Newlyweds Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are revealed as a not-so-happily-married couple onscreen in the very first By the Sea images from their new film. Jolie wrote, produces, and is directing the feature, which takes place in 1970s France and revolves around a marriage that’s collapsing on itself. Jolie plays a former dancer and Pitt plays an American writer, and the story finds the disenchanted couple growing closer together in a quiet seaside town as they meet its inhabitants and begin sharing stories. Cinematographer Christian Berger (The White Ribbon) is shooting the film using mostly natural light, and the supporting cast includes Niels Arestrup (War Horse) and Richard Bohringer (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover).
Check out the first By the Sea images after the jump, along with an explanation from Jolie as to why she chose to set the film in the 1970s. The pic is currently in production in Malta and will be released by Universal Pictures sometime next year.
Speaking with EW, Jolie said she chose to set her third directorial feature (after 2011’s In the Land of Blood and Honey and the upcoming Unbroken) in the 1970s because it allows the characters to avoid technological distractions:
“I chose to set By the Sea in the 1970s, not only because it is a colorful and alluring era, but because it removes many of the distractions of contemporary life and allows the focus to remain squarely on the emotions that the characters experience in their journey.”
As for the film’s use of natural light instead of traditional set ups, Berger says it alters the working process on set:
“It changes the method of working on set for the director and the actors, and in this film enhances the period and atmosphere.”
Take a look at the rest of the debut images from the film below.
