From page to screen
JA
November 23
Literary adaptations are the new vampires! Okay well maybe not, but it was worth a shot. In any case there do seem to be a few bookish films in the works of late (including, according to this list, adaptations of The Bell Jar, Atlas Shrugged, Paradise Lost, On the Road and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close). Plus, there’s these:
Jane Eyre, based on the book by Charlotte Brontë – with Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender as Edward Rochester, Jamie Bell as St. John, Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax and Imogen Poots as Blanche Ingram.
Never Let Me Go, based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro – with Carey Mulligan a Kathy, Keira Knightley as Ruth and Andrew Garfield as Tommy.
Brighton Rock, based on the book by Graham Greene – with Sam Riley, Helen Mirren and Andrea Riseborough.
Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Whishaw and um… Russell Brand (yes really, he’s in the trailer and everything).
Julia Leigh’s The Hunter is apparently also another film-to-be, with Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Frances O’Connor, as is Tim Winton’s Dirt Music (Russell Crowe and Rachel Weisz), Patrick White’s Eye of the Storm and Robert Drewe’s The Drowner. I’m most looking forward to The Hunter and Never Let Me Go, while at the same time knowing that it’s unlikely they’ll ever match the books. Much like John Hillcoat’s rendition of The Road, I imagine the main task for The Hunter will be nailing the mood and tone, which Leigh executed so brilliantly. I’m not sure how Never Let Me Go will approach the slow, disconcerting reveal of the book (and by the looks of the trailer, it seems they’re not even attempting to), but I’ll save final judgement for afterwards.
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Comments
23 Nov 10 at 10:25
I often hear people say they won’t see the film adaptation if they really love a book. I like The Remains of the Day so much, I don’t feel any compulsion to seek out the film. I wonder if the reverse is true: would you see the film if you really hate the book? I hated Never Let Me Go so much, I refused to finish it even though I was half way through. I can’t imagine I would see the film, even on DVD.
...23 Nov 10 at 11:08
Jane Eyre looks perfectly cast (I love Michael Fassbinder); the credit ‘From the producers of …’ never inspires confidence, but I like the idea of a mod version of Brighton Rock; The Tempest is clearly not going to be guilty of understatement, but a female Prospero is also interesting.
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