"I think that, somehow, we overprotect children," says A Monster Calls director J A Bayona. "This is a story that was written for kids and helps them deal with complicated emotions."
Adapted from a book by Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls tells the story of a boy (Lewis MacDougall) trying to cope with the news his mother (Felicity Jones) has cancer. To make matters worse, he has to spend time with his dreaded grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). To cope, he conjures up a treelike storytelling monster (voiced by Liam Neeson).
“I think that we don’t talk to kids about things we think are going to be uncomfortable,” says the Spanish director. “The mother does the same in the story – she’s trying to protect her child by not telling the truth, but she is provoking a bigger pain by not doing so.”
Bayona has a track record for telling grown-up stories about children. His superb The Orphanage (2007) was a horror film set in 1975, at the end of the Franco regime, and The Impossible (2012) told the story of the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as seen through the eyes of a lost child.
“The three films I have done so far deal with childhood and growing up,” says Bayona. “I belong to the first generation growing up in a democracy in Spain [after Franco] and we were super over-protected.”
"The thing that landed with me was that it was so unique having elements of fantasy and animation that were also rooted in this quite serious story," says actress Jones (who can currently also be seen in the blockbuster Star Wars spin-off Rogue One). "I met Bayona in London and it was so obvious the passion that he was bringing to the project."
“The first time I read the book, because it is an illustrated book, I was very impressed with Jim Kay’s [artwork],” says the 41-year-old director.
“So it became impossible to separate the story that Patrick wrote from Jim’s illustrations.”
As a result, the stories the tree monster tells are animated. This was also a way for Bayona to separate the realism of the boy’s story from the imagination of the youngster’s mind.
“I think the characters in the tales, they are not really characters in the story, they represent ideas,” Bayona says. “So the moment that you put a face, it feels too much. It feels distracting, I had this idea that the characters in the animation, they will not have a face.”
They do have a voice, however, the unmistakable gruff Irish tones of Taken star Neeson, a nod to the Celtic traditions of the Green Giant, from which the monster is derived.
“Lewis is brilliant as the boy and the relationship he has with Neeson as the monster is very special,” says Weaver. “I think it’s one of the most original movies I’ve been part of.”
Could there be any higher praise from the star of Alien?
The reputation of director Bayona is growing, and he has been given the task of making Jurassic World 2, or as he looks at it, Jurassic Park 5.
"I loved Jurassic Park growing up," says Bayona.
The film will be the first time that Bayona has had a predominantly adult cast, with Chris Pratt reprising his role from the 2015 reboot.
“An adult can be a child too,” Bayona says. “Then you go with what are the fears facing him. I think that in front of death, we all feel like a helpless child.”
As to what we can expect, he adds: "Jurassic is going to be much more scary than the previous one, for example."
• A Monster Calls is in cinemas from Thursday, January 12
artslife@thenational.ae
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Could We Be More
Artist: Kokoroko
Label: Brownswood Recordings
Rating: 3.5/5
SPEC SHEET
Processor: Apple M2, 8-core CPU, up to 10-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Display: 13.6-inch Liquid Retina, 2560 x 1664, 224ppi, 500 nits, True Tone, wide colour
Memory: 8/16/24GB
Storage: 256/512GB / 1/2TB
I/O: Thunderbolt 3 (2), 3.5mm audio, Touch ID
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Battery: 52.6Wh lithium-polymer, up to 18 hours, MagSafe charging
Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD
Video: Support for Apple ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10
Audio: 4-speaker system, wide stereo, support for Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio and dynamic head tracking (with AirPods)
Colours: Silver, space grey, starlight, midnight
In the box: MacBook Air, 30W or 35W dual-port power adapter, USB-C-to-MagSafe cable
Price: From Dh4,999
'Dark Waters'
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper
Rating: ****
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
More from Janine di Giovanni
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Roll of Honour, men’s domestic rugby season
West Asia Premiership
Champions: Dubai Tigers
Runners up: Bahrain
UAE Premiership
Champions: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division 1
Champions: Dubai Sharks
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins II
UAE Division 2
Champions: Dubai Tigers III
Runners up: Dubai Sharks II
Dubai Sevens
Champions: Dubai Tigers
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Sri Lanka squad
Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.
A Little to the Left
Developer: Max Inferno
Consoles: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Rating: 4/5