MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM - WINTERBOTTOM PRAISES FIRTH AT PREMIERE OF GENOVA

WINTERBOTTOM PRAISES FIRTH AT PREMIERE OF GENOVA

Director Michael Winterbottom has expressed his joy at working with fellow Brit Colin Firth on his latest film Genova.

Speaking at the Mayor of London Gala screening of the film, in Leicester Square, Winterbottom described his lead actor as "fantastic" and an "incredibly nice guy".

Genova sees Firth play a university lecturer whose wife is tragically killed in a car crash, leaving him with two young daughters to care for. His character Joe, decides to move the family to the Italian city to help them deal with their grief.

Speaking of the on-screen bond between Firth and Willa Holland and Perla Haney-Jardine, who play his daughters, Winterbottom admitted it had taken no specific direction on his behalf, their relationship had just evolved naturally.

"The only idea was to try and keep it as simple as possible," the 24 Hour Party People director told inthenews.co.uk.

"I think Colin, Willa and Perla just managed to bond very quickly.

"He [Firth] was brilliant with the two girls and really worked very hard to make a relationship that was a parallel to what was happening in the film."

Winterbottom explained that the inspiration for the film come from his own personal situation and a desire to shoot somewhere slightly less intense.

"It began with going to Genova and thinking we should base it there and we've done quite a lot of films in place such as Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan... so the thought making a film in Italy was slightly more enjoyable," the British director claimed.

He added that he had two children and wanted to make a film about "a dad and two daughters".

"That was the idea of the film, to try and show what its like to be a dad and two daughters in a very difficult situation," he explained.

The film had a few scheduling problems that it had to be overcome, namely Firth shooting Mamma Mia! at the same time, but Winterbottom said he had no problem with the situation.

"We were catching him when he wasn't working on Mamma Mia!, [but] it was great you know, [he was] a real joy to work with," the director said.

He also said that he was hoping to see other films than his own at the London Film Festival this year and admitted he had already gone to see Woody Allen's new film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

"I'm a big woody Allen fan, so it was great to see the film," he said.

"I think Woody Allen is one of the great directors. He's done a huge number of brilliant films and a handful of really great films, so it's great to see another film.

"Especially... to see someone making someone making so many films, at however old he is... he must be 70?"

Genova is currently showing at the London Film Festival.