One Day Review

Sorry about the delay, as promised I will review the film One Day although before I do I’d just like to say I hope you don’t mind the slight tangent to my usual posts but I figured that as the film is based on a best-selling novel I can just about justify talking about it on a blog about writing…

Let’s face it: there has never been a film that has quite equalled the standard of the novel it was based on, be it anything from Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient to Stephen King’s The Shining, even to the Harry Potter series. That’s not to say these films are bad; they can be enjoyed thoroughly in their own right, it’s only when compared to the book that they seem to lack some of the author’s original power. The same I think can be said for the film adaptation of One Day. Of course the film could never include all the little details that make the book so emotive and leave you feeling that you know Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew as well as some of your closest friends, yet I think that director Lone Scherfig has done a better job than most could at making a thoroughly enjoyable and utterly devastating film. Yes, I cried. A lot. It is true that Anne Hathaway’s British accent leaves a little to be desired, not due to it being too American but simply because she can’t seem to decide where in Britain she’s from, but I think this can be easily overlooked, and I thought her performance as Emma was very good – she conveyed the combination of a lack of confidence yet a strong will that Nicholls’ original character had, and had good chemistry with Jim Sturgess. Sturgess also gave a great performance as the obnoxious yet vulnerable Dexter, and he managed to prevent Dexter from being too dislikeable, something which is no mean feat at many times throughout the story. Finally I thought that Scherfig added some great touches, for example I liked the way the dates fitted in with the rest of the scene (you won’t know what I mean unless you’ve seen it) and there were some very moving scenes with Dexter towards the end where we understood his pain without him ever stating it out loud. So yes, overall I would thoroughly recommend this film, although don’t compare it to the book (saying that, please do read the book first, it’s brilliant!).

Keep it Rio,

Zoe

One Day to remember…

Aware that there might be some sort of preview of One Day at Westfield Shopping Centre yesterday, my friend and I headed over there to do a bit of shopping and see if we could get tickets. As a slightly obsessive fan of the book, I was keen to see the film as soon as possible. We arrived at the cinema to find it closed off and it soon transpired that it was in fact the European Premiere of One Day going on later that day. We joined the surprisingly small number of people waiting around the pink carpet, purchased two copies of the book (with two different covers) and proceeded to wait the next few hours as the area got steadily fuller. Shortly before the 5.15 starting time we were joined by my friend’s brother who had the American version of the book.

Then the excitement started. All those of us with books (i.e. the true fans) were ushered into the circle in the middle of the pink carpet and as the stars began to come out, we had prime position for autographs. Celebrity guests included Jonathan Ross and family, Dermot O’Leary, and most of the cast of Made In Chelsea. Then of course there were the stars of the film itself, and I was proud to secure the autographs of Jim Sturgess (Dexter Mayhew), Jodie Whittaker (Tilly), Georgia King (Suki), Lone Scherfig (the director), and most excitingly for me, David Nicholls himself. Those of us in the inner circle were then informed that there were several tickets remaining. Near the back of the queue we doubted our chances but as the security guard held up the last three I pretty much threw myself at him and that is how, wearing no make up and practically in tracksuit bottoms, I went to a movie premiere.

Stay tuned for a review of the film itself, I thought I’d do that in a separate post…

Keep it Rio,

Zoe

Back in six

It’s been a while since I wrote anything; that much is clear. It is for this reason that the Daily Post’s latest offering appealed to me: Write a story in just six words. It seems like the perfect opportunity to practise a bit of creative writing but without the need to develop too far. And so, without further ado, here are a few of my efforts:

He said goodbye, but no-one heard.

By chance, they shared a smile. 

She stood on the balcony, waiting.

Glass crunched under foot. Blood ran.

The crowd swallowed her up. (Wow, only five!!)

There aren’t words to describe this.

Okay that’s six – seems quite neat so I’ll leave it at that…

Keep it Rio,

Zoe

Long time no post!

Okay, so the Post a Day thing hasn’t really worked out due to internet access issues etc. and I kind of feel that I don’t have a right to display the postaday2011 badge on my blog  any more…

But anyway, I will try to blog more about research etc. in the coming weeks although I currently don’t have that much to say other than that I’m still alive 🙂

Keep it Rio

Zoe

Night Time

Due to the lateness of the hour and my current tiredness, I’m keeping it simple but appropriate with some nice night-time pics of London and Rio.

Big Ben at Night

City of London at Night

London Eye at Night

Rio Carnival at Night

Rio de Janeiro at Night 1

Rio de Janeiro at Night 2

Rio de Janeiro at Night 3

Português: a língua do Brasil

The title of this post probably makes no sense at all as the only Portuguese speaker I know is Google Translate, who may be always willing to help but is rather unreliable, but despite this minor setback, I have decided that it would be both interesting and possibly even useful to learn a bit of Portuguese as part of the research side of my book. I think today I’ll stick with palavras básicas (basic words) so here are a few:

yes = sim

no = não

thank you (very much) = (muito) obrigado/a

you’re welcome = de nada

please = se faz favor / por favor

excuse me = com licença

hello = olá / oi

Goodbye = adeus, tchau

Here is a video that helps with pronunciation (the Brazilian way of course!). The words I’ve used aren’t quite the same as the ones in the video, just to make things more interesting of course 😀

Enjoy…

Keep it Rio

Zoe

Resourcefulness

Obviously I am attempting to immerse myself in Rio life in order to make my book work, and this has involved looking out for great resources that are available on the internet. Here the best I have found that really give you a feel for Rio life:

• 
• 
• 

Check them out, they’re all interesting and each show a slightly different side of Rio and Brazil.

Keep it Rio

Zoe

Post A Day

In order to keep up my blogging momentum, I have decided to undertake the challenge of posting at least one blog a day for the rest of 2011. It’ll be difficult but hopefully the Daily Post will help for inspiration and I’ll be able to keep it up 🙂

Keep it Rio

Zoe

What I’m picturing

I imagine Milo and Paulo to live somewhere like this.

The City of Rio

Say olá to my characters

Right, so I think the most important thing to know about what’s in my book so far is the characters. The book takes place partly in Rio and partly in London, i.e. there are two different storylines going on at the same time. I think I’m going to have each chapter from the point of view of a different character although I’m looking for advice about this and will have to try it out to see if it works…

So anyway, here are the main characters:

Rio de Janeiro

Milo is twelve years old, a stigmatic (for more information on this, check out the Wikipedia article), and initially the main character of the book, although I have decided to change this and give all main characters a more or less equal role. He lives with his brother and mother in a favela (shanty town)  in Rio. His family is very poor and Milo often turns to his strong faith to get him through difficult times.

Paulo is seventeen years old and desperate to escape from the poverty of the favela. He has lost his faith due to the apparent futility of his life, and also due to a secret he is yet to share with anyone. This desire to escape explains why he finds it so easy to lie to the public later on, when Milo and his healing powers become more well-known.

Carolina is the boys’ mother and although resigned to her own fate still believes that her sons can acheive greater things in their lives.

London

Lucy is a working mother whose four year old daughter Juno is recently comatose due to a car accident that was partly Lucy’s fault. She persuades her husband to give up his job to care for their daughter as she cannot take the guilt of knowing that it was her fault but soon discovers that she can no longer cope with working life.

Andrew is Lucy’s husband, and although he hasn’t voiced it, he has a feeling that his daughter’s current state is partly his wife’s doing, a suspicion that begins to eat away at his trust in his wife. For the moment, it seems that there is little hope of saving his marriage or his daughter.

I need as much help as I can get with these characters, so feedback is more than welcome…

Keep it Rio

Zoe