Peter Jackson: 'Lovely Bones' was lovely to make
Peter Jackson has made his name with big-budget, special-effects-heavy films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. He tackles a more personal story with the adaption of the book The Lovely Bones. The director discussed the film, out Dec. 11, via e-mail with USA TODAY:
Q: What about Alice Sebold's novel appealed to you?
A: As soon as I read the book, I was inspired by how unique this story could be as a film — both in a narrative sense and as well as visually. Perhaps most of all, I responded to the hope and good humor that runs throughout the book. It's an emotional experience reading Alice's book, but it's far from a grim and depressing story. I found it to be both hopeful and strangely comforting, I think perhaps because Susie herself comes to terms with her death, and her attitude helps to inform our own. As narrator, she never veers into self-indulgence or self pity.
We've tried to use many different elements to bring the book to life — through music, through sound design, through exploring imagery. It's one of the most challenging movies I've ever made, but also one of the most satisfying. I'm very proud of the work of everyone on this film.
Q: The subject matter of the book can be brutal. How would you describe the tone of the film?
A: There's a big difference between subject matter and tone. Sure, the murder of a young woman is bleak subject matter, but when that person is Susie Salmon, and where experiencing her discovery of what her new life is like on the "other side," there's plenty of humor. She's often very irreverent, which makes her a delightful character. I never found the book to be bleak. At times the story was shocking, and always it was told with unflinching honesty — and to some degree that's what we've tried to do with the movie.
But like so many other readers, I found the book to be curiously optimistic. I felt inspired by Susie's struggle to come to terms with her own death. In the face of overwhelming grief, she finds hope. She holds on to love, and by doing so she transcends the horror of her murder. There is a lightness and joy that you feel at the end of the book — a sense that you've gone through an intense experience but you've come out the other side, freer. That is definitely the tone we were reaching for when we made the film.
Q: Are there some elements of the book that, because of the time constraints of film, could not make it into the movie?
A: Adapting a novel is not really about being faithful to every word and every moment the author has created. It's more about that same story being filtered through somebody else's sensibility. I always make films for myself to some degree — this book affected me when I read it, and the film very much depicts the way in which I was affected by the story, characters and content. It's a very personal film, rather than an attempt to please everyone who enjoyed the book, which is an impossible task.
However, I enjoyed the book, just like thousands of others, and people will certainly recognize all the characters in the film as coming straight from the heart of the book — Susie, Jack, Abigail — all of them have been brought to life by our wonderful cast.
You always hope to capture the tone or essence of the book, but that's more personal — it's the tone and spirit that affected me when I read it.
Q: Susie Salmon's "personal heaven" has been the subject of much discussion and debate. Is the film version also relatively God-less, and how do you create a convincing heaven that isn't hokey?
A: It's God-less in the sense that when Susie dies she finds herself caught in a place between Earth and Heaven — she is in an "In-Between," as Alice Sebold calls it. We wanted this world to be ruled by Susie's unconscious desires. Susie's "In-Between" begins as a powerful, beautiful and mysterious place — it is familiar and strange, comforting and sad; a young 14-year-old girl's idea of "heaven." It is quite like the world of dream, using the magic of metaphor to convey Susie's psychological and emotional life.
But as the film progresses, we see that this place Susie has created for herself has become a kind of prison. She can't sustain the idea of a "perfect world" forever. She begins to understand that something else is binding her to this "In-Between" world. It is something she must face, before she can be truly free of the man who killed her. She comes to understand that in order to move on, she must reclaim her life from the man who took it.
We certainly have no intention of using this movie to paint a definitive picture of what Heaven is like, and who resides there. When Susie finally does move on from this "In-Between" existence, we're happy for audiences to imagine this new world in whatever way makes them comfortable.
Q: Can moviegoers expect any changes from the book?
A: There are changes, definitely. But we hope those who know and love the book will take delight in some of the twists and turns that we've made, while still feeling that we've stayed true to Susie and her story.
Q: You've got a track record of adapting novels. What about that appeals to you?
A: In each case, when I've adapted a book for the screen, it's been about the personal appeal the story has had for me. When I finish a great novel, like this one, I can't help but think in movie terms. I have imagined the world of the novel visually, but also being emotionally affected by the experience. I can't help but feel excited about the challenge of putting all these feelings into a movie.
In the case of The Lovely Bones, I felt that it was subject matter not often dealt with in film, and with a tone that is also rare. Losing loved ones is something we all have to deal with, and when that story is partly told from the loved one's point of view, it becomes quite interesting — especially with Susie's sense of humor. Add to that the fact that Susie is killed by a man living just down the street, and it now becomes a very unique thriller.
It was a challenge — probably the hardest film I've ever made.
Q: What do you see as the overarching theme ofThe Lovely Bones?
A: I think my partner, Fran Walsh, put it best when she said The Lovely Bones is about the triumph of a loving and generous heart over an empty one. It's about a young girl who refuses to let the tragedy and injustice of her death define her life.