‘Drewe’ Director Discusses His New Adaptation

“It’s very funny and very sexy… What more could you want?” asks director Stephen Frears, who delivers his characteristically ironic, British wit in his new adaptation of an adaptation, “Tamara Drewe.” Based on Posy Simmonds’s graphic reimagining of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel, “Far from the Madding Crowd,” the film revolves around heiress Tamara, who returns to reclaim her family farm after designing both a new identity and a new nose. Her return sets off a chain reaction of disastrous events.

Though set in a tranquil, rural Dorset village where there are more hills than people, the sequence of action is incredibly fast-paced. In order to achieve that frenetic pace in a serene environment, Frears needed to familiarize himself with it. “I have a house in Dorset, but where we filmed was more beautiful than where my house is. So I had to go out there and learn about it. It’s very, very beautiful,” says Frears.

Filming in Dorset was, overall, a pleasant experience for Frears. He says, “People were very, very kind.” Frears also notes that “Tamara Drewe” is, “quite possibly,” his favorite film so far. “The weather was nice, the countryside was beautiful, the actors were wonderful, and the script was very funny,” he says.

Many of Frears’s films, including both “The Queen” and “Tamara Drewe,” feature strong women. When discussing Tamara’s personality, Frears says, “Well, on the outside she’s strong and looks quite pretty, but on the inside she’s quite frail. So, you know, my guess is she’ll grow up and learn to be a strong woman because she’s made a lot of mistakes. And people tend to learn from their mistakes.”

Some may wonder if the strong female characters Frears includes in his films remind him of people in his own life. “Well, I know lots of women who do silly things. Don’t you?” Frears asks.  “I just know a lot of girls like that who make mistakes. I don’t mind if people make mistakes as long as they learn from them.”

As the film progresses and the adult characters become mired in romantic conflicts, two young female characters add a youthful spark to the film. Frears says that he “liked them [the girls] very, very much” and that he sees himself in their characters. One may wonder how the director sees himself in two teenage girls, but Frears notes that, like the girls, he saw himself as one of the “young people in Britain. Slightly desperate, you know, abandoned. But very spirited.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Frears’ initial attraction to “Tamara Drewe” did not come from either the graphic novel or the original novel. Instead, he was simply attraced to what he thought was a very original script. He says, “I read the script and I thought it was very, very fresh. It made me laugh and it wasn’t like other films. I thought it was great. When I read it I thought it was very funny and very sexy, and I thought people would have a great time, would enjoy the film.”

As for the film’s intended audience, there is no specific targeted group in Frears’ mind. He hopes that the movie will be watched by, “Anybody who likes to laugh. It’s very sort of straightforward isn’t it? You put a film on and people enjoy it.”