The author of “The Rabbi’s Cat” is working on the first screen adaptation of the book by Céline, a writer criticized for his anti-Semitic writings.
The cartoonist and filmmaker Joann Sfar is currently “working” to bring the novel to the cinema Journey to the End of the Night by Céline, for which he acquired the adaptation rights from Gallimard, he told AFP on Monday.
Reached by telephone, the author of the comic strip (The Rabbi’s Cat, Klezmer…) and film director (Gainsbourg heroic life…) briefly confirmed that he was working on the first screen adaptation of the book by Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894-1961), information revealed by Le Monde.
“We are working but it is too early to say more,” he said.
“A draw”
Working with Joann Sfar on this project, screenwriter Thomas Bidegain also confirmed to AFP that he was at the “beginning” of adapting this novel, which follows the travels of a First World War veteran across several continents.
“It’s a gamble,” comments Thomas Bidegain, who won a César in 2010 for co-writing A prophet by Jacques Audiard.
“What is very complicated,” he adds, “is the structure of the novel, its language, its main character but also the ghost of Céline,” a writer criticized for his anti-Semitic writings and his collaboration with the Nazi occupier during the Second World War.
Amount kept secret
Since the publication of the Voyage In 1932, several filmmakers, including Abel Gance and Michel Audiard, attempted to adapt it for the big screen, but none of these projects came to fruition.
According to Le Monde, Joann Sfar acquired the adaptation rights in December 2023 via the company The Magical Society By Joann Sfar, which he owns with a producer.
According to the daily, the rights were acquired from Gallimard with the agreement of the writer’s rights holders and for a secret amount.
Contacted by AFP, the publishing house did not immediately respond. Lawyer François Gibault, one of Céline’s two beneficiaries, could not be reached by AFP.
