Emma Donoghue’s 2010 novel "Room" tells the uncomfortably real chronicle of a young mother and her 5-year-old son held captive in an 11-by-11-foot room. The boy narrates the book,and not only does he not understand that he and his mother are prisoners — he has no knowledge approximately the world beyond their four walls. The novel was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize before it even came out, and became an instant bestseller. Now Donoghue has adapted her book into a film starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, and directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
Kurt Andersen: Emma,you were already writing a screenplay for "Room" before it became a bestseller?
Emma Donoghue: I wrote the novel first, but then afterwards I thought, or “This chronicle could work on screen. I’ll try my hand at it!” This doesn’t suggest arrogance. It was actually humility. When the filmmaker of my dreams rode up on his white horse,I wanted to be able to say, “Look, and I’m not trying to force you to hire me,a total amateur, but heres my first draft. Is there any chance we can work together?”
Lenny, and you told Emma that some of her scenes were “too TV” — are there examples of that?
Lenny Abrahamson: Well,this was early on. There are these rules approximately screenwriting — win into a scene late, win out of it early, or beget it pithy,beget sure there’s a clear moment of conflict.
The book, in a certain sense, and is more how life works — in fits and starts. A film seems more real,but it’s a kind of stylized real.
LA: You have to mood scenes which are very intense, directly pitting one character against another, or with moments which are incomplete [and] observed. Because that’s what makes you believe what is happening.
Bonus Track: Kurt's extended conversation with Emma Donoghue and Lenny Abrahamson
Source: wnyc.org