The film, based on the popular YA novel of the same name by Lauren
Oliver, attracted director Ry Russo-Young for its sense of youthful
authenticity and intriguing repetitive structure. “When I read the book
I was struck by how powerful Sam’s story was and what interesting
questions were raised by the recurring day construct,” said
Russo-Young. The emotional honesty of Sam’s posthumous journey made a
strong impression on her. “Lauren Oliver’s ability to balance the
emotional and philosophical resonated with me on a personal level, as it
reminded me of my friendships at that time in my life, how deep and
all-encompassing they were, and the dramatic choices that I felt I was
facing at the time,” said Russo-Young.
Adapting a book to the screen can be a challenging experience, as
filmmakers are mindful of staying true to the spirit of the original
work. “I knew the film had to capture the emotional core of what book
fans loved about the novel,” said Russo-Young.
However, she points out that book and film formats are disparate, necessitating some substantive differences. “At the end of the day, a book and a movie work in different ways because of the mediums,” she said.
“ The book charts inner monologues, but movies work with images and
translate the characters’ interior world in a different way. So, in
making this film, all the choices (visual and otherwise) were made to
support Sam’s psychological journey. In this story it was especially
true because the whole film exists in her mind.”
The first alteration from the book was geographic. “The book was set in
Connecticut with a New England look and feel,” said Russo-Young. “I
changed it to the Pacific Northwest, specifically a region called
Cascadia which includes the Pacific Northwest and part of Canada and has
a unique history. This area felt right to me because it captured the
moody angst of the story with its fog, rain and dramatic mountains.
There is a beauty and a deathly danger to that region which captured
Sam’s between life and death struggle,” adds Russo-Young.
As for similarities to the book, much of the voiceover narration stayed close to the original in the book. For example ‘Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow’ is a book line,” said Russo-Young. “Other times the text was modified. The fact that so many lines made it into the movie untouched is really a tribute to the book and the strength of Lauren’s writing.” Indeed, swathes of dialogue remained intact. “There are some direct lines from the book that we put in the movie, which I always think is fun because I love when you read the book and you see the movie and it’s really true to it,’ said Sage Halston, who plays Lindsay, Sam’s friend and ringleader of a little group of bullies.
“Before I Fall” opens March 8 in cinemas from Pioneer Films.
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