14 DAY TRIAL // Only a couple of days to go until the release of one of the most anticipated films of the year, the big screen adaptation of the first novel in E.L. James’ adult “Shades” series, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” If you’re not convinced to see it yet, Summit Entertainment hopes you will be after seeing the latest batch of behind-the-scenes photos.
They run in the latest issue of W Magazine and some of them are so revealing that we can’t even include them here. However, you will find the tamer ones in the gallery below.
Artful black-and-white stills
Leading couple Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson have already done their due share of pictorials, interviews and TV appearances to promote the film, so we assume this W spread stems from the studio’s desire to do something different to set the movie apart from the others.
After all, it’s not a “regular” release, if you think of the source material. James’ novels, though derided by many and trashed by the critics, are incredibly popular because they verge on adult literature, with a splash of romance to be able to say they pertain to the romantic genre.
The jury is still out on the film, whether it’s good or bad, whether it delivers or not, but at least Summit is putting all effort into getting as many people to see it on its opening weekend / week. The first signs already point out to a huge box office hit, with advance tickets on opening night having sold out a couple of weeks back - and making the film the biggest R-rated opener ever.
As a result, we get this artful, black-and-white spread made up of behind-the-scenes photos shot by none other than director Sam Taylor-Johnson. In some of them, Jamie and Dakota are seen in character, working on the movie, but in others they’re more relaxed, spending time talking on set in between takes, or having a laugh.
They also promise to readers of the books hoping to see at least some of the stuff depicted in the book translated on scene, that it will be so. You can find the entire spread online at W Magazine.
A story about control
Until now, both Dornan and Johnson have been trying to sell “Fifty Shades of Grey” as your run-of-the-mill love story, with just a little more profanity and the occasional use of a whip or handcuff. Yes, the story in the books is riddled with BDSM elements, but they insist that this is just a background in the film.
Obviously, making the movie at least 85% faithful to the source material would have implied a rating of NC-17, and that’s one label from the MPAA no movie studio wants, even with a release as anticipated as this one.
Sam Taylor-Johnson says that this is a story more about control, at least at first.
“The whole book, and the movie, is about control. And in a sense, the whole process of making the movie also became about control. This is my first studio film,” she explains “so I quickly wised up to the fact that I couldn’t free-form it too much. Coming from a totally autonomous position to answering to a lot of people can be kind of a shock initially.”
Taylor-Johnson has made no secret of the fact that she fought with all those involved in making this film, from the two stars to the author herself, who retained the final say thanks to a producer credit. In a way, there is a feeling (from previous interviews and this one too) that she never got to make the movie she wanted to make, that she had to sacrifice her vision for the one that was demanded of her.
That, together with talk that Dornan and Johnson hate each other and have 0 chemistry, is used as argument by those saying that there’s no chance “Fifty Shades of Grey” will be at least a palatable production. Not good, just barely tolerable.
