We chat to director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader about adapting Ian McEwan's novel, Enduring Love for the big screen.
We chat to director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader about adapting Ian McEwan's novel, Enduring Love for the big screen.
A picture-postcard afternoon in the countryside ends in tragedy as lovers Joe (Daniel Craig) and Claire (Samantha Morton) witness a ballooning accident. Bound together by their experience, fellow witness Jed (Rhys Ifans) becomes obsessed with Joe, stalking him and becoming ever more threatening...
It is an incredibly powerful story. What did you respond to in the book?
RM: When I first read the book I was totally swept up by the central theme, its exploration of love. It was moving and horrifying and depressing, and ultimately a very profound piece of work.
KL: It's a stalker story, but it's also a novel of ideas in the way that all of Ian McEwan's novels are. I thought the combination of the claustrophobic situation, with this genre inflection, made it a sure-fire cinema adaptation.
How did you come to acquire the novel?
RM: Kevin was very smart and optioned the book before it came out. We lost it for a while to an American company who wanted to set the action in Boston with American characters. Kevin never lost interest and rang McEwan's agent every Friday to see if the Americans had renewed their option. One day the agent said the rights were free again, and we went for it.
Next page • 'Talk about the issues you faced in adapting the book'
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