![]() But his screenplay is grown up, it’s mature. It doesn’t usually happen as easily as that. The film came together extremely quickly as Frears comments: “Nicholas must have been amazed as we all just turned up and said yes – me, the producers, Meryl and Hugh. I heard the real footage of her singing on YouTube and it was gobsmacking and I just started to laugh! The recording is so hilarious and dreadful, but also touching and so affecting.” It was a good story it had good relationships and good jokes – what more do you want? There is a famous recording of her and I was told that back in the 60s people used to play it at dinner parties. “It was witty, entertaining and interesting. “I read Nicholas Martin’s script and thought this is good fun,” says Frears. It’s often the case with good material that the film comes together quickly.” So we sent it to her agent and she came back quickly and said she wanted to do it. We had to get someone who she was likely to want to work with and Stephen embodies that having worked with many of the grandest dames of cinema – Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and so on – and I thought if he said yes we would have a reasonable chance. The thing I most admire about Stephen is that he never repeats himself so every film he does is a new adventure, he’s always pushing forward to do something different and that’s very admirable. He said right away that he would do it if Meryl would do it. “I couldn’t imagine anyone but Meryl Streep playing the part of Florence, so the next thing was to ask how would we get to Meryl. “When you read a script you’re looking for something that’s different and emotionally satisfying and I thought this was a mixture of funny and touching,” explains the producer. The appeal of Martin‘s screenplay was immediate for Michael Kuhn. He is currently working on Muriel and Mr Gandhi, a film script about Gandhi’s visit to London in 1931 to attend the Round Table Conference. His television credits include Between the Lines, Big Bad World (which he created) and Midsomer Murders. He wrote extensively for TV before writing Florence Foster Jenkins for Pathe. Nicholas Martin worked as a journalist, contributing to The Sunday Times, The Guardian and various magazines, before graduating from the National Film and Television School as screenwriting 1992. It was a miraculous moment in my life! We had to wait for her to be available but that gave us time to really work on the script and made it much much better.” When Michael rang me and said, congratulations you’ve got your movie I knew what he meant immediately. I knew she loved music and I knew she loved iconic characters and I had a hunch she would go for it. ![]() I said only one person can play Florence and that’s Meryl Streep, otherwise, we might just as well go home. “A friend told me producer Michael Kuhn knew a lot about music so we sent it to him. ![]() Six months after beginning his research, Martin had a screenplay. They apparently nearly died laughing as the evening was so brilliant and bizarre! But did Florence herself know how she really sounded? That‘s for the audience to decide.” She gave 1000 tickets to her Carnegie Hall concert to the war veterans and many of them had the time of their lives. “She also introduced a lot of very wealthy people to the world of music and persuaded them to contribute financially to the support of music in the city. “Florence was a significant character in art and music in New York during the Second World War and she gave a lot of money to support the arts, including the provision of musical instruments to underprivileged children” explains Martin. With the accompanist Cosme McMoon, the trio became the centre of New York’s artistic society, first with her eccentric Tableaux Vivants – which always featured Florence as the central artistic muse – and later with her infamous musical recitals. Clair Bayfield, whose diaries revealed his deep love for Florence despite living with another woman. Researching into the life of Jenkins, Martin was struck by Florence’s astonishing force of personality – “She was like the sun at the centre with all the planets in orbit around her” – and by her relationship with her “husband”, St. It was then I realised the story of her journey to performing at Carnegie Hall would make a compelling musical film.” I kept going back to listen to it and wanted to find out about her life. “I was struck by the sincerity of her voice and I found it very moving, very funny and very sad. “I heard a song on YouTube,” says the writer. It was the glorious chasm between Florence Foster Jenkins’ self-belief and her startling failings as a singer that immediately hooked writer Nicholas Martin. The real-life Cosme McMoon and Florence Foster Jenkins
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