Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose is one of the most pleasant cinema surprises of the year thus far. The “dramedy”, if you will, combines tried and true dry British humor, executed perfectly by Simon Pegg, of course, with stark religious drama to create a particularly memorable film that stands out among an already strong slate this year thus far.
Director Adam Sigal has made a statement with this film, one that reflects positively on both what he’s already done and what he’ll do next. He’s earned a spot in the filmmaking space and, thankfully, he’s just getting started; shortly after finishing Nandor Fodor, Sigal left Britain and made for the states, shooting his next film in Arkansas. Having written and directed Nandor Fodor, Sigal noted his passion found within that process “I’m a writer, honestly, writing is my passion… directing, I’ve learned, essentially. Writing, I feel like I always knew how to do naturally.”
As if doing both those jobs wasn’t enough, this film specifically required an extra bit of precision in adapting an already existing story into a screenplay, and finding the theme within it. To this, Sigal said “I didn’t start writing it until I had the theme. I prioritize theme over narrative… I heard about this ten years ago, and I just thought about it for ten years, and made notes here and there. When I finally had everything thematic that I knew that I wanted to tell, along with the facts from the real story that I wanted to use, it was pretty simple to write at that point. I wrote this script in like two weeks, because I had it all already very much in my head.”
Sigal’s second-nature experience and years of preparation shine through in a screenplay that shows the age of that knowledge. The film is a contemplative, careful, and most importantly human experience (often to an appropriately painful extent), and all that goes back to Sigal’s pen.
Yet Sigal still finds himself learning new things with every film, of which he’s now done five. With this film specifically, he recalls lessons learned from the great Simon Pegg “Simon taught me a lot about working with actors, honestly. Because he’s so good, and he’s such a professional. I have struggled at times in my films with getting too caught up in what’s going on on set… Simon was very good about being like ‘Buddy, none of this matters. Three to four months when you’re sitting in the editing room looking at the footage, and when the film is released, that’s what matters.’”
Sigal then took that principle and applied it to his aforementioned upcoming film in the states, thinking forward and seeing the full picture. Regarding that next film, he says with a smile that it “could not be more different” than Nandor Fodor, teasing a dramatic tone and performances from Bella Thorne and Jack Kilmer in the leading roles. “It’s about a mermaid who’s trapped in a water tower. It’s very dark, and very weird. It’s kind of like Larry Clark meets Tim Burton, it’s very strange. It could not be more different than Nandor. My films are all over the place.” Based on that description alone, that is one we’ll undoubtedly be looking forward to.
Until then, there’s plenty left to celebrate with Nandor Fodor. The film is out now on digital platforms, and is well worth your time. You can check out our review of the film here, and be sure to follow Adam on Instagram, where he encourages messages from fans eager to discuss movies or ask questions.