Almut and Tobias lead a happy and loving existence in the countryside with their adorable daughter. Or rather, Almut and Tobias fall in love with each other after an accident. In fact, Almut and Tobias tried in vain to become parents shortly after the former had recovered from cancer. In fact, in the movie We Live in Time (Love in the present), all these stages of the couple’s life occur in a chaotic manner, a past event shedding light on a present development, or vice versa. In this romantic drama which manages to be very funny and very poignant, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield share a rare complicity, a complicity that the filmmaker John Crowley was able to capture. We spoke with the latter two.
“I had already directed one of Nick’s plays [Payne, le scénariste]who in my opinion is one of the most gifted playwrights there is,” recalls John Crowley, met at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, where We Live in Time had its world premiere.
“So when he told me he had a script for me, I was excited. Except that the more I read, the more I resisted: I had directed a lot of very emotionally demanding plays and films, and I didn’t want to re-engage in those areas. And then suddenly I realized that not only was I unable to stop reading, but I was laughing and crying at the same time. That’s when I knew this scenario was special. »
For the record, we owe the director the film Brooklynup for three Oscars, including Best Feature Film.
“I had never read a script like this,” adds Andrew Garfield alongside him. A script that was so honest about love, and about the difficulties of love, and the beauty of all that complexity… The characters constantly surprised me. And there was this symbiotic relationship between the characters, coupled with this structure, this tone…”
Regarding the tone, precisely, it does not oscillate so much between drama and comedy as it merges the two into a whole of astonishing authenticity.
“Humor is never as effective as during dramatic moments, where emotion is raw,” notes John Crowley in this regard. Watching Andrew and Florence bring this movement, these changes of tone within the same scene to life, like trapeze artists, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. Going from seriousness to lightness and a blink takes real virtuosity, and every time I think back to the shoot, I come back to the grace with which Andrew and Florence pulled it off. »
Revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man (The Extraordinary Spider-Man) then nominated for an Oscar for best actor for Hacksaw Ridge and for Tick, Tick… Boom!Andrew Garfield has an interesting nuance.
“I think it corresponds to real life; It’s part of our survival instinct. I mean, it’s human to try not to fall into despair in the most difficult times. Black humor — and we English are experts in this matter — becomes a reflex in such circumstances. The film is therefore, basically, consistent with real life. I won’t hide the fact that for an actor, it’s extremely stimulating to be able to play so many different emotional layers simultaneously. »
Surrender to vulnerability
The exercise proved all the more memorable for Andrew Garfield as he was in the presence of a remarkable partner, Florence Pugh, capable of exuding the most contradictory emotions with astonishing naturalness. It bears emphasizing, the co-stars are incredibly well matched on screen.
“Florence and I didn’t force anything: we gave ourselves the time to develop a real friendship on the sidelines of the film,” reveals Andrew Garfield. We had time to get to know each other as individuals, then discover our respective temperaments and rhythms as performers. For my part, I knew that something special and unique was happening between us on the fourth day of filming. We were filming the scene after Florence’s character received her diagnosis. From the first take, I think we both felt that we were… safe with each other, and that we could let go and surrender to the emotional vulnerability that this scene demanded, and all the other scenes that would follow. This feeling, that Florence and I were safe with each other, did not leave me afterwards. »
At these words, John Crowley becomes animated: “It’s funny that you mention this scene, because it was at this precise moment of filming, on the fourth day, that I knew that I was capturing magic. Everything you expressed with your eyes, which could not be said in words… It’s as if an unsuspected abyss of emotional depth had just opened up before me. After that scene, you and Florence were no longer quite the same actors. I remember that Florence was shaken by it, it was so powerful and singular. »
However, Almut and Tobias are very contrasting characters. Indeed, she is extroverted and competitive, while he is introverted and conciliatory. In their case, opposites attract, and not just a little. In any case, Tobias’s reserve implied many silences on Andrew Garfield’s part, but “speaking” silences.
“During these scenes where my character reacts with silence because he lacks words, or because his distress is too immense, I did not think at all about what was happening on my face. In such cases, I simply try to be there, present, listening to my partner, listening to the situation… Each of these silences of my character constitutes for me an attempt at presence, at total openness of my heart and my soul. Not trying to rationalize, not censoring myself… Having confidence in my instrument, and having faith that I will emit the right sound or display the right expression. And then, I repeat, but getting in tune with a partner like Florence is the equivalent of playing high-flying jazz. »
No regrets
At the premiere at TIFF, the reception given to We Live in Time was particularly enthusiastic. One of the comments most often heard came down more or less to the surprise of having been moved well beyond what the summary of the film suggested.
In fact, the magnitude of what Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield make the public feel is not trivial.
To conclude John Crowley: “The number of times I finished the day of filming feeling drained not because of, but thanks to, what Florence and Andrew had managed to put me through… I went through the same roller coaster afterwards , during assembly. In all honesty, I have never experienced a project that was so emotionally draining. So, basically, I was right, initially, to resist. Despite that, I can tell you how much I don’t regret having changed my mind…”
The movie We Live in Time hits theaters October 18.