Director Janica Bravo has confirmed that there will be no more seasons of Rebecca Hall's BBC series The Listeners. But don't worry, that's a good thing.
“I think miniseries or limited series are a great gift. ‘Make more!’: That’s the American model. But there’s something very exciting about saying it’s just this,” she says. diverse.
Over the course of five episodes, Claire (Hall) continues to hear a strange buzzing sound. It drives her crazy, but the problem is that no one else, including her family, can hear it.
“That's exactly why I loved it. I'm fascinated and excited by people who live in a reality that isn't real for everyone,” Bravo says of the show, which is included in diverse'Our hot picks for May.
“This has definitely happened to my friends who have certain medical conditions or feel like there are things going on with their bodies that doctors have disproved. Doctors don’t always believe a woman’s story. I can think of examples where something felt so right to someone but no one believed it. You need to validate what you’re saying, and you’re going to be met with disbelief.”
In the show, produced by Fremantle-owned Element Pictures – and set to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer – Claire lives a happy life: she loves teaching and enjoys her family life. There’s no reason why she should be going through this ordeal, or maybe there is?
“The body keeps score, I hear,” notes Bravo, who “had the added bonus” of having read Jordan Tannahill’s novel on which the show is based.
“Claire talks about moving to the suburbs, even though she always felt like a city girl and a bit of a rebel. She found herself in this life that was really her husband’s life, and then she had children – life just happened to her. She has so many things that we’re told are supposed to equate to a happy life and yet she still feels like it’s not enough.”
“I wanted to explore this thing. How does fulfillment come about and what does it look like? Is this sound real or is it a manifestation of an unfulfilled life? It could be both.”
Claire is not alone in her condition: others in her community, including her student, suffer from the exact same condition. Some of them have been hearing “the voice” for years. They are almost used to it now.
There is a series of harassments that we just accept. [as human beings]“I was raised by people who weren’t always happy and didn’t do much to change that. They just accepted that this was their life,” Bravo says.
“It's always a challenge when a bunch of people come together and one person takes the lead. I didn't want to stereotype these things. It's a community. If you find people who validate your experience, it doesn't have to be a negative thing.”
However, the show, whose first two episodes aired in Toronto, has become “more bizarre.”
“That’s true, but we’re still on Earth. I think The Listeners takes place on a planet that looks a lot like Earth, smells like Earth, and moves like Earth. It’s Earth 2, if you will. I don’t think it can be that. who “Science fiction, but there are elements of another world.”
Understandably, finding the right sound was crucial, especially since audiences aren't always invited to experience the “buzz.”
“I made a list for myself of movies or shows that had great sound, and I don’t mean the soundtrack. The last thing that came to my mind was [2019 miniseries] “Chernobyl. I found it very sad and it gave me a lot of anxiety. But it was very effective!”
“I thought of something called a sound bowl, which is a meditation experience. It makes a deep, guttural sound. You feel it, but ultimately, people’s experiences are radically different.”
Will the buzzing get louder as the story continues?
“You'll want to wait and see what happens. But we'll be able to 'get to know' the sound more,” she confirms.
Bravo, who directed the Independent Spirit Award-nominated “Zola” and has directed episodes of “Booker Face,” “In Treatment” and “Mrs. America,” also took the opportunity to talk about a character who remains skeptical despite her own struggles.
“We had this conversation early in the party with Rebecca. If you went to a dinner party with Claire and there was a woman a few seats away talking about hearing a voice that no one else could hear, Claire wouldn’t believe her,” she laughs.
“She wants people to understand her, but she doesn’t quite accept it. And when we meet this group and they say they hear what she’s saying too, it’s hard for her to accept them. In that sense, she’s the eyes and ears of the audience.”
