Anton Corbijn has lined up his second film, an adaptation of A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, for Focus Features. George Clooney is attached to star. Rowan Joffe is writing the screenplay and production is targeted for the fall. The trades have described as a pretty routine story about an assassin nearing his last assignment and finding his personal life intruding on it, but then I went straight to the info on the book, and it sounds way more interesting. Here’s one of the book editions’ flap descriptions:
The locals in the southern Italian town where he lives call him Signor Farfalla – Mr. Butterfly – for he is a discreet gentleman who paints rare butterflies. His life is inconspicuous – morning spent brushing at a canvas, afternoons idling in the cafés, and evenings talking with his friend the town priest over a glass of brandy.
Yet there’s more to this gentleman’s life: Clara, the young student who moonlights in the town bordello, and another woman who arrives with $100,000 and a commission, but not for a painting of butterflies.
With this assignment returns the dark fear that has dogged Signor Farfalla. Almost instantly, he senses a deadly circle closing in on him, one that he may or may not elude. Part thriller, part character study, part drama of deceit and self-betrayal, A Very Private Gentleman shows Martin Booth at the very height of his powers.
I loved Control, the Ian Curtis biopic that served as Anton Corbijn’s directorial debut, and I can see Clooney sinking his teeth into a role like this. I predict something special from A Very Private Gentleman.
