INTERVIEW: New adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’ set in Melbourne, Australia
Photo: Malcolm Kennard and Huge Weaving star in Measure for Measure. Photo courtesy of Sarah Enticknap / Provided by Samuel Goldwyn Films with permission.
Hugo Weaving stars in a new cinematic adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Audience members should not expect Elizabethean costumes and careful recitations of the Bard’s memorable lines. This is a movie brimming with modern-day influences and gritty realism.
The film, directed by Paul Ireland, follows a romantic relationship between a Muslim girl and a local musician in Melbourne, Australia, set against a backdrop of violence, drugs, power and ultimately redemption. Ireland co-wrote the script with Damian Hill, who tragically died right before filming was set to begin. The two had collaborated previously on the 2015 feature Pawno.
“We went to some international film festivals with [Pawno],” Ireland said in a recent phone interview. “We were over at the Black Nights Film Festival in Europe, and we watched this Belgian film called Black. And it was a very modern-day adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and that sort of inspired us to think about maybe making a modern take on Measure because we knew that play. Shakespearean themes are very much universal and are still very much modern today, so we thought that would be our next project and give us a challenge.”
Both Ireland and Hill knew Shakespeare’s original text, but they went back to the source material to remind themselves of individual scenes and the basic outline of the story. That said, the script for their Measure for Measure updates most of the characters and themes, to the point where the movie becomes its own cinematic creation.
“We use certain characters and certain themes within the storyline, and made it a very modern take on it, very up to date, up to now, multiculturalism, all that,” the director said. “Basically we also just wanted to tell a good love story.”
The drama, which also stars Malcolm Kennard and Meghan Hajjar, was filmed in and around Melbourne, where Ireland has been living and working for the past 12 years (he’s originally from Scotland). It was important for him to honor this adoptive city that he calls home.
“As filmmakers, we very much wanted to celebrate the city we live in,” he said. “A lot of films that come out of Australia, they use the beautiful landscape of the outback and the beaches, but we wanted to celebrate city-dwellers. I think Melbourne is a beautiful city. We wanted to put it on film.”
Getting Weaving to sign up for the project was a bit of a coup. The in-demand Australian actor is best known for his roles in The Matrix and Lord of the Rings films, in addition to many more projects on screen and on stage.
“He’s amazing,” Ireland said. “I met Hugo during my first film when it was at festivals and stuff, and we got on really well. He really loved my first film Pawno, so I stayed in contact with him. So we wrote the character of Duke with him in mind. Then he decided to come and play, which I was very blessed that he decided to come on board with it. I think he’s the finest actor in Australia; I think he’s one of the finest actors in the world as well. I felt very, very blessed that he came on and joined the cast of the film.”
Ireland has many fond memories of writing and filming Measure for Measure, and he’s happy that American audiences can now experience the film on demand. However, some of these memories are bittersweet because of Hill not being here to celebrate with him.
“Damian and I were very, very close,” the filmmaker said. “We met together doing a play because I’m an actor as well. We’ve been very close for the last nine years. We made Pawno together and made this one. He died the day before we were meant to start principal photography. So it was either do we go ahead, or do we shut it down. Everyone changed their schedule. Hugo was amazing and changed his schedule, and we decided to carry on and make it in memory of Damian. He was such a beautiful man. I miss his beautiful smile and laughter. We had such a really good chemistry together as collaborators. I still find it difficult not having him around.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Measure for Measure, directed by Paul Ireland and starring Hugo Weaving, is now available on VOD from Samuel Goldwyn Films. Click here for more information.
