always wanted to hear my opinion. Some things changed of course. Guns or school buses aren't that common in Swedish suburbs as in America. But it came pretty close to what I had imagined.
You said this couldn't have been made as an American movie...
- Dramas for adults are really hard to make. "Stone" was an exception, but it is also a psychological drama. I think TV is taking over more of that now, while most movies are big action movies or small indies. But an intense drama about a relation between a father and his daughter, it is an unusual subject for an American audience.
A week after the Swedish premiere it was time for Shanghai International Film Festival to discover "Reliance". The movie won three big prizes, including Best Script. Now Angus MacLachlan wants a shot at directing.
- I just directed my first film, a comedy-drama called "Goodbye to All That". It is about a man in his 30s who has an 9-year-old daughter. The wife throws him out, and it's about the women he meets onwards.
Have you always wanted to direct?
- You never write a script for someone to read it, you want it to be experienced. It is frustrating for me to write scripts that never get made into a movie. So this was extremely fulfilling, to write something and then be able to shoot it. Just like William's film. Seeing it with an audience was something I've been waiting for for the last ten years.
"Reliance" is directed by William Olsson and starring Alba August, Johan Gry and Helena af Sandeberg.
