David James Duncan and the Driftless Area

An interesting post today on MidCurrent via Moldy Chum regarding David James Duncan's comments about The River Why. The difficult legal wrangling between the author and the film makers has been well covered. Duncan released a statement on the film now that it is making the rounds on the film festival circuit.

The most interesting part of the statement (at least to me) was not the "heap of canned cool whip" line but the fact that David James Duncan was unable to view the film (and he has decided against viewing it) because he was off fishing in our very own Wisconsin Driftless area. He commented:

"...When the film arrived at my home I happened to be on the road, filling a gap between speaking engagements by fishing the Driftless region of Wisconsin with my musician friend, Jeffrey Foucault. ... I happened to be catching one spring creek brown trout after another on blue-winged olives amid a deafening choir of ecstatic redwing blackbirds. And when, that evening, my friends phoned to tell me their reactions to the film, I was sitting on a porch sipping Maker’s Mark, listening to Jeffrey’s stupendous music, live, watching sandhill cranes, bald eagles, and Amishmen in horse-drawn buggies pass by in the river valley below."

Hmm. Mr. Duncan seems to have captured the beauty of our little corner of the fishing world. When in doubt - go fish. I need to find some of those brown trout, watch some of those eagles, and maybe even sip some Maker's Mark myself. Paradise really is just down the road.

Tight lines amigos,

Trout Buddha

The River Why - Making the Rounds

The Trout Buddha is a bit late to this discussion but many a fish blog this week are discussing the premiere of The River Why. It is making the rounds through several film festivals this month. It will be shown in Ashland Oregon this Friday as a special preview and "thank you" showing followed by the world premiere next week in Dallas. Future stops are scheduled for Athens Ohio and the. I hope they have some success and can secure distribution. As a lover of this book I am curious to see it on the big screen. The dispute and difficult history of the film adaptation of David James Duncan's wonderful book was discussed on this site (and many others) last March. The subsequent out of court settlement will prevent Duncan's name being associated with the project. Too bad because he deserves a greater reading audience (e.g. The Brothers K is equally amazing). Fly fishing - like everything else these days - could use an economic boost. A lovely film with a beautiful young lead actress might just be the ticket. Increased spending on the sport equals increased monies for fisheries and habitat work. What ever it takes.

Tight lines Amigos
I'll see you at the movies (or maybe on the stream)

Trout Buddha

Another Big Screen Fly Fishing Flick?

I know I am late to this conversation as other bloggers have discussed the controversy and, to some degree, the measure of excitement for the movie version of David James Duncan’s The River Why. Outside magazine recently ran an article discussing the movie, contentious issues, and recent court settlement. When I first heard about the controversy surrounding the film (movie rights, who is writing the screenplay, who works with who, money, law suits, money, et. cetera) I had to own up so something few fly anglers who fancy themselves remotely literate would admit: I hadn’t read the book. What a wonderful read. Family, community, youth, rebellion, coming of age, love, fishing, God, the list goes on and on. I wish I had read it when I was 18 but then again maybe my middle aged life view made me love it even more.

David James Duncan now holds a special place alongside Harry Middleton, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Edward Abbey, William Kittredge, Sherman Alexie, and plenty of others whose words I read with awe.

As for the movie, it would not be the first time that an author has wanted to distance themselves from a film version of their work. It would also not be the first time that the movie turns out to be pretty good. Time will tell. Early indications are that, at the very least, it will be a great looking film. Impossible as it may sound, it may be best to view them as two entirely separate works of art. The last time a fly fishing movie took off lots of money found its way to fly shops, fishing guides, and equipment companies. As great as that would be in this economy, what we really need is money for licenses, trout stamps, and conservation projects. They all go together. So despite my love of total privacy on my local streams, a few more anglers – young ones to boot – could only help the cause.

Trout Buddha

Just for fun – Check out this Powell Books interview with David James Duncan from a couple years ago.

PS - The Buddha predicts that Amber Heard who plays Eddy in the movie will send many a man to the stream looking for their own fly fishing goddess.