So this time through rereading The Curse of Chalion it occurred to me that Ian McKellen would be perfect to play Umegat, the old groom/priest/saint/troublemaker. I found myself going over his dialogue in McKellen’s voice, trying different ways he might say the lines. He really is an obvious choice.
I couldn’t cast the rest of it in my head, though. Caz is thirty-six but looks older, and for most of the movie is either injured or ill. He has action movie moments, but mostly it’s romance and intrigue. Brad Pitt? Angus Mcfadyen? I think of Caz as a Jean Reno type, actually, although of course Mr. Reno is far too old. Jason Statham has something of the look, if I thought he could carry off the romance.
And besides, it would make a terrible movie. Once I had Sir Ian in mind, I started thinking about how it could be adapted, and the answer is, very badly indeed. There isn’t any way to cut enough of the thing to fit under three hours, simplify the remaining enough to make sense, and have it be any good at all. You would be forced to take out almost all the best scenes. You might even lose Umegat altogether. Which throws my self-entertainment off a bit, you see.
Now, it could possibly be done as a miniseries. Six hours, or eight. I don’t have any real sense of how long that is, in plot time. You could leave in some of the plot strands, anyway.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.
Is Curse of Chalion the “It’s okay to molest people in comas, but only if you’re the protagonist” book? I can’t keep them straight.
That’s the second one, the Paladin of Souls. Although, to be fair, when she
molestsexamines thecomatoseensorcelled man, there’s some sort of reason for it, other than that he’s cute and all.Oh, that’s right. The Bastard told her to do it. So the lesson is more “It’s okay to molest people in comas, if you are doing so in accordance with the dictates of your Gd, as you understand them.”
I still like the book, though.
Thanks,
-V.