Beautiful Creatures
Short description
Beautiful Creatures is a fantasy romance set in Gatlin, a small town in the American South. Ethan Wate is a bookish teenager counting the days until he can leave, haunted by dreams of a girl he has never met. When Lena Duchannes moves in with her reclusive uncle on the town's oldest plantation, Ethan recognises her as the girl from his dreams and falls for her, while the rest of Gatlin greets her with suspicion. Lena belongs to a family with supernatural abilities, and a curse hangs over her: as her sixteenth birthday approaches, she must confront a choice tied to her family's past that could decide her future and the fate of their relationship.
The film was directed by Richard LaGravenese, who also wrote the screenplay. It followed his earlier features Paris Je T'aime, Freedom Writers and P.S. I Love You, and came before The Last Five Years and A Family Affair. Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert lead the cast as Ethan and Lena, with Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum and Thomas Mann in supporting roles, among 46 credited cast members. It is an adaptation of a young adult novel.
Released in February 2013, the film had a budget of about 60 million dollars and took in roughly the same amount worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from around 93,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from nearly 3,000 votes. A critics' rating of 5.4 out of 10 from 180 reviews places it slightly below those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Casting for the film began in late 2011. It was soon announced that Jack O’Connell and Alice Englert would play the lead roles of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes. O’Connell later dropped out of the film due to a scheduling conflict, and the role of Ethan Wate went to Alden Ehrenreich.
- Filming in Louisiana had to be suspended due to a tornado warning.
- Director Richard LaGravenese wanted to use as little green screen as possible. Therefore, in the scene of Caster’s holiday dinner, the set was designed so that the table rotated with the actors on bolted-down chairs. The floor under the table also rotated, but in the opposite direction, with Alice Englert and Emmy Rossum tied to a platform. The entire set was built on hydraulics so it could sway. The rotation speed was adjustable from 1 to 10, and the actors were rotated at speed eight. It took three days in total to shoot this scene. Richard LaGravenese, who suffers from motion sickness, took Dramamine while filming this scene.
- In the scene with snow, the song playing in the background is “Needle and Thread.” It was composed and recorded by actress Alice Englert in her hotel room in New Orleans during pre-production. The song pleased director Richard LaGravenese, and he decided to use it in the film.
- Ethan’s awkward reading of Charles Bukowski’s poem actually came about due to Alden Ehrenreich’s difficulty remembering the order of the lines, which amused Alice Englert. He made the mistake in only one take, but director Richard LaGravenese liked the idea of Romeo trying to impress Juliet and failing miserably with poetry.
- The original soundtrack to the film was composed by Thenewno2 (Dhani Harrison, Paul Hicks, Jonathan Sadoff). The group began creating the soundtrack at Friar Park studio in Henley-on-Thames. For the love theme, Dhani borrowed a guitar solo from his father, George Harrison, from the song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Ultimately, the soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road in Studio 2.
- The role of Amma is actually a combination of two characters from the book: Amma – the housekeeper-prophet, and Marian – the librarian and best friend of Ethan’s deceased mother. Screenwriter and director Richard LaGravenese combined these two roles in the hope of attracting actress Viola Davis. She was the only one he saw in the part.
- The poems on the walls and ceiling in Lena’s room are taken from the works of four poets: William Blake, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Rumi.
- The film is based on the novel “Beautiful Creatures” (2009) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
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