Charlie McDowell son of industry icons Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen – returns with his fourth feature, The Summer Book. This 16mm analogue adaptation of Tove Jansson’s novel stars Glenn Close and newcomer Emily Matthews, exploring the bond between a grandmother and granddaughter. A serene Nordic summer tale, McDowell offers a poignant antidote to our fast-paced digital era, inviting us to slow down and focus on what truly matters: friends, family, and nature.
We sat down with Charlie McDowell and Emily Matthews at the Stockholm Film Festival to discuss his adaptation of The Summer Book and the challenges of capturing the fleeting Nordic summer on film. For Finland, Tove Jansson is what Astrid Lindgren is to Sweden, a beloved cultural icon. Her classic novel reflects the Nordic tradition of retreating to the archipelago to embrace the countryside when nature permits.
Did you know Tove Jansson was the creator of the Moomins?
Charlie: Yeah, of course. I grew up loving Moomins. Emily especially, because she grew up in Finland, it's such a huge part of the culture there. Moomins are everywhere. In Finland and in Sweden, you can't escape them. They're all over the place.
Totally, it's such a characteristic of Finland, saunas and Moomins, I guess. Do you agree, Emily?
Emily: Exactly [she chuckles].
Jansson’s story was published in the early 1970s, likely written in the late '60s. Despite this, there’s a timeless quality in the Nordic isolation she portrays. Could you talk about the challenges of adapting this story into a more modern narrative?
Charlie: I think it's always tricky to adapt a book, because you want to take the essence of the book. You want to take the qualities that people really respond to and connect to. But a lot of times, books are meant for that form of art and not necessarily meant to be made into a film. The challenge was always that there's very little narrative plot to this book. For me, the approach in adapting it was really to try to capture the feeling of it and the feeling of living in this very specific place at this specific time.
I never wanted to necessarily say the time period – 1972, like you said, is when the book came out. I felt like all of our choices were that it was the early ‘70s, but I never wanted to say on the screen “Finland, 1972”. I wanted it to sort of have a timeless quality to it. And that came out of spending time there, because it really does feel like a time capsule. When you go to a family summer house, there's furniture from every decade. And the experience is very much about the land, the nature, and the people. It's less about who has the biggest house or what it looks like. I felt like that was very authentic to this particular region, and I wanted to capture that quality and not have it be like a modern-day tale version. I wanted it to sort of feel like it was a timeless film.
That’s actually what I wanted to dive into, you didn’t want to say “this is Finland in the early 70’s” but it could be a story happening today, perhaps.
Charlie: For sure.
However, there is one thing that was grabbing my attention because of the relationship between the grandmother and Sofia, today it would have been interfered with like she's playing games on her iPad or iPhone. The general topic is whether the digital world brings us together or keeps us isolated. In a way, your film feels like a statement on the disconnect that technology can create. How did this theme influence your approach to the story?
Charlie: Definitely, the key word that I used with my creative team was analogue. All of our choices were to, instead of sort of looking forward into the world of the digital era. This movie isn't like an anti-AI movie, but it's certainly a movie that highlights what a slower-paced life is like and what it felt like when you weren't distracted by digital things.
How did that help the dynamics between the characters?
Charlie: We wanted it to be all about the character's connection to the place and the character's connection to each other, and they're not distracted by screens and tablets. The only distraction is the land, and that's very much about the connection of your senses to the land. Many of the shots of Emily naturally happened because Emily would walk to a spot and pick up a piece of grass, or she would pick up a feather, or all sorts of things on the land, and then all of a sudden it was like, “oh yeah, let's just incorporate that into the scene.” There's a scene in the beginning when Grandmother's walking out to the water's edge and Emily has a blade of grass in her mouth. She's already yawning. And that came out because she naturally did it. It was really about embracing the space.
Congratulations Emily,  that’s such a nice thing. This is your first feature film?
Emily: Yes.
Tell me, how was experiencing your own mission?
Emily: Well, I think the way it talks about the island is really nice. It’s like how kids today are always looking at screens, but in the film, it’s more about noticing things like a pretty stone and wanting to keep it. I thought it was so cool to work on something like that, instead of a story being about having the biggest house or trying to look the best.
Charlie just said you grew up in Finland, so you were kind of familiar with that kind of type of life. Did you spend time on boats in the archipelago much or was this your first time doing that?
Emily: Well, I haven't been on boats that much except for that.
Charlie: It's kind of a new experience for me too. We would take a boat every day. It was a long boat ride except for Emily, she was on the fast boat because we only had a certain amount of hours [to work] with her. She loved the fast boat [laughs]. The crew boat, which was the large boat that was much slower, took an hour to go to the island, but the fast boat that she was on took 15 minutes. You got the VIP! You remember that?
Emily: Yeah, that was fun. We would go flying. It was crazy because it'd be like midnight and the sun would be setting and we'd be on this boat like flying to the harbour.
Did you enjoy the experience in that sense?
Emily: Yes, very much. That was cool. I really liked the speed boat because it could go really fast for one and I did not have to wait at all because I didn't have the patience.
Charlie: [laughs] It was fun, we shot on an island, we built a house on an island.
Did you build the house from scratch?
Charlie: Yeah. it wasn't attached to land or anything.
What was the main reason behind investing effort into that?
Charlie: It was hard to find a house in a perfect setting. And we saw this little bay in the area where we built the house. To me it had so many elements that were already there. Our production designer, Lina Nordqvist, who's Swedish and based in Stockholm, I spoke to her a lot and she really thought we should build the house because we have just so much more control over it. She and her team would find houses that were being torn down and she would take that salvaged wood and then she would recreate. Everything was incredibly authentic. Every drawer, if you opened a drawer, it was filled with stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s. Even the cane of Glenn Close.
Right, I think that's the actual cane from Tove Jansson's mother?
Charlie: Yes, that was her walking stick. We were very lucky that we had access to a lot in the country because the Jansson family helped enormously.
You directed and produced the film, and I imagine it was significant for Finnish film institutions to support a story with such international appeal. Could you briefly share how that collaboration shaped the production?
Charlie: I think it was incredibly important to have a production team based in the country because we're foreigners coming in and we can only learn and know so much. To have an infrastructure, to have a team that works and lives there was really important and Helsinki Film Institute really helped out in that way. A lot of my creative team was Finnish, my costume designer is Finnish, my editor is Finnish. And then of course our entire crew is Finnish.
Right I saw many Finnish and Swedish names in the credits.
Charlie: Lina, our production designer, is Swedish and then Sturla [Brandth Grøvlen], my DP, is Norwegian. A lot of the Nordic countries. I guess that helped to make everything to have a better understanding of the story. I think everyone had their own sort of upbringing and different ideas of what their childhood summers were like. But I think there was a universality to it all in that it's such a unique, specific place in the North in the summer, the 22 hours of sunlight, for me, it was just immersing myself in it and understanding it as best I could.
Filming in the Finnish wilderness must have been both beautiful and challenging, especially given the short summer season. Could you share any special experiences from shooting in such a remote setting?
Charlie: It was really, really tricky filming because of the shift in weather, It changed constantly. We'd have an idea of what we were going to shoot during the day. Then a storm would come through and it would completely change it. We had our main schedule and then we had plan B and C and we would constantly shift. The actors very graciously were able to be like, okay, we're doing something totally different now. That was the way we had to make it because when you're dealing with Mother Nature, you have no control. We just embraced it, the fact we're going to go through what the characters are going through, which is a sort of living and breathing place and deal with it how best we can.
Did you have to stay overnight on location?
Charlie: No, we commuted to the island each day. There was one house on the island where my DP and I prepped, but otherwise, we traveled back and forth daily.
Working with Glenn Close is a unique opportunity. How was your experience working with such an experienced actress?
Emily: Well, she was very funny and I thought that she was a bit naughty sometimes though because she did teach me English swear words.
Oh, is that right?
Emily: We hung out a lot off set, we would go for walks and find cool things.
Did you know who Glenn was before?
Emily: No, I didn’t. But then I watched 101 Dalmatians. Meeting her before seeing the film was a bit surreal — it was crazy to watch it afterward and think, "Who is this person?" I thought she was really funny because she told great jokes. It was also really nice when we filmed in the cabin where she slept. We were both so tired that I often wanted to just fall asleep in there with her. It would get really warm and cozy, and we’d sometimes start dozing off because it was so calm and comfortable.
Charlie: We all became very close but especially the two of them because they had so many scenes together. Glenn and Emily formed this beautiful bond that was very similar to the characters. Glenn is such a giving actor. She's not someone who's like, I'll be in my trailer. She's someone who literally is like sitting on the rock painting and then I'd look over and see her and Emily sitting there throwing stones in the water. It was very communal, very connected and we were very lucky to have this group of people working together.
What would you say Emily, can you think of anything that she taught?
Emily: Well, besides bad words?
[Laughs] Yes, did you ever kind of observe her and learn?
Emily: Yes, I learned lots of things, for example she said to me: just don't think that people are watching you, just don't think that the audience is there and you can just do it. It's not just a straight line of talking that you don't stop. It's not like that. You need to have a bit of colour in the words.
Charlie: I think Emily did an amazing job, we're putting a camera right in front of her and it's the first time she's ever acting in front of a camera, so she did an amazing job of not paying attention to like the crew of 30 people behind and the camera, and instead she really became the character. I think Emily, from day one to the last day, I saw a totally different person.
I’m curious about the dynamic between Glenn Close, with her remarkable career, and Sophia, for whom this was her first feature film. How did you navigate the contrasts between their backgrounds?
Charlie: It takes the personality of people that are willing and wanting to make something beautiful. Glenn was a very giving and caring person. She was very present and very committed to her part. I think when Emily is such a natural actor, part of the reason that I was always drawn to Emily for this part was she's so present, she's never acting, there’re kids who will memorise a line and just like say the line and it doesn't feel authentic. I always felt Emily was connecting to the line, when you have a young actress who has that ability, then that allows the scenes with Glenn to have magic. Glenn's very present in the scene because Emily's very present in the scene. I think it was just a perfect balance between all of us and how we work and it just had a really nice energy to it. Good dynamics.
Working with Glenn Close is a unique opportunity, as very few actors bring her level of experience. What drew you to her for this role?
Charlie: There are a few reasons. Practically, it’s hard to secure financing for a movie starring an older woman. Glenn is one of the rare actresses who can get a film made, and she was my first choice. I told her, "I believe this is an incredible role you’ll connect with, and if you don’t want to do it, I won’t make the film." I think she appreciated that. I had seen her in The Wife, and her performance was so internal — she conveyed so much without saying much. It reminded me of my grandmother, who had a similar quiet wisdom, speaking only when necessary but always radiating presence. After that, I knew Glenn would be perfect for this role. I also knew she lived in Montana, surrounded by nature, which felt closer to this character’s life than an actress based in L.A. She immediately connected with the natural aspect of the story, which was incredible.
What qualities did she bring to the character that went beyond what you initially envisioned?
Charlie: You never really know what you're going to get until you literally start rolling on take one. You can imagine it forever. You can do tests. You can do everything, but until you start rolling, you don't know what you're going to get, and I love that part of it. That's so exciting to me because all of a sudden, I'm like, oh, it's this. The movie's this, and it takes on a new life, and I think, for me, something that I didn't completely imagine until Glenn and I were working on it was her physicality, and when you're putting together a scene, and you're figuring out the blocking, a character goes from A to B, you don't imagine how they're going to get there. You just imagine they walk from here to here. Glenn created a real life for this character. The character is someone who's, like, physically declining. That changes from the start of the film to the end of the film, a lot of our conversations were, okay, we're in the last third of the film. This is where you're at now. In a few days, you're really going to decline, so I want to start to feel that here. We really tracked that, and that was something that I think Glenn was really thinking about a lot with her character, and it wasn't something that I had, I knew she declined, but I didn't imagine this real physical transformation. She really held into that. Making that happen.
Emily, once you watched the film together with Charlie and the crew, what was your first feeling or reaction when you saw it in the theatre?
Emily: Well, first I thought I don't want to see myself five feet tall, right? You're a lot bigger. A really big head, right?
Was it cool to see yourself on a big screen?
Emily: Well, I don't really like looking at myself on a screen. But, it was a bit cool. I don't like to hear myself. I think I always sound kind of weird, I'm five feet tall, I've got a massive face and it's quite weird.
But what did you think of when you saw it put together? Was it what you imagined it would be?
Emily: I would have thought that it would have been literally different. In the start, I didn't understand what the film was about until I now understood it. We did all those funny practices and it was completely different.
Charlie: We're also shooting one scene at a time so then to see it all put together.
Did you shoot it kind of chronologically?
Charlie: As much as we could. It's so much about what the weather's doing.
Emily, are you liking this experience of being an actor, will you continue to pursue it?
Emily: This is something I want to do again. I think I really want to do another film. I just thought it was really fun to just let it go and do it because it's not the kind of weird theatre play I once had to do. I didn't like that. So I think I really want to do another film. Nowadays, when I watch films, I can literally just see the people. I can imagine the people in the corner there having the camera.
Charlie: We've ruined movies for you [laughs].
Emily: That's what.
Charlie: Now you cannot see a film like before anymore. Now you see things outside there. We've ruined movies for you. Now you know the tricks [laughs].
I’d like to discuss the film’s score, as it truly enhances the storytelling and deepens that serene atmosphere. How did your collaboration with Hania Rani come about?
Charlie:  This is my first time working with her. I had only worked with my two other composers on everything before. This was a new experience. It was a little scary to work with someone new because it's a whole new way of doing things. I had listened to Hania's music. She's an incredible pianist who tours all over the world. I actually saw her live and she was amazing. She sort of did what the book did for me, she captured a feeling. It’s something hard to explain or put to words. She taps into something with her music that just makes you deeply feel.
I was listening to it a lot on our boat rides. I would put my headphones in and I would listen to her music. It started to become the soundtrack to my experience. In my head, you know, because I had been listening to her. Honestly, for me, there wasn't anyone else to do it because she was so much a part of the experience.
Did the idea to collaborate with Hania Rani come about while you were listening to her music through headphones during the shoot? Was it a spontaneous vision that led you to reach out to her afterward?
Charlie: Exactly, I hadn't spoken to her yet. So I was listening to her stuff  and I got into it. I got a lot of different submissions during the production of the film, but I kept listening to her stuff. I watched some YouTube videos of her and I was like, wow, there's something very special there. When I was cutting the film together. I used pretty much all of her music for the temp score. It felt like she was always a part of it in some way. For me that was amazing.
Once you approached her with the proposal, what was the experience like? How did she respond, and how did the collaboration unfold?
Charlie: She did an incredible job and she has a very unique way of working. She works a lot with live instruments instead of working digitally, she'll record live instruments first and then start to cut it together.
Is this a genuine score from her specifically for the film?
Charlie: Yeah, it was specific for the film, but very much in the vein of how she looks at the world. I think she is deeply connected to this film. A different upbringing than the Finnish archipelago, but I think the connection to family was something that resonated with her. From what I've heard, because she's more of a touring musician, she'll compose people's work if they just reach out to her.
I imagine you’re a fan of Ingmar Bergman’s work. Was there a particular film of his that inspired you, especially regarding that distinct Nordic atmosphere? Did Bergman’s influence shape your vision here?
Charlie: I wouldn't say there's a particular film of anyone's work that influenced the film. But there's, I would say, the work of people, and Bergman was one. Tarkovsky was one too. Bergman, for me, had such a particular way of capturing the setting and the place. I watched a lot of his films just in terms of the essence of what this region feels like. And there were certainly shots like the lighthouse was more inspired by his shots and things that he did.
Then Tarkovsky, for me, was about that sort of meditative quality where you have these long, slow pans or dollies. But it was always engaging, always fascinating. It wasn't boring. I looked at a lot of his work. Also an American contemporary director Kelly Reichardt and her films. There's a film, Wendy and Lucy, that Michelle Williams is in, it's just very meditative and immediately tries to slow you down as an audience. And that was something I wanted people to come into. Even if they're fast paced, I wanted to slow them down to settle into the film. That was always the intention within the first 10 minutes of the film.
The film’s central theme explores generational connections and the relationship between the grandmother and Sophia. Coming from a family with a background in filmmaking, did this story resonate with you on a personal level, particularly in the context of passing something meaningful from one generation to the next?
Charlie: Yes, I think to me, there's so much universality to the story and just like everyone's experience with their grandparents, especially as a kid. I was lucky enough to have a really nice relationship with my grandparents through my parents. And so certainly I felt connected to it on that level. I have a close relationship with my family. I reread the book during Covid when everyone was going through their sort of existential crisis. What am I? What is it? What is everything? When I read the book, I connected to it. I felt like when I boiled my life down to the very basic things, the only things I cared about were my family and friends; and nature. Those were the two, your connections and everything else. Ultimately, you could get rid of all your possessions and you'd still have your connections and nature. That's kind of what sent me on the path of wanting to adapt the book as I felt like now is the time to explore that idea. It definitely came from this sort of Covid anxiety. I wanted to get out of that feeling, I want to be in this place and go through this experience with the people I love and the place that I love.
What was one of the first experiences you had in the film set you went on?
Charlie: There was a couple there. My mum did a film called Parenthood with Ron Howard and I was there a lot for that. I remember I was a background actor in a party scene, having to sit in the hot sun for 12 hours and I hated it. I looked over and I saw a guy on a monitor in the shade. I was like, who's that? And they were like, that's the director, Ron Howard. I was like, I want to be that guy! (laughs) I was lucky enough to have a lot of cool experiences as a kid on sets. But for me as a kid, it was more my parents' workplace. You don't really care about it. I wish I cared! I wish it was now and then I would care about it.
This is your fourth feature film, and you’ve collaborated with Jason Segel multiple times. Is working together something you both intentionally seek out?
Charlie: Yeah, Jason and I have known each other for 20 years and have become really good friends. That just came from being friends and wanting to find interesting stuff. And he's always looking to do different things and outside the box things. And so am I. That's kind of how those collaborations happen.
So it could happen again?
Charlie: Yeah, I mean, I love Jason. He's so talented and I would love to keep working with him.
Lastly, given all we’ve discussed, this film seems distinct from your previous work. What new insights or approaches will you carry forward into your future projects?
Charlie: A practical thing, we shot on 16 millimeters and I loved the experience of shooting on film. I will try to continue shooting on film if the budget allows it. I think this film was just such a magical experience. I've always felt connected to any project I've done but this one in particular felt very communal and unique and specific. You learn something and take something from everything you do, but this is definitely one that has my heart. I felt very connected to it on a spiritual level.