While it seemed for a while like nothing could sway the Academy Award winner from his desire to stay out of the limelight, Anemone isn’t just any project. Day-Lewis will be directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, from a screenplay the two wrote together. The film, which serves as the younger Day-Lewis’ directorial debut, is, appropriately, described as “an absorbing family drama… about lives undone by seemingly irreconcilable legacies of political and personal violence.”
“The Northern England–set Anemone begins as a middle-aged man (Sean Bean) sets out from his suburban home on a journey into the woods, where he reconnects with his estranged hermit brother (Day-Lewis),” NYFF’s official description continues. “Bonded by a mysterious, complicated past, the men share a fraught, if occasionally tender relationship—one that was forever altered by shattering events decades earlier. An emotional powerhouse, this directorial debut is assured in both small details and grand gestures as it charts the path toward familial redemption against all odds.” The film has already been picked up by Focus Features and also features Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley.
If you need a refresher on everything that went down almost a decade ago, Day-Lewis initially announced his retirement in a blunt statement that read as follows: “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.” He, of course, did go on to give further comment, telling W Magazine in a lengthy interview that “the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion.” Well, it looks like he’s finally mastered that impulse, to—hopefully—all of our benefit. Check out the first glimpse of Day-Lewis’ post-retirement era below:
Courtesy of Focus Features
