In the new film by Matt Damon, Stillwater, former Jason Bourne trades his spy gadgets for a dramatic story involving a young woman, who, while in Europe, is jailed for a murder she claims not to have committed.
The director and co-writer of Stillwater, Tom McCarthy, explained to Vanity Fair that the film was directly inspired by the saga Amanda Knox which took place in Italy after the murder of Ms Knox’s roommate in Perugia in 2007. Knox, an American student in Italy, had been arrested as a suspect and jailed for four years. (In 2015, Knox was finally acquitted of the murder by Italy’s highest courts.)
Like many people around the world, McCarthy was fascinated by history. And the filmmaker – who won an Oscar in 2016 for co-adapting the Boston Globe on the sexual abuse of the Catholic Church for Spotlight – couldn’t help but imagine how he would feel if he was Knox.
“I have been following the many characters surrounding the case very closely,” said McCarthy, “but the first thing I took away was that I wondered what that might mean for an American college student. go [en Europe] for what should be one of the most exciting times in the life of a young adult and to find yourself embroiled in this tragedy. There were so many twists and turns in this story that all viewers were enthralled … Who are the people who visit him, and what are their relationships? What is the story around Of the history ? “
The dynamic that intrigued McCarthy the most is the young woman’s relationship with her father. With the help of French writers Thomas Bidegain and Noah Debre, McCarthy brought to life a fictional relationship and storyline inspired by this true story.
“We decided to put the Amanda Knox case aside,” explains the director, “but still take part of the story – an American studying abroad involved in a sensational crime and ending up in jail – and to fictionalize everything around. “
“What was more interesting for [McCarthy], that was what happens after all the cameras are gone, and what happens to the family then, ”Matt Damon told Vanity Fair in another interview. “And then they came up with this story of a thug from Oklahoma who has this kind of strained relationship with his daughter, and carries all this heartache and shame and pain.” He’s a man who has wreaked havoc on this relationship, and is trying to fix it while having to live with the fact that his daughter is in jail. He somehow feels responsible for where she ended up and where her life has taken her. So I think that’s a really interesting starting point for the film. “
In Stillwater, Allison (Abigail Breslin), a university student, was jailed for more than five years for a violent crime committed in Marseille, France – not Perugia, Italy. And unfortunately for Allison, she doesn’t have as strong a support system as Knox’s. Allison only has her father, Bill Baker (Damon), with whom she doesn’t necessarily have a good relationship, but who comes from Oklahoma to try to help her in a foreign country.
– .
