Reading between the lines.

I've heard this before. Andrew Davies setting scenes in the Bennet girl's bedroom, imagining what the women would talk about out of earshot, externalising privacy, expanding character, giving back story, helping the audience to understand the people and their motivations, to empathise.

It's discussed again in reviews about the recent TV series adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, Anne with an E which visualises a darker element to the story; her memories from the orphanage of beatings, violence, abandonment and loneliness. For Allison Keene, a self-proclaimed die hard fan, writing for COLLIDER its desire to reveal more of Anne’s miserable past in order to be more true to what the desperation of an orphan is like feels at odds with Montgomery’s story.

But Sophie Gilbert, re-reading the book as an adult, was surprised at the bleakness of the early chapters (...) so Moira Walley-Beckett isn't exactly inventing darkness for the story so much as reading between the lines. Gilbert refers to the new adaptation of the Handmaid's Tale aswell, to show that there's real opportunity in being able to flesh out intriguing characters and their histories when faced with the challenge of filling up to 13 hours of TV from a book, but staying true to the basics of character and plot.

I like this idea for inclusion within the research about creating a cinematic inner voice for Cécile.

I am also intrigued by the idea of adapting Bonjour Tristesse into a TV series, and what would be gained from this in terms of character, tone and plot.