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From left: Phil Grey, manager of the Screen On The Hill,
Deborah Moggach and Suzsanna Ardo of the Hampstead Authors
Society |
Heaving bosoms and tragic chickens in Deborah's masterclass
SUNDAY was a red-letter day for author Deborah Moggach
who gave a screenwriting masterclass in the afternoon and joined
George Clooney at the Bafta awards in the evening.
Ms Moggach, who lives in South End Green, was nominated for
best-adapted screenplay for the box office smash Pride and Prejudice
– but was edged out by Larry McMurtry’s Brokeback
Mountain.
Earlier in the day, Ms Moggach gave an “adapting classics”
talk in the Screen on The Hill cinema in Belsize Park, organised
by the Hampstead Author’s Society.
Ms Moggach said her task was to write a script for a new generation.She
said: “I think every generation needs a Pride and Prejudice.
Everyone still remembers the sodden sex god Colin Firth, who
is still palpitating female bosoms across the country. But I
think Matthew McFadden was throbbing with chemistry for Kiera
Knightly.”
The adaptation was criticised by purists for being too American
– and that the ending was far too jolly for Jane Austen.
But chicken fan Moggach, who keeps hens in her home and featured
them in the script, joked the onset of bird flu would give the
film a sense of tragedy.
She said: “The hens add profundity – everyone is happy
at the end – but the chickens won’t survive. It’s
jolly tragic.” |
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