18 films shortlisted for the 70th Berlin Film Competition have been screened at the film festival in recent days, and the scores have gradually begun to be announced. Abel Ferrara's new film "Siberia" is currently at the bottom with a score of 1.3, while The score of 3.1 for "Wendini," directed by Christian Petzold, was surpassed. Eliza Hitman's "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" topped the list with a score of 3.6.
Feminist movies are not new, and why this movie about two girls who ran to New York for abortion surgery has been able to go up against the wind, attracting more and more attention, according to the project materials and production notes of the movie, We may be able to peek inside the leopard and find out.
summary of the story
When the 17-year-old Otum looked at herself in the mirror, she clearly felt the change in her figure. She went to the pregnancy center to confirm her doubts. The thing she feared came true, and she was pregnant. And the pregnancy center's materials only promote fertility and adoption, and Ottum doesn't get any help she needs. As a minor, where Otum lived, the hospital would not perform an abortion for her without the consent of her parents, so she had to find another way.
Otum has been tight-lipped about her predicament, but her cousin and best friend, Skylar, has been silently supporting her by her side. Otum got the address of a Brooklyn clinic, and to get herself out of trouble, she and Skylar boarded an early morning bus to New York. When they embarked on the journey, they discovered that it was impossible to complete an abortion once, and they experienced two days and two nights of panic, but in this short period of time, an indestructible friendship was established.
creative background
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always director Eliza Hittman has jumped into the indie camp immediately since directing her debut, Feels Like Love, in 2013, which not only won It has been nominated for awards at several film festivals and was voted one of the best films of the decade by The New Yorker magazine from 2010 to 2019. In 2017, Eliza Hittman took home the Sundance Film Festival Director of Feature Film for her screenwriter and director, The Beach Rats, about the plight of men in the closet. Eliza Hittmann's expression of the plight of young people has gradually formed her personal style in the independent film industry, and this year her film "Never, Rarely, Sometimes," was nominated for the main competition section of the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. , Always" is also a film about the plight of young people. Two of the leads, Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, are both appearing in roles for the first time in a movie.
"Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" explores women's reproductive rights and access to health care that have been discussed for years, and the film's origins were set in 2012 by 28-year-old Irish dentist Savita Ha triggered by the death of Rapanavar. When she was admitted to a hospital in Galway, with signs of miscarriage, complications and worsening conditions, her requests for emergency abortions were denied until she contracted sepsis, and in October 2012 When she died on the 28th, it was a week after her first request for an abortion.
"I remember reading about Savita Harapanawal and I felt great pain inside me and then I just fell out of control into researching Irish abortion laws and why the procedure was defined. It's being investigated for crime."
During her research, Hitman found that some women would choose to travel to countries where abortion is legal to have an abortion, and she read a book by Ann Rossitt, "Irish Hidden Diaspora: Making Ireland-UK "Underground Abortions." The Road”, 1980-2000, which uses a trove of oral facts to describe a system that quietly transports Irish women to the UK for abortions. With the rapid development of the Internet, the increasingly cheap air traffic and the amendment of British laws, Irish women can travel between Ireland and the United Kingdom in one day to complete an abortion after entering the 21st century. In 2018, Ireland finally legalized abortion for women.
"I thought to myself, this is a movie I'd love to see: a story about these untold journeys women take." In the original outline, Hitman set the location in Ireland, while She eventually dropped the option and set the story in the United States.
While Roe v. Wade in 1973 established a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester, the Supreme Court subsequently ruled allowing states to restrict female abortions. The ensuing state laws and closures of abortion clinics mean more women have to travel further to get abortions. Hitman found some details online. "There is information that there are women who go to New York City for abortions, and they sleep on benches at night. [Because] the cost of the city is too high, and they have nowhere to go."
Hitman conducted a field trip in Pennsylvania, where abortion restrictions have forced women to cross state lines to undergo abortions in neighboring New York and New Jersey. She traveled to small towns in the state to see what reproductive health services were available for women there. Pregnancy centers there don’t advocate abortions for women. Instead, they advise them to raise their own children or find adoptive parents for their children. Hitman even experienced what these pregnancy centers go through: taking pregnancy tests and talking to women who work there. . She wrote the outline for the second draft, but she herself became pregnant at this time, causing her to temporarily put the film project aside before she went on to film Beach Rats.
During the Sundance screening of Beach Rats, which coincided with President Trump's inauguration and the Women's March in full swing, Hitman attended the Women's March at Sundance and remembered the project he had shelved. , decided to pick it up again.
Over the next few months, she struck up a bond with three women - producer Adele Romansky, Sarah Murphy (Moonlight), and BBC film director Ross Garnett - Both of them are committed to helping Hitman complete the film.
Garnett, who took over the BBC's film department in March 2017, participated in the UK premiere of "Beach Rat", and she has been looking forward to working with Hitman since watching "It Feels Like Love", so even if the BBC mainly does The projects are all British, but Garnett thinks the film is worth doing.
"The development of the project itself is the core of our work, and Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is a project that Hitman has developed along the way, and she should have the power and freedom to decide what the story will look like and where it will take place. Because The language of film itself should be borderless.”
Based on sufficient research in the early stage, Hitman decided to establish the hometown of the two protagonists in the coal area of central Pennsylvania. "Central Pennsylvania is only two to three hours away from New York, but it has a retro feel of going back in time. I Fascinated by these mining towns that were set up almost ad hoc and developed as the coal took off, but now that the mines are closed, these little towns are left alone."
Hitman's previous trip to Pennsylvania helped her to shape the characters of the protagonists to a large extent, making them flesh and blood, "I got a lot of inspiration from the women in the small town, what they do, their What is the interest, even if we can't mention these towns in the movie, but that sense of authenticity is what I need creatively."
The heroine Ottum of "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" is a high school student who works part-time as a cashier in a convenience store. The film does not explicitly state her pregnancy with Otum, only a few scenes Offering a glimpse into her family life, the film conveys the story and characters through most of the details about Ottum herself, "The time we read with Ottum is important because we're going to connect with her solitary actions. , and I hope the audience can feel her inner story and darkness in the film."
Like her, Otum's best friend Skylar is a high school student who works part-time as a cashier at a convenience store. Skylar's outgoing and empathetic personality was acutely aware of her cousin Otum's need for help and concern, and when Ottum finally admitted to Skylar that she was pregnant, Skylar immediately helped her. Contact about going to New York for abortion. Hitman specially arranged the contrasting personalities of the cousins and best friends, "Skylar, as a foil for Otum,'s innocent and optimistic character will allow her to use her energy to complete this journey, although she does not know the journey. what will happen.”
When the little girlfriends arrived in New York, their journey took them in a direction they never thought they would. They finally found their way from the Manhattan Port Authority to the Brooklyn Clinic, but encountered even greater setbacks. A quick trip turns into two nights in an unfamiliar, intimidating city. Wandering the streets, subway stations, trains and other public places while waiting for their appointments, the two young girls were dragging suitcases, wondering where to go, and faced numerous safety concerns.
Hitman completed the script for "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" in the fall of 2018.
casting work
The producer started casting in the fall of 2018 and interviewed no less than 100 candidates including American professional actors, high school students, and foreign actors. Sidney Flanigan, a girl who came into Hitman's field of vision, had seen Flanigan on the road as early as 2012 when she was filming a documentary, and she found Flanigan posted on Singing videos online -
"We were fascinated by Sidney's videos that captured something real, a teenage girl going through heartbreak and vulnerability. So I kept stressing to the producers that our choice of Otto M should do this to Sidney."
As a result, no one met Hitman's demands, and she finally decided to write to Sidney Flanigan to ask her to appear in the film.
Flanigan is obviously a pure musician and has no interest in acting at all, so he turned down Hitman's invitation. But Hitman still didn't give up and insisted on talking to Flanigan. After that call, Flanigan began to change her mind, and when she read the script, she agreed, "It's a powerful script. , I appreciate that it focuses on characters and personal experiences rather than trying to make cold statements."
The girl Ottum does not express her fears and anxieties after an unplanned pregnancy to others, nor does she confide in and seek help from those around her. Flanigan said, "Ottum has a strong heart, so a lot of times she chooses to keep her mouth shut, but Skylar has been trying to get her to open up. She was a little bit resistant to the concern from her cousin at first because she wanted to be herself. Silently digested it all, and she was determined to get things sorted out."
Actor Talia Ryder, who played Skylar, was selected through an interview. She's a dancer, so she's been on stage since she was 12, and she's one of the actors who was called back to audition with Flanigan, and she and Flanigan are fellow countrymen, and her temperament happens to match Flanigan's Root complementation, and this complementation is officially what Hitman is looking for, "Thalia (Ryder) is just a little bit smaller than Sidney (Flanigan), and she has that kind of cheerfulness that complements Sidney. They It's a good combination."
Like Skylar in the film, Talia Ryder is naturally optimistic and a sharp-minded pragmatist. Ryder was intrigued by her character. "Skylar was a smart girl, she figured out the world. She understood the injustices in the world, she understood the difference between boys and girls, and at a young age, she was able to realize To the power she has as a young woman. And what she can do."
behind the scenes
From March to April 2019, "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" was shot in 24 days in New York, 5 days in Pennsylvania, and completed 29 days.
Hitman brought in her DP Helen Lowart on The Beach Rats because the female DP gave the film its sexy and lingering beauty.
"Part of what I love about working with Helen—besides that she has such a wealth of experience and beautiful eyes—is because she's totally aware of the story, able to capture the moments of the actors' performances and turn them into great images."
Brooklyn is Hitman's home ground, where many of her films are shot, and many of the main characters grew up in this area. Many films about New York are more or less romantic, with the temperament of a big city or a petty bourgeoisie, but "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" is different from her previous films, Ottum and Skye Pulling these two girls are completely outsiders. They have a special reason for coming to New York, but they just don't get along with romance.
"A lot of the films we see are people who come to New York and fall in love with it. But the truth is, not everyone will fall in love with it because it's a tough city to navigate. And that's what I wanted to capture. ," Hitman said.
The New York Clinic scenes were filmed at Planned Parenthood in New York, which allowed the crew to use some of their facilities, not only in New York City, but upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
"Planned Parenthood was one of our earliest partnerships, and they gave us their facility so generously to support us, and they gave us the freedom to film in it, which was amazing."
Hitman chose the small town of Shamokin in Pennsylvania to be the home of the two protagonists, and the two producers went to great lengths to ensure filming in the town went smoothly.
Producer Adele Romansky said, "Because [the script] portrayed the town as a more conservative place, it was a challenge to get the coordination of shooting in the Shamokin area. But they finally welcomed us. , and was very generous in helping us find a lot of filming locations, such as convenience stores and schools. And those are the locations that gave us a sense of the vibe of where Ottum grew up.”
On May 14, 2019 US time, a new abortion bill was passed in the Alabama state legislature - and this new bill has been called the most stringent abortion bill in the United States today. Abortions are only permitted to save the lives of pregnant women, and doctors who "illegally" perform abortions can be sentenced to up to 99 years in prison.
And this year just ushered in the election year in the United States. Whether it is director Hitman or other main creators, they all hope that the film will be released at this time, which will trigger a lot of discussion and thinking in the society.
The original text was published in the public account of "Film" magazine: dianying2001
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