2.Main Content
Garbo, Hendrix and Me:
Gilbert Adair makes us dream
Bernardo Bertolucci's, The Dreamers, written by Gilbert Adair
Thu, 15 Jan 2004
I don't think it's a good idea for a novel and a film to be like twins, certainly not identical twins.' (Gilbert Adair on adaption).
In a major coup for The Script Factory, we’ve convinced novelist/screenwriter Gilbert Adair to join us onstage with film historian and journalist David Thompson after a preview screening of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers to discuss adapting his own novel into the film’s screenplay.
The story, drawn in part from his own personal memories of Paris in the 60s, sees siblings Isabelle and Theo left alone in Paris whilst their parents go on holiday. Intrigued by fellow student and cineaste, the young American Matthew (Michael Pitt), they invite him to stay in their apartment and he quickly finds himself drawn into an intimate exploration of obsession, art and sexuality, as the turbulent political events of May 1968 unfold beneath their windows.
Adair will delve into the creation of what must certainly be the cinephile's paradise of the year; it's loaded with film references and extracts from everything from Performance to Queen Christina (and even suggests the possibility that outrage over the sacking of the director of Cinematheque française – a venue that introduced a whole generation to Keaton, Howard Hawks, Sam Fuller, among others – might have just been the match that ignited France’s 1968 political unrest!). If you love movies as much as Bertolucci and Adair clearly do, you'll find yourself grinning at the screen as you watch the film!
Adair will also explore the excitement and the challenges of creating an intimate drama set against the backdrop of a time and place bursting with such possibility, and so distinct from the more familiar English or American rebellions that were happening simultaneously. Despite a glorious use of Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison, The Dreamers is a late 60s film like few others you will see, and beautifully captures the infectious, if capricious idealism of youth.
The film will preview on Monday 26 January 2004 at 6pm at Screen on the Green, Upper Street, Islington N1 (Angel tube). Adair will take the stage with eminent film historian David Thompson immediately afterwards to talk about adapting his novel.
Tickets costing £8 (£5.50 concessions) can be purchased by calling The Screen on the Green on 020 7226 3520.