The indie heart-breaker Room is a movie you won’t be able to stop thinking about. Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote the screenplay, the story follows 5-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay), who has lived his whole life in one room with his Ma (Brie Larson). You find out this room is actually a prison for Ma, who was abducted and forced to live there for seven years, but for Jack, it’s his whole world and one filled with endless possibilities.
Ma, however, desperately wants to escape and now that Jack is somewhat old enough to understand, she tells him about her plan to get out, for which she needs Jack’s help. Once the plan is in action, Jack is suddenly faced with a more awe-inspiring revelation: There is an even bigger, more amazing world outside of Room.
At the film’s press conference, writer Donoghue, stars Larson, Tremblay and Joan Allen (who plays Grandma) and director Lenny Abrahamson speak about the powerful emotions in making this film and about how the absolute purity of working with young Tremblay made everyone bring their A game.
Step 1: Turning the book into the film
Emma Donoghue: “I relished the opportunity because cinema has different techniques and offers different pleasures. One thing I love, which is different from the book, is when you’re looking at Jacob’s face on screen and you don’t know what’s going through his mind. I love the un-spelled out nature of that. In the book you know exactly what they’re thinking. I love that Ma and Jack is a real two-hander in the film – you get equal access to both of them. In many ways, that’s a huge improvement on the book. There were many moments where I’d change things in the script and Lenny would say let’s get back to the book. I didn’t feel opposition. It felt as if he and I were both trying to translate the magic.” Continue reading How to Interview: The Cast of “Room”
