Writer/director Francesca Gregorini recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her new dramatic thriller “The Truth About Emanuel.”
In “The Truth About Emanuel,” which opens Friday, Jan. 10, Kaya Scodelario plays a troubled young woman who becomes preoccupied with her mysterious new neighbor (Jessica Biel) who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, the young woman unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world of which she becomes the gatekeeper.
Listen to “Breakthrough Entertainment’s” full interview with Gregorini by clicking HERE. The following is an excerpt from the interview in which the writer/director discusses the themes of “The Truth About Emanuel.”
“‘The Truth About Emanuel’ is [the story of] one girl’s coming-of-age and, in a sense, one woman’s coming-of-age. I like coming-of-age stories. And I like female-driven [stories]. I think that that is probably going to be consistent in my work. We don’t have enough of it and I’m good at it so I think that that is probably going to be a recurring theme in my work.
“I think that with ‘The Truth About Emanuel” I maybe dug a little bit deeper in terms of issues that that I was interested in tackling – like madness, mortality and loss. And even though they sound quite macabre and like a bummer, having seen the film you know that you don’t walk out of there being bummed out about life. Hopefully there is a sense of hope and a sense of wonder. And I hope to bring both of those things to my future works.
“Like I said, I think that the feeling is hopefully one of hope and I think that the message, if there is one, is that we can’t save ourselves. But in saving one another, that is how we save ourselves. Emanuel cannot get past the hurdle of her mother being dead and is unwilling to take even the most remote steps in that healing process.
“But I think that when she realizes that unless she does that Linda is also going to be sort of in a sea of trouble, she steps up and does it. I think that that is a beautiful characteristic of us humans. Sometimes we are unwilling to do something to care for ourselves but in caring for one another we sort of end up healing ourselves.” – Francesca Gregorini
