PRACTICAL MAGIC
Casting a spell of love

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play sisters who inherit
magical powers which prove fatal for the men they fall in love with...

They are sisters, but as different as chalk and cheese. Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) is sober and thoughtful, while Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman) is fiery and reckless. Raised by their aunts after their parents’ death, the sisters grow up without any restrictions being placed on them. As little girls, they ate chocolate cake for breakfast, stayed up late and studied spell books, practising the ancient arts of white magic that had been handed down through their family from generation to generation.

In an attempt to pass on the unique and powerful psychic heritage of the Owens women, Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Aunt Frances (Stockard Channing) hope to give their nieces the strength that comes from the use of practical magic. But the invocation of the Owens’ sorcery also carries a price which many term a curse: the men they fall in love with are doomed to an untimely death.

Watching her aunts weave spells for the lonely and the lovelorn, the quieter Sally begins to believe that she will never find her soul-mate. She distances herself from her foremothers, denies herself powers and strives to build for herself a ‘normal’, magic-free life. The impish Gillian, on the other hand, is thrilled by her pull over men, and makes full use of her supernatural powers to lead a tumbleweed existence that leaves a trail of broken hearts in her wake.

When Gillian meets Jimmy (Goran Visnjic), a malevolent drifter, she unwittingly sets off a chain of explosive events that brings police officer Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn) onto the family porch, and into Sally’s heart, while releasing a swarm of supernatural forces that threatens the lives of all the Owens women.

Griffin Dunne, who recently directed the romantic comedy Addicted To Love, directs Practical Magic for producer Denise Di Novi. The film is based on the best-selling novel by the same name written by Alice Hoffman. Producer Di Novi has always been a fan of the author and this particular novel is her favourite. Says she, “The thing I love about Alice’s books is that they deal with women thrust into situations that border on the magical or surreal. What was captivating about Practical Magic in particular was that it was not only a very real story emotionally, but it was also magical with other-worldly elements to it.”

According to author Hoffman the story is about loss and about feeling different. “Sally and Gillian grow up feeling that they are outcasts in some way. The other kids avoid them, talk behind their backs, throw stones. That kind of ostracism is part of the reason for the problems they experience in their lives,” explains the author.

Producer Di Novi decided on director Dunne after seeing Duke Of Groove and Addicted To Love. “Griffin is able to balance a lot of sensibilties,” feels the producer, “in terms of his ability to direct drama and very serious things. But he has also this very sophisticated and ironic sense of humour, and I felt he would be able to hit all the right tones with this movie.”

The director on his part was enchanted by the script. “It was literally like a cauldron,” he says, “Every emotion, theme and ingredient you could imagine was swirling around in it. I particularly liked the women’s use of magic; it comes right from the title. It’s about a more practical, almost holistic approach that seems like a gift that virtually anyone could have.”

The producer found that despite the richness of the history of magic, the 20th century world tends to classify it as part superstition, part claptrap. “Today, we think that there is a separation between real life and magic,” says Di Novi, “But if you really analyse life, magical things happen every day. Why do you dream about things before they happen? How can you hear your baby crying from miles away? How do yo know the instant someone close to you dies? Why do you fall in love at first sight? Those kinds of things are magical. Everyday life, everyone - they’re magical even if we don’t realise it.”

Sandra Bullock was the first of the artistes to be cast in the film. Producer Di Novi says that they didn’t have to think much about casting her since she is a convincing actress. She justifies, “When I looked at While You Were Sleeping and Hope Floats, I saw that she was able to make the characters very accessible. No matter what Sandra does on screen, you identify with her.”

Bullock too was very excited about the script. “I loved the idea that the integral part of this story is about two sisters who are essentially torn apart. They are just so opposite, but they really need each other. It’s like a gene was split in half and, without each other, they can’t function,” says the actress.

For Sally’s sister, the filmmakers were keen on Nicole Kidman. “She is someone who can play extreme, complex characters and bring them to life in a way that they seem totally real and not fabrication,” opines Di Novi, “She is also very magnetic and compelling, which Gillian has to be.”

“Gillian is the wild one,” says Kidman, “She chooses to leave home because the people there ridicule her and her sister for being different. I think that is one of the more important things that the novel points out - that you should embrace your eccentricity and individuality rather than attempt to conform to what people expect you to be.”

The two actresses complement each other very well feels director Dunne. And what’s important is that both are are game for anything. Comments Sandra, “I think it’s because Nicole and I are so opposite, our energies are so opposite, that we needed what the other person had. We have a really strong affection for one another and I don’t know where that came from. There’s a connection and it produced the chemistry we needed to play sisters.”

But more than magic, the film illustrates the many aspects of love - between sisters, between mother and daughter, between men and women. It is a love story that deals with destiny, and how people find true love. As author Hoffman says, “Love is the ultimate magic, the ultimate spell without reason, often making no sense.”