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August 02, 2007
Film Adaptation of The Secret River
"The Australian" is reporting that Fred Schepisi, best known for such films as The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Evil Angels and Last Orders, is slated to direct a film adaptation of Kate Grenville's novel The Secret River. The screenplay will be written by Jan Sardi, who wrote the script for Shine. No cast members have yet been named.
Posted by larrikin at August 2, 2007 10:11 AM
Comments
That will make a superb film if it's well done. The material and setting/landscape are so strong that it wouldn't really matter who was in it as long as they were competent actors.
Posted by: Kerryn at August 4, 2007 05:03 PM
I'm not sure. 'Amazing Grace' had all the makings of a great film but the director/producers totally Hollywoodized it and it's as dull as dishwater.
It's a 'blockbuster': almost every nuance that can be removed, has been removed. 'Vanity Fair' was miles better.
Costume dramas tend to be fettered by our incapacity to imagine demotic speech before the advent of the phonograph. So these 18th century types all sound like accountants when they should sound like the 'colourful' characters they were.
Recent adaptations of Jane Austen's books are good. Especially, I thought 'Persuasion' extremely believable. The more recent remaking of 'Pride and Prejudice' was also good but Mr Bennet's (Donald Sutherland) teeth were too white and regular. By that age he would have had none.
Posted by: Matthew da Silva at August 6, 2007 04:53 PM