Amanda Seyfried dazzles in Venice at a complex religious musical: “It was cathartic.”
Venice (Italy), Sep 1 (EFE)
Amanda Seyfried has immersed herself in a complex character and project, “The Testament of Anne Lee,” about the 18th-century English missionary, presented this Monday in Venice. And she emerged more than victorious in a process that for her was “illuminating, therapeutic, full of passion, and cathartic.”
“The reason it was possible to take on this challenge is because I felt totally protected and surrounded by adorable artists, who knew the value of doing this and understood Mona’s (Fastvold, the director) vision. It’s incredibly strange, and I might never see it happen again,” the actress stated at a press conference.
Seyfried stars in this film, which is competing for the Golden Lion, directed by Norwegian Mona Fastvold, who also wrote the script with her partner, American filmmaker Brady Corbet, who last year won the Silver Lion at Venice for Best Director for “The Brutalist.”
The film centers on English missionary Ann Lee, who left her native Manchester to travel to the United States with a small group of religious leaders, with the goal of establishing the United Society of Believers in the Second Appearing of Christ, known as the Shakers, a movement that grew to 6,000 followers.
Fastvold is passionate about Ann Lee’s story and finds it interesting “to talk about women leaders in this time and age.”
“For me, it was about making a film or creating a piece of art in this male-dominated world” about a woman who led her followers “with empathy and kindness, who believed in equality for all, men and women, people of color, and even children,” when that wasn’t normal.
Regarding this, Seyfried added that it has been very enriching “to play a woman who has lived through so much tragedy, with this vision and this devotion to God, who served people in a time when women didn’t even know how to write.”
For Fastvold, it was essential to have the actress as the lead because “she’s very strong, she’s a wonderful mother, she’s a crazy little girl,” and he wanted “that tenderness and kindness, her power and her madness, to be reflected in the character.”
“I simply followed Mona into the light and everything was fine,” noted the protagonist, who emphasized the great freedom the filmmaker gives. “The only danger as an artist was not using that freedom as an artist,” affirmed Seyfried, whom many in Venice are pointing to as a serious contender for the Volpi Cup for Best Actress.
And yet, at first, Seyfried wasn’t convinced she was the right actress for the role. “I told her (Fastvold) to choose an English actress because of the accent,” but then she realized “how much love Mona had for the story, that she was like her baby.””He believed in me and here we are.”
A film that isn’t exactly a musical but is full of music, because the Shakers were a community that sang and danced nonstop, to express their fears and joys and to create that community relationship that was so important to Ann Lee.
This is reflected in the film’s many musical scenes, with repetitive dances and songs that send Ann Lee’s followers into ecstasies, something not everyone understood at that time when there was no religious freedom.
“This is a film about a community whose members had an enormous love for each other, a very physical love though not sexual (they advocated celibacy), and who placed great importance on music,” the director summarized.
She was the one who suggested to Corbet that she wanted to make a film about Ann Lee, and he immediately joined the project, repeating the collaborative approach they’ve developed in their previous works since they met.
“But we believe you can only serve one master at a time, so Mona had the final cut of this film, which was very important to us,” Corbet noted.
A film that boasts a great staging, carefully crafted in every detail despite a small budget of $10 million. The director explained the reason: “I think Ann Lee deserved something grand and beautiful. How many films about male icons have you seen? How many about women? I simply wanted to give her that space.”
