Projects in genres: Literary Adaption

Synopsis

Award-winning playwright Conor McPherson steps behind the camera for the first time with Saltwater, a tale of ordinary folk in extraordinary circumstances. In an out-of-season coastal town in Ireland, the local chippie is on the verge of going under. Ever since his mother's death, Frank (Peter McDonald) has been helping his father (Brian Cox) hold the fort. But dad is in hock to the local bookie and loan shark (Brendan Gleeson) so Frank takes matters into his own hands and robs the bookie. Needless to say, things don't quite go as planned. Inspired by a dream McPherson had several years ago, the film began as a stage play called This Lime Tree Bower, which took the form of a series of monologues from the three main characters: Frank, his younger brother Joe, who feels his mother's absence the most, and Ray, a university tutor who is in love with the brothers' older sister. McPherson then teamed up with producer Robert Walpole, who, along with his directing partner Paddy Breathnach, had turned his first screenplay, I Went Down, into an award-winning hit film. Saltwater went into production just as McPherson's acclaimed play The Weir was earning raves on Broadway in New York. The film world-premiered in the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival in February where audience reaction was favourable. It had its Irish premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh in July and will open in Ireland through Buena Vista in September.

Synopsis

After the phenomenal international success of their trio of films, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary, the directing, producing and scriptwriting team of Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and John Hodge, decided to turn their attention to somewhere further afield - to paradise. Or rather, paradise lost. Alex Garland's novel, about a young man travelling in Thailand who finds his way to a beach-side utopia only to become the catalyst for its destruction, was the publishing phenomenon of 1996. "We were looking for a project that had a truly international feel to it and Garland's book fit this criteria perfectly," says Macdonald. The combination of the hip film-makers' du jour with the must-read of the late 1990s proved irresistible to both 20th Century Fox, which agreed to back the film, and one of the world's biggest film stars, Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio signed to play the lead in what would be his first film since Titanic. "I wanted my next film to be something I felt strongly about and The Beach and the character of Richard were the first things I felt some kind of connection with," says DiCaprio. "Because Richard has been saturated with digital information he's never had any need to feel real emotion. So he sets off on a journey to Thailand to find something real in life. Richard is constantly looking for a much deeper sensation." The Beach was shot in Thailand at the beginning of 1999 and premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February this year. It has taken approximately $140m worldwide to date.

Synopsis

Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who has everything. A brilliant politician and a perfect gentleman, he is the ideal husband for the captivating Lady Chiltern. Admired by all, they present an exquisite picture of wedded harmony. But when the scheming and seductive Mrs Cheveley threatens to reveal a dark secret from Chiltern's past, the very foundations of his prized career and marriage look set to crumble. Cornered, he turns to his life long friend, Lord Arthur Goring. Famed all over town for his dazzling wit and cultivated misbehaviour, Goring soon finds himself caught up in a tangled web of lies, temptations and secret liaisons. Yet while he excels at the affairs of others, his own are to prove more challenging. The persistent charms of Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert's sister are becoming an increasing threat to his cherished bachelorhood. She's a match for him if ever there was one . . . Romantic, funny and moving, An Ideal Husband delivers political intrigue and sparkling wit, and summons a picture of a society grappling with issues which are as pertinent in our own society as they were 100 years ago . . .

Synopsis

Set in Salford in 1970, East is East is a fast moving comedy of mixed-race manners. It centres on the Anglo-Pakistani alliance of the Khan family that is both claustrophobically cohesive and desperately dysfunctional. In their cramped Salford terrace house, daily anarchy erupts with farcical energy. The Khan children, being caught between bell-bottoms and arranged marriages, scoff surreptitious rashers of bacon as they are buffeted this way and that by their father's insistence on tradition, their English mother's laissez-faire, and their own wish to be citizens of the modern world. Based on the award-winning stage play by Ayub Khan-Din, East is East was originally produced by the Royal Court Theatre, revived due to critical acclaim at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East 1997.

Synopsis

Jacob Two Two is 2+2+2 years old, the youngest of five he has to say everything twice to get himself heard. Desperate to be taken seriously, when Dad needs groceries Jacob bravely volunteers to go and buy them; so embarking on his first solo mission. The quest goes horribly wrong when Jacob loses his nerve and runs off - straight into a ten-pound hanging salami. He wakes up to find himself in court charged with the terrible crime of insulting a grown up. The Singing Judge, Rough Justice, sentences Jacob to Slimer's Island Children's Prison, presided over by none other than the gruesome Hooded Fang! But help is on its way in the form of the heroic Child Power Masters. Escorted by the Fang's henchman, Miss Fowl and Mr Fish, Jacob arrives at the fog-bound, crocodile infested prison guarded by the Slimers where he meets the fearsome Hooded Fang. When the Child Power Masters fail to show on time (as usual) Jacob Two Two hatches a cunning plan and decides to take on the Hooded Fang himself! Will he out-wit Fish and Fowl and the evil Slimers or will it be the Child Power Masters who save the day? All will be revealed in George Bloomfield's hilarious rendition of Mordecai Richler's classic childrens adventure, Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang.

Synopsis

Richard, at 22 has his life turned upside down during a burial in Bradford cemetery, when he meets Barbara, a beautiful young actress from Los Angeles. Leaving behind his inherited undertaker's business and well-meaning girlfriend he is destined to marry, Richard crosses the Atlantic in pursuit of love, adventure and a screenwriting career. As an Englishman abroad, Richard finds himself in situations that, seen from afar, are very funny, but close-up may prove tragic. LA Without a Map is produced by Julie Baines and Sarah Daniel of UK based Dan Films. A stylish, fast-paced dramatic comedy, the film is directed by award-winning Mika Kaurismaki who also wrote the screenplay with Richard Rayner. The screenplay is adapted from Rayner's autobiographical cult hit novel - "Los Angeles Without a Map".

Synopsis

Based on Jim Cartwright's play "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice", Jane Horrocks stars in this bittersweet-comedy as the mysterious "LV", who lives in the attic of an unkempt house on the corner of a dead-end street in a seaside town in Northern England. Ever since her father's death, LV has been silent, spending her days listening to his incredible record collection and living in the enchanted charm of his favourite singers and performers. Meanwhile, her motor-mouthed mother Mari - all brass and no class - is living it up, continuing on a booze cruise for exciting lovers. Then a new man struts into Mari's life: Ray Say, a sleazy and spectacularly unsuccessful local talent agent who Mari thinks of as 'Elvis Breath' and her best chance yet for 'loving'. Meanwhile, LV has a revelatory run-in of her own with a man almost as shy as she is - a telephone repair-man named Billy who isn't much for vocal communication. It is the first time anyone, other than her father, has paid attention to her. But just as things are opening up for Little Voice, Ray Say hears the magical strains of Judy Garland coming from her room - and realises that's no ghost, it's Little Voice. Stunned by her talent, he smells the big times. Dreams and desperations collide as he and Mari stake everything on making the terrified and resistant Little Voice into a star. At last, Little Voice agrees to go public with her amazing impersonation, but just once . . .

Synopsis

Every woman wants to be wanted . . . just not by the entire Metropolitan Police Force. Maddy's first day out with her newborn takes a Kafkaesque turn when she's arrested in Harrods for shoplifting. If this is a miscarriage of justice, then detaining her in Holloway Prison's Mother and Baby Unit is the pits. Panicked at the thought of enforced adoption, she smuggles Jack to freedom in her friend Gillian's handbag - a woman with the maternal instincts of a guppy fish. Finding herself a runner-up in the Human Race, the only person Maddy can turn to is her hot-to-trot ex-lover Alex . . . who proves himself as useful as a solar-powered vibrator on a rainy day. The trouble with Alex is his sex appeal - he gives generously. Will Maddy ever escape the evil clutches of Edwina Phelps, prison psychotherapist? With the emphasis on physcho. Will she ever see Alex for what he is: a self-made man . . . who worships his creator? When will Alex realise that a 'paternity suit' is not the latest look in men's wear? How do you brief a lawyer with a heat seeking penis which does not report to mission control? And why the hell is Gillian searching for a sperm happy to get egg all over its face? There's hard knocks and rude shocks in this devastatingly witty screenplay. You'll split your episiotomy stitches laughing.

Synopsis

Paul McGuigan's The Acid House is a surreal triptych adapted by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh from his collection of short stories. Combining a vicious sense of humour with hard-talking drama, the film reaches into the hearts and minds of the chemical generation, casting a dark and unholy light into the hidden corners of the human psyche. The first film of the trilogy, The Granton Star Cause, is a black comedy of revenge, football and religion. The second, A Soft Touch, is a story of love and betrayal with Johnny as the 'soft touch', who is all too easily manipulated by those around him. The final film is a surreal comic story about marriage, babies and an excess of chemical abuse.

Synopsis

Early 1970's - Morocco. A moving and original account of what it was like to be a child of the hippie generation. Love, peace, no father but a tough older sister and a beautiful young Mum - the story of Julia's love affair with another culture, as experienced with the clear-eyed vulnerability of her five-year-old daughter Lucy and her older sister Bea. This is the story of an extraordinary year in the life of a family. Julia decides that she has had enough of London and takes off for Morocco with her two little girls. Lucy and her sister Bea are let loose in Marrakech. From the tourists to the beggars and entertainers in the market, their curiosity is endless. Julia is loving but distracted by money worries and seeking spiritual fulfillment. And then Bilal comes into their lives. The children observe Julia's love affair with a wonderful, magical man, with whom they all share a temporary Paradise. But this degree of freedom has its price and the stresses of their way of life start to be more than the children can bear. Bilal, feckless, charming and irresponsible as he is, understands their need and makes a heroic sacrifice on their behalf to raise enough money for their tickets home. Finally, Julia has to make the hard choice between her lover and her children.   Based on the novel 'Hideous Kinky' by Esther Freud.

Synopsis

Such a Long Journey is an intricately layered, wryly humorous novel set in Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war over the fate of what was to become Bangladesh. A hard working bank clerk, Gustad Noble, is a devoted family man who gradually sees his modest life unravelling. His young daughter, Roshan, falls ill in spite of his and his wife's ministrations; his promising son defies reasonable voice amid the ongoing dramas of his habitually quarrelsome neighbours. One day Gustad receives a letter from an old friend, now working for a CIA-like branch of Indira Gandhi's government asking him to help in what seems like a heroic mission. In his innocence, and with feelings of loyalty to his friend, Gustad uneasily agrees. He soon finds himself over his head and alone in his unwitting complicity as he is drawn deeper into a dangerous network of deception. Gustad's quiet dignity, his sense of moral order, have luminous presence in the sometimes antique world of his friends and acquaintances including the medicine lady, Miss Kutpitia, who suggests elaborate medical spells; the lame and child-like Tehmul; Dinshawji, Gustad's bumptious co-worker and friend, whose flirtation with the new typist goes too far. Compassionate, broad in its vision, and rich in details of character and place, this is a mature and rewarding saga that charts the journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.

Synopsis

Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) become involved with two couples: a wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry J. Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave), and a working-class couple Leonard Bast (Sam West) and Jacky (Niccola Duffet). The interwoven fates and misfortunes of these three families and the diverging trajectories of the two sisters’ lives are connected to the ownership of Howards End, a beloved country home. An adaptation of E.M. Forster’s 1910 compelling study of one woman’s struggle to maintain her ideals and integrity in the face of Edwardian society’s moribund conformist values. A classic novel of class relations and changing times in Edwardian England. Cannes 2016 - Cannes Classics