The cinematic reference points range from Lubitsch, Murnau, Von Sternberg and famed German silhouette animator, Lotte Reiniger, right through to Kubrick (particularly The Shining), while the film is said to be primarily inspired by the writings of Austrian literary stylist, Stefan Zweig.
Unlike the cut - and - paste script jobs of recent Broadway - to - screen transfers like, say, «Doubt» or «Frost / Nixon,» Mitchell promises a complete
cinematic reimagining of the material, citing the way his previous films incorporated animation and art into their film language as a
point of
reference.