As I Lay Dying
It’s always exciting when a filmmaker tackles a book that was previously dubbed as “unfilmable.” Whether they succeed or not isn’t as relevant as the fact that there’s usually some innovative attempts to overcome the challenges that are presented by the format of the source material. When they do succeed though, well that just makes it all the more worthwhile.
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying has been called unfilmable, mostly because of its many-narrator format, but that hasn’t stopped James Franco from taking it on. Franco shot last year in Canton, Mississippi, a couple hours from Oxford, where Faulkner made his home. The novel, while not my personal favorite, is regarded by many as Faulkner’s best, so if for nothing else, this movie should be seen for that reason.
Franco is an interesting filmmaker, doing more things that strike me as peculiar than promising, but there’s no denying he has talent, and he brought in quite the skilled cast for this one. Ahna O’Reilly, Logan Marshall-Green, Richard Jenkins, and Tim Blake Nelson will all show their faces here. It’s a great story of a family and their quest, and it should definitely be worth your time.
Those are our picks for movies to see in September. Which ones will you be checking out? Let us know in the comments section below.Â
