One of my favorite plays/films of all time, the unjustly obscure Becket, is apparently being updated by Oscar-winning writer William Monahan, who will also direct (he's directed one film coming out soon). An article I read said he was going back to the "source material" rather than updating the movie, but unless that means skipping over Jean Anouilh's famous play entirely, it won't change much, because the film is almost too faithful to the play. It's a very talky movie. Becket delivers one monologue entirely to the sky.
Coincidentally enough, I just read in Leslie Caron's memoir that she persuaded Anouilh to allow an English version, because the original French version flopped. Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn took on the stage version, and nobody ever looked back.
Henry II, Thomas Becket, who will rid me of this turbulent priest, yadda yadda. Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton scorched the screen in the original film; let's see who takes this on.
Monday, November 15, 2010
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