Mysteries of Pittsburgh movie trepidations
Bookslut points out a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story saying that the Mysteries of Pittsburgh movie might not be shot in Pittsburgh. That’s crazy. Pittsburgh used to be where people shot movies because New York was too expensive. And they just have to get the real Cloud Factory in there. When I read about that place, I knew exactly where it was; it’s a little factory in the ravine behind the Carnegie Library, and I used to park near there on Friday mornings in high school when I had that internship at Pittsburgh Filmmakers (just two years after TMOP was published, though it seemed like such a longer span of time then). I’ve had so many “Pittsburgh moments” within a quarter mile radius of there, I would just be personally wronged if the film Cloud Factory were in British Columbia.
But. What possibly irks me more is that the screenplay apparently munges the characters Cleveland and Arthur. That’s just not right. It’s been a while since I read it, but if I remember correctly, the two really kind of need to be distinct. Cleveland is an unschooled live-fast-die-young Neal Cassidy type. Arthur is a sassy, articulate gay bookstore co-worker of the hero (not really Allen Ginsberg-like, but let’s go with the parllel). The young hero is still figuring himself out and is attracted to both for different reasons, and that’s kind of a major part of the novel.
Oh, and it’s directed by the guy who did Dodgeball. What’s up with that, Mr. Chabon?
April 25th, 2006 at 11:29 am
I have the same fears about a cinematic M of P. What I don’t get is that Sienna Miller is apparently cast as Jane, not Phlox. So, if you merge Arthur and Cleveland, how exactly does Jane fit into the puzzle? Or has Phlox been written out too and what you’re left with is a triangle of Art/ArthurCleveland/PhloxJane?
Which would completely gut the book. I mean, if you’re going to film the movie in Louisiana, and get rid of Cleveland and Phlox, why not title it Cajun Love Triangle Movie.
I’ll probably just skip the film and re-read the book.
October 7th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
First of all, I consider myself THE #1 “Mysteries of Pittsburgh” fan, and somehow I only JUST learned about this film adaptation… which I’ve been waiting for since 1993 when I first read the book. And I am SO angry about it, I want to cry.
Who does this director/writer think he is, CHANGING the story? I read in article that he got into filmmaking so he could one day make this movie (because of his love for the book) and then he combines Arthur and Cleveland into ONE character! What the f***!? (And why is Peter Saarsgard playing the role when he’s clearly 10 years too old?)
I checked out the official website and watched the behind the scenes footage. The director’s wearing a Tigers cap and tossing a football around like some Total Jock. Doesn’t look like a true Mysteries fan to me! (And his comment about “the gay sex comes later” slightly offended me. Not to mention the thought of Art Bechstein having sex with Cleveland…Dude, it would NEVER happen!)
All I can say is, I got my MFA in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon (right behind the REAL “Cloud Factory,” where it doesn’t look like they’re actually shooting) just so I could one day adapt this wonderful novel into a film…Which is EXACTLY what I will do, once this so-called version miserably fails.
I could go on and on…