Director sees film as fresh, unforgettable

"Things only change if you allow them to change you," said film director Atom Egoyan during a recent interview with the Daily.

He was talking about himself and the attention he's commanded since his surprising double-whammy Oscar nominations (Best Adapted Screenplay and Director) for his 1997 film "The Sweet Hereafter." He could have just as easily been speaking of the underlying themes of his films, which also include "Exotica" and the upcoming "Felicia's Journey."

Things have changed a bit for Egoyan, or perhaps he's changing them himself. He has moved away from original screenplays of late, his last two projects being adaptations of novels. "It's never on purpose, it's really a matter of what you're inspired by. You read something and it strikes you," Egoyan said. "I would say that after 'Exotica,' I was aware at that point I had gone as far as I could with a certain type of original idea I had. So when I read 'The Sweet Hereafter,' I felt it was an op

Courtesy of Artisan Entertainment Bob Hoskins plays not-so nice-guy Hilditch, the man who takes young Felicia, played by Elaine Cassidy, under his wing in "Felicia's Journey."

portunity to extend my universe, to explore other issues, take the gift that a great novel offers.

"I did start working on an original script after 'The Sweet Hereafter,' but then I got 'Felicia's Journey' and I read it and I just couldn't get it out of my head. And that's really how these projects begin, I think. You just can't get the ideas out of your head and you seen an opportunity to blend your sensibility with someone else's and to create a piece of work that will be cohesive."

Ostensibly a tale of an unassuming serial killer, played by Bob Hoskins, and an innocent Irish girl, played by Elaine Cassidy, out of her league in a British city as she searches for her absent love. Beneath the surface of the plot conventions, though, runs a current of pain and just-around-the-corner catharsis found throughout Egoyan's original work.

"Issues of personal and political self-determination, issues of how people deal with denial, what's the nature of choice, all those kind of ideas (in 'Felicia's Journey') really fascinated me," Egoyan said, speaking of William Trevor's source novel. "I also felt that it was an opportunity to deal with issues that I'd explored in my previous work but from a totally different perspective. It's just something that is much simpler and the characters were much starker than they might have been in my other films."

"Felicia's Journey" is Egoyan's first film not set in his native Canada. It also marks the first time in several films that Egoyan has not worked with young Canadian actress Sarah Polley. Polley seems like a logical first choice for the title role, along with Ian Holm (also of "The Sweet Hereafter") in Hoskins' shoes, but Egoyan decided it would be best to select an unknown actress.

"Sarah and I talked about it and we sort of both agreed that to have an actual person from (Ireland) would be pretty crucial. And it's also because Sarah is so piercingly intelligent, it would have been really difficult to believe her as being that naïve. We talked about it a lot. The original and kind of obvious consideration was Ian Holm and Sarah Polley, but it just would have been a bit odd since the two films were made so close to each other," Egoyan said.

Instead, Egoyan went with previously unknown Irish actress Cassidy. "I knew that it was a very difficult role to pull off because it's so difficult to believe that in our culture someone could be that innocent and naïve that I wanted to present somebody who we'd never seen before and who we might believe is the real thing. Now, Elaine isn't - she's a really wonderful actress but because we don't know who she is, I think it's easier to fall under the spell of the world she comes from," Egoyan explained.

Hoskins, who has moved easily between big-budget studio efforts like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and smaller fare such as "The Secret Agent," was a more obvious choice for Egoyan. "He's somebody who has always worn his heart on his sleeve. He always makes his emotions so evident and palpable, and he plays this character who we don't want to believe what he is," he said. "It's really important to get somebody who seems very accessible."

"One of the other real challenges and what I loved about 'Felicia's Journey' is the idea that the two characters are kind of suspended in time. What I wanted to do was have these competing period pieces: She seems to come from the 19th Century and he seems to be from the 1950s. Those moments when you actually realize it's set in the current time are almost a shock," Egoyan said.

"Notions of time are one of the most important aspects of how a filmmaker chooses to tell their story. The ability to reorient and challenge our notions of what time is is a really important part of constructing a film narrative."

With "Felicia's Journey" opening in theatres, Egoyan has his eye on his next project. "I'm working on an original script again, but who knows what you'll ultimately be moved by," he said. "That's the most unpredictable aspect of what we do, unless you decide you're not going to read anything. You might be working on something and read a book and decide that that's what you need to do next."

Critical response to "The Sweet Hereafter" has made Egoyan into a wanted man working the fringes of the film industry, refusing to move from Canada into Hollywood's beckoning arms. Still, he looks back fondly on his time in the spotlight.

"I'm humbled by that response and grateful. I think that was a real miracle, what happened two years ago. The whole film was a peak experience," Egoyan said. "That was just a very, very special time in my life to be elevated to that level and to receive that type of support for a film that is not being conventional. It's all a bit of a miracle given how I make my films that I could suddenly enter into that pantheon."

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