So for a film version...

For discussion of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel Lilla Stjärna
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lombano
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So for a film version...

Post by lombano » Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:15 am

Totally hypothetically, as I at least certainly will never have any say in the making of any film, but what would you want t see, who would you want to direct it, act in it, etc?
I would want a film version to do away with the 'red smoke,' as it would be had to convey that on film while keeping the book's ambiguity, also it would be a distraction.
And I think the girl in the following (with a few cosmetic adjustments regarding hair, etc) would, at least when she's a little older, make a good Theres:
I'd thought of a younger Saoirse Ronan as Theres, but she's too tough-looking for the role I think.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by Bustedstuff15 » Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:05 am

I think she would play an awsome Theres. Thats kind of how I pictured her. I agree with doing away with the smoke. I also think you would have to cut out a big part of both girls background. As important as it was in the book it just would be too much in a movie. Obviously I would want TA to direct it but thats just me being a dreamer haha.

Although it would be interesting I dont see this ever happening. This is one of those books that should stand by itself. I dont think you could convey Theres and Teresas characters accuratly through a movie. I feel as though it would end up being like the movie Carrie except with a few show tunes thrown in :D
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by danielma » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:43 pm

This is going to be a long one folks

See this is hard...because after I was done with the book, I started thinking how a film version would work.

I think with any film adaptation, it’s all about stripping the source material to its core story and working from there

For instance

Let the Right One In at its core is a macabre love story between two outsiders
Handling the Undead is about people dealing with Death
Harbour is about a Father reaching into the other side to find his daughter

With Harbour, I have an idea how the core story will at least play out in film. With Handling, I also have an idea how it may play. But with Little Star, well due to the nature of the story, I’m still trying to figure out what the core story would be to strip it down to.

My first thought was you could probably remove There’s backstory all together. You could focus on Teresa as the main character and her coming into contact with Theres. But then I thought no that wouldn’t work as you need to really establish Theres and not only her talent but also her idiosyncratic ways. That and the idea of leaving Theres and Jerry a mystery comes a little too close to Film Hakan and Eli…where it’s a mysterious guy living with a strange young girl.

Then I thought well okay, what if we cut down on Teresa’s backstory. But then that contradicted with the thought of “Well if you remove Teresa’s backstory then you cheapen the moment of her killing Johannes” and so it became apparent that I think both Teresa and Theres backstories are important and shouldn’t be diminished. The backstories establish who those characters are and without them, I would be hard pressed as to how it would work.

Then I thought, well what if we remove the other girls and have the focus primarily on the friendship between Theres and Teresa. But then I realized that if you get rid of the other girls then you probably would have to get rid of one of my favourite scenes being the burial ritual. Not to mention the end massacre would not work solely with Teresa doing the deeds on her own, you need the other girls in that scene.

With Harbour, I at least know of the stuff you could cut and still get to the core story. But with Little Star, I’m hard-pressed to think “what would you cut that would still tell the core story and feel true to the story?” Because let’s face it, that’s what most film adaptations are all about…about getting it down to the core story and removing a lot of the side trimmings that work in a book, but won’t necessarily fly in a 2 hour film.



I don’t know, the more I’ve thought about it, the harder it gets to think of this condensed into a film…I loved every detail in this book and it would be a shame to see any of it cut. But I must say, there were many moments in the book where I was visualising scenes in my head just because of how vividly detailed they were.

For instance, when Johannes ends up with his Girlfriend (I can’t remember her name right now), I started visualising that whole sequence as a montage set to Bright Eye’s “First Day of My Life” and I started visualising exactly how it would play in my head. Or when Teresa kills Johannes, I actually worked out how I would shoot it and make it work. I would shoot it so we never see the hammer connecting with Johannes head. I’d shoot it from a wide shot with Teresa leaning over him smacking him in the head, but there would be a couch blocking the view of actual contact (we’d only see Johannes legs as they are thrusting and shaking)…we’d see Teresa striking the hammer, we’d hear the sounds of the hammer connecting…but never actually see the contact. Then the scene would close with the camera tracking Teresa as she walks out of the apartment in silence with blood stained on her shirt. As she is walking to an elevator, we’d get the voice over of Teresa reading the final note they send. The voice over hits the final lines as she walks into the elevator and the door closes…cue Abba’s “So I Say Thank You for the Music” as we enter the epilogue.

As far as visual style? I’d shoot it in a surreal manor. Honestly, whilst reading the book, I felt the film belonged in a very surreal dream world. Well not a David Lynch surrealism, but a hyper view of the world…like it’s not quite reality based…it could take place in reality but there is almost something a little surreal about it. For instance, you could do something really exciting with the burial scene in regards to Teresa. I’ve always felt that in the book, the burial scene is meant to be the birth of Teresa’s split personality being Urd…where the death of Teresa came with the death of Johannes…the birth of Urd came from the burial scene…whilst reading that scene…I got really excited as to what someone could possibly do with this scene on film
While reading the book, I definitely thought about these things.

There are so many scenes in this book that I did think off from a cinematic stand point that I just thought “Wow, someone could do something really freaking spectacular with this book”…but the overall narrative is where I’m stuck…because I honestly look at that book and think “every detail in it is not only wonderful but kind of necessary to the story and its characters, and it would be a dis-service to cut some of it”

But enough prattling about my own vision for it.

Directors who I would want to tackle it (Dream Directors I’m talking about, honestly I would want to see this made in Sweden with a Swedish crew and director…but these are just dream directors)

Lynne Ramsay – She really impressed me this year with “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and there is apart of me that would love to see what she could do with something like this

Susanne Bier – Once again, impressed me immensely with “In a Better World” and would be an interesting choice

Park Chan-Wook – There are elements of the book that I would really like to see through the eyes of Park Chan-Wook…I think he could do something really interesting with it

Darren Aronofsky – Came to mind with the Burial Scene…I honestly think that Burial Scene holds a lot of potential to be something quite interesting in a film version.

David Cronenberg also came to mind
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by Nightrider » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:02 am

Then I thought, well what if we have the focus primarily on the friendship between Theres and Teresa
Well, this is the step in the right direction. Screenplay should have the two girls as the core of the story. How they came into the world, how they grew up, their families, ETC....This would lead to their inevitable meeting and their "friendship". Everything else should be pared down just a bit so that two hour movie could be a real possibility.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by lombano » Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:07 am

Bustedstuff15 wrote: I think she would play an awsome Theres. Thats kind of how I pictured her.
When I saw her, I thought she'd be brilliant as Theres - conveys the right mixture of vulnerability, otherworldliness and being sinister.


The focus would have to be on the two girls - I think Teresa's childhood would have to go, her knowing Johannes from childhood would have to be implied somehow. Laila and Lennart's backstory would have to go, as would Jerry's girlfriend and backstory. The other Wolves could stay, as very little background is given on them anyway. Theres' childhood would have to be boiled down to how she was found, that she was raised in the basement, and what she was told about the Big People eating the Little People.
Alternatively, you could pick one of the girls to be the protagonist, keep her background, and minimise the other girl.

Also, about directors, Werner Herzog, given what he did in Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Woyzeck, with portraying descent into madness and, in the latter, the effects of a crushing lack of dignity, etc, would do something good with LS. Susanne Biers would also be a really interesting choice.
Last edited by lombano on Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by Bustedstuff15 » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:43 am

I really feel as though you could sum up Theres's back story in about 10 minutes, maybe as the opening credits are rolling. More than that I feel would be too big of a stretch.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by lombano » Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:14 am

Bustedstuff15 wrote: Although it would be interesting I dont see this ever happening. This is one of those books that should stand by itself. I dont think you could convey Theres and Teresas characters accuratly through a movie. I feel as though it would end up being like the movie Carrie except with a few show tunes thrown in :D
I've not watched Carrie, but my understanding is that it's essentially a revenge story, which LS is not. I think it could be made to work, by focusing on the psychology, on character development.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by gattoparde59 » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:20 pm

I could easily imagine this being a Japanese production. I think the Japanese would really eat this stuff up. I guess the Japanese come to mind because the main characters are little girls.

I'll break open the story and tell you what is there. Then, like the others that have fallen out onto the sand, I will finish with it, and the wind will take it away.

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Re: So for a film version...

Post by Nightrider » Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:44 pm

gattoparde59 wrote:I could easily imagine this being a Japanese production.
That is actually a pretty good idea. Japanese cinema can get away with a lot more explicit stuff than just about any other film industry in the free world.
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Re: So for a film version...

Post by let me out » Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:54 am

i picture theres as that ''susie salmon girl'' from the lovely bones

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