The Boy From Mercury



Genre: Family/Science Fiction.

Studio: Unknown.
Production Company: Mercurian Productions.

Project Phase: In the Can.

Who's In It: Hugh O'Conor; Rita Tushingham; Tom Courtenay; James Hickey (Harry Cronin).
Who's Making It: Martin Duffy (Director, Screenwriter); Seamus Deasy (Director of Photography); Marina Hughes (Producer); Jo Manuel (Executive Producer); Sylvaine Sainderchin, Gerard Jourd'hui (Co-Producers); Tom Conroy (Production Designer); Stephen McKeon (Musical Score).

Premise: In Dublin, 1960, an eight-year-old boy has feelings of alienation from his family and life, and decides he's actually just a visitor to this planet from Mercury.

Release Date: May 1997 (England).

Comments: Martin Duffy contacted CA in regards to two of his projects, this one being a completed film awaiting distrbution. Duffy is a forty three year old Irish film director (of his short film Splice of Life and the young adults television drama The Cure), award-winning editor (of Hushabye Baby, The Bishop's Story, The Road To God Knows Where) and screenwriter (The Dubliners' Dublin; and of various television series such as Men of Consequence, Wanderly Wagon and Fortycoats.) He is also a published writer of childrens science fiction novels such as Once Upon a Universe and Mothership and co-author of healer Finbarr Nolan's autobiography Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

But for the best angle, we'll let Martin tell you about his film The Boy From Mercury:

"When I first talked to people about the idea of The Boy From Mercury I knew it sounded odd to admit that this story of a boy who believes he's from another planet is basically autobiographical. It's only in the time since it started gathering momentum on the way to production - and finally being seen by audiences - that I've discovered that there are very many of us resident aliens on this planet.

"A few years ago, rooting around at first for a short story idea, I suddenly remembered a phase in my childhood when I was convinced I came from another planet. That was the start of a process, the development of which was assisted by the Irish Film Board and the European Script Fund, which led to the script The Boy From Mercury. Unlike eight year old Harry Cronin in the film, both my parents were alive when I was growing up and I am the youngest of thirteen children. But big age differences between my siblings and I along with a lot of emigration in the family contributed to my sense of isolation - and runaway imagination. My mother was also extremely tolerant of my imaginary friends - I'm told she even indulged a phase of setting a place for one at the table at mealtimes.

"So thirty five years later (and unfortunately five years after my Mam's death) that childhood phase is a feature film.

"I've been writing since I was a child. One of my first enterprises was to run "The Duffy News" which was a page I produced on my child's typewriter (you had to twist a ball around to the letter you wanted, hit the key which typed it, then twist the ball to the next letter) and was distributed for a penny around the family in Dublin and England. My first job, at the age of fifteen, was as an apprentice projectionist and I have been a film editor for the past fifteen years. So really I was fairly grounded for the task of being writer/director of a feature film. I'm also a control freak with a ginormous vein of insecurity so I storyboarded the film from start to finish to ensure as best possible that I could answer the zillion questions that get flung at you. Also, of course, working with children meant limited time in front of the cameras so the shoot needed to be highly organised - theoretically.

"There were times during the development of the film when people would ask me how I expected to find a boy who could carry an entire feature film - Harry Cronin is in nearly every scene. I would always answer that I had no fears. In fact, I woke in a cold sweat a few times haunted by the notion that I was walking myself into an unfilmable script.

"To my great good fortune, though, along came James Hickey. The Irish casting director reckons she saw eight hundred boys. I auditioned at least a hundred. We were nearing pre-production by the time the short-list for 'Harry' was down to ten, and we were in the third week of pre-production before I knew I'd found my man. What sold me on James were two particular qualities; his eyes and his voice. He speaks with a perfect, unaffected Dublin accent with a delicious edge to it. And his eyes are so wide and clear - Tom Courtenay admitted to me that he nearly lost it in one scene with James because he became spellbound by the boy's gaze. But if that wasn't enough, it also transpired that James is a natural. Always knew his lines, always on the mark and giving you more than you'd expect. And above all - being Harry with greater conviction than I could ever have gleaned from him as a director.

"The main cast all had funny echoes around the film. Tom Courtenay had played 'Billy Liar' and here he played the Uncle of a 'Billy reincarnation'. Hugh O'Conor started his acting profession at the same age James was starting - and was playing his big brother. Tom and Rita Tushingham were acting together for the first time since Doctor Zhivago (which is the kind of coincidence that can rattle a first time director).

It was a happy shoot and the finished film is a credit to all involved. There were the gruelling days when we were working with (maybe 'herding' is a more appropriate description) hundreds of children. There was the fierce sunny day in Phoenix Park - when I carelessly set down my shoulder bag with script and storyboard and the temperamental dog playing 'Max' peed on it. But always the atmosphere was good. Film making as a job has everything going for it but a steady source of income.

"The Boy From Mercury is a family film and I'm happy to have learned from audience reactions that it can be enjoyed by anyone who's ever been eight years old. Given the autobiographical nature, there's also a special twist in the tale. The film had its world premier on the closing night of the Dublin Film Festival - two days after the birth of my first daughter, Ellen Florence. Hopefully, my Mam saw her family gathered in the cinema that night and heard the happy news."

At the moment, the film has no North American distribution - though it has had market screenings at the American and Cannes Film Markets. It was shown recently in the Seattle Film Festival where it was very well received and then reviewed for Variety (the June 17th, 1996 issue) and got a "brilliant" review. It was released in November 1996 throughout Ireland, and theatregoers in England will have their chance to see the film in March 1997.

The Boy From Mercury was developed through support from the Irish Film Board and the European Script Fund. It was produced through the Irish Film Board, RTE, and Le Studio Canal Plus. Martin Duffy is working on pre-production of his second directing project, an adaptation of his childrens science fiction book Mothership.

Rumors: Unknown.

Updates:

August, 1996... The Boy From Mercury fetched an impressive showing at the Giffoni Children's Film Festival in Italy. Of the fourteen films selected for competition, Mercury won the Film Journalists' of Italy award for best film, the Italian Association of Film Distributors Award, and was runner-up for the main prize for best overall.

October 22, 1996... If you live in Ireland, you'll be able to see a trailer for the film before Liam Neeson's new film Michael Collins. That means The Boy From Mercury should be in theatres in Britian by December. Also, the film won a Special Commendation award at the Prix Europa TV programme competition in Berlin.

March 4, 1997... The film will be released in England sometime this month.

May 4, 1997... The film was pushed back into a May release. It also picked up two more awards: the Jury Award at the 18th Celtic Film and Television Festival and the Jury Prize at the 3rd Festival of European Film at Hayange in France. The award is for first time film directors. This brings up the total count to four awards. [Info sent in by Martin Duffy.]

Addendum:

The film also has the distinguish of being the first Irish science fiction film. Nifty.



Have a Scoop/Information about a New Film Project? Copyrights and trademarks for the film and related entertainment properties mentioned herein are held by their respective owners and are used with permission or solely for the promotional purposes of said properties.
All other text and images copyright © 1995-98 Corona Productions.
Last updated: Sunday, 12-Jul-1998 17:29:30 PDT.
webmaster@corona.bc.ca