CAROL MORLEY
FALL GIRL
Featuring Maxine Peake and Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, Carol Morley’s latest fi lm The Falling centres on an outbreak of mass hysteria in a girls school in the 1960s. Hannah McGill met the director to fi nd out more
B est known thus far for the dynamic and thought-provoking documentary Dreams of a Life which examined how a once- popular young woman could die alone and lie forgotten for years, writer / director Carol Morley is now making waves with new i ction i lm The Falling. An electrifying tonal mix with elements of horror movie, teen comedy and social realist family drama, The Falling follows an outbreak of bizarre symptoms at a girls’ school in 1969.
‘Mass hysterias tend to centre on the anxieties of their times,’ Morley explains, ‘So nowadays they’ll be about toxicity, food contamination, stuff like that. A lot of the 1960s ones were around sexual anxieties. I thought it would be really interesting to look at female adolescents of that time, coming of age and exploring sexuality – and that very heightened emotion that you get as a teenage girl. I also liked the idea of setting a teen movie before the time of mobile phones and texting, with more direct communication.’ A girls’ school suggested itself because 60% of reported outbreaks of unexplained mass illness of this kind occur in school – and overwhelmingly in all-female environments. ‘It does happen in army barracks and in boys’ schools,’ Morley says, ‘but 90% are among females. People say it’s because women communicate in a different way.’ The director has been moved and heartened, however, to see men respond as intensely as women to early screenings of the i lm. ‘I like that a lot of guys are connecting with it,’ she says. ‘They’re intrigued, perhaps because it’s stuff that hasn’t really been represented about young female psychology.’
In accessing that mysterious realm, Morley turned to her own memories of adolescence, but also benei ted from the contributions of her young cast. The central role of Lydia, a sharp-tongued, charismatic girl with a bleak home life, is played by Maisie Williams (Arya Stark in Game of Thrones). Newcomer Florence Pugh plays her dreamy,
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precociously alluring friend Abbie. ‘I looked for people who could tell a story and engage you,’ Morley says of her audition process. ‘I brought in objects and had them tell stories about them; I did group workshops with them. And they were so open . . . they didn’t i nd any of it embarrassing. I think I would have!’
Among the older cast, both Maxine Peake and Greta Scacchi play scorchingly against type: Peake as Lydia’s edgy and reclusive mother, Scacchi as a battleaxe teacher hellbent on spoiling fun. ‘I asked Greta not to interact with the girls because I wanted them to be scared of her,’ Morley laughs, ‘but she loved them. She was always telling them how beautiful they were and giving them advice on acting.’ Peake, too, was encouraged to quell her natural ebullience. ‘Normally she’s so expressive, and I just wanted her to shut down.’ Other collaborators came to Morley by endearingly haphazard means. Cinematographer Agnès Godard, known for her work with Claire Denis, came on board after Morley sourced her email address through a Google search. Tracey Thorn provided original songs after Morley had a dream about her doing so, and made an approach via Twitter. Such spontaneity has aided in the creation of a i lm that feels at once orchestrated and organic, precise and strangely wild – just like the environment it portrays.
For Morley, boldness has paid off in helping the i lm to become what she wanted it to be. ‘If you get very afraid,’ she says, ‘then you close down. But if you’re open to things, then you encourage something to happen – and you encourage everybody involved to feel that they’re really part of something.’
The Falling is on general release from Fri 24 Apr. See review, page 80.