The first two images from James Franco’s upcoming film, Child of God, arrived online Tuesday. Both images show the film’s lead character, Lester Ballard, who is portrayed by Scott Haze.
Child of God is based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name. The story details the life of a man who lives in the wilderness of Tennessee during the 1960’s. The narrator of the story describes Lester Ballard as “a child of God much like yourself perhaps.” Deprived of parents, a real home, or any other such ties, Ballard becomes a particularly violent man who descends into madness, committing gruesome acts. It’s reputedly one of McCarthy’s creepiest and nastiest stories, and that is saying something.
James Franco directed and co-wrote the film. This is his fourth project as a director, and his second adaptation of a major critically-acclaimed novel. He also directed and starred in an adaptation of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Parrack had major roles in the film, and have returned to play roles in Child of God.
Child of God is set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Originally, Franco was intending on adapting McCarthy’s magnum opus, Blood Meridian. However, after difficulties in pre-production, he switched over to do Child of God instead. I actually think that’s a much better fit for him. People have been trying to adapt Blood Meridian for decades now, but it’s yet to come about, and the story is particularly challenging. I’m sure that Franco has some chops as a director, but I wouldn’t want to see a relative rookie handle such a big, important story. The images here do look good, especially the creepy one where he’s behind the fence. You can see in his eyes that he has some appetites the normal man does not.
What do you think about the new images? Does this make you more interested in seeing the film? Why don’t you just tell us what you think in the comments below?
Source: Rope of Silicon
