Bonnie Wright Set to Direct ‘Medusa’s Ankles’

Today, Bonnie Wright announced her latest project via Instagram. She will be directing an exciting new film adaptation of Man Booker Prize winner Medusa’s Ankles – a short story by A.S. Byatt.

The short film will reportedly star Harry Potter‘s Jason Isaacs, as well as Kerry Fox and Chanel Cresswell, and will be produced by Andy Surry through BonBonLumiere, founded by Bonnie in 2012. Casting for the adaptation can be found here.

The story is part of a 3-story collection called The Matisse stories, published 1995. The stories follow the lives of women linked in some way to the art of Henri Matisse.

The plot (below), follows Susannah:

“Susannah, a middle-aged classics professor, is enticed into a hair salon by a Matisse print and finds an unexpected comfort in the hairdresser, Lucian. This relationship builds but takes a dramatic turn when the salon is remodeled and the atmosphere and characters entirely change.

The story’s plot proposes an illusory release through violence. Through its juxtapositions and patterns of imagery, the story addresses in the protagonist the inevitability of physical decay, the loss of a sense of identity with one’s body.”

A summary of the collection is as follows:

‘These three stories celebrate the eye even as they reveal its unexpected proximity to the heart. For if each of A.S. Byatt’s narratives is in some way inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse, each is also about the intimate connection between seeing and feeling–about the ways in which a glance we meant to be casual may suddenly call forth the deepest reserves of our being. Beautifully written, intensely observed,The Matisse Storiesis fiction of spellbinding authority. “Full of delight and humor…The Matisse Storiesis studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion.”

Great work, Bonnie – join us in wishing her luck on her latest project!