The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film

By Richard E. Grant

Book Overview

A personal diary that charts the ups and downs of the making of "Wah-Wah," Richard E. Grant s debut directorial film, this memoir captures the work behind this labor of love and the realization and fulfillment of a dream come to life. As writer and director of the autobiographical film Grant provides fascinating insight into the intrigues and agonies he encounters while filming, as well asa deeply moving portrait of his childhood and his love affair with Swaziland, where he was born and brought up during the last throes of the British Empire. From never-ending financial pressures and hostilities with producers to the nerve-racking quest to persuade the King of Swaziland to grant permission to film in his country and the handling of a stellar castwhich includes Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, and Julie WaltersRichard E. Grant has detailed, with characteristic humor and charm, the daily operations behind the creation of a major motion picture."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330441965
• ISBN13: 9780330441964
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.1" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Highly entertaining and yet personal at the same time

Richard E Grant continues with his journalling during the making of Wah Wah. Written in the same witty style we see in With Nails, it features frequent snippets of hilarity about the sometimes ridiculous situations he found himself in. That the movie was also his own story gives it a very poignant touch.

Fast-paced, funny and thought-provoking

Richard E Grant wasn't just making a movie - he was putting his whole early life on film with Wah-Wah, which made the trials and tribulations of getting it made even more gut-wrenchingly personal. With great honesty and not a little humour, Grant takes us through the six years it took to get funding, lose funding, get actors, lose actors, and finally conquer an absurd obstacle course to get his film made and distributed. Grant writes well and wittily, at furious pace, does a courtly minimum of name dropping and delivers a slim book well worth reading by anybody interested in how creative ideas actually turn into real projects.

Splendid book about the making of a wonderful movie

This movie-director's diary of the filming of Wah-Wah should be read only by fans of the movie itself -- it would make little sense to others. The movie of course is brilliant, and if you haven't seen it, by all means get hold of it right away. If you love it, then get this book next, which reveals the struggles that go into creating a film that works on you as this movie does.