Second verse
STARS/WRITERS TOM BASDEN AND TIM KEY ON EXPANDING THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND
WORDS CHRIS HEWITT
Above: Musician Herb (Tom Basden) is brought ashore by Charles (Tim Key) to the remote island. Top right, top to bottom: Charles gives Herb a sign; The island’s local shopkeeper, Amanda (Sian Clifford). Left, top to bottom: Herb and former partner Nell (Carey Mulligan) on song; Charles reaches out.
IF YOU’RE A filmmaker trying to get a feature off the ground, it’s not unusual for a short film to be made as a proof of concept. Wes Anderson expanded Bottle Rocket into a feature. Damien Chazelle almost got whiplash from turning Whiplash into a film mere months after his short. Neill Blomkamp turned Alive In Joburg into District 9, Sam Raimi essentially remade Within The Woods as The Evil Dead, and so on and so forth.
In that regard, then, The Ballad Of Wallis Island isn’t unusual at all, in that it’s an adaptation of a short film called The One And Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island. It has the same basic story — an eccentric millionaire called Charles Heath (Tim Key) hires a conceited folk-music star called Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) to travel to his remote island home in order to play a private gig. It has the same basic structure. It has the same creative team — James Griffiths directs, and Basden and Key pull double duty as screenwriters.