We enjoyed THE SILENT STORM so much when it premiered at London Film Festival that we just had to have a chat with writer/director Corinna McFarlane and find out more.
In the first of two parts to our exclusive interview, McFarlane discusses how many obstacles there are for women trying to work behind (and often, in front of) the camera – and how much the challenge has made her want it even more.
McFarlane credits her London upbringing for making her brave enough to keep going with THE SILENT STORM and see it through to completion. ‘I probably wouldn’t have had the gumption to do all this if I wasn’t a Londoner,’ she says. ‘My bravery and my bonkers attitude is a mix of being raised in this really urban metropolis.’
But where did it all begin? Realising that it was ‘now or never’, McFarlane had an idea for a film about four and a half years ago, sold what she could of her belongings, bought an old car, converted it so that she could sleep in it and headed off to get in touch with her Scottish roots. This was to be the beginning of a long journey with many doors shut in her face and she is evidently proud to be one of the few who have managed to break down those barriers and get her film made.
McFarlane’s friend and producer Nicky Bentham was on board for the project early on and showed the script to mentor Barbara Broccoli. After reading the script, Broccoli told Bentham that she was about to go off and work on Bond but to put her name on it. As McFarlane notes: ‘people really paid attention then!’
‘I practically got on my knees and wept!’ she says about Broccoli’s involvement. ‘It was amazing, such a fortuitous moment.’
Despite the positive reaction to her story at the start of the process, McFarlane says that she was asked to alter it. ‘People did say to us in Hollywood to make [the female character] nineteen, get them to have sex…’
Corinna McFarlane at the LFF premiere of The Silent Storm
The role of women, both behind and in front of the camera, is something McFarlane clearly feels very passionate about, which is unsurprising given that she was told directly that nobody goes to see a film because of a woman. Nobody wants to see a ‘woman’s film’, she was told, unless they’re young enough to appeal to teenage boys, which is apparently the only exception.
‘The instinct is to shrink,’ she says, ‘but they don’t speak for everybody.’
Broccoli herself was clearly a massive support and inspiration to McFarlane. ‘It’s so important to have role models that are women for women,’ she says. ‘When Nicky and I were trying to pitch . . . [Broccoli] gave us this perspective of “go for it!”.’
It sounds like that support – or, voice in the ear as McFarlane describes it – was invaluable. ‘These big scary men are going to make you feel small, like you don’t belong in the room,’ McFarlane says Broccoli told her and Bantham, adding that ‘you do belong in the room and I’ve got your back.’
‘I think it’s really important that we have a range of voices in our contemporary culture so that we can look at different values,’ McFarlane says.
The filmmaker remains hopeful that the film will be picked up for distribution and be seen by more people. ‘If there’s any justice in the world,’ she says, ‘we’ll find a home and it will be the right home.’
The second part of the interview will be on its way soon, including details on landing Andrea Riseborough and Damian Lewis for the lead roles and the moment McFarlane realised she had found a star in newcomer Ross Anderson.
You can read our review of THE SILENT STORM here.
