POWER OF PROSE
British producer inspired by Alastair MacLeod’s writing
Alastair MacLeod story headed for screen adaptation.
When Rupert Clague first read Alistair MacLeod’s “Island: The Collected Stories,” he knew he had to make a film about it.
The dual Canadian-British film producer was on another island — Iona, Scotland —on a rainy day when he decided to read MacLeod’s acclaimed book.
“I didn’t get up until I was finished, such was the power of his prose,” said Clague, 27, in an email interview.
“Since then, I have been in love with his writing and have read his short story collections and his novel several times. Most of all, I have dreamed of making his short story, ‘In The Fall,’ into a film.”
It now appears Clague’s dream will become a reality.
A crowdfunding page, https://www.indiegogo.com/ projects/in-the-fall-short-filmcanada-literature#/, has been set up seeking £15,000 and so far they’ve reached just over 20 per cent of the initial goal.
Clague and director Tom Gentle, 28, will be basing the short film on MacLeod’s story, “In The Fall.”
“We have a script in place and excitingly have acquired the rights from the MacLeod family estate,” said Clague. “Conversations have begun in earnest regarding cinematography, casting and production design. Tom recently returned to Glasgow from the Hebrides where he was scouting locations, and of course, we have been enjoying really digging into Alistair MacLeod’s material.”
Clague says the focus will be on doing justice to the piece, which will be set in Scotland. The story was originally set in Cape Breton but Clague feels it will work just as well in Scotland.
“We are both longtime fans of Alistair MacLeod’s work, which speaks for itself. At times it comes closer to poetry than to prose, and is inimitably beautiful. There is the influence of (Ernest) Hemingway and (D.H.) Lawrence, and resonances with (Michael) Ondaatje.
“Despite numerous attempts, there are no notable screen adaptations of his work. ‘In The Fall’ is undistilled MacLeod; his subject and style in its purest form.”
Clague was born in Ontario but moved at age seven move to the Isle of Man. Upon graduating from King’s College London and the University of California, Berkeley, he began his career in documentary film and television. He now works as a freelance producer/director for both the BBC and Netflix, and runs his own small independent production company, Handsome Beast.
Gentle was born in southern Scotland and has lived there for most of his life. He graduated from the University of Kent School of Arts, and since then, has made three short films and a feature length documentary.
His first short, “Lost Girl,” was selected for London Short Film Festival and Amsterdam Lift Off Festival, and his feature documentary, “Uhuru,” had its worldwide premiere at San Fransisco Documentary Festival. His latest short, “Blindsided,” has just begun its festival run. Gentle founded Gentle Giant Productions in 2012.
Although born in Saskatchewan and spending much of his life in Windsor, Ont., MacLeod is generally considered to be a Cape Breton writer since he wrote about Cape Breton and spent considerable time here. He died at age 77 in 2014.