'VANITY FAIR' Indian writer spices up film with her culture

The filmmaker knew exactly whom she wanted for the starring role.
By MOIRA MACDONALD
SEATTLE TIMES
SEATTLE -- Mira Nair, the India-born director of brilliantly colorful Eastern-flavored dramas such as "Monsoon Wedding" and "Salaam Bombay," might seem an unlikely choice to direct the film version of William Thackeray's novel of early 19th-century England, "Vanity Fair." That is, if you haven't read the book.
As Nair attests, the perfume of India permeates the novel. "You can miss it, if you wish," said the director, on a visit to Seattle last week. "People who don't know the novel may think, 'Oh, here's an Indian director, she's imposed her India on it,' but it's the politics, the aesthetics -- it was all given to me [in the novel]."
Broad influence
"Vanity Fair," presented by Thackeray as an affectionately mocking pageant, is the story of Becky Sharp (played by Reese Witherspoon in the film) -- a headstrong orphan determined to climb the ladder of English society in the early 1800s. At the time, Britain's colonial presence in India had a broad influence on society, and Thackeray (who was born in Calcutta and spent his early childhood in India), weaves it throughout the book.
"That was 'Vanity Fair' -- the middle classes getting fattened on the spoils of India," said Nair, remembering the novel's lavish descriptions of pashminas and brocade vests. "[Thackeray'] loved food and loved fashion. He was a real sensualist, like I am!"
Under Thackeray's hands, the intersection of the colony and empire was woven into a tapestry, all connected by the story of Becky Sharp's rags-to-riches life, playing out in "raw, cacophonous, filthy, early 19th-century London," said Nair. "That was what the army of the working class was supporting, the middle and upper classes, and Becky was on this journey from one to the other. If she made one false move, back to the gutter."
Unexpected gift
"Vanity Fair" the movie was an unexpected gift for Nair, an independent filmmaker who usually develops her own projects. An early version of the screenplay, written by Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet, had been floating around for nearly 10 years, looking for the right director. But when Nair's glorious "Monsoon Wedding" became a surprise hit for USA Films (later Focus Features) in early 2002, she was offered their biggest upcoming production -- of a book she had loved since age 16. "I just said 'yes' before reading the script, because I loved the novel so well, and I couldn't believe the privilege of being offered it."
After reading the initial screenplay (which Nair felt was too much a classic star vehicle), the director sought out Julian Fellowes, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Gosford Park." "He was the only writer I could think of who could fluidly keep what I wanted, this democratic swirl Thackeray created in his narrative," Nair said.
And to play the lead role, Nair had only one actress in mind: Witherspoon, whom the director had met briefly some six months previously. "Reese is so ferociously and quietly intelligent -- she knows what she likes," Nair recalled. "She called me up one day and said, I really love your films and I'd really love to work with you." The two had lunch but couldn't find a project of mutual interest -- until "Vanity Fair."
Perfect for Witherspoon
"I think to be an American in an ensemble of British actors is perfect for Becky Sharp," said Nair. "That American energy, that sass, that fire in the belly, which is not tolerated in England -- you're just rapped on your knuckles and made to stand in the corner. That's not Becky Sharp; she's not going to do that. So, in that spiritual sense, the deeper sense, it was perfectly fitting to have her."
And Nair was excited to show a new dimension of Witherspoon. "I wanted [to show] a full-blown woman; Reese is always the cute pesky kid. That journey to create with Reese a full-grown woman was very exciting, and necessary."