The making of 'The Stolen'

“The heart of the western,” said Niall Johnson, the film’s British director and co-writer about The Stolen.

The Stolen is a story of a true bond that exists only between a mother and a child. However, like most westerns, the film is full of violence, gunfire, horses, and cowboy hats. It’s about experiences that each and every one of us can withstand on the way to a set goal. The Stolen can be interesting for any audience: it has lots of adventure on a par with a fond relationship.

Synopsis

New Zealand, 1870s. The South Island of New Zealand became a peaceful shelter for young Charlotte Lockton (Alice Eve) and her wealthy British husband David (Lukas Hinch). They’ve just settled when their idyll is roughly shattered by the strangers who murder David and kidnap Charlotte’s baby. The widow is crushed, but she survives on a hope that her child will be found.

After many months of waiting, when the hope is almost gone and replaced with apathy, Charlotte receives a ransom note. It gives her new strength and understanding that her only way to see the child alive is to track the sender down on her own.

This is the beginning of the plot richly filled with chasing and fighting, spying and bluffing, travelling and hiding. On her way to the baby, Charlotte is destined to meet every representative of the New Zealand of the 1870s: from gamblers and suffragettes to hustlers and a native Maori warrior. She will learn to dance and will have to pretend to be a hooker to hold against hostile attacks from both men and nature.

The story of survival and hope will leave no one indifferent. If you got curious about the film, you can watch the trailer here.

About the filmmaking process

Emily Corcoran is the main producer of The Stolen, she spent eight years creating the masterpiece. The film by right is called the masterpiece because never before the true beauty of New Zealand was screened for the worldwide audience. It depicts the authentic mood and setting of Christchurch (Canterbury): its Victorian-era buildings and virgin nature.

The film is Corcoran’s baby because it was her idea in the beginning; she worked on the film as a writer, story and screenplay writer as well as the main producer. Corcoran confesses that it was a very long and tangled process that open her the film and the set from a different perspective.

Due to the global financial crisis in 2007, the filming was stopped. The earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 pushed the production even further. Yet, the mastermind brought the filming process back to Christchurch saying, "There is a lot down here that hasn't been explored and I really wanted to show off my home region."

Owing to the tight budget, the crew had to work hard with what they had. The shooting in New Zealand required much time, but due to the money issues, it was shortened to only a 30-day period. The producer also decided to involve the local force whose skill and talent left her speechless to save during the shooting and won! Even the director, Niall Johnson, said that he was amazed by the “encompassing talent” of local costume-makers, lighting specialists, set design crew, and others. Niall and Emily believe that the film’s successful completion was possible only with the help of the local spirit.

Financing of the film

The total cost of the film was US $4m which is considered a rather big one for New Zealand filmmaking industry; in comparison, the reported budget for Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016, IMDb 7.9) was just $3m. There were several independent investment companies, including Red Rock Entertainment, which made it possible for the film to be on the big screens in 2017.

The biggest struggle in terms of financing was connected to the budget distribution and its constant short. Due to these issues, the shooting took almost 10 years and if it wasn’t for Red Rock Entertainment, the Stolen might have never been finished.

The Stolen was not originally meant to be a breakthrough, yet it was. This is a western which is usually seen as a men’s world with women playing hookers or bartenders. Yet, in this case, it is Alice Eve, who leads the audience through the whole story, who is constantly offering a different perspective on the time. Due to the financial struggle the film suffered, its release was moved to 2017; and there could not be a better time. The women’s right movements and equality ideas put The Stolen today on the same level as Mad Max or Star Wars, the films where women take the spotlight and bring in some new commercial interest to the well-known film genres.