It's about past coming back to haunt present: Neil Burger on new film 'The Marsh King's Daughter'

New Delhi: Filmmaker Neil Burger says his latest movie "The Marsh King's Daughter", a tense thriller set in the American wilderness, explores themes of family legacy and the past coming back to haunt a person's present.

As a director, Burger has been working in Hollywood for over 20 years and has built a varied filmography that includes movies like "The Illusionist", "Limitless", "Divergent" and "The Voyagers".

All of his films, the director said, have a recurring motif which is a question he seeks an answer to -- "Can a person become the best version of themselves?"

"I've done a sci-fi movie, a movie set in the past which was 'The Illusionist' and now this movie, which is a thriller set in the wilderness. I'm interested in different things, but on the other hand, there is sort of a thread that goes through them all thematically," Burger told PTI in a virtual interview.

"It is this idea of change. Can you sort of throw off the legacy of how you grew up or whatever behaviour you were forced to do or whatever person you were forced to become? It's also about empowerment. Can you become who you want to be or can you become empowered? And can you become sort of the best version of yourself? 'Limitless' is about that. Even 'Divergent' is about that and this movie is about that as well," the 59-year-old added.

"The Marsh King's Daughter", based on author Karen Dionne's 2017 novel of the same title, is set to be released in Indian theatres on November 3. It is distributed by PVR INOX Pictures in the country.

Starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendolsohn, the movie is about Helena Pelletier, a young mother who carries a complicated legacy as the daughter of an incarcerated murderer, known as the Marsh King.

When she finds out that her estranged father has broken out of prison, Helena sets out to outmanoeuver the man who taught her everything about surviving in the wilderness, as per the official plotline.

Burger said he read the script, penned by Elle Smith and Mark L Smith, during the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to make the film on the subject.

"I'd been looking to make a film set in nature. And in this movie, nature and the wilderness are a big part of the story. It is a sort of its own character in the movie.

"The script was great and it came to me in the middle of COVID. And it seemed like the perfect movie to make during COVID -- to get out into the wilderness, into the fresh air and make a movie that way," he said.

Though the film's story is essentially the same as the novel, it differs in the treatment, Burger added.

"It is the same story that's in the book but it's told a little bit differently. There's an emphasis more on Daisy Ridley's character and her keeping a secret about her father. It's a story about the past coming back to haunt the present.

"In a way, the movie has more of an emphasis on those elements than the book. People that have read the book will love the movie," he said.

A key question that the filmmaker grappled with during the making of the movie was how to bring the tension of the story on to the big screen.

"When you have a script where there is a sense of suspense, tension, fear and anxiety, how do you translate that into visual forms? Do you do it with a series of short and small close-ups that have a succession and kind of an unnerving feel to them?"

"There is also something interesting about having a very long shot that just builds tension over it. Or, you put those two different kinds of shooting (shots) together and create some kind of energy that has a sense of fear or suspense. As a director, that's the main question. How do you convey that? And that's what I was working on all the time," Burger said.

Going forward, the filmmaker said he believes he has many more stories to tell.

"I keep hearing interesting stories that I want to be part of or (keep) stumbling upon situations that I want to make into a story.

"I feel I have many movies that I still want to make and that are different. I also feel I'm still learning and still want to make something that's even more interesting, beautiful or compelling," Burger added.

"The Marsh King's Daughter" also stars Garrett Hedlund, Brooklynn Prince, Caren Pistorius and Gil Birmingham.