Oscar winning screenwriter Peter Straughan on how to adapt a novel for the big screen and Movies That Changed Your Life: Cool Hand Luke, Barry Lyndon, Fargo

3 FILMS THAT HAVE IMPACTED EVERYTHING IN YOUR ADULT LIFE: A Britflicks Podcast with screenwriter Stuart Wright

Join screenwriter Stuart Wright as he dives into movies that changed your life with Oscar winning screenwriter Peter Straughan in this engaging episode of 3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life. Explore a Cool Hand Luke analysis, the Barry Lyndon impact, and Fargo influence on our personal growth and cinema’s transformative power. Peter also discuss how he adapted the Robert Harris novel CONCLAVE for the big screen. Through personal biography and storytelling, discover how these three films shaped some Peter’s life, perspective and film fandom.

Movies That Changed Your Life

Uncover how to adapt a novel for the big screen and the lasting impact of cinema with Stuart Wright’s movie podcast.

How do I adapt a novel for the big screen?

[0:00] How Peter Straughan adapted Robert Harris’s novel CONCLAVE

Cool Hand Luke Analysis

[22:09] Peter Straughan shares how Cool Hand Luke (1967) showed him a different kind of storytelling from Hollywood. One that was no longer simple and black and white in terms of what happens to and who is the hero.

Barry Lyndon Impact

[27:54] Peter Straughan shares how Barry Lyndon’s impact (1975) was through introducing him to the power of fixed framed shots and the strange kind of tonal shift storytelling that he hadn’t seen before where a film starts out as a comedy and slowly darkens into something much more serious.

Fargo Influence

[33:53] Dive into Fargo (1996) and learn about how the Coen Brothers were a huge influence on Peter Straughan when he started writing films.

Key Takeaways:

- Discover how movies that changed your life shape personal and professional growth.

- Learn how to adapt a novel to the big screen

- Understand cinema’s transformative power through Barry Lyndon and Fargo

- Full show notes and transcript:

About the Guest:

Peter Straughan is an English screenwriter. He won two BAFTA Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Conclave (2024), with the latter he also won the Academy Award in the same category in the same year.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music: *Rocking The Stew* by Tokyo Dragons (⁠https://www.instagram.com/slomaxster/⁠)

Written, produced, and hosted by Stuart Wright for [Britflicks.com](⁠https://www.britflicks.com/britflicks-podcast/⁠)

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