Toronto Report: Kate Beckinsale, Cara Delevingne Investigate the Case of Amanda Knox in 'The Face of an Angel'

You won’t find a lot of Amanda Knox in the so-called “Amanda Knox movie.”

Director Michael Winterbottom’s much-anticipated new film, The Face of an Angel, made its premiere Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival. And though the movie is based on a book about Knox — the telegenic American who was convicted of murder by an Italian court — Angel is actually about the murder victim, 21-year-old British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

In 2007, Knox was accused of killing Kercher, her roommate, in a case that prompted a worldwide press frenzy. Though Knox was initially found guilty, and served four years in prison, she was released following an appeal — only to be convicted again, by a different Italian court, after returning to the U.S., where she is currently free.

With a high-profile case — and an equally high-profile cast, including Kate Beckinsale — Angel is one of more eagerly anticipated films at the festival. But instead of making a standard biopic of Knox, Winterbottom instead focuses on real-life journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau (a partly fictional version of whom is played by Beckinsale), who spent years trying to make sure Kercher wasn’t forgotten in all of the media hubbub.

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Winterbottom flew to Italy four years ago after reading Angel Face, Nadeau’s 2010 account of Knox and Mercher. ”He wasn’t interested in a film about Knox, her innocence or guilt,” Nadeau wrote in The Guardian earlier this week. ”He was interested instead in the issues that had confronted and confounded me: the motivation of those covering the case, and those following it.”

Indeed, Winterbottom didn’t create a whodunit, or true-crime thriller; nor did he try to solve the still-puzzling case. Instead, he paints a picture of the aftermath of the crime, of the media circus that landed in Perugia, and of Kercher, the girl who was forgotten. In addition to Beckinsale, the film stars Daniel Brühl (Rush), who plays Winterbottom’s fictional alter-ego, Thomas Lang — a filmmaker who’s been tasked with chronicling the case —and model-actress Cara Delevingne, who plays a student who helps Thomas with his mission.

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As for Knox, her name’s been changed to “Jessica,” and, as played by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban actress Genevieve Gaunt, she’s glimpsed only briefly in the film.

Instead, Angel aims to keep Kercher’s memory alive — so much so, the film’s end-credits include a dedication to her. During a Q&A after the Saturday premiere, one audience member asked Winterbottom whether he spoke to either of the families during the writing process.

"We didn’t talk during the writing process, but we were in touch with the Kercher family from the beginning," Winterbottom said. "They would go to the trial in order to make sure Meredith wasn’t forgotten. The one thing they used to say was that they didn’t want Meredith to be forgotten, [and that] it wasn’t a victimless crime…we were in touch with them."

In fact, one member of the Kercher family screened the movie before anyone else.

"We have shown the film to the brother of Meredith, who on behalf of the family, sort of felt it was kind of a fitting kind of thing to put the [dedication to her] at the end," Winterbottom continued. "We wouldn’t have put that on without the permission of the Kercher family."

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Winterbottom also discussed what drew him to the case. ”It was probably the idea that there’s a huge amount of stuff in the media about murder cases and violence in general,” he said. “The key thing is that someone was killed… and she lost her life. We seem to somehow miss that central story and get lost in all the details.”

One audience member asked whether the filmmaker and his cast believed Knox was guilty or innocent. Though Delevingne quickly blurted out “No comment,” the cast remained silent before Winterbottom diplomatically weighed in. ”I’m not interested in making a film about is she guilty or not,” he said. “It’s one of those cases where you’re not going to know what the truth is. In the end you can’t know the truth. You’re just guessing.”