Brits have a morbid fascination with the uncanny and the grim

GWEN, set against the epic landscapes of Snowdonia, takes you back to the dark days of the industrial revolution, in 1855. A teenage girl growing up on a farm in North West Wales, must cope with the illness of her mother and care for her younger sister. But the family’s resilience is tested to the utmost by the slate mines taking away the farmers’ land, and by the mistrust with which they’re viewed by the local community. Secrets squirm and suspicions swirl.

Interview with William Mc Gregor about film GWEN

You can see this film

NE | 26.05 | 20:15 | GOLDEN APPLE CINEMA 3

GWEN is a gothic folk-tale in its purest form. There’s winds howling around bare farmhouses, there’s torches burning in the farmyard, there’s dead livestock and horses prancing in panic. When meeting director William McGregor and main actress Eleanor Worthington-Cox as guests of the Zlin Festival, they might tell you stories about mud, snow, and monsters luring in the dark.

William McGregor: I remember how, as a child, even the sound of the wind or a lost animal outside on a dark night could spark my imagination and fear. I wanted to explore that childish ability to scare ourselves with something that doesn't physically exist. Our imagination telling us that there is something hidden in the dark and that you should be afraid. This fear of the unknown can shape the perspective of an entire community, and can be manipulated in order to force normal people to do terrible things.

Those are the origins of your story?

McGregor: Growing up on a remote farm I have always had a fascination with how a sense of place affects the culture of the local community. For me, it was fascinating to explore how the sublime quality of the Snowdonian landscape feeds into the psychology of our young protagonist.

It had to be Snowdonia?

McGregor: I grew up in Norfolk and shot a short film in the mountains and woodlands of Slovenia. I knew how important it was to have a magisterial backdrop for my feature debut. My producer Bevan Jones suggested Snowdonia, explaining, “My father was from there and it fits with the story you want to tell.” We visited Snowdonia, in Wales, we walked and talked, soaking up the locations and letting the story grow from the land. 

How to add personal elements to a story that is so strongly rooted in its time and genre?

McGregor: Growing up in a rural community, the landscape, for me, was a constant source of inspiration. Just being in bed at night, and hearing the sound of foxes howling and not knowing what the eerie screaming sounds were. My mind would come up with its own answers, which I think is the backbone of gothic and folk and horror traditions. Answering that question of suspicion and fear of the unknown.

With Eleanor Worthington-Cox you have a young star in the main role.

McGregor: As a 16-year-old, Eleanor’s already got more experience than I have! She made her movie debut in MALEFICENT when she was only eight! She’s a fantastic actress and had such fun between takes. She was inspiring to a lot of the crew as she always turned up with an infectious smile. It was freezing, but she gave it a life and a soul and kept us going. 

Freezing in what sense?

Eleanor Worthington-Cox: We were in the middle of blizzards with a wind chill factor of minus eight, but it just gets everyone closer and we all bonded together. It was very different to anything I’ve done before. Mastering the Welsh accent was tricky, but I had lessons with a voice coach and perfected it as much as I could from there. If I ever had a problem with it, there were some helpful crew members who were from this area. They’d say, ‘By the way, this is how you should say it instead…’

You had to go through all this while wearing period costumes!

Worthington-Cox: There are quite a few layers of thermals under all this period stuff. And it puts you in character. You feel how cold it gets and think: How can people go out and work in the fields all day and live in those conditions? There’s something very ancient about the harshness and bleakness of that landscape. It’s been snowing, sleeting, and the wind’s gusting. Being wet through and shivering infuses your character.

All these climatological conditions only add to the atmospheric qualities of the final result.

McGregor: We worked at remote locations – getting trucks and equipment there was tough. Our producers became experts in shovelling mud. We were flooded out of a venue. The cast, in tents that were practically blowing away, never ever complained. We had to halt production three times due to 70mph winds, snow and flooding. But you have to react to those conditions. Sometimes you don’t have to abandon shooting but the weather and the light feels right for a different scene so you have to tear up the schedule. It was a hardship, but if you choose to shoot in Snowdonia in November and December, it’s your own fault, really!

What is it that makes a period piece like GWEN still relevant for an audience today?

McGregor: I believe that in a world where we’re feeling more distant from our landscape and our roots, as we spend more time surrounded by concrete and screens, that perhaps stories like this are more appealing. GWEN is about things that matter as much now as they did hundreds of years ago: family, love, how you survive in isolation, and how a mother protects her children. Gothic stories speak to people because they tap into our inner fears. They’re about times of change, about brutal conditions, about brutality in people.

Is there something typically British about the gothic horror genre?

McGregor: There is something about the British landscape – the wilds, the harshness – that lends itself so well to the gothic. I think as a nation we have a slightly morbid fascination with the uncanny and the grim; it’s cathartic. And there’s a resurgence in popularity for the gothic at the moment because it’s a difficult time for people. Britain’s place in the world is changing and people have fears about being able to control their own lives. These films fascinate because they get back to the grass roots – people working the land is very basic and simple. But there’s something about the land, the connection with the earth… These films are horrors but they are believable. There are no monsters.