Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey Head to 'Catalonia'
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Deals, Scripts, War
Usually when I write about my surprise over a piece of news, it's in exasperation. You know -- writing about the umpteenth adaptation, remake, or reimagining. But could the movie industry finally be getting the hint? We've got Papa Hemingway on the way a few times (not to mention that yet-to-be-released Garden of Eden), Coriolanus, and now ...
Variety reports that Hugh Hudson is directing Bob Ellis' adaptation of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (simply titled Catalonia), with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey starring. Yes folks -- Orwell did write more than 1984 and Animal Farm. In fact, the books inspired by his own life are some of his best work. This account focuses on his move to Catalonia (Barcelona) with his wife in the late 1930s to fight Stalinism*, where he joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War -- which almost killed him. But rather than focus squarely on Orwell, the film will spotlight his friendship with Georges Kopp, the commander of the brigade.
I imagine that Firth will play Orwell (due to the Englishness), while Spacey takes on the Belgian Kopp. But it will take a while to learn much more -- production isn't scheduled to begin until the first half of 2010.
Now we just need more Henry Miller. A Devil in Paradise, anyone?
*Correction made thanks to Mattl
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-19-2009 @ 4:48PM
Mattl said...
Orwell and his wife were not fighting communism. They were fighting fascism. The Spanish civil war was essentially the Left [Orwell et al] vs the Right [fascists]. So Orwell was actually fighting for the communists and the Soviet supported republic. He later became dicouraged with communism as much as he was with fascism.
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5-19-2009 @ 4:50PM
Monika said...
You're right.. Thanks for catching that slip.
5-19-2009 @ 5:54PM
iv said...
Orwell wasn't fighting "Stalinism", he was fighting the fascists. And he didn't fight with the "anarchist brigade" but with the communist POUM, which in turn fought alongside the anarchist militias. And he didn't become "dicouraged with communism" as Mattl says but angry with the Stalinists and left wing Republicans for crushing the communist revolution in Catalonia.
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5-19-2009 @ 9:58PM
Cincinnati Mike said...
"Yes folks -- Orwell did write more than 1984 and Animal Farm. In fact, the books inspired by his own life are some of his best work."
Yay, Monika...I never get tired of telling this to people (they hate me.)
Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London, Road to Wigan Pier, Burmese Days, and on and on.
Of course, the last time they tried to adapt Orwell was a disaster. Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) made a terrible movie, mostly because they changed the ending 180 degrees. Unrelentingly downer endings are likely the chief reason Orwell movies don't get made.
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5-26-2009 @ 8:37AM
Mike said...
Let's kick the International Brigades again. As we 'know' from 'Land and Freedom' they were all jackbooted Stalinists who went to Spain to queue up and shoot anarchists. I wonder how over 500 of the British Battalion managed to get killed in major battles such as Jarama, Brunete, Belchite and the Ebro? Do people realise just how unrepresentative Orwell's involvement in Spain was, compared to the over 2000 from Britain who fought there? No doubting his courage, just the narrow focus by the film luvies on his participation.
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5-30-2009 @ 1:46AM
Snob said...
Stalinism? Orwell, then a communist, was fighting Hitler's buddy Francisco Franco. The Spanish Civil War broke out when fascists tried to overthrow the democratic leftist government of the Republic. Those fascists were backed by the Nazis and also Mussolini's Italy. Of course, when France and the UK turned their backs on Spain, hoping not to anger Nazi Germany (they used to do A LOT of stuff like that back in the day, to avoid the conflict that would later explode as WWII), the USSR was the only ally the legitimate government had left. A lot of volunteers, Orwell among them, came from around the world to fight FASCISM. Please don't get that wrong.
The big issue in Homage to Catalonia was that the Republican forces were a conglomerate of democrats, communists, anarchists, stalinists, Catalonian and Basque nationalists... each faction trying to get things done their way, in the middle of a war against a heavily armed, nazi-backed, military trained REAL ARMY. And so, things got messy. That was one of the main reasons the war was lost.
I can't wait to see this movie. There aren't a lot of good movies about the Spanish war.
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