On Chesil Beach is the latest Ian McEwan novel adapted for the big screen. What makes them so irresistible for filmmakers?

• Published in: The Independent (Online)
• Main Author: Bradbury, Sarah
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: London Independent Digital News & Media 16.05.2018
• Subjects: Craig, Daniel; Cumberbatch, Benedict; Film adaptations; Finney, Albert; Gainsbourg, Charlotte; Gerwig, Greta; Hopkins, Anthony; Knightley, Keira; McAvoy, James; McEwan, Ian (1948- ); McGregor, Ewan; Michell, Roger; Mirren, Helen; Motion picture directors & producers; Ronan, Saoirse; Schlesinger, John; Screenplays; Thompson, Emma; Walken, Christopher; Watson, Emily; Writers; United Kingdom > UK; Chesil Beach

From Roger Michell’s 2004 interpretation of 1997 novel Enduring Love to Joe Wright’s 2007 Oscar-winning adaptation of 2001’s Atonement (featuring “that green dress”), Ian McEwan’s vivid depictions of passion and intimacy, trauma and tragedy, and the complexity of human relationships have long been capturing the imaginations of both readers and cinema-goers alike. Rupert Everett, Christopher Walken, and Helen Mirren in Paul Schrader’s Venice-set drama The Comfort of Strangers (1990); Anthony Hopkins in John Schlesinger’s dark The Innocent (1993) set in 1950s Berlin; Charlotte Gainsbourg in Andrew Birkin’s The Cement Garden (1993) based on his very first, macabre novel, and Ewan McGregor in Denis Lawson’s Solid Geometry (2002), adapted from a short story in First Love, Last Rites. Enduring Love (2004) launched Daniel Craig onto a career path that led to James Bond notoriety, while Atonement confirmed Keira Knightley’s place as the English Rose of cinema and James McAvoy as a prime UK export.