INTERVIEW The actress plays the lead role The Outrun:The story, inspired by true events, follows a young woman who tries to cure her alcoholism by taking refuge in the Orkney Islands, an archipelago in the far north of Scotland.
The story can evoke a new age fantasy, an extreme detox. Rona, in her twenties, is an alcoholic. To the point of losing health, dignity, job and partner. Deprived after the restoration, he has no choice but to return and live with his mother in Orkney, where he grew up. An archipelago of small islands in the far north of Scotland, a collection of windswept crags and rocks. It is there, communing with nature, with its few inhabitants, and in search of a rare bird, the king quail, which he is responsible for cataloging, which he will try to cure, as much as he has been wronged by storms and cold and loneliness. through his memories and his own demons. The Outrun: is a brutal film, a story of a constant struggle against self-destruction.
The script is inspired by the true story of British Amy Liptrot, who narrated it The gapA great novel published in 2018, from which the film is adapted. Irish-American Saoirse Ronan (Come back to me, Lady Bird, Dr. Marsh’s four daughters…), who also co-produced the film, brings her aura of a gentle, fragile creature to the role, with hair as blue as her eyes, suffused with earnest determination. Meeting.
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Madame Figaro: How did you feel while reading? The gap the book from which the film is adapted.
Saoirse Ronan. I immediately felt connected to it. Like many people, I was affected by alcoholism because I saw people suffering from it. The way Amy talked about it allowed me to relate to it emotionally without anger or resentment; all of that tends to disappear when you put yourself in the shoes of someone going through this ordeal. I was attracted to the balance of his text, his poetry and the fact that it was very “anchored” – there was no pretense, it was alive. And I liked the fact that we were following a young woman, which is rare when we’re talking about alcoholism. These are stories, characters we don’t often see on screen.
Why do you think?
I think we’ve now accepted that men of a certain age have a drinking problem, and that’s okay, there are a lot of them. But it’s important to show a young woman leading this fight because it reminds us that mental health or addiction doesn’t discriminate. It can affect anyone regardless of gender, race, age, social background.
Are women harder to judge when it comes to alcoholism?
Of course, because we always raise the bar with them, at all ages. Especially if they have children. they must be the pillar of the family, pure, unchanging and strong. But when you learn that alcoholism is a mental disorder, a neurological pathology that affects many, you realize that it is not a choice. This stems from the depression, stress, and anxiety that women experience just as much, if not more, than men.
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Do you have anything in common with Rona?
The environment in which we grew up. He grew up in the wild Scottish countryside and was unlike other children in the area; I had the same experience. i was born in new york to dublin parents, i grew up in rural ireland but started traveling and working around 10, 11 years old. This threw me off even more, so I could relate to this feeling of being “out there” and wanting to fit in.
The Outrun: tells a story of healing and redemption through isolation and contact with nature… How to avoid the detox fantasy trap?
The book, like the film, never hides the difficulty of the hero’s struggle, how painful it is, and the fact that he is constantly in danger of repeating himself. Rona feels anxiety every day. Going home is the hardest road to recovery. it’s like you’re under a microscope surrounded by people who know you. It is impossible to resort to anonymity like a mask or a shield. But it forces us to consider what we need to change, identify the bad habits we need to get rid of. In the end, Rona finds her true strength and identity only by going to Papa’i Island (one of the most remote islands inhabited by barely a hundred people, Editor’s note), in a place associated with his home but not where he grew up. This is also where Amy secluded herself to write her book.
You shot some scenes of the movie there. what is your favorite memory?
Getting closer to the film crew and the people who live in Orkney. We couldn’t have made this film without them, their welcome, their spirit, their positivity, their charm. During the week we would shoot and on weekends we would swim naked in the sea with other girls because it was the time of the year when the weather was the most beautiful. We spent our time together and we were all around the same time in our lives, around thirty; the age when we start to make big decisions, to want to relax a bit, to know who we want to be. When we consider the values we stand for, the people we want to keep in our lives, what we really care about. We had some great conversations and it was really inspiring for them to be in that kind of environment.
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What advice would you give to those wanting to visit Orkney?
Invest in several layers of clothing. Take an umbrella. No umbrella, very windy. Read local literature. Not just Amy’s books, but also books by George Mackay Brown, a famous Orkney author. This gives an opportunity to learn about the folklore of the islands, which plays a big role there. And above all, surrender to a slower pace.
Do you find it easy on yourself?
Yes, because I appreciate it very much. Besides, I haven’t been able to afford it for a long time, and it worries me a little. One of the best things about starting work so young is that I know how to recharge my batteries. I’m not on his phone all the time, I’m not on social media. When my partner and I go to remote parts of the world, we cut ourselves off completely and know how beneficial it is. I always try to make time for it.
Source: Le Figaro
