Director
Bille August is prepping a film about the life of children's author Hans Christian Andersen, whose bi-centenary begins this month and is expected to upturn some heretofore obscured recesses.
August is using one of Andersen's darker tales, called appropriately "The Shadow," as a central plot device for his projected film bio.
"Andersen was a man of contradictions, rather like that fairy tale," August says. "He had a fear of losing his innocence because he was a religious man and wanted to enter paradise. He also wanted to keep his creative talent intact."
Moreover, the author was, per August, always flirting with impossible relationships with married women and men, and these might just make for some tantalizing episodes in the movie.
Pic will focus on the period when Andersen was about 40 years old. "He was already successful, but all his conflicts were coming together," August tells
Variety.
August says he'll be "flexible" in the narrative.
"I am not doing a documentary for the History Channel: I take 'The Hours' as an excellent example of what I'm aiming for: That movie shows you the creative writing process without telling you."
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