14 DAY TRIAL // If you read and enjoyed E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades” trilogy and were naturally expecting to see a tamer but still very hot version of the first novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” in theaters on Valentine’s Day 2015, you’re bound to have the disappointment of your life.
As hinted before in more or less definite terms, “Fifty Shades of Grey” with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan will be a “love story” and, as such, it will be very “artistic” in all representations of the more X-rated scenes. Again, if you read the books, you know exactly which those scenes are.
For the uninitiated, we should note that they mostly involve a certain Red Room where all S&M activities happen. They feature Dom Christian Grey and virgin Anastasia Steele, whom he takes on as his submissive, and, in James’ version, they’re very graphic.
Apparently, we’re not going to see that in theaters. Eloise Mumford plays Anastasia’s roommate in the film and she tells E! News that it would be unrealistic for us to hope to see this much X- or even NC 17-rated content on the big screen.
“She's such a great director,” Mumford says of Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is in the director’s chair. “I knew right away it would be tasteful and artistic. And the cinematographer is Seamus McGarvey. He did Anna Karenina. It's going to be beautiful.”
Producer Michael De Luca said pretty much the same at the Sundance Film Festival this year, adding that making an NC 17 movie was never really an option, despite online reports to the contrary. So, because they still wanted to bring Christian and Anastasia’s story to the big screen, they went down the path of romanticizing it to the maximum.
At the end of the day, their story is a love story in the books too, but the focus always falls on the carnal side of their relationship. This won’t be the case in the movie, that much is clear, with some of the most memorable scenes probably occurring just outside the view. Whatever explicit scenes will make the cut into the film will probably be implied more than shown.
“In the end, the story really is a romance and a love story so it's about that more than anything,” Mumford underlines. She would offer more details on that but she’s sorry she can’t because “we've all been sworn to secrecy.”
However, she promises that Dornan and Johnson are perfect choices for Christian and Anastasia. Her assurance couldn’t come with a better timing: last week saw the release of the first official still of Dornan in character, and reactions from fans were less than enthusiastic.
Many still believe he’s the worst choice possible for the role, just as many say the same about Johnson. The fact that neither of these two had any outstanding acting roles so far is definitely working in their disadvantage right now.