There was first a sinuous noir novel imagined by William Lindsay Gresham, in 1946, then a film the following year, a flop in its time since elevated to the rank of classic of the genre. We are talking here about Nightmare alley (Nightmare alley), which is adapted again, this time by Guillermo Del Toro. For the occasion, the Mexican filmmaker has teamed up with Toronto producer J. Miles Dale, with whom he shared the Oscar for best film for The Shape of Water (The shape of water). A long-time collaborator, the second returned in an interview on the production of this film of sinister splendor.
We follow Stan (Bradley Cooper, who we risk seeing again at the Oscars), a vagabond who, in the mid-1940s, is hired in a funfair, climbs the ranks and becomes a famous false medium, before being lost. by his consuming ambition and his boundless pride.
“Guillermo wanted to adapt Gresham’s novel from his very first film, Cronos [1993], explains Miles Dale. After the shoot, Ron Perlman and he wanted to work together again. They spoke of their mutual love for Elmer Gantry [sur un évangéliste charlatan], and it was Ron who suggested the novel Nightmare alley, which has similarities… ”
Guillermo loved Gresham’s novel. Alas, he received a disqualification from the Fox studio, which still held the adaptation rights. “There were also contractual terms with regard to Tyrone Power, the star of the first adaptation. Another adaptation could not be made for a certain period… Guillermo therefore had to give up. “
Sublime feminine tiercé
Almost thirty years later, as Guillermo Del Toro and journalist and screenwriter Kim Morgan discussed potential screenplays for development, Gresham’s novel returned to the table. “They wrote the screenplay without knowing if Fox would agree!” “
However, the context was no longer the same. Guillermo Del Toro and J. Miles Dale now had an excellent professional relationship with Fox and its Fox Searchlight division, which had just pranced at the Oscars thanks to them and to The Shape of Water. From the outset, the filmmaker knew that he did not want to tackle a remake from the 1947 film, but a very unique adaptation of the novel.
“The end of the first film was smoother, and several elements of the plot are watered down… The producer, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not want to make the film, which was a project dear to Tyrone Power, his biggest star. Zanuck practically buried the film upon release. And anyway, we wanted to go back to the book – Gresham was a complicated guy, and there were several dark avenues in the novel that Guillermo wanted to explore. “
You have to understand that the main character, Stan, a pure antihero, is anything but endearing. It is nonetheless a golden role. This second version not only respects the nature of the protagonist, an upstart and unscrupulous manipulator, but above all, it preserves the absolute cynicism of the novel.
Del Toro, however, granted himself great freedoms, especially in the exploration of female characters, a sublime trifecta composed of Toni Collette, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. “They are three distinct and strong figures, and here the fatal pseudofemale is not punished for her sexuality in the end. Each of these women, in their own way, tries to warn Stan against the doom that awaits him if he persists. “
Card printer Zeena (Collette) warns her through her tarot deck, lover and assistant Molly (Mara) urges her not to turn an innocent spectacle into a scam, and psychologist Lilith Ritter (Blanchett ) tells him bluntly that he is measured against a stronger party than him. Obviously, Stan cannot – and will not – admit such a thing.
Truth and lie
The character of the DD Ritter is the one who has evolved the most for the account. Without revealing too much, we will specify that his plan no longer aims at all to make, in the end, a rich marriage. Far from there. She remains a femme fatale, but Del Toro never tries to hide this fact or to leave any ambiguity in the manipulative dimension of the character.
This transparency exacerbates the pitiful arrogance of the protagonist, the latter blinded by the superiority he is convinced to possess. “The idea was to use the novel as a guide, but to make the film relevant to a modern audience. Several themes of the novel lent themselves to this. I am thinking, for example, of the whole notion of truth and lies, and of the tragedies that can arise when one begins to believe in one’s own lies… ”
Or when the lie becomes untruth, which in turn becomes an opinion, which becomes an alternative fact… “We wanted to ensure that the film implicitly deals with what is happening now, while paying homage to film noir. “
In this regard, J. Miles Dale reveals that Guillermo Del Toro has prepared a black and white version, close to the black films of yesteryear, and which should be released in January 2022 – the direction of photography was developed accordingly before the shoot.
As for the abundant and fascinating subtext, rest assured: it is never stuck in the throats of moviegoers through explanatory dialogues or strong music. Unlike the average Hollywood movie, Nightmare alley relies on the intelligence of the public.
“Initially, we had a working copy of more than three hours which contained a lot of explanatory dialogues, which are useful during the shooting, but which, once the film is finished, turns out to be superfluous. We decided to cut all this out so that people could draw their own conclusions… ”
Stopped for six months due to the pandemic, the filming of Nightmare alley ended in December 2020. Despite this, and despite the other obstacles inherent in producing a film, Guillermo Del Toro’s vision remained crystal clear.
“For Guillermo, writing is more of an exploratory stage. When filming, however, he knows precisely what he wants. What he asks of the departments is very specific, whether for design or colors. “
Famous for his notebooks filled with elaborate drawings, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth made no exception with Nightmare alley. With the notable difference that this time he did not conceive any fantastic creatures. Which doesn’t mean the movie is free from monsters.
” It’s true. Here, Guillermo rather explores the monstrous part that resides in the human being. “
This is a recurring theme in the filmmaker’s work. The result is a cinematographic nightmare in which, unlike the real ones, we take great pleasure in diving.
Toronto my love