Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng’s award-winning novel The Garden Of Evening Mists is getting a feature film adaptation, reports Variety.
Jointly produced by HBO Asia and Astro Shaw, the film will star Malaysian actress Lee Sin-je (The Eye), Japanese actor Hiroshi Abe (Godzilla 2000) and Taiwanese veteran actress/director Sylvia Chang in the leading roles, along with British actors David Oakes and John Hannah. The movie will be directed by Taiwan’s Tom Lin (Starry Starry Night, Zinnia Flower).
“The Garden Of Evening Mists is a profound novel, showcasing such beautiful cultural complexities which captivate the heart of its readers,” head of Astro Shaw Najwa Abu Bakar said in the Variety piece, which also reports that principal photography will begins at the end of this month, and that the film is supported by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS).
The Garden Of Evening Mists is about Teoh Yun Ling, a retired judge and former prisoner of the Japanese during World War II who later served as an apprentice to a Japanese gardener named Aritomo. Now in her 60s and suffering from aphasia, she decides to return to Cameron Highlands to visit Yugiri, the titular garden of evening mists, to tend to some unfinished business.
Lee Sinje will be starring in the adaptation of The Garden Of Evening Mists. Photo: The Star/Shaari Chemat
In an interview with The Huffington Post in 2013, the 45-year-old Penang-born author said, “The Garden Of Evening Mists … it’s exactly what it says it is. There’s a garden and it’s in the mountains (the Cameron Highlands, specifically) so it gets misty. It’s not false advertising.”
Tans’ second novel, The Garden Of Evening Mists was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2012 and won the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize. He also has the honour of being the first writer from outside of Britain to win one of its highest literary awards, the Walter Scott Prize For Historical Fiction in 2013.
His first novel, The Gift Of Rain was longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize.
