The American director Wes Anderson presented his adaptation to the short film of The wonderful story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl at the Venice Film Festival and opposed a rewrite of the Briton’s books that would remove terms considered offensive.
“If you ask me if Renoir should be allowed to retouch one of his paintings, I’ll answer no. I don’t even want the artist to modify his work,” said the American director, who received an honorary award.
I understand the motivation [de la suppression de mots comme “gros” ou “fou”, NDLR] but I am one of those who think that when the work is finished, when the public interacts with it, they know it, then it is over,” Anderson added in response to reporters.
“And no one who is not an author should alter someone else’s book: he[Roald Dahl]is dead”, concluded the filmmaker.
Four adaptations of Dahl
His 40-minute short features Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel and Ralph Fiennes in the story. The wonderful story of Henry Sugarwhich tells the story of a man who learns to see without eyes.
“It’s more of a little theatrical performance that we found a way to film,” explained Anderson, who has directed four short Netflix adaptations of the author, with the same actors. He had already adapted Dahl in 2009 with the animated film fantastic mr fox.
In February, the announcement of a watering down of new editions of Roald Dahl’s books to remove terms considered offensive on topics such as weight, gender, race and mental health sparked outrage. The British publisher finally announced that it would continue publishing the original versions in a special collection.
Source: BFM TV
