Salmon fishing in the Yemen
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:date: 2016-10-12T11:30:00
:category: faith
:tags: review, film

Most films are just faint shadows of what the original book was, 
but in case of “Salmon fishing in the Yemen“ it is more true than 
it is convenient. My story with this story started by reading
`the review by Roger Ebert`_. I left the reading of the review
with a mixed feelings. On the one hand obviously Roger pointed
out flaws which were real. On the other hand, comments on the
review are firestorm of criticism explaining that Roger
completely missed the point of the film, and he is also factually
mistaken in couple of points.

In the end I was so intrigued by the review and its comments,
that I have watched it myself. I liked both main actors (Emily
Blunt and Ewan McGregor), but I was sorely disappointed with the
script. So, I wrote this comment:

    […] I saw the movie, and I have to say it was a huge
    disappointment. Yes, pictures were nice, but still it seemed
    awkward … like the original idea of the movie is “how to get
    Arabian sheik fishing in Scotland into the movie?”.

    But more disappointed I was with the plot. My hope with the 
    British movies is that they are not always completely 
    stereotypically made by the Hollywood template (I love “The 
    Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain”, for 
    example, and not only because of its name), but this was 100% 
    boilerplate … “Guy meets girl; both of them kick off their 
    current friend/spouse for no particular reason, and they love 
    each other for ever and ever”.

    What if something was different than the boilerplate? Couple
    of ideas. What if Robert actually did die (sealed coffin not
    to show just the pieces returning from Afghanistan would look
    lovely) and Harriet actually went through real mourning? Or
    what if the movie ended á la “Once” … “I actually care more
    about my marriage! Yes, I need partner in rebuilding the
    project, and she is my wife!” (she was some kind of manager
    as well, wasn't she?) or “F**k the sheik!  I want to be
    fisher expert on fish in Le lac de Genève and try to rebuilt
    my marriage again”. There are many options how not make movie
    boring, but they just went cheap way for the boilerplate.

Then I read the book. And I was surprised to find that its author
was actually closer to some of the points I have suggested than
the script writer. Yes, the Robert (and many others) in the book
actually did die, and no, Alfred and Mary did not get divorce,
and no, Albert and Harriet don’t fall into each other arms in the
end. Although, the result is a way more complex (and better) than
what I was suggesting.

Also, the business of film making and cynicism of it:

    The screenplay for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was written by
    Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel by Paul Torday. Beaufoy
    acknowledged, “I just love adapting material that allows room
    for creativity and allows room for me to be very present in
    the process, I suppose. Sometimes when you’re adapting
    something classic and famous you have to adopt a different
    attitude, to something like Salmon Fishing where it had such
    an unusual narrative and such an unusual structure, that you
    got quite a free reign [sic] to do interesting things with
    it.” [#]_

Couldn’t Beaufoy see that he sounds *exactly* like Peter Maxwell
when looking at the farmed salmons and not recognizing between
fake and the real thing? That what he actually said was “Who
cares that the author won awards for this book, I know better,
I won’t follow the story of the book, and write my own trash
instead!”

So much for the obvious problems with the film. However, there 
is more. The thing missed in the same manner by Roger Ebert, 
director Lasse Hallstrom, and especially Mr. Beaufoy, is that the 
book is not a comedy at all. Mr. Ebert for example was bitterly 
disappointed that Kristin Scott Thomas’ person was the only 
comical figure in the film, and he seemed to me really 
preferring the film be kind of remake of “Four Weddings and 
a Funeral”. Yes, it is a satire, but I don’t think it was meant 
to be any more funny than satires like “Graduate” (the book) for 
example (or Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver's Travels”). Fuel for the 
book seems to me more passionate dislike for the likes of 
Alastair Campbell, rather than effort to make readers laugh.  
Also, Peter Maxwell in the book is a way less funny than 
Ms. Thomas in the film, he is more disgusting than anything 
else.

Now from complaining to the really positive part of the book 
(which was mostly missed by the film). The book is actually 
mostly about faith. Not exactly the religious kind, more faith is 
put in salmons (and only indirectly sheik mentions Allah), but it 
is one of more `authentic expressions of faith`_ I have met in 
a long time.

.. [#] Quoted by Wikipedia_ from the interview at `The Film Stage`_

.. _Wikipedia:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_Fishing_in_the_Yemen

.. _`The Film Stage`:
   https://thefilmstage.com/features/interview-salmon-fishing-in-the-yemen-writer-simon-beaufoy-talks-adaptation-process-the-hunger-games-more/

.. _`the review by Roger Ebert`:
    http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/salmon-fishing-in-the-yemen-2012

.. _`authentic expressions of faith`:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXjzwZnzvkc