©Courtesy of Lionsgate

Unrequited love has been romanticized over the centuries for encouraging people to overcome any obstacle to win the heart of the one they desire. Filmmaker José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço’s new romantic comedy, Young Werther, is driven by people’s relentless motivation to prove their worthiness to the one hey love. They’ll fight any conflict, such as the object of their affection being committed to someone else, in order to obtain their happy ending.

The movie is based one of Europe’s most celebrated pieces of literature – the 1774 epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The screen adaptation, which was written and directed by Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço, updates the book’s themes with a contemporary, universal sensibility.

Young Werther follows the titular character (Douglas Booth) as he makes a brief pit stop in Toronto before departing on a European adventure with his best friend. However, a chance encounter with Charlotte (Alison Pill) puts those plans on hold until he can win her over.

Werther falls more in love with Charlotte as they spend time together. She’s introverted, loves to read and has been the main caretaker of her siblings since the deaths of their parents. A small snag to their union, however, is that she’s engaged to a successful lawyer, Albert (Patrick J. Adams).

Hurdles continue to pile up against Werther, not the least of which is that Albert is so likeable to everyone, including the protagonist. But while he suffers in comically escalating situations in his pursuit of romance, the object of his affection might be having misgivings about her upcoming nuptials.

Charlotte, who’s supported by her friends, finds herself drawn to the fun that Werther has brought into her life. Along the way, she must decide if she will be swayed by her new friend, or stay true to her fiancé.

Young Werther had its World Premiere in the Special Presentations section of this fall’s Toronto International Film Festival. Lionsgate will distribute the romantic comedy in theaters, On Digital and On Demand this Friday, December 13.

To help promote the movie’s official release, Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço generously took the time recently to talk about penning and helming the feature during an exclusive interview over Zoom. The project marks his feature film directorial debut.

 

©Courtesy of Lionsgate

 

Q: You wrote the script for the new romantic comedy, Young Werther. What was the inspiration in penning the screenplay for the film?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: I feel like this is maybe the story of every film, but it was a real journey. I wrote the first draft of the script 12 years ago. Over the years it had different directors and actors attached.

Along the way, I started making shorts, music videos and commercials. I finally built up enough of a repertoire that I thought, maybe I can direct this feature film that we’ve been trying to put together for so long.

So we found a great production company. They started putting together the financing and we found our cast. Then we really started rocketing forward.

I’ve written I don’t know how many scripts over the years. But this is the one that always felt closest to my heart. It’s very much something that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

The source material is this book, which is from 1774, and has these wonderful characters, relationships and timeless themes. But it connected with me in a way that made me think, there’s a spirit and a vibe from some of my experiences from my ’20s into my early ’30s that I can steal from and plant into this story. So it was a really personal film in the end, even though it’s very much someone else’s story.

Q: Like you just mentioned, the movie is based on the novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. How much inspiration did you take overall from the book while you were scribing the script?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: With the film, it was less about having it be like a beat for beat recreation of the book’s story. The characters and narrative spine of the story were what survived most into this adaptation.

Making this reimagination into a contemporary story involved taking the novel, which is told through letters, in which Werther was reminiscing to an off-screen friend, and turning them into vignettes. We had these stories come to life in a way that felt immediate and sequential. It was tricky, but it also felt like it came quite quickly once I got into the rhythm of the writing.

Q: In addition to writing the script, you also directed Young Werher. How did penning the screenplay influence the way you approached helming the film? What was your overall approach to directing the comedy?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: It’s funny – some of the best experiences I’ve had directing were on the lowest budget things you could think of, like music videos that we made for like no money. I also had great experiences when I made car commercials where we had pretty healthy budget. So we could do interesting things with the camera and have a crew that could really execute a high-end commercial production.

But the scale of this movie wasn’t shocking to me because I was anticipating that this was going to be the biggest production I’ve ever worked on.

It wasn’t until like months after we wrapped and had our cut locked that I really started to realize like what a physical undertaking it is to make a movie. It takes a toll, as all you’re doing all day, every day for months is working on the film.

But I loved it. It was so much fun prepping with the cinematographer, Nick Haight, who’s a genius. We watched movies together every night for months.

Scouting with Mark Elaine and his team to find our locations was also amazing. Then being on set is one of my favorite things in the world. It was such a joy to work with actors who were of the caliber that we had, and that was the most amazing experience. I can’t wait for it to happen again.

©Courtesy of Lionsgate

Q: Also speaking of scouting the locations in Toronto, how did you decide where you would shoot the movie, and what the sets would look like?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: Toronto is a city that’s been on film before playing itself, but not that frequently. But there’s so much production up here that Toronto is always playing New York, Detroit or Chicago, or some sort of anonymous city.

So it was super fun to be able to go around the city and pick these spots that I think are so beautiful and that are never really on screen. We also didn’t have to worry if we were in Fort York shooting off fireworks at night and catching a glimpse of the Gardner Expressway in the background. It was also great to shoot downtown in one of the most beautiful restaurants in the city, 20 Victoria, just south of Queen on Victoria Street. you can look all the way up Victoria at the lights. It was great to embrace the neighborhood and show them off for what they are really like.

Toronto is a beautiful city, but it’s not known for massive landmarks the way that London, Paris or New York are. But it has incredible architecture and it has neighborhoods that are so gorgeous.

At a street level, I think it can go toe to toe with any city in the world. It’s just my favorite place. I feel so lucky that we got to feature it in the film.

Q: Young Werther stars a variety of actors, including Douglas Booth, Alison Pill, Iris Apatow and Patrick J. Adams, who you mentioned earlier. What was the casting process like for the comedy?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: The casting process took a long time to find the right people, especially for a film like this one. It’s comedy and drama. So you need actors who understand both and can play across the disciplines and bring nuance and subtlety to the characters, but still be able to give a line reading at high speed.

It’s a pretty verbal movie, so all the actors needed to have a dexterity with words. They also need to have the ability to recite these half page monologues and make them sound as if they’re natural speech, even though it’s a very written film.

It’s heightened in that way intentionally. But it was still important that the characters feel like human beings in this world that’s slightly askew. The movie is also from the point-of-view of someone who has such an enthusiasm for life and makes every day feel like a bit of an adventure and a fairy tale.

Q: Once the actors signed on to star in the movie, how did you work with them to build their characters and the overall story?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: I have nothing but excellent things to say about every single cast member. Allison Pill is a genius and an incredible actor, singer, dancer and Broadway star. She’s true triple threat, quadruple threat, quintuple threat.

Douglas Booth is such a joy and an emotionally intelligent and sweet person. He’s incredible leading man on camera and off. He treated everyone with such kindness and respect. He really made everyone feel important every day in a way, that was just natural and effortless. He’s just this being of pure charisma.

Jaouhar Ben Ayed, who plays Paul, is also just such a lovely person. Anytime I see Jaouhar’s name show up on my phone, I can’t wait to pick it up and speak with him for an hour because he’s just the loveliest guy.

Iris Apatow is the sweetest, coolest and funniest person. Amrit Kaur is just so intelligent and can improvise from a place of character in a way that I’ve never seen anyone else do. It’s just unbelievable.

Patrick Adams is just amazing. So many people know him from Suits and the Mike Ross character. He’s in so many things that are about to come out.

He is so fun. He’s one of the funniest, quickest people I’ve ever met in my life. Any conversation you’re in with him, he’s just there and has the perfect comment. He’s just a really special person.

So getting to work with all of them was the best.

©Courtesy of Lionsgate

Q: Young Werther is being released in theaters, On Digital and On Demand on December 13. How did you secure the distribution for the film?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: What a thrill. We’re with Lionsgate in the U.S., and our Canadian distributor is wonderful. We have distribution in the UK, Ireland and Australia, as well as places in South America and all over the world. It’s mind-blowing to me that there are theatrical releases all over the place.

It’s exciting because at this point in cinematic history, many films don’t get to have a theatrical release; many go straight to streaming and VOD. I would have been thrilled no matter how the film was consumed, as just having people be able to see it at all is rewarding.

Like at TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival), my mom and dad got to see the movie for the first time in a theater. I was sitting beside them, and my mom was holding my hand during the screening. That alone would have been outstanding.

What really makes it great is that I’m going to be able to go see it in my local cineplex, and friends in other cities can go to their theaters. What a wonderful, wonderful dream. I feel so lucky and so grateful.

Q: Like you just mentioned, Young Werther had its World Premiere at this year’s TIFF. What does it mean to you that the comedy played at your hometown festival?

José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço: I’ve been going to TIFF as an audience member for 20 years. I moved to Toronto in 2001, and so many of my favorite film experiences have been at TIFF, consuming films.

So when I found out that we were going to premiere at TIFF in the Special Presentation section, which is where I saw Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers last year, it felt surreal.

Also being able to share Young Werther with family and friends there was amazing. On the night of the premiere, my wife and I went over to my brother and his husband’s condo, and my mom and dad came and met us. We all had a meal together, and then we got in the car and went down to the TIFF Lightbox to watch the premiere.

My mom kept saying that days like a wedding day and the birth of a child are major things. But for her and my dad, to see a film that my brother, who was one of the producers on the film, and I worked on together was amazing. What’s a greater joy as a parent than seeing your children get to realize a dream together. I’m still processing it months later!

©Courtesy of Lionsgate

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Here’s the trailer of the film.