MILCH TO FILM UNFILMABLE FAULKNER

William Faulkner, who knew a thing or two about turning other great writers’ novels into movies (he wrote the 1939 screenplay for Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and the 1944 screenplay for Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not), will have some of his own works developed into movies for HBO. As part of a deal between David Milch, creator of NYPD Blue and Deadwood, and the Faulkner estate, an undetermined number of Faulkner’s novels and short stories will be adapted into feature films and TV series for the pay-TV channel. In a statement, Milch said, “As we embark on this ambitious project, our first commitment is to serve the material, and we look forward to identifying and collaborating with the best screenwriters and filmmakers to help each of the pieces find its ideal form onscreen.” The project will be challenging. At least one critic has observed that Absalom, Absalom, widely regarded as Faulkner’s greatest novel, is unfilmable. His reason: “It’s Rashomon as told by a long-winded schizophrenic.”