Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Short description
Dr. Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist in London, is asked to assess a proposal from a wealthy Yemeni sheikh who wants to introduce fly fishing for salmon in his country's highlands. Jones dismisses the idea as scientifically hopeless, but the plan attracts the attention of a press officer for the British prime minister, who sees it as a useful distraction from more troubling news in the Middle East. Jones is pushed into taking part, working alongside Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, who represents the sheikh's interests. What begins as an absurd bureaucratic exercise becomes a personal journey for Jones as he is drawn toward the sheikh's vision and toward Harriet.
The film was directed by Lasse Hallström, the thirteenth of the twenty features he has made in chronological order, following Dear John and preceding The Hypnotist. Simon Beaufoy wrote the screenplay, and Paul Webster produced. Ewan McGregor plays Jones, Emily Blunt plays Harriet, Kristin Scott Thomas plays the government press officer Patricia Maxwell, and Amr Waked plays Sheikh Muhammad. The cast also includes Rachael Stirling and Catherine Steadman.
Released in March 2012, the film mixes comedy, drama and romance. Made for a modest budget of about 14 million dollars, it earned roughly 35 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from around 69,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 6.4 from about 974 votes. A critics' rating of 6.2 from 148 reviews places it a little below the IMDb audience figure and close to the TMDB one.
What's left behind the scenes
- In Paul Torday’s book, the main character was around sixty years old. Despite this, the producers initially intended to cast Ewan McGregor, who was not yet forty, in the role.
- Future director Lasse Hallström himself contacted the producers, informing them of his desire to direct the film.
- Filming took place in London, Scotland, and Morocco. Yemen itself was unsafe and simply closed to the film crew at that time.
- For filming, salmon was delivered in large tanks attached by ropes under military Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
- Working in Morocco turned out to be an extremely difficult and exhausting period for the film crew. An unprecedented downpour in the Atlas Mountains caused a flood that swept everything off the set in a giant wave. This happened again after a short time. Fortunately, both times it occurred at night, so there were no casualties. At the necessary moment, however, there was almost no water. In the scene where Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt bathe in the river, there was only 45 centimeters of water.
- The film is based on Paul Torday’s novel “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” (2006).
- The filmmakers carefully tried to smooth over and, where possible, eliminate the political content that abounded in Paul Torday’s book. The screenwriters and director consciously sought to avoid all such sensitive and problematic moments. This was done primarily to avoid a strong connection to a specific time period.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
