On Stuart Murdoch’s 46th birthday, an early morning chat with media members failed to best his favorite gift. “I must admit my highlight of the day was that my wife sent me a birthday greeting with my wee boy dancing. So that was funny.” Murdoch failed to advertise the date to even his new film’s star Emily Browning, joking, “well, once you’re past 50…”

At 46, Murdoch has already fronted an iconic indie pop band in Belle & Sebastian, but now assumes the role of director for the first time with God Help the Girl, based on a concept album he composed with band mates. The movie-musical stars Emily Browning as Eve, a teenage girl with emotional and eating issues, as well as actors Olly Alexander and Hannah Murray.

There are several ways to approach a movie-musical, from what point did you know you wanted to adopt the style used in God Help the Girl?

Stuart Murdoch: There’s never really a point you decide. You quite honestly feel the thing. I know sometimes that thing doesn’t go down too well with inquirers, but the thing is you feel songs. Songs just arrive. You don’t negotiate songs, you don’t think about them too much you just let them happen. And then every song suggests a different tone.

Is it conversational? Is it something that Eve will do straight to camera? Is it like a pop video where we’re all just looking in? They all just had a different tone that was very easily suggested, so the thought’s a little bit of a mongrel.

The one thing I was sure of was that I needed to get it in early. If you’re gonna’ make a musical with young audiences, with kids these days, I was determined that the first thing that would happen was Eve would drop down out of a window, turn to camera and sing her little story of where she’s at right now. And I thought if they accepted that, they would accept her.

Emily, you’ve had experience doing musical stuff, including Suckerpunch, so how was this experience different?

Emily Browning: The movie itself was just completely different. It didn’t even really feel like making a movie. It felt like camp, because me, Hannah and Olly met on the train on the way to Glasgow when we were going there for rehearsals with Stuart. We [Hannah and Olly] were all equally excited and freaked out. We forged a pretty strong bond pretty quickly and it was all kind of just us running around. There were days where we were like, ‘Shit! What can we shoot? Let’s do this little extra scene.’ And Staurt would just give us something. It was so fun and so much more exciting than that kind of regimented, sitting around. There was no sitting around on this film which was really nice and kind of rare.

But in terms of the music, when I was singing for the Suckerpunch soundtrack it was all just in the studio, and we had lots of time, and lots of money. It was very cushy and easy. This was harder for sure, more of a challenge definitely. Just kind of getting to Glasgow, and getting in a room, and Stuart just being, like, ‘Sing it!’

But it was all pretty comfortable pretty quickly I think. I thought that Stuart was going to be like, ‘You need to get singing lessons, you’re awful, I’ve been making music forever, you’re terrible’

Stuart: I picked you out from thousands of people. You’re awful.

Emily: No, but I thought with the singing aspect of it because you’ve been doing it for such a long time you’d be really picky but it was just, ‘Oh that’s good. Cool.’

Stuart: Well, one thing I had the pre-notion of it that it would be like the experience I had making our first record. Belle & Sebastian made a record called Tigermilk, it was a gang of people that came together very quickly. It was done in Glasgow and it was done very quickly and it was rough around the edges. I knew by the time I got all the elements together, this was going to be the three-dimensional equivalent of making our first record with you guys [Emily, Hannah and Olly] being the band.

This film has been a long time coming, was there any benefit to this incubation process?

Stuart: Yeah, incubation, that’s a good word for it. You never plan it. Nobody’s ever planned an incubation before. I don’t know. Maybe if you’re pregnant or something. I never actually sat down and thought, “I’m going to let this sit for a while.” It just took that long, all the various processes it went through…

Did [producer] Barry Mendel convince you to start over at a point in the process? How close is this version to your original conception?

Stuart: I think the good thing about Barry; he was my creative partner and he had an outside view of what the conception would be. In the end it was closer to something truer and nicer for me, because in the end I had someone watching out for me who knew there was more to it than the initial draft. Knew there was more to it than 3 late teenagers prattling on. Which was all the first script was, endless prattle about laundry and things like that.

What was the major reason for Barry’s concerns?

Stuart: It was like France vs. the USA. It was like Hollywood vs. Paris in the 60s. He’s Mr. Hollywood and I’m not saying I’m a new wave sort of guy but I was one guy in a European country who had never made a film before and he felt like the might of Hollywood. Because I’d be working away, and I’d never done it and he said, “Not good enough, you need to blah blah blah.” And I knew he was working with Judd Apatow and the funniest people in the world at the same time. At this crucial point, he said, “It needs to be better.”

Emily: (laughs) That’s refreshing.

Stuart: That set me back a long time. What I did was I went away, and I wrote a new treatment that was actually the story that’s on the original LP. It’s called Eve: An Introduction. It told the story of the kind of darker things that happened to Eve, before the movie was going to happen. That gave me a new place to come from, I knew then where I wanted to start. I knew then the different level of drama that I wanted to bring out because it didn’t have those darker things before. It was a match up, sort of frothy, kind of ‘60s musical before… so fair play to Barry.

What was it like, searching for someone to play Eve?

Stuart: It was long, it was strenuous and I remember Barry had always said that the casting in a film like this was going to be slow approaching. I didn’t really take that in until we started doing it and now you look back…

We were even casting when we made the original album. We did open auditions for the album for singers. I started out just putting notices up. Not mentioning my name or anything, just looking for singers in Glasgow. I always thought we’d get a singer from that, I always thought it’d be easy. I always thought we could get this primal force, this singer that could just drift through the whole project.

I kind of knew that I wanted something else for the film.

Emily: We [her and Olly] did a Skype audition. It was so weird.

Stuart: We had a Skype-off. To me, because I had never done the sort of thing, the Skype-off is perfect. It’s split-screen like a 70s movie and you get to see them on-screen. So there’s another step removed for a fledgling director. And Emily held the screen, she could have held it for 20 minutes without doing anything. That’s where I realized, that’s what I wanted.

Do you remember your audition song?

Emily: Originally it was a song called “Secret Heart” by Feist. I sent that in a year before I got a call back. I was like, ‘this is not happening.’ But then it all kind of happened at once and Stuart made me sing “Musician Please Take Heed” which is the song right at the end of the film and I was like, ‘You really had to give me the most difficult song to sing? Of course they did.’

The 1st time I did it I went to the studio to be put on tape and I had someone there playing music with me and it was all easier. The 2nd time I just did it on my computer in Photobooth and it was terrifying. I sent it thinking there’s no way. ‘This is awful, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, there’s no way.’

Were there songs that got cut?

Stuart: Surely there’s stuff like that in every film. I feel like there’s less [in God Help the Girl] we couldn’t afford to do that. Most of the songs that I put on the original LP formed the backbone of the film. So there wasn’t too much that got changed.

A lot of the interpretations in God Help the Girl were very different in the film than on the record. What was the process of creating your adaptations?

Emily: I listened to the record quite a bit before I got the part but then I think it was important for me to try and forget it a little bit. The girls singing on the record are proper singers and I was just like, ‘I can’t try and compare myself to this.’

I feel like without the songs Eve’s a bit of jerk, which I kind of like. I think that’s really good, a female lead that doesn’t have to be so loveable, I think she’s kind of an asshole sometimes, which is great. Because people are assholes. She’s kind of selfish. So I think it was really important that in the songs, she was this cartoon Disney princess of herself, winking at the audience. She’s the most her when she’s singing the songs. She’s in her best, happiest place.

Stuart: I’m glad you agree with me. There was a time when we were doing the music, acting the music and you were standing at the camera going, “Overacting.” And I’m going, “No! Underacting!”

Emily: (laughs) You convinced me. That was uncomfortable at first. I thought, ‘I can’t smile this much. I can’t be this happy and jazz handsy,’ but then I understood and it made sense.

Stuart: I’ve been quoted as saying [A Hard Day’s Night] is the greatest musical film ever made, and I watched it again recently for the 25th time and it’s still the greatest musical film ever made. There’s a complete honesty and delight in their performances every time.

What were your points of reference for the film?

Stuart: American Graffiti is a great one and one that’s a more up to date version of American Graffiti is called Dazed and Confused. You might think these aren’t musicals but American Graffiti’s got more music in it per square inch than anything. They spent half the budget on it. But these were real benchmarks.

There was a specific French film by Truffaut which is called Stone Kisses from 1968. It’s probably my favorite even though 400 Blows t is more famous, Stone Kisses is just wonderful.

There’s an English film called The Railway Children. It got shown so often when we were young it’s almost like The Wizard of Oz for us. And the three kids in it are kind of like Eve, Cass and James.

There’s also an English film called Withnail & I produced by George Harrison. It’s very much like a sleeper hit. Probably with Life of Brian probably the funniest British film ever. There’s an arc to Withnail & I and I was determined that this film would fall within that arc.

Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch’s indie-pop fantasy God Help the Girl is a musical that’s been in the works for a good decade or so. In 2009 he finished and released a concept album of the same name he’d been working on since 2003, and now with the film (his directorial debut), he’s brought his vision to life visually as well as sonically. The film follows three young musicians in Glasgow (played by Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, and Hannah Murray) who form a band and spend a summer writing songs, playing random gigs around town, and ruminating about the virtues of artistic integrity.

We spoke to Murray about Julie Andrews, being a Belle & Sebastian fan, being in her first musical, her favorite songs in the film, the two happiest months of her life, Stuart’s natural knack for directing, and more.

This was obviously a big passion project for Stuart. A very personal film. What was your first conversation with him like about what he wanted from you in this role?
Hannah: He told me to be like Julie Andrews! [laughs] I auditioned for Eve initially, but looking back on it, I think he was always thinking about me as Cassie. He wanted me to be very posh and energetic. He was like, “Think of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music!” I was so excited to meet him at all. Every now and again, you have these auditions that sort of feel like, “Even if all I get to do is audition, what an amazing experience it’s been to have met this person.” I was really nervous to sing in front of him. Like you say, it was such a personal project for him, so he had so much to say about the characters and the story, and he was always so engaging when he talked about the project.

Stuart said in an interview that deciding on the final cast was one of the most difficult decisions of his life. That’s got to feel good.
Hannah: It makes me happy. Of course you want to make your director happy on any job you’re doing, but I think on this, the three of us felt such an increased desire to impress him because we had so much respect for him because of Belle & Sebastian. I always think about this film like…there were only three people that got to have the experience we had, and we’re so lucky. It’s so flattering that Stuart wanted me to be a part of it.

Do you think you’ll look back at this making this project as one of the most special times in your life?
Hannah: Absolutely. It was one of the most incredible, emotional experiences I’ve ever had. It was two of the happiest months of my life. Really brilliant. I also feel like, whatever else happens in my life and career, I think I’ll always feel so lucky to have been a part of this.

What was it like doing choreography and singing on camera? Was this a first for you?
Hannah: Yeah, definitely a big first for me. It was really fun. It’s one of those things where, you get the job, and you’re like, “What an exciting challenge!” Then, two weeks in, you’re absolutely terrified and hating it. [laughs] But by the end, it’s gone back to being really, really fun again. All those days when we did the musical numbers felt so magical. I never thought I’d get to be in a musical, and it’s such a joy to sing and dance for your job. And to do it with people you really get on with and don’t feel so self-conscious around because you’re all in the same boat is great.

What’s your favorite musical number in the film?
Hannah: I love them all so much! [laughs] “I Just Want Your Jeans” was sort of my song. It was incredibly special, and that number was the last thing that I shot. It felt like the culmination of working on the project, and it was really exciting to have a solo. It think that song’s beautiful, and I love the stuff that it talks about. It’s really unusual subject matter. I love “Musician, Please Take Heed” as well. I think that’s a gorgeous song, and Emily does such an amazing job with it. Of the parts of the filming I wasn’t involved in, that was one of the things I was most excited to see, how that whole sequence came together. It’s so impressive.

What was it like watching yourself sing and dance with an audience for the first time?
Hannah: It was really amazing. I got to see it at Sundance, and I’ve never felt so proud of something I’ve done and been so excited to have other people see it. All of us kind of feel like we had such an amazing time making it that it doesn’t really matter if people like it. It’s like a bonus, really. I’m really excited for it to come out because I feel such a warmth toward it. It’s nice to feel that way, and it’s a new feeling for me. I know that I love the film, and that kind of stands on its own.

You obviously gelled with Stuart and your co-stars quite well. Is there an itch to work with them again, or was this experience something so dear that you just sort of put it away?
Hannah: I worked with Olly on a TV job just a couple months after shooting. I also got to do a Belle & Sebastian music video about a year after we did the film, which I was so flattered to be able to do. I had to sort of act with Stuart, which was a fun experience. [laughs] I would love to keep working with all of these people again. They’re the best.

What made this project different from others you worked on? What did Stuart, Emily, and Olly bring out in you?
Hannah: I always used to believe that good work came out of being miserable and angst-y and tortured and that if you were playing someone that was unhappy, you had to be as unhappy as them. I thought creativity had to be hard, with a lot of conflict. My career has progressed to the point where I really don’t buy into that anymore. This film was probably the biggest thing that made me switch that off. I felt so supported by the people I was working with, and I felt really relaxed and safe. Because of that, I could try anything. We did quite a lot of improvisation, which terrified me in the past, but this was fine because I knew these guys wouldn’t judge me. It was the freedom they gave me that allowed me to take risks.

Stuart’s a first-time director, but anyone who’s familiar with his music knows that his songs are quite cinematic already.
Hannah: Absolutely! I really agree with that. He’s such a great storyteller, and he creates these characters in his songs, so it feels like a very natural progression for him to make a film. I really hope he does more films, because he’s really naturally gifted at it. He didn’t really know what the “rules” were, and he had a bit of a different approach, but that was very exciting. Also, he loves cinema, and he has such an incredible knowledge of movies. He gave us so many references to think about, introducing me to films I never knew about. He obviously shouldn’t give up being a musician, because he’s brilliant at that, but I think he’s very strong in both disciplines.

I kind of miss movie musicals. I wish there were more of them.
Hannah: Me too! I’m a huge musical fan, and early on when I was 12-years-old and wanted to be an actor, I thought I only wanted to be in musicals. It seemed like the most fun way of doing it. There definitely aren’t enough musicals out there. I think what’s great about this film is that we’ve shown that you can make a musical on a much smaller budget than people would have necessarily thought. I hope that’s going to open up people making more and more smaller musicals that aren’t exactly Les Miserables or Chicago. Not that I don’t love those films, but I think musicals are having a renaissance right now, and people really love them. I hope people make more and more.

It’s a scary thing for a first-time director to take on a musical in his first at-bat, but Stuart Murdoch is a seasoned artist with experience in another art form. That art form happens to be music: Murdoch is the frontman of Belle & Sebastian, which obviously gives him a unique advantage in his charming debut, God Help the Girl, an indie-pop fantasy set in his beloved hometown of Glasgow. Murdoch released a concept album of the same name in 2009, and the film version of his passion project is a natural, seamless extension of his initial vision. It’s a bit too restrained on all fronts, but the film’s young leads are wonderful, the songs are catchy and clever (Belle & Sebastian fans will be thrilled), the cinematography is shimmery and sharp, and it’s an all-around pleasurable experience.

But above all else, Murdoch gives indie kids a film that speaks (and sings) to them directly. Our two central characters meet at a rock show in a small club. Watching the show from the crowd is Eve (Emily Browning), an aspiring musician herself who’s just escaped the walls of the mental health center where she’s being treated for anorexia and anxiety. On stage is a nerdy singer-songwriter named James (Olly Alexander), who gets into an on-stage (eventually spilling off-stage) tussle with his drummer because he can’t hear his vocals over the drums. After the show, James finds Eve sulking in a stairwell, and a friendship (and a band!) is born. They soon recruit another musical collaborator by the name of Cass (Hannah Murray), a cheery confidant who’s cute as a button and loves riding bikes. Anyone who came up in the indie club scene will recognize just how truthful a representation of the culture Murdoch’s put on screen.

But the film isn’t grounded in authenticity or reality; this is a musical after all, and the summer of songwriting, random kayak rides, and bowling alley gigs we see our trio share is a more heightened, wondrous version of the culture it represents than an accurate portrait of it. They’re living in an indie dreamworld. If you’ve ever tried to recruit band members by posting fliers around town, you know how unfruitful (albeit classic) a recruiting method it is. (Yes, I’ve done this before and yes, it was pathetic.) Eve, James and Cass have no trouble with this, as they find themselves literally running away from a hungry pack of would-be band members, giant smiles on their faces. Moments like these are genuinely gleeful, warm and fuzzy, adorable, and unstuck from reality.

Cracks eventually do begin to form within the band, because if they didn’t, the already paper-thin plot would be all but shapeless. There are disagreements about band names, debates on the virtues of artistic integrity and commercial appeal, and a weak romantic angle revolving around Eve, but none of the drama is affecting. The story is completely formulaic, but the good news is that Murdoch’s music isn’t; the musical numbers are the film’s strongest asset, with Murdoch’s lyrics conveying the characters’ mindsets nicely. The jaunty, sometimes tender songs are beautifully written and orchestrated, and a few Belle & Sebastian classics are weaved in as well. (The playful “Funny Little Frog” is a welcome inclusion.)

Alexander is sweet and likable, and it’s clear that he can genuinely play the instruments in his hands. (Outside of acting he’s in a band called Years and Years.) James is more than a little archetypal, but Alexander is so good you won’t really care. Murray’s enthusiasm is enchanting, but her singing voice feels a bit withheld and faint. Browning’s voice, on the other hand, is extraordinary, as is her non-singing performance, and her dollish look works well with cinematographer Giles Nuttgens’ vibrant visual style. The intimate moments between Eve and Olly are tender without feeling mushy, like when she crawls in bed with him late at night because she can’t sleep. He gently drapes his arm around her with no motive other than to ease her worries.

If there’s anything to knock about the film’s look, it’s that the camera movement feels too choreographed and rigid. A more free-flowing approach might have reflected the characters’ wild spirits better. Murdoch and Nuttgens make Glasgow look absolutely gorgeous, with the blue-ish gray urban architecture nestled in lush greenery acting as the perfect setting for their modern fairy tale.

God Help the Girl trailer