The film of David Almond’s novel Skellig premieres on Sky 1 this Easter
David Almond
There are some stories that appear at just the right time to be welcomed into the public’s arms, loved by all who read them. In some instances this merely shoots them onto the bestseller lists; other times it results in constant reincarnations of the work, transforming a novel into a radio play, a stage play, an opera and a film.
The latter is what’s happened to Skellig, the haunting children’s book by David Almond.
With an all-star cast including Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Tim Roth in the title role, plus Trainspotting’s Kelly MacDonald, Son Of Rambow’s Bill Milner, and Life on Mar’s John Simm, the film will be screened on Sky 1 this Easter.
“In any adaptation what happens is somebody takes your story and if they’re good, they show it back to you and you say, ‘Oh yes, that’s what I was writing about.’ They tell you something about your own work. It begins as your creation but then it’s recreated, it’s transfigured,” David says.
But it’s always a moment of trepidation when you discover who will be playing the character that’s lived inside you head for so long.
“When I heard Tim Roth was going to be playing Skellig it gave me a little frisson. I thought yes, perfect, perfect piece of casting… He was talking about being a tramp, but a tramp with wings – he grasped that duality right from the start.”
David’s debut novel Skellig won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread and has been published in over 30 languages. The novels, stories, films and plays that followed have brought popular success, widespread critical acclaim and a string of international awards.
David says: “Skellig just came to me as I walked along the street. It draws on much of my own life - things from my childhood such as my sister’s death and my mother’s arthritis. It’s set in a house in which I lived; it’s influenced by many of my favourite authors. But somehow all of the influences and inspirations had been working without my conscious knowledge, and when the story began it often seemed to write itself.”
Shortly after publication, it was turned into a radio play for BBC Radio 4. It became a stage play, first performed at London’s Young Vic, directed by Trevor Nunn and with David Threlfall in the title role. In 2008 it became an opera, with music by the American composer Tod Machover, and with Omar Ebrahim singing Skellig.
“Each of these adaptations transfigures and recreates the mysterious tale that came to me as I walked along the street,” says David. “In Skellig one of the characters says, ‘There’s no end to evolution. We have to be ready to move forward. Maybe this is not how we are meant to be for ever.’ This thought applies to stories as well as to humans. Stories evolve and grow and develop different forms. On the page, they can look fixed, perfect, almost untouchable, but that’s an illusion. They have wings and they can fly.”
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I have been a fan of the book skellig since I was at school, and I’ve always enjoyed reading it as one of my favouite books.
But as I sat down to watch the film verson of it i was totally disappointed at the film and its choice of the Skellig character. In the books it decribes him as being a thin skeleton like man hoodled up in a corner for the shed.
I feel really let down by the film after all the hype that has surrounded this film for weeks now.
There are only a few good points about the film it’s self, one of which is for the choice of the actor that played the young boy. He is extremely talented and play his roll perfer!
I just feel really let down cause it hasn’t live up to the book at all.