As faithful followers of this blog should know by now, the
Worm has an intense affection for the William Faulkner novel The Sound and the
Fury. Not only did he review it some three book-reading seasons ago, and not
only did it win the (slightly) prestigious Read of the Year award, but the Worm
gave it the singular honour of being the only book reviewed twice on the pages
of this very blog. Therefore, it has been with trepidation that the Worm has received
the news of a modern day film adaptation of the book.
The person at the helm of this project is James Franco. Okay,
not so alarming. But also appearing are Franco’s comedy-buddies: Seth Rogan and
Danny McBride. Now the alarm bells ring. Pineapple Express 2? With news that
both Rogan’s and McBride’s roles are “cameos” should soften the blow somewhat. However, there is the possible annoyance that one of the major roles is to be filled by Franco's younger, less-talented, more-annoying brother (watch one of the final painful episodes of Scrubs for evidence).
Of greater concern is Franco’s own role: that of Benji
Compson. Any reader of the novel may have concocted an image of a larger male
in the role. Whilst readers and fans of the novel will be aware that large
chunks of the text is completely un-relatable to the movie screen, due to the
vast time shifts within the heads of the central characters (particularly Benji
and Quentin).
Is this Franco’s shot at Oscar fame, ala Forrest Gump – or,
as is more likely, a bomb at the box-office? The Worm reserves his judgment
until watching the movie. But he holds little hope for what has been proclaimed
an un-filmable (in some cases, unreadable!) novel. Good luck, Franco. You’ll
need it!
Read up on Franco's movie here
Read the Worm's previous reviews of this fantastic novel here and here
