In conversation with: Don Boyd

Annabelle Law, Screen Editor, and Livvy Mason-Myhill, Deputy Editor, discuss the contents of talks by Don Boyd, and talk to him regarding his long career in British cinema

ON the 13th March, Don Boyd, an acclaimed screenwriter, producer, and director, gave a talk to students at the University of Exeter, giving them an insight into his work as an industry expert in the field of adaptation. Boyd is known for having worked on some of the most eminent adaptation in British cinema across the last 50 years.

Boyd began the talk by highlighting the importance of being faithful to the original piece that one is choosing to adapt within the film industry. He claimed that “fidelity seems to be a crucial reason to do the work at all. The last thing you want to do is ruin something the original works has presented”. He continued by explaining that there are various forms of adaptation for the cinema, and each has its own branding strategy, “the transition from a play or book to the screen, for instance. Both have their difficulties”. One of the main points made by Boyd regarding the adaptation process and the arguments of fidelity that come with it, is that “what you are ending up with adapted is a different phenomenon and can’t and shouldn’t be compared to the original”.

Another novel that Boyd was involved in producing the adaptation of, was An Unsuitable Job for a Woman in 1980. The writer of the novel, P.D. James, claimed that she didn’t want anything to do with the production process of the adaptation, yet she did want to approve of the director of the film. Chris Petit, the director of the film, used the adaptation “as an opportunity to have a philosophical look at the characters involved”. Boyd explained how Petit transformed the adaptation into “a very interesting, intellectual exercise”. He described that they had to show the film adaptation to P.D. James before it was released and “she absolutely adored the film” and she enjoyed the film as it was not her novel, and she explained to Boyd that they had used her novel in the best possible way.

Referring to his own novel, Margot’s Secrets, he discussed how he was asked whether he was going to have it made into an adaptation. At first, he said no to it being made into an adaptation, and he didn’t particularly want it to be changed too much, particularly with its locations. Yet, he renewed his options, and he was asked to write a screenplay based on his novel, which he said may currently be in the works.

revert to the original Shakespearean dialogue, despite being known for acting in many Shakespeare plays throughout his career. By using the plot and backdrop of King Lear, Boyd wanted to make the links to the original play apparent, integrating ideas that were clear in the play: “there was no pretence that I was trying to do Shakespeare”. The script of the adaptation was co-written by Boyd and crime journalist Nick Davies. Davies integrated his knowledge and research of crime into the script and “it was remarkable how easy it was that the Shakespeare characters fitted into the research that we had”.

During the talk, Boyd recollected some of his most memorable experiences whilst working in the film industry. He revealed that he was nearly convinced to write the screenplay for the 1993 film The Remains of the Day, adapting it from the 1989 novel of the same name. He stated that he enjoyed the book enormously and he was disappointed that he didn’t get to write the screenplay for that particular adaptation. Yet, he praised the screenplay of the film that was crafted by Harold Pinter, who he dubbed as “one of the greatest playwrights of all time”, describing his technique in the theatre to be “very space-economic language, quite political, very powerful, very simple, almost abstract”. When he was shown the script of the adaptation, there were no instructions at all which he recognised as something completely different to what most screenplays are like. What he found extraordinary about the screenplay was how Pinter managed to encapsulate the essence of the novel with just dialogue scenes, “extracting dialogue scenes and putting them into the screenplay”, whilst clearly altering the chronology of the original text. Boyd also emphasised that students should explore film history more, especially encouraging them to discover more films that were made between the 1940s and the 1960s.

The novel that Boyd was first involved in, in terms of adaptation, was written by Beryl Bainbridge called Sweet William. Boyd was the producer of the adaptation and whilst working on this project, he was introduced to the idea of the author of the original text being able to collaborate on the adaptation process, bringing their text to the screen. Bainbridge was directly involved within the process of adaptation, incorporating her own ideas of how she wanted certain scenes to be executed.

His approach to Shakespeare adaptations were also recounted. He referred to Derek Jarman who was an artist and filmmaker, “immensely supportive of the gay rights campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s”. Boyd expressed how he admired Jarman for his incredible artistic talents, “the foreground of iconic, classic artists that I was brought up on”. Jarman came to Don and told him that he was interested in creating an adaptation of The Tempest. Boyd worked as the producer for the film and Jarman “turned up with a script that was 35 pages long which was extraordinary. He had cut scenes from Shakespeare. But every single word spoken was spoken in Shakespearean dialogue”. Jarman had also explained to Boyd that he had researched John Dee, the famed Elizabethan magician, and thought that Shakespeare had possibly based the character of Prospero on Dee. Jarman’s adaptation of The Tempest was a punk recreation of the play, which Boyd depicted as “completely faithful to the play and I am very proud of it. It’s innovative and unusual”, adding that “Derek in some ways would change the history of British film with that adaptation as people saw Shakespeare translations as something that could be immensely cinematic and very amusing in its contexts”.

Another Shakespeare adaptation that Boyd talked about was My Kingdom, an adaptation of King Lear which he directed. He wanted to “find something to set in Liverpool in contemporary terms. Lear offers a very powerful opportunity to show a person who has power and loses it at the expense of the relationship with his family”. He transformed the character of Lear into a gangster in Liverpool and altered the genre of the original play. Boyd only used one sentence from the original Shakespeare play, making the film his own art form. He also mentioned that he cast the late Richard Harris as Lear and it would be one of his last roles that he played before his death. Boyd recollected that he would have to sit in Harris’ trailer every morning to go through his lines with him and Harris never once wanted to

“Two artforms that I have been involved in have been opera and classical music”. Aria was a multi-directional opera film that Boyd had produced. “Aria was tempted to do what Walt Disney did with Fantasia which was animated versions of classical music” and Boyd had pitched this particular idea, tailoring it to opera music. There were ten directors working on the film and with Boyd’s guidance, they were able to each create a scene using pieces of chosen opera music, having the chance to add their own artistic flairs to the film. “What was fascinating was that they all used the music in the way that rock music videos were done and saw it as an opportunity to create something cinematic from their own perspective”. The film was a massive success for Boyd, and it was used as the closing night film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Boyd collaborated once more with filmmaker Jarman on the production of War Requiem, another adaptation he produced. Within the film, the production team, including Boyd, agreed to the use of no sound effects or overlaid sound effects. With the film’s lack of dialogue, it acted almost as a silent film which Boyd regarded as “an interesting form of adaptation”.

When asked how he went about making a network in the film and television industry, Boyd answered that making contacts varied over his 50 years of his career. Also, when asked about the process of adapting and about how much of the original text he likes to consume, he answered that he enjoys engaging with the original texts greatly, explaining that: “it is important to know the writings and helps tremendously with research”. Boyd delved into his routine for writing; he indicated that if he is working with someone else on a project, he enjoys collaborating. His routine was described by him as “very disciplined indeed. What I need is time. Once I’ve written something I like to have a bit of time to allow it to be sort through”.

Further, we also inquired about the filmmakers and film movements that inspired Boyd at the start of his career. Boyd responded enthusiastically, and shared the movements that influenced him, “the great Italian film directors of the post-war era”, as well as the “New Wave French directors of the 1960s”. Which in his opinion, “optimise the twentieth-century era.”

We also had the opportunity to ask Boyd about his experience in writing beyond the screen, regarding his novels, to which Boyd responded that, “I’m not a novelist, but I enjoy writing them”, joking that, unlike screenplays and films, “You don’t have to get a whole bunch of people to write a novel.” Boyd spoke about his time in lockdown, which he used to pursue his novelistic ambitions. However, ultimately Boyd states his profession is, “to direct films, produce them, and write them”, as he has done throughout his career. Continuing this line of questioning, we asked if Boyd had always been a storyteller, to which he replied “I’ve always written, and I’ve always liked to collaborate.”

At the end of the talk, Exeposé had the opportunity to converse with Boyd and conduct an interview about his professional career, passions and projects. When we asked, what made you want to get into the film industry in the first place? Boyd replied that he wanted to express himself with cinema, and “integrate” his “passions in that medium”. Boyd reminisced on how he “fell in love with cinema” at a young age, and wanted to create films like the ones that inspired him.

Additionally, we asked Boyd about his collaborations with novelists from whom he makes adaptations of their work. He responded passionately that, “I enjoy it hugely”, stating that his most recent collaboration with a young Portuguese female writer has been “one of the happiest experiences of my professional career.” And that concerning these projects, he doesn’t trust himself enough to carry out the project alone, “I like to have it all interrogated by somebody else.”

Finally, we asked if Boyd had any advice to offer budding screenwriters who want to go into the film industry. Boyd’s answer was short, sweet and to the point: “If you’re passionate about it, never give up.” An optimistic message of perseverance for filmmakers everywhere.

Exeposé would like to thank Don Boyd for this interview, and are extremely grateful for his time.

EDITORS: Annabelle Law and Madison Sohngen