Latest news with #TheNarrowRoadtotheDeepNorth
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jacob Elordi On Playing A Haunted POW In ‘The Narrow Road To The Deep North' And His Growing Zeal For Acting As He Tees Up ‘Frankenstein' & ‘Wuthering Heights'
Jacob Elordi keeps waiting for the day he might lose his love for acting. It hasn't happened yet, and he hopes it never will. In fact, the Australian actor, who most recently played a haunted prisoner of war in Justin Kurzel's The Narrow Road to the Deep North, feels like he's just getting started. More from Deadline Jacob Elordi & Lily-Rose Depp To Star In Cormac McCarthy Adaptation 'Outer Dark' — Red Hot Project Bubbling At The Cannes Market Guillermo Del Toro's 'Frankenstein' Debuts First Teaser At Netflix Tudum 'Carrie' Series Officially Sets Summer Howell As Lead; Samantha Sloyan, Josie Totah & Amber Midthunder Among Cast 'I'm just incredibly open to being a part of the circus right now, in a way. I really love being an actor. I don't know, silly as that it may sound, the love for it just keeps going deeper and deeper,' he tells Deadline. In The Narrow Road to the Deep North, adapted from Richard Flanagan's novel, Elordi stars as Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans, a celebrated World War II hero who is haunted by his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and memories of an affair with Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young) that sustained him through the darkest of times. In the interview below, he breaks down his process for Narrow Road and also speaks about his upcoming roles in Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein and Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights. DEADLINE:Snowtown. JACOB ELORDI: Well, the whole movie was something I hadn't seen before. The kind of loose, handheld, intimate way that it was shot … and those colors and those kinds of houses, it all kind of had a great impact. But there's a couple of scenes that stand out. There was this one incredible moment where his brother comes home and something happens in the living room of their home, and Justin, just kind of sat on the door with the camera. He didn't move from the door. He didn't cut. He just sat on the door and he let this kind of horrific, Cain and Abel act play out just in this one shot. I remember never really being able to forget that shot. DEADLINE: The Narrow Road to the Deep North? ELORDI: I think the intrigue to me from working with him was how much space and freedom he gives the performer. He doesn't let the camera or the lights or the sound get in the way of the performance, which is not to say that happens all the time, but he's very particular about the performance coming before everything, which as an actor is like as close as you can get to a theater experience on screen. I was taken by how kind of gentle he was. It all makes sense after meeting him and then watching his films back. But he has such a sensitivity with his actors and with the frame and with his work. DEADLINE: ELORDI: Just as an actor, yeah, I think you always want to have time to obsess over the script and get your little mind map going and see how many things you can join and what you can come up with. But I have to also say I've learned from experience now, like Frankenstein, for example, I only got cast in that just before the film. So you kind of hit the ground running. It was figuring the film out as we shot a little bit. That, in its own way, was a totally freeing experience as well. So I kind of don't know which I prefer. I think it depends on the project and where you're at. DEADLINE: ELORDI: Well, Dorrigo is, on paper, the embodiment of stoicism and stillness. I was glad to have like a year to prepare to sort of slow my internal world down a little bit and try and find that kind of patience. I'm glad that I didn't have to rush into that. DEADLINE: ELORDI: We shot separately. We shot what we called, on the set, the 'Summer of Love.' That was the first portion of filming, and that was a few weeks, which was pre-war. So I still had relatively okay body weight, and I was given the opportunity as a performer to have all of the memories that Dorrigo takes with him into the camps for real. We wrapped that and had a six-week break over Christmas, in which all the boys had to go into a boot camp, and we lost all our weight. Then towards the end of January, I believe, we came back in and then shot the prisoner camps. So I was lucky enough to have this long run of experience as the character, and then be met with the contrast of the death camps. So I got to play it chronologically, which is not something you get to do often when you're shooting. DEADLINE: ELORDI: I mean, for me, it was so immediate, because I'd spent the years stripping my life back a little bit so that when I got to filming, I just got to live in it every day. My reality really was what was sort of happening for him in the story and and in his life — not in some way where it was like some hokey pokey method thing, but more just when everyone around you all put our central focus into achieving this one goal, something happens on a production, and it happens rarely, and you fall into this kind of fugue state together. DEADLINE: ELORDI: I mean, not necessarily challenging. It's a rewarding process to sort of internalize things and contemplate things and just watch for a while and listen. There's a great gift in listening. As an actor, when you think about the craft of acting, to be able to just sit there and actually force yourself to listen instead of trying to do something or be something, is a really freeing experience. What I found in the silence is that when you do hold things in, and when you consider things, the weight of them feels so much more present than when you kind of just say how you feel all the time. So it was kind of cathartic in a way, I suppose. DEADLINE: ELORDI: I mean, it's interesting, because it is ever-present in men, especially from that generation, and especially Australian men from that generation, our fathers and grandfathers. I think a lot of people can see the similarities there, and especially in return from war as well. Some people's dads came home and never spoke again. I don't have a social comment on it, but it's interesting. DEADLINE: ELORDI: I mean, either fortunately or unfortunately, as a performer, you end up becoming like a cliché performer. So I spend a great deal of time, probably far too much time, sitting and looking inward. The best thing about performance for me, is the cliché — to lose yourself in somebody else's life. And I always told myself I would punch myself if I said that, but there is this very real thing that happens when you slow down and you consider things from places that you wouldn't usually. You have the liberty to consider, and then you get to attempt to experience them. There's no way you get to do all of that and it doesn't affect you in some kind of way, either like a therapy or, for some people, maybe like a curse. I don't know, but I find it incredibly cathartic. DEADLINE: ELORDI: The funny thing is, they keep changing — the experience that I had seven years ago on a film, how I felt about it immediately to how I feel about it now, and what I've sort of learned from it. The moments where I didn't think I was learning something, I was. For example, I just worked with Guillermo del Toro, and it feels like he planted these unconscious Easter eggs in my brain. So it's an ongoing thing, but the kind of filmmakers that I've worked with whose work I love, they're the people that have made the greatest change in me. I think it's just because you're a part of somebody's singular artistic vision, you know? There's no feeling quite like that for me. DEADLINE: ELORDI: I get more and more intrigued every day by the freedom that I have to act at the moment. So, it's nothing specific. It's more just every day I keep thinking I'm going to not feel like it, and every day I wake up and I just want to keep acting. So I'm just incredibly open to being a part of the circus right now, in a way. I really love being an actor. I don't know, silly as that it may sound, the love for it just keeps going deeper and deeper. I hope I can keep working with filmmakers that I love, and then also find new filmmakers and new ways of making movies. It's endlessly exciting. DEADLINE:Frankenstein? ELORDI: I mean, I think Frankenstein is an epic fairy tale. I genuinely don't think I've seen something like this. It's beautiful. I'm quite anxious for people to see it. I'm intrigued for everybody to see the creature for the first time. It's really, really beautiful work by Mike Hill. DEADLINE:Wuthering Heights? ELORDI: I've only seen small clips of it and still photos, but it's one of the most pleasingly photographed films that I've ever seen. It's genuinely astonishing. The screenplay that Emerald wrote is genius, and Linus Sandgren's work on the camera is untouchable. I'm so excited by the size of these movies. They're movies that make you want to go to the cinema. I haven't seen something that punches that big in a really long time. DEADLINE: ELORDI: This thing kind of just happened naturally, where I got the books again, because I've read them in my life, and something happened in this process where I just I read them brand new, each page with a pencil out. It just brought fresh ideas to my mind. I didn't have any kind of preconceived ideas. They're just these really rich characters, and I was really just excited to play them. I remember I went to Guillermo, and I said, 'Which version of the book should I read?' He sent me all this stuff. And then I was like, 'and do you think I should watch the movies?' And he looked at me like I was crazy. He was like, 'They're just movies. They can't f*cking hurt you.' I remember him saying that. Then I just dove in and realized that nothing could bog me down or get in my way, because I was so excited by the process. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More Everything We Know About 'Happy Gilmore 2' So Far
Metropolis Japan
25-05-2025
- Metropolis Japan
Historic Walks Near Tokyo
Photo Credit to Iyhon Chiu (Flickr) Japan's northern Tohoku region was once a rugged land of deep mountains and wild forests. Anyone traveling there during the ordered days of the Edo period was thought to be risking life and limb for very little gain. Yet people still traveled, and one way of doing so was via the old Nikko Kaido highway. Built to safely connect Edo to the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nikko, its construction had the unintended effect of solidifying the master status of one of the world's greatest poets. One of the most atmospheric historic walks near Tokyo can be found in Soka, where pine-lined paths trace the journey of haiku master Matsuo Basho. Portrait of Bashō by Hokusai, late 18th century A person would be hard-pressed not to have heard of haiku master, Matsuo Basho. His travels across Japan fine-tuned his poetic craft to such an extent that he became one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. Even now, over three hundred years after his passing, there are still few who could seriously claim to have bettered his art. Often translated as The Narrow Road to the Deep North , his most famous work, the travelogue Oku no Hosomichi , owes its inspiration to Basho's journeys into Japan's wilds, a journey he began from the Nikko Kaido highway. Beginning in what is now Kita-Senju in East Tokyo, Basho soon arrived at the highway's second post station, Soka. The city, once verdantly agricultural, is famous for its senbei rice crackers and commuter town university life, but perhaps owes a verse or two to Basho. His words, ' We barely managed to reach the post-town of Soka by nightfall. My greatest burden was the pack I carried on my thin, bony shoulders. ' An inauspicious start, perhaps, but Soka was now permanently scribed on the map. Leaving the next day, Basho traveled further, wrote deeper, and became a national legend. The city maintains its connection with Basho's Edo-era times. During those years, hundreds of pine trees were planted along the Nikko Kaido highway. These trees, including more recently planted ones, still line what is now the Soka Matsubara Promenade. It's a designated National Place of Scenic Beauty. At the time of its recognition in 2013, there were 634 pine trees lining the promenade. The city has worked hard to ensure that the legacy of Basho, as well as its own, remains accessible. Replete with reminders of Basho, the promenade follows the north-south flow of the Ayase River. It is an extension of the area's Fudabagashi Park. Standing sentinel at the entrance to the promenade as it leads north is a replica wooden Edo period bourou watchtower. Once used for spotting fires in flammable old Japan, the tower's crisp geometric shape marks the metaphorical border between Basho's old life and the new one he would come into during his travels. A beautiful touch, a little further on, is the lifesize bronze statue of Basho. He glances backwards towards the old city of Edo as he steps forward into the north. Watching over it is a verse engraved in stone by the esteemed scholar of Japanese literature, the late Donald Keene. A hagi bush-clover tree planted by Keene further honors Basho's connection with Soka. The promenade features two particularly impressive bridges. One, Yatate Bridge, was so named because of a famous line in Basho's travel diary that references the portable yatate brush-and-ink case he used to begin his writing. Yatate Bridge. Photo from Japan Travel The bridge's arched structure offers elevated views of both the pine trees and the river. Further along, an even more impressive bridge is the similarly arched Hyakutai Bridge. Inspired by the very first line of Oku no Hosomichi, hyakutai literally means '100 generations' and refers to eternity. The pines of the promenade certainly seem peacefully ageless. Given the influence of Basho's poetry, the naming of this bridge is most appropriate. As if a nationally recognized promenade wasn't enough, the city celebrates Matsuo Basho's place in its history with the annual Soka Matsubara Dream Festival. Making its debut in 2015, this relative newcomer to the summer festival scene takes place on the first weekend of July. It features some lovely night illumination of the promenade's pine trees as well as the Yatate and Hyakutai bridges. Traditional Japanese street stalls are, of course, aplenty, while boat rides along the Ayase River are a popular attraction. Each year, the organizers find new ways to appear, with some years seeing rickshaw and even hot-air balloon rides. Japan has changed incredibly since the three centuries when Basho left the old Edo capital on his journey into the wild lands. What hasn't changed, however, is the extraordinary respect and admiration that one of Japan's greatest masters continues to inspire. Small though it may have been, Soka's role in nurturing that inspiration was both real and pivotal. It's now easily enjoyed by thousands of visitors annually. Take the Tobu Skytree Line to Dokkyo Daigaku Mae Station (formerly known as Matsubara Danchi Station) to access this historic walk near Tokyo. The Soka Matsubara Promenade is just a five-minute walk from the East Exit. For easy day-trips near Tokyo, check out our other guides: Kawagoe Day Trip: Historic Streets, Sweet Shops and Edo-Era Charm Kanagawa Neighborhood Guide: Things to Do in Yokosuka
The Advertiser
25-05-2025
- The Advertiser
Beyond the ski slopes: take a hidden trail through Japan's poetic wilderness
Natagiri Pass in Tohoku sits away from Japan's popular ski trails. In 1689, the area - in the north-east of the main island of Honshu - was made famous by Japan's most famous haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, when he penned his travelogue, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. To explore the area in the thick of winter you need specialised equipment, and on an adventurous tour with walking experts, Walk Japan, I donned snowshoes to embark on a hike through deep snowfall. Without a soul in sight, the untouched trail lay before our small group like a scene from a Disney fairytale. During the 17th century, the pass was known for its lawlessness and when Basho journeyed through the forest, he feared bandits, but we had no such concerns. Inspired by the quiet beauty of the snow-laden cedar trees, we attempted our own three-line haikus, following the 5-7-5 syllable count, but our unskilled attempts were more ditty than poetry.
Metropolis Japan
22-05-2025
- Metropolis Japan
In the Footsteps of Basho
Photo Credit to Iyhon Chiu (Flickr) Japan's northern Tohoku region was once a rugged land of deep mountains and wild forests. Anyone traveling there during the ordered days of the Edo period was thought to be risking life and limb for very little gain. Yet people still traveled, and one way of doing so was via the old Nikko Kaido highway. Built to safely connect Edo to the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nikko, its construction had the unintended effect of solidifying the master status of one of the world's greatest poets. The Master of Masters A person would be hard-pressed not to have heard of haiku master, Matsuo Basho. His travels across Japan fine-tuned his poetic craft to such an extent that he became one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. Even now, over three hundred years after his passing, there are still few who could seriously claim to have bettered his art. Often translated as The Narrow Road to the Deep North , his most famous work, the travelogue Oku no Hosomichi , owes its inspiration to Basho's journeys into Japan's wilds, a journey he began from the Nikko Kaido highway. Soka on the Map Beginning in what is now Kita-Senju in East Tokyo, Basho soon arrived at the highway's second post station, Soka. The city, once verdantly agricultural, is known for its senbei rice crackers and commuter town university life, but perhaps owes a verse or two to Basho. His words, ' We barely managed to reach the post-town of Soka by nightfall. My greatest burden was the pack I carried on my thin, bony shoulders. ' An inauspicious start, perhaps, but Soka was now permanently scribed on the map. Leaving the next day, Basho traveled further, wrote deeper and became a national legend. Hundreds of Trees, Hundreds of Years The city maintains its connection with Basho's Edo-era times. During those years, hundreds of pine trees were planted along the Nikko Kaido highway. These trees, including more recently planted ones, still line what is now the Soka Matsubara Promenade, a designated National Place of Scenic Beauty. At the time of its recognition in 2013, there were 634 pine trees lining the promenade and the city has worked hard to ensure that the legacy of Basho, as well as its own, remains accessible. Replete with reminders of Basho, the promenade follows the north-south flow of the Ayase River and is an extension of the area's Fudabagashi Park. Standing Watch Standing sentinel at the entrance to the promenade as it leads north is a replica wooden Edo period bourou watchtower. Once used for spotting fires in flammable old Japan, the tower's crisp geometric shape marks the metaphorical border between Basho's old life and the new one he would come into during his travels. A beautiful touch, a little further on, is the lifesize bronze statue of Basho glancing backwards towards the old city of Edo as he steps forward into the north. Watching over it all is a short verse engraved in stone by the esteemed scholar of Japanese literature, the late Donald Keene, while a hagi bush-clover tree planted by Keene further honors Basho's connection with Soka. The Two Bridges The promenade features two particularly impressive bridges. One, Yatate Bridge, was so named because of a famous line in Basho's travel diary that references the portable yatate brush-and-ink case he used to begin his writing. The bridge's arched structure offers elevated views of both the pine trees and the river, while further along, an even more impressive bridge is the similarly arched Hyakutai Bridge. Inspired by the very first line of Oku no Hosomichi, hyakutai literally means '100 generations' and refers to eternity. The pines of the promenade certainly seem peacefully ageless, and given the influence of Basho's poetry, the naming of this bridge is most appropriate. Soka's Tribute Festival As if a nationally recognised promenade wasn't enough, the city celebrates Matsuo Basho's place in its history with the annual Soka Matsubara Dream Festival. First held in 2015, this relative newcomer to the summer festival scene is held on the first weekend of July and features some lovely night illumination of the promenade's pine trees as well as the Yatate and Hyakutai bridges. Traditional Japanese street stalls are, of course, aplenty, while boat rides along the Ayase River are a popular attraction. Each year, the organizers find new ways to appear, with some years seeing rickshaw and even hot-air balloon rides. Japan has changed incredibly since the three centuries when Basho left the old Edo capital on his journey into the wild lands. What hasn't changed, however, is the extraordinary respect and admiration that one of Japan's greatest masters continues to inspire. Small though it may have been, Soka's role in nurturing that inspiration was both real and pivotal and is now easily enjoyed by thousands of visitors annually. Getting There Take the Tobu Skytree Line to Dokkyo Daigaku Mae Station (formerly known as Matsubara Danchi Station). The Soka Matsubara Promenade is a five-minute walk from the East Exit.
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Four New 100% Critic Scored Netflix, Amazon, Peacock And Apple Shows You Can Watch Right Now
Careme Apple Well, I don't know which streaming services you subscribe to these days, but I'm going to try to cover a lot of bases here with four different 100% critic scored series on Rotten Tomatoes that have either arrived within the week or are about to. It's a good era for TV, as there are plenty of 90%+ series as well, but you want perfect? We've got perfect: Blood of Zeus Netflix Netflix's Blood of Zeus (100%): I wrote this up yesterday, but it's worth mentioning here again. It's a quite bloody and sexy animated series focused on Greek mythology that has maintained perfect 100% scores across multiple seasons, a true rarity in the genre. Here's the synopsis: 'Chronicles the illegitimate son of Zeus, a young man tasked with saving heaven and earth despite the interference of a vengeful goddess and her monstrous forces.' Poker Face Peacock Peacock's Poker Face (100%): This was one of the first shows that put Peacock on the map, albeit that service hasn't been performing ideally since. The Natasha Lyonne mystery series has landed a perfect 100% score for season 2, airing well after its January 2023 initial release, and I'm unclear about that delay. Here's the synopsis: 'A mystery-of-the-week series following Charlie Cale, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can't help but solve.' Careme Apple Apple TV+'s Carême (100%): This is no doubt the one that the fewest people have heard of, both because it's on Apple TV+, the service that refuses to advertise anything but severance, but also because of its unique focus. Here's the synopsis: 'The world's first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême rises to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon's Europe; his talent attracts the attention of politicians who use him as a spy for France.' The Narrow Road to the Deep North Amazon Amazon Prime Video's The Narrow Road to the Deep North (100%): I've covered this before, but it's a great war story adapting an excellent book. It's a start turn for Euphoria's Jacob Elordi who has been on a great run as of late. Here's the synopsis: 'The story of Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon whose short but forbidden affair with his uncle's wife sustains and haunts him through his darkest days in a Thai-Burmese prisoner of war camp in WWII.' These are far from the only 100% scored shows on these streaming services, but they are the newest, and you have almost certainly not seen them yet (a few aren't out for a few more days). One catch here is that compared to other shows they have a low number of reviews in, but hey, they're all good. Enjoy. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
