Projects in genres: Literary Adaption

Synopsis

After the death of their father, Madeleine invites her sister Dinah to stay in her elegant London home. Madeleine's husband, Rickie, is now effectively head of the family, and a man of persuasive charm and sophistication. Efforts to find a husband for the free-spirited Dinah seem to pay off at last, but having announced her engagement, Dinah is secretly told by Rickie to call it off. The reason remains unspoken - as they are both aware of a profound mutual attraction. So begins a wild affair, as Rickie and Dinah's illicit passion spirals into deception, offering ecstasy and despair in equal measure and, finally, as the sisters attempt a reconciliation, an insight into the heart's capacity for forgiveness.

Synopsis

Directed by Sarah Gavron and produced by Stewart Mackinnon, This Little Life is the story of a premature baby's fragile existence, and of a mother's supreme trust and tragic betrayal. Rosemary Kay's screenplay was awarded the BBC's Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award and is an adaptation of her novel Between Two Eternities.

Luke is born prematurely weighing only one pound and four ounces. He is too small to be cradled in his mother's arms but can be held in the palm of her hand. Everything possible is done to keep him alive, but what does her son want? Luke's mother, Sadie, desperately wants him to have a voice and, through her friendship with a young boy, mother and son find a way to talk.

Synopsis

Set in a steamy Glasgow of the early 1950s, the film focuses on the existential crisis of Joe (Ewan McGregor), a rootless young drifter who finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-earth Les (Peter Mullan) and his enigmatic wife Ella (Tilda Swinton). One afternoon Joe and Les happen upon a corpse of a young woman floating in the water. Accident? Suicide? Murder?

As the police investigate the case and a suspect is arrested, it becomes evident that Joe knows more about the drowned woman than he is letting on. Meanwhile, against the background of this mysterious death and the 'murder' investigation, Joe and Ella embark on an intimate and passionate affair.
 
Tim Cumming, writing in The Guardian, 8 August 2003:
Alexander Trocchi was the smack-addled icon of beat literature, whose writings have been eclipsed by a lurid life of porn, pimping and dissolution in New York, Paris and London. But with a new film out adapted from his novel Young Adam, the Glasgow-born writer's life and work are ripe for re-evaluation.

 
 

Synopsis

About a Boy tells the story of Will, a rich, child-free and irresponsible Londoner in his thirties, who in search of available women, invents an imaginary son and starts attending single parent meetings. As a result of one of his liaisons he meets Marcus, a strange 12-year-old boy with problems at school. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends and as Will teaches Marcus how to be a cool kid, Marcus helps Will to finally grow up.

Synopsis

Meena is twelve years old and lives in the village of Tollington 'the jewel of the Black Country' - in 1972. She is the daughter of Indian parents who have come to England to give her a better life. Her idyllic adolescence, surrounded by eccentric relatives and friends, is disrupted by the arrival in Tollington of Anita Rutter and her dysfunctional family. At 14 - blonde, aloof, beautiful, outrageous and sassy - Anita is everything Meena thinks she wants to be. Meena wheedles her way into Anita's life, but the arrival of a baby brother, teenage hormones, impending entrance exams for the posh grammar school and a motorcycling rebel without a future, threaten to turn her salad days sour. ANITE AND ME paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath.

Synopsis

1942. The world is at war.

Charlotte Gray, a young Scottish woman, is parachuted behind enemy lines into Southern France. Only she knows she has a dual mission. Officially, she has been recruited by the British Government on a special operation to liaise with the local resistance group, who are using guerrilla tactics against the occupying German Army. Unofficially, she is searching for her lover, Peter, an English airman missing in action after his plane is shot down.

As Charlotte becomes more deeply involved with the resistance fighters, led by Julien Levade, she realises that her love of France and its people will change her life forever.

Charlotte Gray is a thrilling romance set against the harrowing events of the dark years of the War in France.

Synopsis

John Bayley, adoring husband to the famous novelist Dame Iris Murdoch, holds on to what he can as the witty, brilliant Iris slips into the devastation of Alzheimer's. A poignant, poetic evocation of a modern literary legend confronted with true love.
 
Adapted from the writings of John Bayley.

Synopsis

Morvern Callar is a 21 year old supermarket worker from a small port town in the west of Scotland. Morvern believes that life is something you get on with as best you can with what you've got. One morning Morvern finds that what she's got is a dead boyfriend on the kitchen floor.

Synopsis

In 1890s England, Algy Moncrieff and his friend Jack Worthing are a spirited pair of London dandies who are keen to win the hands of the women they love. And their chosen brides, the pre-Raphaelite Cecily and the distinguished Gwendolen are their perfect women - except that they appear to have a pathological aversion to any name - other than Earnest.

But of course, adopting this unusual name is the least of their troubles when the imposing Lady Bracknell arrives to guard her beloved daughter's reputation and investigate her suitors. Quizzing Jack over his social pedigree, Lady Bracknell is utterly dismayed to discover that he has only the spurious claim to being parented by a 'handbag'. She presents him with an ultimatum: unless he can prove his suitable origin within the week, the marriage will be off.

Galloping between London and the country, this farcical comedy of mistaken identities, and undiscovered liaisons gathers speed as the rakish pair try desperately to conceal their duplicity and prevent the discovery of some astonishing truths.

Oliver Parker's imaginative adaptation combines Wilde's inimitable wit with an engaging romantic tale and a sparkling comedy of social manners.

Synopsis

Harry Potter has learned to live with his bullying uncle Vernon, his callous aunt Petunia and the constant whining of his greedy, spoiled cousin Dudley. He's even learned to live with sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs.
Harry's relatives have just as reluctantly learned to live with the unwelcome presence of their orphaned relation, a constant reminder of Petunia's 'wayward' sister and brother-in-law and their mysterious and untimely demise.
Even the impending arrival of his 11th birthday offers no excitement for Harry - as usual, there's little chance of cards, presents or any kind of birthday treat.
This year, however, is different.
Based on the first of J.K. Rowling's popular children's novels about Harry Potter, telling the story of a boy who learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. Invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. At Hogwarts, he finds the home and the family he has never had.

Synopsis

The story centres on Bridget, a 30-something 'singleton', convinced that everyone is getting it right except for her. Her ambitions are few - she would like to lose weight and find true love - but seemingly unattainable. Her romantic life is in a state of perpetual crisis.

While her friends Jude, Sharon and Tom provide her with hopeless advice, Bridget finds herself torn between two men, her charming, sexy, but dangerous boss Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy an old family friend, who seems at first to be aloof and dull, until his true self is revealed.

Bridget's unsuccessful attempts to control her chaotic life and to develop inner poise are charted by her hilarious and sometimes poignant diary entries.

Synopsis

Based on the best-selling novel by Louis de Berniers.

The idyllic beauty of Greece's Mediterranean coast has been invaded by Italy, bringing legions of soldiers to the once tranquil island of Cephallonia. Captain Corelli (Cage), an officer with an irrepressibly jovial personality and passion for his mandolin, initially alienates a number of villagers. In particular, he infuriates the village doctor, Iannis (Hurt) and his beautiful and educated, strong-willed daughter Pelagia (Cruz) whose home he shares during the occupation. Corelli's charm and decency, together with his desire to have a quiet and peaceful war, eventually wins over their friendship. When Pelagia's fiancee, local fisherman Mandras (Bale) heads off to battle, the relationship between Corelli and Pelagia grows stronger. As the war advances ever closer, Corelli and Pelagia are forced to choose between their allegiance to their countries and the love they feel for one another - a love which must overcome tremendous odds, and endure the inevitable sacrifice which accompanies eternal devotion.