Filth Director To Tackle Ivanhoe

Irvine Welsh is best known for his stories of modern, urban depravity, and he's not the first person I'd think of for a medieval adventure with Knights, horseback adventure, shiny silver armour and an abundance of classic heroism. Nonetheless, that's where he'll be setting his compass next, teaming up with Jon S. Baird for a film of Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Baird previously directed a film of Welsh's Filth, and the result is probably the best, all-round adaptation of the novelist's work. They can walk in step these two - apparently even when the beat of the walk is as unexpected as this. In Deadline's story on the project, this is being called a "bold adaptation," which seems to imply harder-edged than previous film versions of the story. But you can't take the story of Ivanhoe and rough it up too much without changing its meanings and effects significantly. Maybe that's what Welsh and Baird intend. Perhaps they're going to take the simple story shape and remove the romance, change Wilfred of Ivanhoe himself from thoroughly decent fellow to tortured soul. It's not a bad idea, but I'd like to know more about where they'd take this. It's early days yet, so expect to hear more on Ivanhoe over the coming months, maybe years. I'll be listening closely for clues as to what this bold new take entails.