Angels in a love triangle in ‘Fallen’

CEBU, Philippines - The upcoming supernatural love triangle “Fallen” sees two fallen angels competing for a young woman’s love for centuries. Based on the bestselling young-adult book of the same title by Lauren Kate, “Fallen” stars an exciting trio of up and coming talented actors – Addison Timlin (“Stand Up Guys”), Jeremy Irvine (“War Horse”) and Harrison Gilbertson (“Need For Speed”).

“Fallen” is seen through the eyes of Lucinda ‘Luce’ Price (Timlin), a strong-willed 17-year-old living a seemingly ordinary life until she is accused of a crime she didn’t commit. Sent off to the imposing Sword & Cross reform school, Luce finds herself being courted by two young men, Daniel (Irvine) and Cam (Gilbertson) to whom she feels oddly connected. Isolated and haunted by strange visions, Luce begins to unravel the secrets of her past and discovers the two men are fallen angels, competing for her love for centuries. Luce must choose where her feelings lie, pitting Heaven against Hell in an epic battle over true love.

“I was intrigued by the story,” explains acclaimed Australian director Scott Hicks. “It’s essentially a gothic teen romance that has been going on for a thousand years. I really liked the characters and felt that there was a real possibility of doing something very interesting and which was not just centered around visual effects but was about characters the audience could really care about. And the characters would be complex enough to sustain a series of films. So it was a chance for me to make a film in a genre I hadn’t done before.”

“I also liked the idea of the closed world of the reform school Sword & Cross where no one has cellphones or computers or the accoutrements of modern life,” he goes on. “It meant that the relationships have to be founded on the people themselves and how they interact. I was intrigued by the strange group of youngsters Luce encounters there and how she responds to them – Luce is at a very low point of her life and she has no idea what’s going on and doesn’t understand why the people and situations there feel familiar. We know a great deal more than she does. I found the unravelling of that mystery fascinating.”

“Unbeknownst to Luce, she and Daniel have been in love for all eternity,” continues Hicks. “It takes a while for her to discover who this strange young man who seems so familiar but who she’s never met before is, and it’s also a journey of discovery for herself too. At the same time, the third person in the triangle, Cam, is very eager to engage with her and she finds it very difficult to sort out the puzzle of what’s going on between these people. It’s a very mysterious and romantic story, not one of flowers and hearts, but one of passion and the danger of love and romance and I wanted to focus on that.”

It was the battle between the two young rivals for Luce’s affections that also intrigued the director. He says: “Cam and Daniel have that strange mix of being almost brothers in that they’re bound into this story and yet there’s also an intense rivalry between them. They don’t represent good and bad, they’re both fallen angels, so therefore they’re both bad boys and it’s a struggle between them about higher issues in a mythological world. Luce is a pivotal character in that and they both want to assert control over her destiny.”

“I’m delighted to have directed ‘Fallen.’ I was drawn in by the intriguing premise of Lauren Kate’s story, the powerful array of memorable characters, and the timeless romance between Luce and Daniel. I enjoyed working with a very fine cast, including the exceptionally promising talents of Addison, Jeremy and Harrison, and the remarkable Joely Richardson,” says director Hicks.

Indeed, Lauren Kate was first inspired to write the “Fallen” novels by the romance in the story of fallen angels giving up their place in heaven for the untested love of human women that appears in Genesis.

“As a romantic, I wanted to write a story from the point of view of a girl who made that love worthwhile,” the author says.

“The idea of a love that has cosmic consequences and that addresses deep betrayals and big motivations has always reached me deeply and I’m happy that they reached others through my books. Luce has an obsession with making impossible love possible. She falls in love with Daniel but that love dies, and she’s desperate to break the curse because she believes the love is worth it. Her openness and deep faith in the power of love is her defining characteristic. Luce is lost when we meet her and every day is an obstacle but Daniel is a ray of light even though he acts badly. She makes her world about him. It’s a deep faith in love that’s very admirable.”

“Luce and Daniel’s story created a global community of fans. I think of this movie as a love letter to them,” concludes Kate on the film adaptation.

The film’s cast also includes Joely Richardson (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”),  Lola Kirke (“Gone Girl”), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (“Hung”), Daisy Head (“Endeavour”), Hermione Corfield (“Maleficent”) and Malachi Kirby (“My Brother the Devil”).

“Fallen” opens this Thursday, November 10 in cinemas nationwide from Pioneer Films.