The
10 Best Adapted Memoirs
Vera
Brittain’s memoir, Testament of Youth,
was a bestseller on release, and was the first piece of literature to
fully address the full the
impact of
WWI
on the lives of women and the civilian population of Great Britain.
To celebrate the release of the
film adaptation, out on digital platforms from
8th May 2015, and on Blu-ray and DVD from 25th May 2015, courtesy of
Lionsgate Home Entertainment, we look back on
some of the best memoirs to be adapted to the big screen...
Testament
of Youth (2014)
Vera
Brittain (Alicia Vikander),
irrepressible, intelligent and free-minded, overcomes the prejudices
of her family and hometown to win a scholarship to Oxford. With
everything to live for, she falls in love with her brother’s close
friend Roland Leighton (Kit Harington)
as they go to University to pursue their literary dreams. But the
First World War is looming and as the boys leave for the front Vera
realises she cannot sit idly by as her peers fight for their country,
so volunteers as a nurse. Both Vikander
and Harington bring a
wonderful playfulness to their initial courtship (with brilliant
comedic support from Joanna Scanlan
as their chaperone), and as the war separates them evolve this
chemistry into something utterly moving.
Angela’s
Ashes (1999)
Based on
the memoirs of Irish author Frank McCourt,
Angela’s Ashes was
co-written and directed by Alan Parker,
and starred Emily Watson
and Robert Carlyle as
McCourt’s parents.
Recounting his childhood, the film tracks
McCourt (played by Joe
Breen, Ciaran Owens
and Michael Legge at
different points in his life) as he moves from America to Ireland due
to financial difficulties, and his constant attempts to earn enough
money to one day move back to the States.
A
Mighty Heart (2007)
Mariane
Pearl’s memoir A
Mighty Heart was adapted for the screen by
John Orloff, and
recounted the real-life search for Wall Street Journal journalist
Daniel Pearl, played
by Dan Futterman, who
was kidnapped in Karachi by supporters of British terrorist Omar
Sheikh. Daniel’s wife Mariane is played by Angelina
Jolie in director Michael
Winterbottom’s depiction of events which
end in the most tragic way imaginable.
The
Pianist (2002)
Roman
Polanski’s adaptation of pianist and
composer Wladyslaw Szpilman’s
memoirs was met with huge critical acclaim when released in 2002, and
recounts the life of Szpilman
(played by an Oscar-winning Adrien Brody),
as he tried to survive the destruction of a Warsaw ghetto in WWII,
escaping deportation and eluding capture by the Nazis by living in
the ruins. Brody
famously lost 14kg for the role, and got rid of his apartment and car
to try and connect to the feelings of loss he felt were required to
play the role.
My
Week with Marilyn (2011)
Michelle
Williams stars as the late Hollywood starlet
Marilyn Monroe in
Simon Curtis’
delightful adaptation of two books by Colin Clark which describe his
experiences working on the production of the 1957 film The
Prince and the Showgirl, starring both Monroe
and Laurence Olivier
(Kenneth Branagh). The
film focuses on the week Monroe spent in London escorted by Clark -
here played by the wide-eyed, utterly disarming Eddie
Redmayne.
An
Education (2009)
British
film An Education was
directed by Lone Scherfig
and its script from author Nick Hornby
was based on a memoir by British journalist Lynn
Barber. It
recounts a tempestuous love affair she had in her teenage years with
an older man, with the film starring Carey
Mulligan in her first leading role, as the
16-year-old Jenny who becomes involved with Peter
Sarsgaard’s Jewish businessman, David
Goldman. There’s fantastic support from Dominic
Cooper and Rosamund
Pike as David’s fun, flighty friends who
introduce Jenny to their lavish world – with Pike
offering a particularly brilliant comedic turn as the ditzy Helen.
The
Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
This
Spanish biopic is based upon the memoir of 23-year-old Ernesto
Guevara (played by Gael
García Bernal) and recounts his 1952
expedition across South America alongside his friend Alberto Granado
by motorcycle. Several years later, Ernesto would become known
internationally as revolutionary Che Guevara,
and in The Motorcycle Diaries
he finds himself transformed by his observations on impoverished life
that they encounter on their trek.
127
Hours (2010)
Aron
Ralston’s much talked about memoir Between
a Rock and a Hard Place tells the story of
how the adventurer became trapped by a boulder in Utah in April 2003,
spawning Danny Boyle’s
Oscar-nominated film 127 Hours,
in which James Franco
plays Ralston. With his arm stuck behind a boulder for the majority
of the running time, Boyle’s
film does well in encapsulating Ralston’s
incredible desire to live.
The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
This
French biographical film is based on former Elle editor
Jean-Dominique Bauby’s
memoirs of the same name, telling his incredible story: after
suffering a massive stroke at the age of 43, Bauby
was left with locked-in syndrome, a condition which paralysed him
from the neck down, and led to his right eye being sewn up. With one
eye left working, the only way Bauby
could communicate was by blinking. Mathieu
Amalric gives a stunning, heartbreaking
performance in the lead role, and director Julian
Schnabel won the best Golden Globe for best
director.
Persepolis
(2007)
This
French-American animated film is based on Marjane
Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel,
directed by the lady herself alongside Vincent
Paronnaud. Following a young girl as she
comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, the film
tells the factual story of Satrapi, with the title referring to the
historic New Persian city of Persepolis.
Testament
of Youth is available on digital platforms from 8th May 2015, and on
Blu-ray and DVD from 25th May 2015, courtesy of Lionsgate Home
Entertainment.
