Cronenberg Does Delillo

I think Cosmopolis lends itself to relatively uncomplex adaptation (at least in terms of writing the screenplay, setting up shooting locations, etc.) in a way that many of DeLillo’s better novels don’t. Casting is a problem. I had pictured someone more along the lines of Armie Hammer.

Of course, technically “Cosmopolis” won’t be DeLillo’s first filmed project. That (dubious) honor goes to the 2005 film “Game 6,” which Michael Hoffman based on a script DeLillo wrote a decade earlier about an aggrieved playwright and baseball fan. It’s a decent script, a mediocre film. It does not come close to capturing the intellectual and imagistic vibrancy of DeLillo’s best. Neither will “Cosmopolis.”

Of course, technically “Cosmopolis” won’t be DeLillo’s first filmed project. That (dubious) honor goes to the 2005 film “Game 6,” which Michael Hoffman based on a script DeLillo wrote a decade earlier about an aggrieved playwright and baseball fan. It’s a decent script, a mediocre film. It does not come close to capturing the intellectual and imagistic vibrancy of DeLillo’s best. Neither will “Cosmopolis.”

Reading “White Noise” made me feel slightly crazy/confused. Anyone else have this experience?

I had to put it down after 30 pages or so because I was frankly disoriented. I’m not sure what it was because I’ve read other books with dense, absurdist and/or postmodern prose.

You all have convinced me to give it another shot.

Give it another go, R. For all of its vertiginous, pomo trappings, it’s a surprisingly lyrical and loving rumination on the conemporary family; it’s also a cheeky send-up of academia, a rueful reflection on an America that never was, and an extended commentary on the impossibility of meaningful death in a televisual age. It’s quite brilliant. And this might tell you something: I wrote my dissertation on DeLillo and still read him for fun.

What was your dissertation about, Z. Bart?

I’m actually surprised nobody ever tried to adapt Great Jones Street. It probably would have been made into a film if it was published five years earlier than it was. Missed that moment.

“it’s a surprisingly lyrical and loving rumination on the conemporary family; it’s also a cheeky send-up of academia, a rueful reflection on an America that never was, and an extended commentary on the impossibility of meaningful death in a televisual age”

i also thought it was an amusing satire on consumerism, and the lack of responsibility in a highly bureaucratised society. it’s definitely a good book. There is a lot in it, but the humour is quite disarming at first, and it’s difficult to know whether it’s taking itself seriously or not at times but i appreciated that aspect of it. keeps the reader on a knife’s edge.

-I’m actually surprised nobody ever tried to adapt Great Jones Street.-

There was actually an adaptation of End Zone (to have starred Josh Harnett) announced a few years ago. Nothing became of it, though.

Ari: my dissertation examined the architectural spaces DeLillo conjures in the novels, especially in light of the theorized (and sometimes built) projects created by deconstructivist architects from the 1980s and 1990s (Peter Eisenman, Wolf Prix, et al.). It was fun to write, though it now seems like a distant memory.

Interesting topic you chose, Z. Bart, especially since Delillo probably wouldn’t explore that theme in his work to the fullest until Point Omega.

I love Delillo but I don’t think his style translates to films very well.

Somebody should try to film Underworld just to illustrate to people how bad an idea it is.

I guess you could make a good film out of White Noise. Or at least, Kubrick could.

Americana, his first, might be his easily translatable to film. If you haven’t read it, a young, jaded TV executive drops out of his Manhattan life and hits the road for a series of increasingly surreal experiences “on the road.”

The cast for this film is now:

Kiera Knightley and Robert Pattinson.

LOL

Looking a little better: no more Knightley, but we do now have Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche, and Samantha Morton.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480656/

More interested in The Talking Cure.

I still have little hope for “Cosmopolis.”

Could go the way of Cronenberg’s adaptation of Martin Amis’s London Fields, but based on the fact they’ve got this big a cast (Mathieu Almaric’s in it too!), I’m thinking it’s a pretty sure thing. Thankfully, Cronenberg is just the sort of director to exploit the book for his own ends.

Kevin Durand is apparently close to being officially on-board as well.

re: that link — I think I’m going to refer to the novel as a ‘financial thriller’ from now on.

I betting on a surprise by Pattinson.

^^It’s possible, I think. Though I’ve never seen any of his films in their entirety.

Anyway; a production still:

I think people generally write off actors to easily, and it’s something I try to avoid doing most of the time. I’m not saying there are no bad actors, just many, many badly used ones.

Thanks for the still! Who is the actress with him?

It’s Sarah Gadon, I think.

I agree, often it’s more important to cast to a role rather than cast great actors in a role.

Tis indeed Sarah Gadon.

Teaser trailer. Didn’t realize it was coming out so soon. Looks promising.

Looks like a redband if it plays here in ’Merica. Interested to see what they make for general audiences.

—PolarisDiB

Rumors that this could be a top contender to win the Palm d’Or.

I doubt it.

^ Cronenberg deserves it.

The Palm d’Or, or Santino’s doubt?

Cronenberg eats Santino’s doubt for breakfast.