Press enter after choosing selection

September Books to Films

by muffy

Man on Wire is based on the book To Reach The Clouds: My high wire walk between the Twin Towers(2002) by Philippe Petit

One August 7th, 1974,@7:15 a.m. a young Frenchmen stepped out on the high wire and walked (Oh, he more or less danced!)across the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, 1350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan. It is about Petit’s 6-plus years of dreaming, 8 months of planning, and the actual spell-binding feat itself. Terrific and terrifying!!!

Based on the author's memoirs(1995), (And)When Did You Last See Your Father? is an unflinching exploration of a father/son relationship. Blake Morrison's memories of his childhood are interspersed with scenes in the present, as he struggles to come to terms with his father, and their history of conflict. With a star-studded cast - humorous and heartbreaking at the same time.

Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane (2003) is now a feature film. Nazneen is forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, exchanging her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. As she pines for her home and her sister, she struggles to do her duty by her husband until the day a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life. A truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit. A visual feast.

The film Elegy is based on The Dying Animal (2001), a brutal, short novel by Philip Roth. David Kepesh is an eminent 70-year-old cultural critic (played by Ben Kingsley) who's womanizing ways were ended by a devastating affair he had eight years before with a voluptuous graduate student (Penelope Cruz). Check out the New York Times review.

Comments

I did not realize that Petit is living in Woodstock NY. The film ended with a shot of him (much older, of course) high wire walking in what-looks-like a backyard. I wonder if that was taken at his home. A group of us who had seen the movie got together yesterday and we were marveling at either the good quality of archival documentary film or the amazing reenactment of some of the walks. Pretty incredible. Thanks for the tip.

Graphic for blog posts

Blog Post