When we got our first glimpse of Take This Waltz back in August, very little was known about the project other than it constituted Sarah Polley’s third directoral effort and starred Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams.
The American Film Market (via Collider) have since put that right, releasing a wealth of information about the project alongside the first official poster.
Also starring Luke Kirby and Sarah Silverman, who will go nude for the role, the official synopsis for Take This Waltz goes as follows:
When Margot, 28, meets Daniel, their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction: she is happily married to Lou, a celebrated cookbook writer.
When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Margot finally gives in to desire and in doing so, discovers some unsettling truths about herself. Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, Take This Waltz leads us, laughing, through the familiar but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.
Polley, last behind the camera for 2006’s Away From Her and last in front of it for Splice, has further noted
Visually, this film will be a colourful feast for the eyes. Toronto in the summertime will feel alive, vibrant, and sweltering hot. Sexy, diverse, energetic and dreamy. Sexuality should pulse through almost every frame; primary, hot colours striking us to our core. The look of this film is defined by summer, bathed in golden light, the sweltering heat filling every frame, adding to the claustrophobia and eroticism of Margot’s journey.
The film will never feel static or composed. There is always a sense that we don’t know where the camera will go, there are no boundaries, nowhere that is off limits, creating a sense of anticipation. We are often going into emotional territory that feels intense and unexpected – we feel it visually as well. We don’t know what we are going to see next, and that is thrilling and nerve wracking at the same time. There is always a sense of breath in the camera. There is always the slightest movement. Almost the entire film is shot on steadicam, giving it a sense of grace and fluidity as well as a sense of life.
The soundtrack will be alive and pervasive and feature legendary songs by Leonard Cohen as well as the contemporary music of many emerging independent bands.
Take This Waltz takes us into territory we all know but rarely have the courage to explore. While it takes us into the belly of intimacy in a way that is often uncomfortable and intense, it should, above all, make us laugh.
While the film deals with profound emotion, just when we feel our hearts are breaking, we need the release of a guttural laugh. All three main characters display humor in the face of sadness and a lightness of touch. While the film will move us, it is never overly weighted on the side of sadness, but rather oscillates wildly between moments of joy and comedy, and difficult emotion. My hope is that the audience will be given enough courage by their laughter to recognize themselves in the characters. The moments that touch us creep up on us. The dialogue should keep us engaged and laughing.
While production on the movie began in July, a release date has yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, however, check out the first official poster below and let us know whether you have any plans to take Sarah Polley’s waltz.
