"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. I'm stupid about executions. The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick, and that's all there was to read about in the papers - goggle-eyed headlines staring up at me on every street corner and at the fusty, peanut-smelling mouth of every subway. It had nothing to do with me, but I couldn't help wondering what it would be like, being burned alive all along your nerves.
I thought it must be the worst thing in the world.
New York was bad enough."
Thus begins The Bell Jar, a novel whose film adaptation Julia Stiles will star in and produce. Sylvia Plath's 1950s-era drama centers around Esther Greenwood, who - while spending a summer in Manhattan - grows troubled and eventually descends into mental illness, attempting suicide several times. She likens her depression to being trapped under a bell jar, struggling for breath...this is a dark novel, exploring the dark side of the human psyche. Yet according to Variety, Stiles wants to make the film...lighthearted, and keep focus on the more uplifting elements. Celine Rattray, of Plum Pictures (attached to produce the film with Stiles), says "Esther Greenwood has a strong outlook on life, and we're really looking to bring out the humor in the character. We don't want to do a depressing descent into the world of suicide."
Emo bands need not apply for the soundtrack! While we're curious about how one makes electroshock therapy and attempted suicide uplifting, news of this adaptation is more depressing than the novel itself.
Filming will likely start early next year. To get an idea of Stiles as a producer/director, check out her short film Raving (also produced with Plum Pictures) at the Tribeca Film Festival, which she wrote for Elle magazine's film series. It stars Zooey Deschanel, and will also air on May 8th on the Sundance Channel.
Photo of the 1979 adaptation of The Bell Jar.
