09/11/2007

Having abandoned the mega-production Pompei, Roman Polanski has decided to pursue his collaboration with British writer Robert Harris by adapting his latest novel Ghost for the big screen.

Produced by the director and his longtime collaborators Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, the film exploring the shady aspects of politics (with a central character who bears an uncanny resemblance to Tony Blair) and the war against terrorism is set to shoot next autumn.

Published last month, Harris’ novel centres on Michael James McAra, a ghostwriter of autobiographies for pop stars and sports celebrities. Asked by his editor to resume the memoirs started by a deceased colleague (who drowned), of retired British Prime Minister Adam Lang, McAra is faced with numerous difficulties: a 600-page volume, a powerful subject and a very tight publication deadline of what his editor calls "the first complete insider revelations by a leader in the war against terror".

As the book nears completion, McAra discovers that Lang is at the centre of an investigation by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, accused of having authorised the kidnapping and extradition to Pakistan by the special forces of four British citizens with suspected terrorist links, as well as having handed them over to the Americans for interrogation procedures akin to torture.

With political tensions at their height, the manuscript becomes an extremely coveted object and the writer discovers secrets that put his life in danger.

(Translated from French)