book to film – Pilgrim

Pilgrim by Timothy Findley


WHAT IS IT

The tale of an man who has lived forever and cannot die, no matter how much he may want to. Admitted into a Swiss insane asylum after his latest suicide attempt (failed, of course), the man, known only as Pilgrim, is submitted to evaluation by Carl Jung (yes, this character is based on the actual real-life Jung). Is Pilgrim really an immortal being who is wearying of his endless life … or is he just fucking nuts?

WHY IT WOULD KICK ASS ON THE BIG SCREEN

This would make one helluva character drama, and you can just imagine the nominations they’d hand out to whatever talented actor could pull off the Pilgrim character. Hell, even Jung could make it for a supporting character nomination. The interplay between the two is wonderfully interesting, and the stories we’re told of the past lives of Pilgrim are so fantastic (did you know the Mona Lisa is actually a portrait of Pilgrim? and when it was stolen from the Louvre, that was just Pilgrim sneaking in to grab what he considered his.) There’s even a subplot about a married Jung fooling around with various nurses.

WHY IT’LL NEVER SEE THE INSIDE OF A THEATER

Well, first off, I bet nobody’s ever even heard of this book. It’s a little hard to adapt something you don’t know exists. Secondly, the book is pretty hefty. It would take some major paring down to fit the story into a manageable movie length, and I just don’t see anybody tackling that beast anytime soon.