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 "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them," out in U.S.
theaters on Friday, is an intricate study of a crumbling
marriage, an amalgamation of two earlier films that explored the
relationship from the male and female characters.
"Eleanor Rigby: Him" and "Eleanor Rigby: Her" will also be
released by the Weinstein Co in theaters on a limited run.
"Them," written and directed by 37-year-old filmmaker Ned
Benson, follows young New York couple Eleanor and Connor, played
by Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, as they find themselves
being pulled apart by tough circumstances.
As Connor desperately tries to reconnect with Eleanor, she tries
to overcome her trauma, which is gradually unveiled throughout
the film, by disappearing into a new personality.
"I've discovered women want to eradicate their history,
completely pretend it didn't happen because it's far too
painful, and men want to fix it," Chastain said of Eleanor's
transformation. "If someone reminds her of (the trauma), she's
going to kill herself. She wants to be able to move forward."
For Benson, "Eleanor Rigby" started a decade ago when he wrote
the script for "Him" at age 27 and took it to his long-time
friend Chastain to play Eleanor.
Chastain, 37, described the character as "very cold,
inaccessible and mysterious, kind of the idea of the girl who
got away or the girl you can't get over."
Over lunch, the actress pressed the director to reveal more
about her character. Benson wrote a second script over the next
five years, this time from Eleanor's perspective.
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"I don't know what it means to love in this day and age. My question
is about longevity and compromise, and how we make a relationship
work and endure," the director said.
While "Him" and "Her" tell Connor and Eleanor's story from their
individual perspectives, "Them" acts as an outsider looking in.
Benson said McAvoy and Chastain had to play their characters
differently in each film. In "Him," Eleanor is cold and distant,
just as Connor sees her, whereas in "Her," Connor is an
incomprehensible force, as viewed by Eleanor.
"It's about two people who deal with things in completely different
ways and then realize that they're the only two people that
understand each other and what they went through," he said.
"The catalyst for that, even though it's bleak and dark, I think
it's representative of anything that can happen to any
relationship."
After playing Eleanor, Chastain said it didn't make answers about
marriage any clearer in her own life.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to get married in my life. For me,
I'm not interested in getting married, getting divorced and all of
these things that you see happening a lot nowadays," she said.
"I'm still learning."
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy.; Editing by Patricia Reaney)
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