The Lighthouse Production Notes featuring Robert Pattinson’s Character Name Ephraim Winslow

The Lighthouse press notes are available at the Directors’ Fortnight website. Below is an extract of the synopsis, production notes and cast. We learn Rob’s character name “Ephraim Winslow” and a bit more about the film.

Karma Films added the High Life press kit to their website. The kit includes an interview with Claire Denis that contains spoilers.  I’ve posted excerpts relating to Rob only below.  If you want to read the entire interview, click on the link below:

How did High Life come about?

… I went to England and the States to meet with actors. The actor I dreamed of for the lead role of Monte was Philip Seymour Hoffman, because of his age, his weariness – but he died mid-route. I was overcome with sadness. The Scottish casting director then told me: “There’s another actor you absolutely must meet: Robert Pattinson.” At first, I thought Robert was too young and, I must say, I found his beauty intimidating.

Robert Pattinson showed up at more or less every meeting, discreet and charming, mysterious. As I’d observe him from the corner of my eye, I started feeling more and more unsettled. Of course, I’d known of him. … I had also seen him in the two films he shot with David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis in 2012 and Maps to the Stars in 2014, so I knew he could play different types. One night at the hotel it dawned on me that I was stupid to persist in searching for a double of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Robert as Monte suddenly seemed self-evident. With my co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, we wrote a first draft of the film and had it translated for Robert. 

After that, things became much easier. Robert would come to Paris, we’d have dinner, talk… It was all very merry. Sometimes he said he didn’t understand the script that well, that he wasn’t sure what I wanted. I felt he was afraid about his character’s chastity. But Robert was always present. More than “present”: he was an active partner, always available. His “yes” to do the film was a “yes” to the 1,000th degree. And he kept proving it during the shoot, in Cologne, Germany. Some people might expect a star like him to demand a private jet to spend weekends in London. Not at all! He stayed in Cologne for the entire shoot. He’d have dinner with the crew, not because he was bored but because he wanted to be 100% involved. At the European Space Agency in Cologne, he did astronaut training like all the other actors. He even ran on a machine that created weightlessness for a short while. What a wonderful person to work with!

You can tell [Pattinson’s] decisions are very curated, much more complex, auteur-driven work.  He’s very particular about what he’s part of, and has a very distinctive point of view, something that made us very interested in him.”

Magnolia Pictures have added the Damsel press kit to their website.  It contains some great HQ and one UHQ picture and this new still above.  It also contains the production notes which contains SPOILERS, so if you haven’t seen the film and want to remain spoiler free, I recommend you just read the extracts below.  If you’ve seen the film or don’t mind huge spoilers, you can check out the press kit HERE.

From Production Notes:

To enable their kind of subtly absurd style of storytelling, the Zellners had a certain kind of actor in mind.  “We wanted two people to do something they hadn’t done before,” David explains, “so that the audience comes into it with certain expectations of them and sees them do something else,” comedy, in particular.  “We’d rather people come to this looking at it as a drama that gets really absurd and funny, rather than a comedy that then gets a little heavy.  And we wanted that to be reflective of the cast.”

While ROBERT PATTINSON is probably best-known for his work earlier in his career in the Twilight film series, the Zellners were drawn to him for his more recent work.  “He’s made very interesting choices, as an actor, as he’s gotten bigger, both in the roles he accepts and the filmmakers he chooses to work with,” David notes.  “You can tell his decisions are very curated, much more complex, auteur-driven work.  He’s very particular about what he’s part of, and has a very distinctive point of view, something that made us very interested in him.”

Pattinson was already a fan of the Zellner Bros., having found himself quite taken with Kumiko.  “It just felt very, very unique,” the actor explains.  “There’s just something so odd – but doesn’t feel like it’s being odd just for the sake of being odd.  There’s a lot of heart to it, and it has wonderful performances.  They have a unique style, and that’s all I’m looking for in scripts.”  In fact, when he read the script for Damsel, Pattinson didn’t make the connection of who its potential filmmakers were.  “I’d seen the script for Damsel, which was so odd.  And it took me a second to connect when I met with them.  ‘Oh – these guys made Kumiko, and they’re making this – a completely bizarre western?’  I just loved the idea.”

The subtle story and underlying levels of Samuel’s character were especially appealing.  “There’s something very off-kilter about him – I’ve never really seen a character like Samuel before.”  Adds David, “We knew he could deliver a character that looked a certain way on the surface, but had a lot more going on underneath.”

 

I have been waiting for the Production Notes to be unleashed.   Lots of information here, more information on the film and some lovely words about and from Rob which I’ve bolded for ease, but you really should read the entire notes.  Not long to go now until some of us see this film, but I hope social media remains spoiler free because I will cut a bitch if they spoil any scenes for me before I get to see the film for myself.

“LIFE

PRODUCTION NOTES

Anton Corbijn (A Most Wanted Man, The American, Control) presents LIFE, produced by See-Saw Films First Generation Films and Barry Films. From a script by Luke Davies (Candy) the film stars Robert Pattinson (Queen of the Desert, Maps to the Stars, The Rover, The Twilight Saga), Dane DeHaan (Kill Your Darlings, The Place Beyond The Pines), Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Warrior), Alessandra Mastronardi (To Rome with Love, Romeo and Juliet) and Ben Kingsley (Selfless, Iron Man 3, Hugo).

Inspired by the true story of a friendship that developed between Magnum photographer Dennis Stock (Pattinson) and actor James Dean (DeHaan) when Stock was commissioned to photograph the actor for LIFE magazine in 1955.

Stock was 26 and old before his time when into his buttoned-down world came fledgling star James Dean, a free spirit who would change popular culture from suits to jeans and from matinee idols to teenage heartthrobs. The assignment for LIFE magazine, which took the pair on a photographic journey across the US, from LA to New York and on to Indiana, would change Stock’s life and produce some of the most iconic images of the age.