"Fathers and Sons" is a timeless portrait of complex male friendship, intergenerational conflict and finding your place in the world… or not. The novel is not an epic, nor a buttoned-down chamber piece. It is an intimate, psychologically astute drama, and I want to carry that feeling across to the adaptation by making the world feel lived-in, worn, with dirt under its fingernails.
For me, the heart of the story is the friendship between Bazarov and Arkady, which falls apart because Bazarov sacrifices happiness for principles and Arkady sacrifices principles for happiness.
The story is built on contrasts like these. It arrives at a higher, dialectical truth because it sees the value in both views – exploring the different wisdom and folly of its young and older characters. Capturing this fine balance has been a crucial part of the adaptation, and I’ve paired it with a vein of contrasting imagery, running throughout the script, to reflect the idea cinematically.
"Fathers and Sons" explores ideas within an overgrown countryside landscape, but remains anchored by the bonds of family and friendship between its characters – some wrenched apart, some changed by the simple, disruptive moment of two young men returning home.
Bazarov never quite fits into the world of the film, though, and he is a great tragic figure because of this. An angry young man born at the wrong point in history, he is doomed because he will not compromise. His story feels timely when viewed in the context of today’s young generation, who have been denied a full scope of opportunity and are searching for new ideas.
Developing my adaptation, I wrote two treatments: one true to the novel and one set in modern-day Britain. I chose the period setting, but added to it the modern sensibility I had explored in the contemporary version.
By taking a modern view on the peculiarities of the period, this adaptation adds a tragicomic perspective to Ivan Turgenev’s timeless story, and gives Bazarov’s doom a bitter edge.