Paul Farren met up with Brendan and writer Jamie Hannigan in search of moral and spiritual significance. Please note this interview contains spoilers. Paul Farren: Jamie, if I can start with you as the writer. What was the inspiration for this? So then I thought I could do it as a movie.
He got interested and told me to write it up. I did. Gave it to Brendan. He gave me feedback on the treatment and that became larger. Then we submitted it to the Irish Film Board, who liked it and agreed to get on board. And then Brendan came on officially to direct a draft or two after that⦠was it? But I remember thinking that, at that early stage, it was too big a job for me to come on. But I know I wanted to be a part. Paul: So what was it that held you to the script that you wanted to continue developing?
I presume you were hooked from that first draft. Brendan: I was hooked way before. I remember meeting in the IFI and Jamie pitched it to me and, at that stage, it was a very basic idea of monks dragging something across the country⦠and I think you mentioned an ambush.
It was quite vague β well you probably had more than you were telling me. After that it was about getting the story right, making sure that was working. My memory is that it was a pleasant enough development process. There was a treatment that was good. We brought it into the Film Board and it went into development. I knew it was was going to be big. I knew it was bigger than we were.
But, you know, films take a long time to develop so we just kept going with it. Everyone can take their own interpretations. And I think we tried to do that β even in the script not just in the making of the film; that these people ascribe meaning to maybe natural events and to the rock.
