Take This WaltzTake This Waltz

Overview

Credits non contractual

  • Awards:

    • A funny, bittersweet and heart-wrenching story about a woman struggling to choose between two different types of love.

  • Details:

    • Comedy drama - Romance - English - 2010
    • Color

  • Directed by:

    • Sarah Polley (Away from Her - nominated at the Academy Awards 2008 for Best Screenplay)

  • Cast:

    • Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain - nominated for Best Performance at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards and Golden Globes, Wendy & Lucy, Shutter Island, Blue Valentine)
    • Seth Rogen (Forthcoming The Green Hornet, Knocked up, Funny People, Superbad)
    • Luke Kirby (HBO's Tell Me That You Love Me, Mambo Italiano)
    • Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program)

  • Produced by:

    • Susan Cavan and Sarah Polley - Joe's Daughter Inc.

  • Delivery:

    • 2011

  • Medias:

  • Photos

    Photos: Michael Gibson

  • Synopsis

    When Margot, 28, meets Daniel, their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction: she is happily married to Lou, a celebrated cookbook writer.
    When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Margot finally gives in to desire and in doing so, discovers some unsettling truths about herself.
    Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, Take This Waltz leads us, laughing, through the familiar but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.

  • Leading cast

    MICHELLE WILLIAMS IS MARGOT

    Selective filmography

    2010 BLUE VALENTINE by Derek Cianfrance
    Premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival

    2010 SHUTTER ISLANDS by Martin Scorsese

    2008 SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK by Charlie Kaufman

    2008 WENDY AND LUCY by Kelly Reichardt
    Chlotrudis Award - Best Actress
    Toronto Film Critics Association Awards - Best Actress

    2005 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN by Ang Lee
    Nominated for Academy Award - Best Actress
    Nominated for BAFTA Award - Best Actress
    Nominated for Golden Globe - Best Actress

    2004 LAND OF PLENTY by Wim Wenders


    SETH ROGEN IS LOU

    Selective filmography

    2010 THE GREEN HORNET by Michel Gondry

    2009 FUNNY PEOPLE by Judd Apatow

    2008 ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO by Kevin Smith

    2008 PINEAPPLE EXPRESS by David Gordon Green

    2007 SUPERBAD by Greg Mottola

    2007 KNOCKED UP by Judd Apatow


    LUKE KIRBY IS DANIEL

    Selective filmography

    2009 LABOR PAINS by Lara Shapiro

    2007 HBO's TELL ME YOU LOVE ME

    2003 MAMBO ITALIANO by Emile Gaudreault

    2001 LOST AND DELIRIOUS by Léa Pool

  • Crew

    Sarah Polley, director of AWAY FROM HER

    "Canadian cinema scene finally has something
    to cheer about: homegrown actress-turned-director Sarah Polley." Variety
    "Polley's achievement is remarkable." thestar.com

    Nominated for Academy Awards 2008 - Best Writing, Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published

    Directors Guild of Canada - Craft Award and Team Award in 2007 / Chlotrudis Awards 2008 - Best Adapted Screenplay / Genie Awards 2008 - Claude Jutra Award, Best Achievement in Direction, Best Screenplay adapted / Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - New Generation Award for Sarah Polley / New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2007 - Best First Film / Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2007 - Breakthrough Behind the Camera / Portland International Film Festival 2007 - Audience Award / San Francisco Film Critics Circle 2007 - Best Screenplay - Adapted / Sedona International Film Festival 2007 - Excellence in Filmmaking / Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2007 - International Jury Award / Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Best First Feature / Writers Guild of Canada 2007 - WGC Award


    Producers
    Susan Cavan and Sarah Polley - Joe's Daughter Inc.


    DoP
    Luc Montpellier
    (Away from Her)


    Composer
    Jonathan Goldsmith
    (Away from Her)

  • Director’s notes

    Take This Waltz takes us into territory we all know but rarely have the courage to explore. While it takes us into the belly of intimacy in a way that is often uncomfortable and intense, it should, above all, makes us laugh.

    While the film deals with profound emotion, I think it is important to treat it as a comedy in the telling. Just when we feel our hearts are breaking, we need the release of a guttural laugh. All three main characters need to win our hearts with their humour in the face of sadness and the lightness of their touch with each other. Though it has weight to it, I want to shoot Take This Waltz almost as though it is a romantic comedy. While it should move us, it should never feel heavy or overly weighted on the side of sadness. We should recognize ourselves in these people, and find ourselves relating to situations that are difficult because we have been given courage by our laughter. The moments that touch us should creep up on us, not hammer us over our heads. The dialogue is snappy and fast paced, keeping us engaged and laughing.
    Visually, this film will be a colourful feast for the eyes. Toronto in the summertime will feel alive, vibrant, and sweltering hot. It will feel sexy, diverse, energetic and dreamy. Sexuality should pulse through almost every frame; primary, hot colours striking us to our core. The look of this film is defined by summer, bathed in golden light and popping with energy. We should feel the heat in every frame, adding to the Claustrophobia and eroticism of Margot's journey. And we will fall in love with the city, pumping and sweltering through the lush summer.

    The film will never feel static or composed. There should always be a sense that we don't know where the camera will go, there are no boundaries, nowhere that is off limits, creating a sense of anticipation. We are often going into emotional territory that feels intense and unexpected- we should feel that visually as well. We don't know what we are going to see next, and that is thrilling and nerve wracking at the same time. There will always be a sense of breath in the camera. It won't be handheld, but there will always be the slightest movement. Much of it will be shot on an easyrig or a steadicam, giving it a fluidity and grace as well as a sense of life.

    The soundtrack will be alive and pervasive and feature legendary songs by Leonard Cohen as well as the contemporary music of many emerging independent bands.

    SARAH POLLEY