Back in May, Fandango had the privilege of visiting the Chicago set of the adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent and just last week, we got a look at what director Neil Burger has accomplished so far.
Divergent takes place in a postapocalyptic world where the population is divided into five factions based on one's core values. Shailene Woodley’s Beatrice Prior will have to decide: stick with the faction she's born into, or trust her gut and leave them behind for a new faction.
All 16-year-olds undergo an aptitude test that reveals their disposition towards a particular faction. Beatrice’s results are “inconclusive,” and that’s where our preview of the film began.
1. THE APTITUDE TEST
The Scene
As teased in the trailer, we see a brief interaction between Beatrice and her test administrator, Tori (Maggie Q). Tori hands her a vial of clear liquid and Beatrice drinks as instructed. One second, Beatrice is laying on the table, talking with Tori, but immediately after drinking the serum, she turns over and Tori is gone. A moment later, Beatrice sees herself in Tori’s place. She approaches the mirror image but just before their hands touch, the camera pans away, revealing more mirror images of Beatrice, and then again revealing a seemingly endless number of incarnations. Finally, one speaks up, demanding that Beatrice #1 choose between a knife and slab of raw meat. Beatrice enquires, “Why? What do I do with them?”
Immediately after, she gets her answer.
There’s a vicious, snarling dog right in front of her. The camera stays on Beatrice as she bends down and when we cut back to the dog, it’s an adorable, harmless puppy. A child appears across the room wearing Abnegation gray, giving the impression that she’s meant to be a young Beatrice. She shouts, “Puppy,” and the dog returns to its original form and chases after her. Beatrice lunges on top of the beast and both sink down into a liquefied floor. Then it’s back to the test room where a frantic Tori insists that Beatrice tell her family that the serum made her sick. When Beatrice pries for her results, Tori explains, “Your results were inconclusive” and warns, “It’s extremely rare. They call it Divergent.”
The Verdict
Even though Burger noted that the visual effects are works in progress, the mirror trick looks fantastic. We can’t be inside Beatrice’s head during her aptitude test quite like we are in the book, but between what she’s experiencing and Woodley’s performance, the sequence is both enthralling and telling.
2. KNIFE TRAINING
The Scene
Inside the Dauntless compound, Eric (Jai Courtney) leads the initiates in knife-throwing training. Christina (Zoe Kravitz) points out that Tris is “kind of good at this.” Al (Christian Madsen), on the other hand, is having a tough time and Eric notices. Eric insists that Al retrieve his knives even though the other initiates are still throwing. Eric sees Al hesitate and asks, “Are you afraid?” Al bluntly replies, “Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife? Yeah.” Eric doesn’t appreciate his honesty and insists that Al stand in front of the target while Four (Theo James) gets set to hurl knives at him.
But Tris steps in and tells Eric, “Anyone can stand in front of a target. It doesn’t prove anything.” That only enrages Eric further and he insists that Tris take Al’s spot. She gamely takes position and Four throws, his knives landing closer and closer until one nicks her ear, drawing blood. At that, Eric declares, “Points for bravery, Stiff. Not as many as you just lost for opening your mouth.” He ends the practice session leaving just Tris and Four behind. Four admits that he meant to cut her because Eric wouldn’t have let her off without a scratch. He points out, “You’d still be standing there if I hadn’t hit you,” to which Tris replies, “Am I supposed to thank you?” Says Four, “If I wanted to hurt you, I would have.”
The Verdict
Even though some of the knife-throwing and impact sounds don’t match up just yet, the tension is still palpable courtesy of Courtney’s absolutely flawless look and on-screen intensity.
3. FOUR’S TATTOO REVEAL
The Scene
Tris and Four are in his dormitory on a balcony as the sunset bathes the pair in a warm light. As Ellie Goulding's “I’m Dead in the Water” plays, Tris asks about Four’s tattoo. He pulls off his shirt revealing the tattoos from his character poster, including all five faction symbols. Tris asks, “Why do you have all of them?” Four replies, “I don’t want to be just one thing. I can’t be. I want to be brave and I want to be selfless, intelligent and honest and kind.” He jokes, “I’m still working on kind,” and they kiss.
Verdict
While watching Woodley and James film back in May, it was tough to feel an honest connection – but on-screen they’ve got chemistry.
MORE FROM NEIL BURGER
The Tris-vs.-Katniss Comparison
When your narrative involves a young, red-haired woman fighting for her life in a postapocalyptic world, comparisons to The Hunger Games are inevitable and Burger knows it. He insisted, “This is a far more complex story than Hunger Games, and if you know the book, she starts out questioning her place in society and she ends up questioning society itself.” He noted that Katniss never changes. “She’s a good archer to begin with and she’s good at the end.” On the other hand, “Tris goes through this massive change from somebody who kind of wants to disappear to somebody who’s gonna stand up.”
Casting Four
When asked about locking in James for the role of Four, Burger explained, “I’ve always said that Shailene is a really strong actress, like on set. She’s powerful herself. We needed somebody that was just more powerful than her, which wasn’t easy to find. And we found somebody who intimidated her, basically.”
On the Romance
It’s easy to scoff at the overabundance of familiar relationships and love triangles in the YA-to-film realm, but with Divergent, Burger is striving to make the connection between Tris and Four stand out by maintaining an atmosphere of sexual tension throughout the film. “There’s the romance that’s just the kissing and the giving in and then there’s the cat and mouse, the dance of it.”
Ellie Goulding's Music
When asked if “I’m Dead in the Water” is final or just temp music, Burger said, “It’s not the final, but it is Ellie Goulding. She’s gonna do some music.”
Stay tuned for more on Divergent coming soon as we near the film’s March 21, 2014 release. In the meantime, make sure you get the alert so you’re the first to know when tickets go on sale.
