Kazuo Ishiguro

From Kazuo Ishiguro's October 2000 interview with Linda L. Richards at January Magazine:

Remains of the Day was made into a very successful movie. How did you feel about the film that resulted?

I felt very happy with the movie of Remains of the Day. Initially I had these classic misgivings of the author seeing his work being turned into film. In the rushes I'd think that a door in the room was in the wrong place. I'd say: No, you've got the whole room the wrong way around. Start again. [Laughs] It kind of underlines that a book must be different to everybody who reads it. Because, of course, I haven't described anything.

Like where the window might be.

Yeah. I have a very particular set of ideas about what's happening. Everybody else who has read the book must have a slightly different idea, because Jim Ivory [the director] making the film had another way he saw it. That was very interesting. But I rapidly got over that. Partly because it was a very authoritative film. I found when I watched the film as a whole it took me over pretty rapidly. I stopped doing this thing of: How are they going to do that scene? How are they going to do this scene? I actually started to get into the blood of the movie, almost to the extent that I forgot that I knew the story already.

Was that exciting for you?

I'd tried not to see too many rushes. I just saw a tiny little bit out of curiosity and then I stopped, because I wanted...[read on]

Kazuo Ishiguro is Jed Rubenfeld's favorite writer.

--Marshal Zeringue