THE SALT PATH is the profound true story of husband and wife Raynor and Moth Winn (played by Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, respectively), and their 630-mile trek along the beautiful but rugged Cornish, Devon and Dorset coastline. After being forcibly removed from their home, they make the desperate decision to walk in the hope that, in nature, they will find solace and a sense of acceptance. With depleted resources, only a tent and some essentials between them, every step along the path is a testament to their growing strength and determination. THE SALT PATH is a journey that is exhilarating, challenging, and liberating in equal measure. A portrayal of home, how it can be lost and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.
Based on Raynor Winn’s best-selling book and directed by four-time Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott, THE SALT PATH is an immersive cinematic journey worth taking when it arrives in Australian theatres this week. And to celebrate its release, we spoke with Elliott about what she learned about herself as a director in her move from stage to screen, the importance of authenticity, and how she knew she had found her Raynor and Moth in Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
Based on Raynor Winn’s best-selling book and directed by four-time Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott, THE SALT PATH is an immersive cinematic journey worth taking when it arrives in Australian theatres this week. And to celebrate its release, we spoke with Elliott about what she learned about herself as a director in her move from stage to screen, the importance of authenticity, and how she knew she had found her Raynor and Moth in Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Hello, Mary. How are you?
00:03Good, thank you. How are you?
00:04Very well, thank you. I'm very excited to talk about The Soul Path. I mean, I'm someone I love
00:10going into films, knowing very little about what's going to take place. And this was one of those
00:16ones that, you know, just I guess the wash of emotion and how like it's very kind of topical
00:23with, you know, the fact that they just like kicked out of their home and, you know, we're
00:27seeing like housing crisis and things like that. So it's always great to sort of find
00:31a way into a story that you may not necessarily think you're going to relate to. So I just
00:36want to say congratulations on the film, first of all.
00:38Oh, thank you. I'm loving that you said a wash of emotion. I'm going to write that down.
00:43I'm so happy about it.
00:45But like with a film like this, like you, you know, you're dealing with, you know, grief
00:51and resilience and reinvention. Like, did you, I guess, make any specific
00:56directorial choices to like externalize the internal journey that's going on without relying
01:02on, you know, dialogue, so to speak?
01:06Yes. So because I'm a theatre director and I've been doing theatre for about 5,000 years,
01:15I am very aware that what theatre relies on is the word. The word is the God. The writer
01:22is the God. What you say is the most important thing. I'm in the Forest of Arden.
01:25Oh, right. We're in the Forest of Arden. Fine. And I was really aware that I didn't want
01:33to do a stagey or theatrical kind of film. I wanted to do a film that was not that, that
01:39had very little dialogue in it. And that's not how I came to do the salt bath, actually.
01:46But I was really, I wouldn't have done a film that didn't have a big cinematic
01:53requirement, I suppose. So that's, yeah. But does that answer your question?
02:01Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, yeah. I mean, with, with that, like the, you know, the southwest
02:07coast path, like that's, that's a character in itself. Like, you know, how did, so what was it
02:12about working with your cinematographer? I'm like, Helene, Helene, I don't want to mess
02:17up her name, but like, but working with, with her and like the production team, like, you
02:23know, you had to capture like the transformative power of the landscape. Like, how did you sort
02:28of find the way to bring that to screen and keep it like, I guess, authentic as well?
02:33Well, I'm so happy that you said that, because I used to say to people all the time, as I
02:38was developing the story, that nature has to be a third character. And people would look
02:43at me like, what are you talking about? So I'm really, really glad that that's what
02:49you thought. Yeah, I mean, well, there was a, you know, it was years of work, working on
02:55the script, working with Rebecca Lankovich, being on the path myself and understanding quite
03:01how unpredictable it is, you know, you turn a corner and you're suddenly in a completely
03:05different landscape. One hour, it's sunny, the next, the next hour, it's pissing down,
03:10you know, so it, it, it really, one of a better words, sorry, excuse my French, fucks with you.
03:16It fucks with you on the salt part, you know, you're like, oh, you're not in control at all.
03:21And you're very, very aware of the majesty and the mightiness of nature, even though you're
03:27in small little English aisles, it's like vast, epic, epic world. And ultimately, you
03:35can't help but think that your, your problems, however awful, are a little bit smaller than
03:40you thought. Yeah. And so working then with Helene, which I worked with for months and
03:46months and months before even pre-production, it was about that. It was about the unpredictability
03:52of this wild creature that was nature, fucking with them, playing with them. And how they,
04:00and what does, how do we, how do we show that with the camera? How do we do things like, you
04:06know, initially they walking and they're not talking and they're in their own little bubbles
04:11and then head down and they're looking at the path. And then after a while, they start
04:16to look up and they start to take it in because you can't help but not. And there's a point in
04:21the film when that happens, which is the first drone shot, which is when the format, I don't
04:26know if you saw, but in cinemas, the format changes, it just widens. And then it's wide
04:31for the rest of the film. And so it, it was about, again, I use this word a lot and people
04:39looked at me weird, weirdly, but I'm used to that. Rebirth. It was about rebirth. They were
04:45being reborn. They were being literally transmogrified and going through this process
04:50where they were being rocked to their core and then given such utter beauty that they
04:56couldn't help, but just enjoy the moment. Yeah.
05:00They were reborn and they fell, they fall in love again.
05:04Yeah. No, because a few, a few years ago I did the Ox, the Oxfam trail here, which is like
05:08a hundred K walk. And I was like, we are doing this, no sleep. We are powering through and
05:13it was, yeah, no sleep. I was like, I decided to do, I think it was like 30, 38 hours or
05:20something altogether. Um, but, but yeah, it was one of the, like saying that, you know,
05:25when you're on these kinds of walks and it's like, it is so easy to get in your own head
05:31and to not want to, I guess, involve other people. But then, yeah, you look around and you're
05:36just like nature is beautiful and like, let's all enjoy this together. And you almost have
05:42to, and it is about, you know, like that rebirthing and like the fact that they fall in love all
05:47over again. Like it's, it's really beautiful and it's like amazing what, you know, surroundings
05:53can do to our, to our psyche and, you know, and with, and then when, when, when you're doing
05:58a film like this, like, are you bringing any of your, like, I guess, theater rehearsal techniques
06:04here? Like, did you sort of have to almost like change the way that you direct in any
06:08sort of way?
06:10Oh, that's a brilliant question. Um, yeah, film is completely different to theater. I mean,
06:14it's, it's really totally what I say, ask about it again, excuse my French, because everything
06:19starts with the tech, you know, in the theater, you rehearse slowly, slowly, slowly, work out,
06:23work out, work out, layer, layer, layer, layer, then go into the theater and do all the
06:27technical stuff. Whereas in film, you start with the technical stuff. Um, so it's very,
06:32very, very, very different. Um, but nevertheless, working with actors on set, there's a, there's
06:42a, there's a, there's a, it really helps if you've been working in the theater because
06:46you just know how to note an actor's performance and you know how to speak to an actor about
06:53a character. Um, and that is a, uh, a, a, a, a skill that takes years to hone, I think. Um,
07:01yeah. Well, looking at, I mean, you know, you've got Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaac here
07:07and like, they just feel so like, you know, these people feel, they feel lived in. It's
07:11very performances that you almost forget you're watching actors because like, there's almost
07:16like a, like, I mean, like a documentary feel to it. Like, cause you just feel like these
07:20are two people that you're just following. So like, obviously casting is so key. Like how
07:25did Gillian and Jason become the two people for, for Raina and Moth for you?
07:31Well, uh, Gillian, when I met her, I knew that she loved the book. She wanted to do it
07:38herself. Uh, she wanted to get the rights. I'd already got them when I, but when I met
07:45her, that meant a lot to me because I thought if that book chimes with you, then that's really
07:50interesting. And if you really want to play that part, then that says quite a lot because
07:54most actors of that caliber know what they can, they can't do, even if they've done it
07:58before. And I thought it was really interesting that she had never done it before. And I, but
08:05I saw that she was unvain. I thought, I saw that she was a really, uh, serious actress
08:13and I therefore wanted to leap the leap with her. I'm so glad I did because she was utterly
08:21amazing, amazing to work with. She was such a hard worker. She really wanted to get it
08:27right. She took notes like a dream, you know, you'd give her a note, she'd walk away, she'd
08:32think about it, come back and process it in her own way. She threw herself into it. Um,
08:39and Jason, Jason, you know, has a kind of charm and a twinkle in his eye, which, which Moth does,
08:45you know, Moth is just joyous to be with. And Jason is, um, he talks 10 to the dozen. He's very
08:53jokey. He's got these bright blue eyes, just like Moth. He's charming. So, you know, there were
09:00aspects of both of them in, in, in these actors that I thought would be worth really mining.
09:07And as you said that you already had the rights to the book, like what, like, was there something
09:12specific that like drew you personally to the story? And then did making, did making the film
09:18change your perspective on like nature or home or anything like that?
09:23Um, oh Christ. I think we need a bottle of wine and a few hours to talk about that one. Um, I, I,
09:31okay. So I was in the middle of doing a show on Broadway. It was about to open and the pandemic
09:36hit. And I found myself at home with no career, with no prospects, with a teenage daughter who was
09:43going up the wall, um, because she was being shut in. Um, and I thought, and it was a terrifying time.
09:50If you remember, it was quite terrifying. Certainly in this country, nobody had any idea what was
09:56happening or how to lead or, or what we should be doing with the country. You know, the politicians
10:01were all over the place. So I found myself in my local park on the most beautiful day thinking,
10:08who thought that I would be here? You know, how did I get to this point and how did the world get to
10:16this point? And I was looking at this extraordinary, uh, you know, flowers and trees and grass. It felt like
10:27nature was just having a wonderful time. And I thought of also honestly, wasn't literally
10:35cognitively. Oh, I just, it just, I just thought of the salt path. And of course, what is similar or
10:43what chimes with me or that time about the salt path, which I had read when it came out is that
10:49a woman in her fifties, who was going through great adversity, much worse than mine, found herself
10:58amongst incredible nature and was healed by it. Um, so that's what, where it came from. And I just
11:07thought, gosh, why don't I try and make that into a film? Pipe dream, pipe dream, fantasy, don't be
11:14stupid. But literally four years to the day after that idea came to me, I wrapped the film as in
11:23finished it, sound and everything sent it off. Wow. I know. Cause I also, cause I know that it was
11:28at last year's TIFF and I was very lucky to be at last year's TIFF. And I, and I heard that like,
11:35is it like this walk is like Everest three times or something like that? Like that just,
11:40that like may, I think that just also puts so many things into perspective as to just how,
11:47you know, how dedicated this, these, these two people were in taking this walk and like, and
11:53watching it, you know, like it is so, it is so great that they, they found themselves and they
12:00found each other again, because there were moments watching it that I was like genuinely terrified for,
12:07for them because you just sort of think like, Oh, is this, is this the thing that,
12:11is this the thing that breaks them? Is this like, is he going to survive this walk? Like the,
12:16just the emotion that was put into it. And that's like, you know, that's a testament to you and a
12:20testament to the performances that you just, you feel everything, even though I'm watching it in the
12:25comfort of, you know, a nice cozy seat. So it really, it really, you know, the, as you said that
12:31you wanted to make something cinematic and it really does feel so big, but yet so intimate at the
12:37same time.
12:38Oh my God, that's so amazing. I'm so happy. That's, I'm going to try and remember everything
12:43you said and hold it close for the next few months when all the journalists start criticizing it.
12:48Um, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm so, I'm just, that's, that's just brilliant.
12:56And, and looking at, I guess, with, as you said, you know, that you've done theater and you're
13:02going into side of directing, like, did you, did you develop a, I guess, a specific philosophy
13:08around sound and silence and music to sort of mirror their, like the couple, their, their
13:14mental state or even like the emotional, the, the landscape vastness? Like, was there ideas
13:19that you were like, this can mirror this, even if it's like subtle to us?
13:24Uh, definitely. Yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely. And I mean, I remember being on the
13:28salt path and thinking that seagulls, it sounded like they were laughing at me. Um, and I remember
13:34thinking that a lot of the time I wanted the peregrine, the, the big bird to be a viewpoint.
13:42So every time we use a drone, it's from the peregrine's point of view. Um, and sound was
13:48just so vital. It's always vital. It's always vital to me in theater, you know, and the fact,
13:54actually, what's interesting is that our sound engineers went to Cornwall and spent time on
13:59the path. So every single sound that you hear is authentic to that part of the path.
14:06Uh, it's yeah. As, like, as I said, like, yeah, it does feel like it's, I think immersive is a
14:11really good, a good way to describe it. As you said, like, you feel like you're on it and, and,
14:15and I mean, obviously going like theater film, do you feel like this is, I guess, changed you as a
14:24filmmaker, changed you as a person? And will there be things that you'll take back to the theater that
14:27you learned on this? Oh, wow. Um, uh, it's, um,
14:34um, I learned loads. I mean, it was a massive learning curve. You know, there were times when
14:41I thought, oh my God, life is just copying art here because here I am in my fifties doing this
14:48completely new thing, which is vastly different. I'm such a novice. Um, really, maybe I should be
14:56thinking about retiring. And the journey was tricky, you know, I mean, a week before we started
15:04filming, we weren't going to be filming because we didn't have the funding. Funding was on, off,
15:08on, off, on, off. Um, we had no weather cover. We were a low budget film. We just had to, to rely
15:15on the, on the, on the, on the weather being good. Um, it was so many things that it was like a wing
15:21and a prayer, to be honest. Um, so I think I feel most of all extremely proud that I did it,
15:29that we did it, that, um, I was lucky enough to work with this incredible story, which is
15:37especially precious because it's true. And, um, and I, I suppose I feel changed in that I'm more,
15:47even more aware of the, um, importance of, of nature and the importance of the world and more
15:54aware of the climate and the issues that we're facing. And no, I suppose I know absolutely deep
16:02down in my core, that nature is healing. Now I do know that I've seen it with my own eyes with
16:08moth and he will always say it was to do with being absolutely immersed in nature that has made
16:13him better. And he's still alive, you know, he's still doing well today. So who are we to argue?
16:19Yeah, exactly. No, I mean, I'm, you should be immensely proud of what's been put together.
16:25And like, if you're, this is a novice work, then I, then we should all be so lucky to be novices and
16:30create something like this. Like if, yeah, like it really, as someone, like I, I love film. I love
16:36theater as well. Like I love film and I just, it, you know, I, I know just what goes into making
16:43this and it's never easy. And I think that the fact that this isn't just in a studio or a green
16:50screen, like it's out there and that, that sort of adds just a whole level, another level of
16:54impressiveness to everything. So again, just congratulations. And I just, I'm very excited
17:00for, for everybody to, to get out there and see this because we need to support, you know,
17:05Aboriginal cinema and female storytelling. So thank you so much.
17:09Oh, Peter, thank you. Thank you so much.