LUCIDMEDIA

True Romance An Interview with Letter’s to Juliet’s Christopher Eagan

Written by Alex West Wednesday, 22 September 2010 10:15

Letters to Juliet is not based on Shakespeare. Mainly because [SPOILER ALERT] the Bard’s most excellent and lamentable tragedy doesn’t end well.  It’s hard to believe Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet could provide a basis for a romantic comedy but then again we’re in the post-Taylor Swift era. For Swift’s massively successful single she appropriates a few names and scenarios from the play and re-writes the ending to give it all the sugary sweetness a pop song can handle: “And I said marry me Juliet/ You’ll never have to be alone/ I love you and that’s all I really know/ I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress” So yeah, historical accuracy is not the name of the game in this case, especially when the central location in the film is as fictional as its plot.

 

"I think Gary [Winick, the film's director] has a great eye for this kind of movie." say Eagan on the phone from Los Angeles. "I really felt like it was geared towards all ages, anyone could relate to that story. It felt like a different romantic comedy as well. They were real characters with real issues and real drama. I really responded to Charlie and I had a pretty clear idea how I wanted to play him. It was one of those scripts that really stood out, that I knew I wanted to be apart of."

While Letters to Juliet is steeped in all the Tuscan sun it can handle the film is really about an unflinching and un-ironic belief in love. While it does not evoke any of Shakespeare’s tragedy, it does borrow heavily from other famous love stories. The stuffy Brit locking horns with the spirited young woman only to fall for her in the end could be anything from Much Ado About Nothing to Pride and Prejudice to My Fair Lady. You could also consider it in the long lineage of the travel comedy with romantic results which began with Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. Letter to Juliet borrows heavily from all these films and makes no bones about it. It revels in its unabashed belief in love and the blondness of Amanda Seyfried hair.

The film begins with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) taking a pre-honeymoon vacation to Italy with her fiancée Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) who’s main characterization is that he’s Latin but really wants to be Italian and is forever happy to be getting rid of Sophie to hobnob at wineries. While wandering the streets of Verona Sophie encounters Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House). She comes across a fifty year old letter and insists on writing back to the woman. Shenanigans ensue when the woman’s grandson Charlie (Christopher Eagan) comes to Italy to confront Sophie for riling up his Grandmother, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave). Claire  herself is along to pick-up her long-lost boyfriend. Sophie and Charlie exchange insults. Sophie’s fiancee still doesn’t want her around so she invites herself along on the road trip with Claire and Charlie. If you’ve ever seen any other romantic comedy you’ve got a pretty good idea of where this is heading.

Yet,as Eagan is quick to point out, these films can seem steeped in cliches because more often than not they are cliches for a reason. "I liked that Charlie and Sophie didn't connect straight away. It wasn't love at first sight. I liked that the through-line for Charlie was the love he has towards his Grandmother. I think that's why he's so afraid of Sophie as well. Anything that threatens his Grandmother of her happiness. He also doesn't expect Sophie to be so attractive and young. He expects to be back off to London. I like that journey, that Sophie pushed him and it evolves into a real friendship relationship. It just felt really real-life. People have issues and insecurities and can be unpleasant and I think this pointed that out. And Charlie being a British character just kind of fit perfectly into that. I had this character in my head and I just played with it."

But soft! Unfortunately the film feels just about as plausible as the history behind Juliet’s House. The house in Verona once belonged to the Dal Cappello family in the 14^th century. The Del Cappello’s became associated with the Capulets and then the popular belief that this indeed was once the home of the entirely mythological Juliet took over. The house’s current appearance is the result of renovations that occurred between 1936 and 1940 to restore the building and add the famous balcony. There is even a statue of Juliet in the courtyard and if you rub the part of her that only Romeo got near, you’ll be lucky in love. Even though it is widely assumed that the history of the house is completely fictional and a tourist trap it is still the second most visited location in Italy after the Vatican proving that the Italians know the importance of a good fake.

But Letters to Juliet is not about fact. It is not about historical accuracy. Interestingly Letters to Juliet is far more of throw back to a classic love story. The interaction between characters is chaste and there is a strong emphasis on binding romantic love through marriage. The wackiness is subdued for a pure focus on the character interaction and plot which winds up unfolding rapidly before them. It is the search for Claire’s lost love and Charlie and Sophie’s developing relationship that spurs them all forward.

"I think the movie raises the questions of could've/would've/should've that we all have about relationships in our lives that we look back on." relates Eagan when I ask him about the film's message. "As well as what age can do to us and time. There's a family in love in this movie that is shared between Charlie and his Grandmother and the new relationship between Sophie and Claire and Charlie and Sophie. There are a lot of triangles of love. I think it's ultimately about looking back and realizing that love can last for decades."

As Claire Vanessa Redgrave grounds the movie while searching for her lost love Lorenzo played by Redgrave’s real life husband Franco Nero. Any actress of that stature lends instant credibility to the project (see Judi Dench in anything) but Redgrave’s involvement in the picture is particularly surprising after she dropped out of the Ridely Scott’s disaster that would become Robin Hood after the tragic passing of her daughter Natasha Richardson and months later signed on to Letter to Juliet. Her speaks to film’s message of belief in love, family and creating your own destiny by learning it’s never too late to try again.

Cue Taylor Swift.