{"id":1783,"date":"2007-01-09T11:21:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-09T11:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/01\/dont-read-the-book-itll-only-confuse-you\/"},"modified":"2007-01-09T11:21:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-09T11:21:00","slug":"dont-read-the-book-itll-only-confuse-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/01\/dont-read-the-book-itll-only-confuse-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t read the book — it’ll only confuse you!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet<\/a> at the Looking Closer Journal for catching Steve Greydanus catching this interview<\/a> with Children of Men<\/a><\/i> director Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n in Filmmaker<\/i> magazine:<\/span><\/p>\n

Filmmaker:<\/b> Your adaptation of the novel is quite loose. How did you approach your source material?<\/p>\n

Cuar\u00f3n:<\/b> Once we decided to do this exploration on the state of things \u2013 and you don\u2019t have to go very far to realize that the environment and immigration are pretty much on the top of the list \u2013 then we had to craft a story. I had the story I wanted to tell so clear in my head that I was very afraid of reading the book and getting completely confused. I read an abridged version of the book, and Timothy J. Sexton, my writing partner, read the [entire] book. But our whole idea was lets find out what elements are relevant to what we\u2019re doing and lets disregard what we think is irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Filmmaker:<\/b> Was there a script already written when you came on?<\/p>\n

Cuar\u00f3n:<\/b> There was a script and I read the beginning of it and didn\u2019t like it. I wasn\u2019t interested in making a science fiction film and secondly I wasn\u2019t interested in the environment that the book takes place, all this upper class drama. For me it was more important to explore the thematics that are shaping our contemporary world. The P.D. James book is almost like a look at Christianity, and that wasn\u2019t my interest<\/a>. I didn\u2019t want to shy away from the spiritual archetypes but I wasn\u2019t interested in dealing with Dogma.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, then. Any allowance I might have made \u2014 to the effect that Cuar\u00f3n had not read the book<\/a> and therefore might have been unaware of how the earlier writers had rejected, even overturned, the book\u2019s Christian themes \u2014 has just gone out the window.<\/p>\n

And now, of course, I cannot help but wonder how different Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban<\/a><\/i> (2004) would have been, if J.K. Rowling had not been there to hold Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s leash.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet at the Looking Closer Journal for catching Steve Greydanus catching this interview with Children of Men director Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n in Filmmaker magazine: Filmmaker: Your adaptation of the novel is quite loose. How did you approach your source material? Cuar\u00f3n: Once we decided to do this exploration on the state of things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't read the book -- it'll only confuse you!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet at the Looking Closer Journal for catching Steve Greydanus catching this interview with Children of Men director Alfonso\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/01\/dont-read-the-book-itll-only-confuse-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't read the book -- it'll only confuse you!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet at the Looking Closer Journal for catching Steve Greydanus catching this interview with Children of Men director Alfonso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/01\/dont-read-the-book-itll-only-confuse-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-01-09T11:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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