The last time I was at the Odeon in Leicester Square, it was with my dad to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age. He won’t thank me for telling you this, but at the time he had drunk somewhat more than a bottle of plonk and was, shall we say, ‘getting into’ the movie. By the time the Spanish Armada had set sail, Mr Kirby was behaving like a spectator at a particularly rowdy football match, whooping and cheering as Spanish galleons sank and rather passionately imploring Clive Owen to kick some paella-eating arse.
Tonight’s premiere of Tamara Drewe was a rather more sedate affair (in fact, other than location, that tale has nothing to do with the premiere; it’s just an anecdote I like to tell whenever the slightest opportunity arises). Cast, crew and various ‘slebs’ turned up, despite iffy weather and tube strikes, to walk themselves down the red carpet, which on this occasion, was bordered by green turf, a stile, square bales, fake sheep and an enormous pink cow (also fake).
In the press pen (again fitting with the farmyard theme), competition for soundbites was fierce. As such, the snatches of conversation presented below are a composite of both my own and other reporter’s questions. The first person to brave the gaggle in the ‘print/radio/online’ pen was none other than the succinct if nothing else director, Stephen Frears…
Some people were surprised to learn that Tamara Drewe was based on a comic, is that a reaction that in turn surprises you?
Well most films based on comics are about superheroes, aren’t they? This one isn’t. It’s been drawn by a brilliant woman. In other words there are intelligent comics and stupid comics and would hope that you read the intelligent ones and not the stupid ones.
So if you think superhero comics are stupid, is it unlikely that you’ll be directing a Marvel adaptation any time soon?
I don’t know, I’ve read one comic in my life and I’ve made a film of it!
Did you go back to Thomas Hardy [whose Far From the Madding Crowd the graphic novel was loosely based and is referenced frequently in the film] when you were preparing the film?
Not at all.
How familiar were you with the comic when you got the script?
I’ve known Posy [Simmonds, author of the strip] for about thirty years and I read it in The Guardian.
(I chip in at this point) What can we expect from the film?
(Frears gives me a look somewhere between disgust and contempt) Good jokes and sex.
Then he plods off.
If I thought the impression I made was bad, I was glad not to be in the shoes of the journo standing next to me, who paid the embarrassing price for not quite doing quite as much research as was required when quizzing Roger Allam…
Tamara Drewe’s not the typical comic book movie, would you ever consider or be interested in doing the traditional comic movie?
I’ve done some. I’ve done two actually. I did two for the Wachowski Brothers, V for Vendetta, which was quite serious and Speed Racer.
Would you ever do any more?
Well yes, I probably would!
Allam laughs jovially, somewhat sparing the guy of any further embarrassment.
Next, the lovely Tamsin Greig rolls up…
How does it feel to be a member of a cast that features some great comedic roles for women? Are women sidelined somewhat in comedies?
Well, I’m a woman who has been privileged enough to work and I’ve always had really lovely and interesting roles, so I’m probably the last person to ask. I think Posy Simmonds is a woman who knows what women are like, so you can do her drawings and writing from her own perspective. I think the fact that Love Soup [the light-hearted comedy that Grieg starred in] was written by a man was a wonderful miracle. David Renwick really got under the skin of the female characters. The three characters were equally hilarious in their own way, which is a testament to his genius.
The ending of Love Soup was perfect, but I can’t help but want more. Is there any chance you’ll be working with David on it again?
Well I’d love to, he’s a wonderful writer, but like you said, there was a perfect conclusion to the story.
Finally, Posy Simmonds comes over to our little corner for a chat.
A lot of people seem surprised that Tamara Drewe was based on a comic, what’s your reaction to their reaction?
It’s a story. There are lots of films based on comics, like Ghost World and Watchmen, things like that. So it doesn’t seem so extraordinary. I don’t think so.
Were you involved with the adaptation process or did you take a backseat on that?
I took a backseat, but I advised on things that I knew about. The scriptwriter would ring up and ask me questions. And also I know things about goats mating and cows, because I’m really a country girl. But the goats mating got cut, which was a real shame.
Structurally, you had to make the comic work as a serial. Obviously that doesn’t stand anymore. How does that change things in the adaptation?
Well I had to change the structure of the serial when it became a book because the serial was a week apart so you had to keep nudging the readers along with the plot. When it became a book it became a continuous narrative so there was some very boring and fiddly tweaking and I had just enough time to change pictures that I really hated that I’d drawn in a tremendous hurry.
Obviously the film is going to introduce the strip to a much wider audience. Any chance you’ll pick it up again?
Tamara Drewe? I don’t know, what would she do?
What are you working on next?
I’m writing a serial. It could even have Tamara in it as a cameo appearance. Perhaps she’ll become a man or something!
The nose job was one thing; I think that would be a bit far! They’ve made the nose job much more obvious in the film, what are your thoughts on that?
I think they had to spell it out. I think I drew one picture with her old hooter. But I think they had a nose motif in the film, there are several punches to the nose.
After blagging some unwanted tickets from The Mirror’s 3AM reporter, I entered the premiere proper…
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