Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch isn’t exactly an easy thing to adapt – an 800-page epic, full of internal characterisation and with a sprawling plot. But with the director of Brooklyn, John Crowley, at the helm, we could be set for a smart and emotional drama – and he’s a filmmaker unafraid to make changes to the beloved, Pulitzer-winning source material.
Speaking to Empire in the upcoming issue, the director said that his version moves away from the linear storytelling of the book. The decision “allowed us an entrance to a more cinematic storytelling form,” he explains. “The past and the present sit on top of each other a lot more than they perhaps do in the book. That allowed us into a certain kind of visual editorial idea, if that makes sense – you’re intercutting in a way that’s rather exciting.”
For those who haven’t waded through the epic tome, the story concerns Theo – a kid whose life changes forever when he witnesses his mother die in an explosion in an art gallery. In the moment he nabs a painting from the rubble – the titular Goldfinch – the ramifications of which ripple throughout his adolescence.
Above is an exclusive new image from The Goldfinch, as seen in the upcoming issue of Empire, revealing a new look at Ansel Elgort as a grown-up Theodore, and Aneurin Barnard as Boris, his friend who operates in the criminal underground. "Theo's life is dominated by this one great big event, which he's got stuck in, stuck between the grief of losing his mother, and holding onto this painting,” Crowley tells Empire in a trailer breakdown interview. “Boris is the one character who's mad enough and bad enough to get them into trouble and out of trouble.”
See more from The Goldfinch and read about how Crowley adapted an unwieldy novel for the big screen in the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood issue, hitting newsstands on Thursday 13 June.
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