Friday 21 September 2012

The Movie Maker with Cassandra Rose Clarke


As part of The Assassin's Curse tour, I am really pleased to welcome Cassandra Rose Clark onto the blog to discuss her possible cast  should her book ever be made into a film. 
I adore films as much as I do books.  The two forms of media scratch different itches for me: both transmit stories and human experiences, but books do so though the beauty of language and the poetry of thought, whereas movies revel in auditory and visual beauty.  I’m actually one of those weirdos who will cheerfully pay twenty dollars to see a movie in an IMAX theatre, just because I love being completely subsumed into a movie’s world.
So as you might imagine, I’m jumping at the chance to write a post about a movie version of The Assassin’s Curse
The director is a pretty easy choice for me: Alfonso Cuaron. He’s directed some amazing and utterly devastating adult-oriented movies, like Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men (one scene in the latter had me weeping uncontrollably). However, he also directed the third Harry Potter film and was responsible for the shift in tone that transformed those movies from a nice Christmas divergence into something more sinister and adult, befitting the rising threat of Voldemort in the story arc.  And his adaptation of A Little Princess was one of my favourite films as a little girl (before I even had any concept that movies were made by directors).
One of the things Cuaron does so well in both Harry Potter and A Little Princess is balance the human element with a pervading sense of magic. The magic feels not only integral to the world, but realistic, as if it could be a part of our world too. He can also direct a killer action sequence, but he’ll make you cry as you’re watching it. I would love to see how he would approach the characters and events in The Assassin’s Curse.
Next, it’s time for casting, which is a little trickier. I’m not as up on actors as I am on directors, but I’ve got a few choices I think would work.
For Ananna, I would cast Keisha Castle-Hughes, who played the main character in Whale Rider. While she doesn’t look exactly how I picture Ananna (Ananna’s supposed to be fairly curvy), she’s still quite close, and she would do a great job capturing Ananna’s no-nonsense personality.
Naji was a lot tougher. When I was writing the book, I kept picturing Oded Fehr, who’s perhaps most well known for a role in the 90s version of The Mummy. So he has the right look, but he’s about thirty years too old for the part! I would actually love to hear people’s suggestions as to who they think would make a great Naji.
Marjani, however, was a super easy choice: Rutina Wesley, who plays Tara on True Blood. She’s got the same mixture of intelligence and toughness that I imagined in Marjani.
For Tarrin of the Hariri, I’d probably go with Gael Garcia Bernal, because he’s sufficiently dreamy. He’s also pretty good at playing a jerk. That’s Tarrin!
Finally, I thought I’d take a look at some potential location options, if only because location and setting was such a huge part of the book. Here are some of the major ones:
Lisirra:
Ghardaia, in Algeria
The River Canyon:
Bryce Canyon, in Utah, USA
The Isles of the Sky:
Pacific Northwest rain forest
So there’s the framework for my dream Assassin’s Curse movie.  Maybe someday I’ll get to pay twenty dollars to see it in IMAX!
I get the impression Cassandra might have really enjoyed writing this ! Thank you Cassandra for a brilliant post.

The Assassin's Curse is published on the 2nd of October by Strange Chemistry. To read one of the first reviews, please click here. 
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As part of The Assassin's Curse blog tour, Cassie is offering up a one-of-a-kind signed and annotated copy of The Assassin's Curse - a copy where she's marked out her favourite scenes, given added extras, and drawn pictures. Because there is only one of these and a number of blogs doing the blog tour, one person from each blog will be chosen to enter a draw where Cassie will pick the overall winner. So if you would like to be in with a chance of winning this very special copy of The Assassin's Curse, then please leave a comment on the post about this book or concerning Cassandra's chosen cast, director or settings and your name may be chosen to enter the final.  This will close at midnight tomorrow - 22nd September. 
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To find out more about Cassandra Rose Clarke:
Twitter: @mitochondrial

11 comments:

  1. OhGodOhGodOhGod! Most of the dream casts are exactly like I pictured the character while I was reading this! Except I imagined Naji looks somewhat like Taylor Kitsch. Hihi.

    Anyway, here's the most uncanny thing. Because The River Canyon picture looks like it came straight from my head during Naji and Ananna visit to Marjani's place. Deja vu!

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  2. What an amazing cast list. I don't normally go for men with facial hair but I'd make an exception for Oded Fehr.

    Loving that book cover, it reminds me of the Ali Baba And The 40 Thieves book I had as a girl.

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  3. Awesome choices! I'm so looking forward to this book! Thanks for the awesome comp !

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  4. The setting in the Utah canyon would be so beautiful.

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  5. I love the cast and can't wait to read the book!

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  6. i love the cast and can't wait to read the book!

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  7. Love this cast list! I adore this book! It's one of my favorites of the year. I'll admit that I requested it because of the cover, but ended up loving it! Thanks for the post! :)

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  8. The dream cast looks absolutely amazing!! And the places look so beautiful. I can't wait to read this book! And I just love the cover so much. Thanks for the amazing giveaway :)

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  9. Definitley, I hope someone picks up on your ideas. I'd love to see this one on the big screen.

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  10. Great cast! I especially like Rutina Wesley and the scenes depicted.

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  11. The Assassin's Curse sounds so sooooo gooooood! I have read many reviews of this book and they are all very positive. I can't wait to get my hands on it!
    Oh and by the way...terrific cast! Thank you for the lovely post! :D

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