WHEN was the last time you had a really good swoon in the cinema? When you felt overwhelmed by pleasure, romance, emotion?
It's not a feeling we get very often with films any more, where explosions and fights and car chases are more common than kisses in the rain. But Felicity Jones and Shailene Woodley are hoping to change that with their new romantic drama The Last Letter From Your Lover.
"It's been a while since there's been a film – a love story – that swept me off my feet," Woodley says.
"And I really love romance films. When I read the script, I felt swept and I was swooning for it – that was a big draw for me."
Adapted from Jojo Moyes' bestselling novel of the same name, the film follows dual narratives of Jennifer (Woodley) – a wealthy woman in the 1960s who feels confined by her powerful husband (Joe Alwyn) – and modern-day journalist Ellie (Jones), who finds the love letters written to Jennifer by the handsome foreign correspondent (Callum Turner) with whom she shared a passionate affair during a trip to the French Riviera.
With the help of a newspaper archivist, played by Informer star Nabhaan Rizwan, she unearth fragments from the past to piece together the story of the decades-old romance.
"I loved the combination of the modernity of it, and using the contemporary lens as a way of exploring this epic love story and this incredibly romantic film," Jones says.
"It was those elements that felt a little bit unusual, and the fact that it didn't feel like it was kind of stuck in the past – it felt like it was relevant in some way."
The film weaves between the two storylines as they become increasingly intertwined, and gave Woodley (29) – best known for her roles in Big Little Lies, The Fault In Our Stars and the Divergent series – her first chance to delve into a period role.
"I've never played anyone from that era," she enthuses.
"And any time you play a character who has a very specific look to them, I do feel it's very helpful in transforming your experience. Because you look in the mirror and you don't quite recognise yourself – you recognise yourself as this other person."
Unlike many of the high-profile releases since cinemas reopened, which have been available on the big screen and on streaming, the film will only be released in cinemas, and Jones (37), best known for roles in Star Wars spin-off Rogue One and her Oscar-nominated turn in The Theory Of Everything, is hoping it will give people a reason to return to cinemas that is not based on CGI, action and stunts.
"What we want from the cinema has probably changed through the pandemic, and actually, coming out of it, I personally feel desperate to see a romantic story and go out for the evening and be cheered and have a feel-good film. I do think our appetites will be different.
"Particularly with what we've been seeing at home, and seeing so much more grown-up drama, I hope that does translate, because I think the cinema just became a little bit of an amusement arcade.
"But I think there'll be a great desire to get out there, particularly if you can have some nice chocolate and a glass of wine while you're watching, and go with some friends, I mean, what could be better?"
Both actresses serve as executive producers on the film, which is directed by a female film-maker, Augustine Frizzell, who previously worked on Never Goin' Back and Euphoria, and is based on a book by a woman, Moyes.
The female-led ensemble is emblematic of a change that has been a long time coming in film, Jones says.
"It's just extraordinary," she says emphatically, "when you look back at the history of cinema, just how much of that has been dominated by a male perspective.
"Even the idea – which I think is total rubbish – the idea of the director and the cult of the genius. Therefore it was seen that only men could fulfil that role.
"But in history, we see that most things aren't achieved just by one individual. That's absolute rubbish. There's often a group of people or two people. Even Hitchcock had amazing support from his wife, which is why he was so brilliant. It was the two of them, but they got written out of history.
"So now, to be starting to open up with this female viewpoint, it's just fantastic.
"I remember reading an interview with Sofia Coppola (the director of films including Lost In Translation, Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides) and she was saying she just hates watching films that don't have women, and I've been saying that for so long.
"My husband [director Charles Guard] will suggest something and I say, 'Well, either there's not enough women or there aren't any women in it and I'm probably not going to be interested'.
"I remember a few years ago, you literally only had the choice of male directors, there were only a handful of men in the world who could even tell female stories, so your options were that narrow.
"Then in the last few years, the opportunities have opened up dramatically."
:: The Last Letter From Your Lover is in cinemas now
