What Maisie Knew (film)

What Maisie Knew
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott McGehee David Siegel
Produced by	Daniel Crown Daniela Taplin Lundberg William Teitler Charles Weinstock
Written by	Carroll Cartwright Nancy Doyne
Based on	What Maisie Knew  by Henry James
Starring	Julianne Moore Alexander Skarsgård Onata Aprile Joanna Vanderham Steve Coogan
Music by	Nick Urata
Cinematography	Giles Nuttgens
Edited by	Madeleine Gavin
Production company	Red Crown Productions
Distributed by	Millennium Entertainment
Release dates	September 7, 2012 (2012-09-07) (TIFF) May 3, 2013 (2013-05-03)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million[1]
Box office	$2.7 million

What Maisie Knew is a 2012 American drama film written by Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. It stars Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård, Onata Aprile, Joanna Vanderham and Steve Coogan, and is an adaptation of the Henry James novel What Maisie Knew (1897), about a sensitive daughter of a divorced couple, who are irresponsible parents. The story is updated to modern-day New York City. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2012 and was theatrically released on May 3, 2013 by Millennium Entertainment.^[2] The film received strong reviews from critics and it earned $2.7 million on a $5 million^[1] budget. What Maisie Knew was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 13, 2013 by Scanbox Vision.

Plot

Six-year-old Maisie (Onata Aprile) lives in a New York apartment with her parents, Susanna (Julianne Moore), a singer in a rock band, and Beale (Steve Coogan), an international art dealer. Susanna and Beale argue with each other viciously and constantly, often ignoring Maisie and leaving her in the care of their nanny, Margo (Joanna Vanderham). When they decide to separate, both parents are granted joint custody of Maisie.

After the separation, Margo moves into Beale's apartment and they get married soon afterwards. In response, Susanna impulsively marries Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård), a bartender whom she does not particularly like. Maisie bonds with Lincoln, but Susanna quickly grows resentful of how much Maisie has warmed to him.

Although both Susanna and Beale think they deserve full custody, their desire to keep Maisie is primarily to spite the other, and they are quick to pawn her off on the other parent when looking after her becomes inconvenient. Maisie's time is split between staying with each of her parents, but her primary caregivers become Lincoln and Margo as Susanna leaves on a tour and Beale disappears on business trips. With his relationship with Margo disintegrating, Beale eventually decides to move to the UK.

With Beale and Susanna gone, Margo, Lincoln and Maisie begin to spend time together. While Susanna is supposedly on tour, the three run into her in New York. After an angry confrontation in which Susanna accuses Lincoln and Margo of stealing Maisie from her, Lincoln declares their relationship over, telling Susanna that she does not deserve Maisie.

When Susanna leaves the city suddenly, Maisie once again ends up in Margo's care. Margo takes her to stay in her cousin's beach house. She invites Lincoln to visit, much to Maisie's delight, and Lincoln and Margo kiss. One night, Susanna stops by the beach house unannounced in her tour bus to pick Maisie up, but Maisie chooses to stay with Margo and Lincoln instead. After shouting at her, Susanna realizes that Maisie is scared of her and that it is in Maisie's best interests to stay behind.

Cast

• Julianne Moore as Susanna
• Alexander Skarsgård as Lincoln
• Onata Aprile as Maisie
• Joanna Vanderham as Margo
• Steve Coogan as Beale

Production

Development

What Maisie Knew was written by Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne in 1995, based on the 1897 novel What Maisie Knew by Henry James. At the time, Cartwright was involved in a legal dispute over the custody of his daughter.^[3] Director Scott McGehee later said that Cartwright had used James' novel "as a lens" through which to write about his own divorce and raising his daughter.^[4] According to Cartwright, he and Doyne struggled to find producers, financiers and directors interested in making the film because of the challenges of working with a young child at the center of the film. Producer Charles Weinstock was involved in the project for a number of years and was eventually responsible for obtaining financing from Red Crown Productions and hiring Scott McGehee and David Siegel as directors.^[3] McGehee and Siegel were initially apprehensive about the script but decided to read it after hearing from their agent that actress Julianne Moore was interested in playing one of the roles; they accepted the directing job after talking to Moore about the story.^[5] Although McGehee and Siegel were reluctant to make a film about divorce, they liked that the script focused on Maisie's perspective.^[6]

Casting

The casting process for the role of Maisie took eight weeks.^[7] Casting director Avy Kaufman suggested about 100 young girls to McGehee and Siegel while the directors independently visited New York elementary schools to hold auditions.^[4] Onata Aprile decided to audition relatively late, and was cast three weeks before production started.^[4][8] She met with two of her adult co-stars, Julianne Moore and Alexander Skarsgård for a brief rehearsal period before filming began.^[8] Aprile was six years old at the time.^[6] Moore, who had read the film's script before directors McGehee and Siegel,^[4] was anxious about having to sing as part of her role. She prepared by meeting with music producer Peter Nashel, singer Elaine Caswell, and Alison Mosshart, the lead singer of The Kills, whose songs Moore performed in the film.^[6][9] Steve Coogan was the directors' first choice to play Beale, although the film's producers wanted to cast another English actor. McGehee and Siegel felt Coogan was suited to the role because "no matter what awful things he does and says, somehow there's something sympathetic about him".^[4] Joanna Vanderham, the last actor to be cast in the film, secured her role two weeks before production started after talking with McGehee, Siegel and Kaufman on Skype from Glasgow.^[10]

Filming

What Maisie Knew was filmed in New York for 35 days over seven weeks in the summer of 2011.^[6][11] It was shot on 35 mm film using an Arri camera.^[1] Filming mainly took place in Lower Manhattan, and scenes at the beach house were shot on Long Island.^[12] One scene featuring Maisie and Lincoln taking a day trip together was shot on the High Line.^[13] A scene in which Susanna performs at a concert was filmed at Webster Hall using a pre-recorded vocal track, a backing band and a small audience.^[6] According to McGehee and Siegel, a significant challenge during filming was the limited amount of time with which they were able to work with Aprile each day due to her early bedtime.^[12][14] While shooting one of the film's final scenes wherein Susanna arrives at the beach house at night to pick up Maisie, Aprile fell asleep and could not be woken up; the shoot had to be postponed until two weeks later.^[12]

Music

The film's score was composed by Nick Urata of the musical group DeVotchKa.^[15] The score was inspired by rock music, to which McGehee and Siegel thought Maisie would have been exposed with a musician mother. McGehee described Urata's score as "us[ing] rock language but in a more childlike way".^[4]

Release

Box office

What Maisie Knew premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival on September 7, 2012.^[16] Millennium Films purchased the film's U.S. distribution rights soon after its premiere.^[17] The film was released in the United States on May 3, 2013. Opening in a single theater in New York,^[18] it earned $21,480 on its opening weekend and $31,152 by the end of its first week.^[19][20] It expanded to three theaters in its second week of release, was playing in 27 theaters by its fourth week, and reached its widest release of 122 theaters in its sixth week.^[20] It was in release for a total of thirteen weeks and grossed $1,066,471 in that time.^[19] In the United Kingdom, the film was released by Curzon Film World in cinemas and through video on demand (VOD) services on August 23, 2013. It earned £330,186 in box office revenue from four weeks of release and £65,832 from VOD rentals in the first six weeks it was available.^[21] In other territories, the film performed best in Australia (grossing US$334,651), Spain ($196,668), New Zealand ($140,696) and Brazil ($100,453).^[22] It earned a total of $1,644,908 outside of the U.S. for a total worldwide gross of $2,711,379.^[19][22]

Critical response

When it premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, the film received strong reviews. NPR wrote, "It is rare to see an excellent movie about a child made for adults. [...] I was as invested in Maisie as I've been in any character I've seen at this festival, not just as a cute kid, but as a fully formed person."^[23] Screen International wrote, "A heartbreakingly perceptive illustration of the axiom that when parents get divorced, the ones most affected are the children, What Maisie Knew is a closely observed and deeply emotional drama in which a kind-hearted six-year-old girl only slowly begins to understand the complexity of her mother and father’s dysfunctional relationship.. Guided by a superb cast [...], the latest from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel wrings tears but does so with a great deal of tenderness and intelligence."^[24] Reel Film Reviews called the film "a progressively heartbreaking piece of work. [...] What Maisie Knew finally manages to establish itself as a heartwrenching look at the impact a fierce custody battle has on the figure at its center, with the unabashedly moving final stretch cementing the film's place as a seriously impressive drama that packs one hell of an emotional punch."^[25] The Hollywood Reporter noted that the "tasteful melodrama benefits from uniformly strong performances. Siegel and McGehee make a strong move back to conventional storytelling after experimenting with Uncertainty".^[26] Variety said, "this beautifully observed drama essentially strikes the same sad note for 98 minutes, though with enough sensitivity and emotional variation to make the experience cumulatively heartrending rather than merely aggravating."^[27] Reviews since the film's US release have been consistently strong. Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 88% based on 102 reviews and marks the film as "Certified Fresh".^[28] The New York Times^[29] and the Los Angeles Times both gave it rave reviews.^[30] In December 2013, Rex Reed of the The New York Observer placed the film, amongst his annual list of "Best Films of 2013". He found the film, "Hear[t]breaking and real" and giving "brutal but restorative" answers to the question, "How do children cope when they're not a priority?"^[31] Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor also placed the film on his annual "Top 10" list, calling it "the year’s best literary adaptation." ^[32] Claudia Puig of USA Today also placed the film among her annual "Top 10".^[33]

Accolades

Home media

What Maisie Knew was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 13, 2013 by Scanbox Vision.

References

External links

• What Maisie Knew at the Internet Movie Database
• What Maisie Knew at Box Office Mojo
• What Maisie Knew at Rotten Tomatoes
• What Maisie Knew at Metacritic
• What Maisie Knew on Facebook