Almost all of Chuck Palahniuk’s works begin at the end, and end at the beginning, if you catch our drift. Think “Fight Club,” for instance, - the way the main story is told in flashback by a narrator with a gun in his mouth.
It’s a framing device also found in the great author’s 2002 novel “Lullaby,” a novel which (very broadly) follows the quest to destroy every copy of a dangerous book. If anything, actually, it’s probably more pronounced a literary flourish in “Lullaby” than anywhere else, as narrator Carl Streator alternately details his present situation while also explaining the events that got him to where he is.
If director Ulf Johansson has his way, though, that framing device will be absent from the “Lullaby” film adaptation., Palahniuk told MTV News.
“We got really loaded at the Soho hotel in London and talked about [the movie]. [Ulf] wants to get rid of the flash forwards but that’s my favorite thing about the book,” Palahniuk asserted. “As far as I’m concerned it’s not settled, but we’ll see.”
Actually, what’s really not settled is the identity of this mysterious Ulf Johansson figure. There are a few Ulfs on Imdb.com (and a few Rolfs), but nobody who has the film experience you would associate with someone adapting a Palahniuk novel.
“He’s a Swedish man, Ulf Johansson,” Palahniuk said. “His grandfather was a famous actor who was in all the Bergman movies.”
Indeed, there was a famous actor Ulf Johansson who was in a bunch of Bergman movies. Why isn’t his grandkid on the internet?
He could be on Mars, frankly, and it wouldn’t change that he’s got a major talent lined up to star as Carl, Palahniuk insisted. Just no fair asking him who.
“He has an Academy Award winning actor connected to it who is going to play the male lead but they wont tell me who until they announce their production start date,” Palahniuk said. “They’ll have their financing completely in place by October.”
For those who’ve read the novel, is removing the flash-forwards a good or bad idea? And who would you like to see star (Phillip Seymour Hoffman?)
And Ulf? Get in touch my friend.
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