Kevin Sullivan Introduction

The first time I encountered Anne, I was in Grade Five and my teacher read the book aloud to our class. Looking back on the experience, Anne of Green Gables seemed merely a funny book…for girls only. In fact, I could only recall a couple of moments from the book, such as when Diana accidentally gets drunk and Anne dyes her hair green. I did remember though how that classroom was filled with laughter.
However, it wasn’t until years later, when I was approached by a colleague to make a film based on the book that I embarked on reading the novel as an adult. It was initially a struggle for me, and I resisted the long passages of Edwardian prose. Upon a second reading of it, however, I slowly began to uncover the marvelous sub-text that encapsulates many of the experiences we as humans share in growing up: family, strong friendships, and the essence of ‘community’ that are all at the very heart of the human condition. With these solid elements, I began to visualize how I could take what might have long been considered juvenile material and project it onto the screen for a much larger audience.
On finishing my screen adaptation of the novel, I also realized what a cinematographer’s dream came along with the responsibility of visually translating Montgomery’s very personal depiction of her environment. I wanted my audience to experience this world as a visual panorama. Montgomery’s understanding of the natural world was frequently profound, and in this manner I also hoped to enlighten a new audience to her subtle intuitions about how human beings relate to one another.
As filming of the three hour long production unfolded, amid endless scene changes, time shifts, and changes in production design, it was easy to lose track of the subtlety of the material. I was blessed by a cast on the production that was able to bring credence to this kind of subtlety. Fifty percent of a director’s job is done if a film is cast well. The large group of performers that sailed through the film set all interpreted the script in such a way that they brought depth and personality to their roles.
Marilla’s great mistake of adopting Anne became her greatest blessing. She had little understanding of how this child would transform her life. As a father of three girls, I can say with some authority that the influence children have on their parents is sublime and in many ways more powerful than the impression parents try to make on their own children. That’s also part of the richness of Montgomery’s work - her acute understanding of human nature lets her craft complex characters. However, when these individuals are drawn onto the stage of human drama, they become transcendent and relevant to all of us, wherever we happen to find ourselves in the journey through life.