The Shipping News (film)
| The Shipping News | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Lasse Hallström |
| Written by | E. Annie Proulx (novel), Robert Nelson Jacobs |
| Produced by | Rob Cowan, Leslie Holleran |
| Starring | Kevin Spacey Julianne Moore Judi Dench Cate Blanchett |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release date | 18 December 2001 (premiere) |
Running time | 111 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$35,000,000 |
The Shipping News is a 2001 film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.
It was directed by Lasse Hallström and stars Kevin Spacey as the protagonist Quoyle, Judi Dench as Agnes Hamm and Julianne Moore as Wavey Prowse. It also stars Pete Postlethwaite, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Cate Blanchett, Jason Behr, and Gordon Pinsent.
The film makes a multitude of changes from the book, notably: Quoyle had two daughters in the novel, but only one in the film; in the film he does not begin working as a reporter until after arriving in Newfoundland; and a number of characters, such as the younger Buggit family, were deleted or merged.
It climaxes with a storm which destroys the Quoyle's ancestral family home and almost drowns the Gammy Bird's editor Jack Buggit, caught in the rope of a lobster pot while fishing. Though thought dead, at Buggit's wake it is found that the man was actually in a state of shock resulting from hypothermia, regaining consciousness in front of a large crowd of mourners, central to the theme of rebirth in the optimistic ending of the story.
Critical reviews
Some critics felt that three significant themes were not fully realised in the movie: Quoyle learning that love could be comfortable rather than painful, Quoyle growing from being a bumbling incompetent to being a competent manager, and his daughter Bunny learning about death (while overcoming her fears and learning to be more secure in the process).
The film drew some criticism within Canada for what some saw as stereotyped portrayals of Newfoundlanders, although a number of themes from the book, such as the allegations of incest reported in the newspaper, were toned down significantly in the screenplay.
Quoyle Point and Killick-Claw
Quoyle Point is a fictional point of land on the Newfoundland coast bearing the family name of the protagonist in both the book and the movie. The actual town used for "Killick-Claw" in the movie was New Bonaventure in the Trinity Bight area of Newfoundland. This area is home to approximately 2,000 Newfoundlanders, most of whom are descendants of 18th-century settlers from England's West Country, the Channel Islands and Southeast Ireland.
In the movie, Quoyle Point is a remote, spectacular site with a cove and dramatic cliffs. There is a desolate, weathered green house on the point, the old family home of the Quoyles. At some time in the past, the house had been dragged across the sea-ice from a neighboring island and cabled to the ground at the four corners to protect it from being blown away.
The film crew pre-built the green house on a stage in Halifax, Nova Scotia, dis-assembled it, transported it via ferry to Newfoundland, and then reassembled it piece-by-piece on 'Quoyle Point,' using snowmobiles so as not to disturb the natural location. All traces of it were removed at the end of filming.