Writer Roddy Doyle has recalled how his work on the screenplay for one of his most celebrated books, The Commitments, was nearly overlooked in a situation he says could have left him very “embittered”.
“There was a disappointment with The Commitments — the way it was co-written — and how that aspect of it was handled, because when I looked at the final script it had Dick and Ian’s names on it but not mine,” he said, referring to British writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who were brought on board to help with the project.
“Then when I read it I realised, actually, I had written a considerable part of this and I had to fight for my right. Not too long, but it could have been embittering, you know?
“It wasn’t, but it was a lesson learned. And I just thought, ‘I never want to learn something in that way again’.”
The documentary series will focus on the stories, themes and characters of Doyle’s three award-winning books, which are all set in Dublin.
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It features many of the cast and crew from the trilogy, including Colm Meaney, Glen Hansard and Brendan O’Carroll, as well as the casting directors, John and Ros Hubbard.
The series also pays tribute to The Commitments director Alan Parker.
Parker, who died last July, asked John Hubbard what he thought of actor Robert Arkins for the part of Jimmy Rabbitte, the band manager. Hubbard said he was “insecure and unfocused”, to which Parker said: “That’s why I’m going to use him.”
Ros Hubbard said: “That’s where Parker’s genius came in. He would use the things he saw in people and let them be themselves.” He knew “that was the magic”.
However, not everyone has fond memories of the director.
Hansard, who played guitarist Outspan Foster, said: “There was a moment with Alan when he pulled me aside and said something really rude to me, like really awful.”
The singer and frontman of The Frames continued: “It was the first Frames gig and, unfortunately, there was just a simple clash of dates and I was like, ‘I’m not skipping this gig’.
“Everyone in the cast and crew came to the gig, and the next day we were back shooting the film.
“At the very end of the shoot, he took me aside. He said ‘on every film I do there is one’ — and he said a word that I won’t repeat — but he said, ‘And I didn’t think it would be you’. I was shocked and, for me, it kind of soured my experience.”
Hansard also described how money became a contentious issue among the actors.
“One of the things that causes trouble, whether you’re a band or an acting group or whether you’re all working in an office, is when people are on different amounts of pay,” he said.
“That’s one of the things that would have created a weird dynamic, and I think it was almost played up a bit.”
The film version of The Commitments gained cult status and went on to win several awards, including
BAFTAs for Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film and Best Editing.
It made more than $12m (€9.9m) at the box office.
Sharing his thoughts on the film, Doyle said: “It’s weird when something has been in your head and suddenly it has been assembled by several hundred different people’s heads.
“So in a way, for the first while, it took me a while to get used to the look of the film. I settled into it pretty quickly. I felt it captured the spirit of the novel really well.”
The three-part documentary ‘Back to Barrytown’ begins tonight at 9.30pm. RTÉ One will air ‘The Commitments’ next Saturday after the Eurovision Song Contest final and ‘The Snapper’ the following Saturday at 9.30pm.