Julian Jarrold On Brideshead Revisited

03 October 2008

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Julian Jarrold began his career behind the camera as a director and producer in British television working on shows such as Silent Witness and Canterbury Tales before moving into feature films.

'For British feature films it's good preparation because there is never enough money to do exactly what you want to do so you are constantly trying to find the most efficient way to film the most elaborate scenes and get the maximum amount of beautiful shots for the minimum amount of time so it's a very useful and interesting way in.'

He made the transition to the big screen in 2005 with Brit flick Kinky Boots which followed a drag queen who comes to the rescue of a man who, after inheriting his father's shoe factory, needs to diversify his product if he wants to keep the business afloat.

Next he teamed up with Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy in 2007 for Becoming Jane which looked at pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with Irishman Tom Lefroy.

He sticks with the period movie for his new project which sees him helm the big screen adaptation Brideshead Revisited, based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh.

'Well I was daunted at first but I had a very good script writer who convinced me that there was some very interesting, provocative and contemporary themes in the book and when I went back to it I became fascinated and drawn in by it and over the course of a year and a half of preparation we explored those things we thought would resonate with a modern audience.'

Matthew Goode stars as lower-class Londoner Charles Ryder, an aspiring artist who is beginning his studies in history at Oxford in the 1920s. A chance encounter with dandyish aristocrat Sebastian Flyte changes the course of his life.

The two embark on a close, intense friendship that is further complicated by the introduction of Sebastian's beautiful sister Julia and his overbearing, extremely religious mother, Lady Marchmain.

Unlike the novel Sebastian's character has been made more openly gay and was one of the biggest changes made to the novel by Julian and his team.

'I think any contemporary reader now would recognise that he is gay, at the time when Waugh was writing it it had to be very veiled and it was semi-based perhaps on Waugh's autobiographical experiences at oxford where he had a homosexual relationship.

'It seemed ridiculous to pretend that it wasn't a gay relationship and I think that it is very clearly that, or very clearly that Sebastian is gay and Charles is just beguiled by the whole experience, and obviously a time when a term wasn't even in existence but the important thing is you feel the strong bond of friendship and love between these two characters.

'The novel is very influential it was our touch stone and we kept going back to it and debating it.

'There were many things that Waugh said he meant by the novel but some of the more interesting things are below the surface, or what comes out despite what he says it's about, and his writing of Sebastian and Lady Marchmain have made very interesting characters and those are the things that we wanted to explore.'

Despite two very famous and experienced names leading the cast, in the form of Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon, the roles of Charles, Sebastian and Julia were given to three up and coming British stars; Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell, all of whom have really made their name in the last twelve months.

'Well I think it was good to have fresh young faces, we are talking about character who are just coming out into life for the first time and having their first love affairs and not thinking about life too much, so it was important to have young faces there.

'And I think with Brideshead it was important that we didn't have stars that brought great baggage with them, and if they were stars they would probably be too old for the part, so it was exciting to work with these three and I hope they become big stars as a result.'

But to get the feel of the pre-World War II period and lifestyle of the aristocracy Julian took his cast to Castle Howard

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