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The Wah-Wah Diaries

The Making of a Film

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The Wah-Wah Diaries

By: Richard E Grant
Narrated by: Richard E Grant
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About this listen

Ten years after the publication of With Nails, Richard E Grant’s brilliant memoir of his years in Hollywood, Macmillan Digital Audio are proud to be publishing Wah-Wah, the very personal diaries of his debut behind the camera, as writer and director of his autobiographical movie of the same name. It is both a fascinating insight into the intrigues and agonies he encounters along the way, and also a deeply moving portrait of his childhood and his love affair with Swaziland, where he was born and brought up during the last throes of the British Empire.

Through the mayhem – never-ending financial pressures; hostilities and finally breakdown of communication with his Producer; the nerve-racking quest to persuade the King of Swaziland to grant permission to film in his country; the assembly of a stellar cast including Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, and Julie Walters – Richard E Grant has written and reads, with characteristic humour and charm, an extraordinarily honest and revealing account of a labour of love and the realisation of a dream.

 Direction & Production Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism
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A Must for any film buff interested in the movies and their making. Richard's wonderful dulcet tones take us on his very personal journey, from writing the script, through the trials, tribulations and production nightmares, to the birthing of his small independent baby.

A Must For Any Film Buff.

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I stumbled on to this book after hearing its mention on the empire podcast. Richard E. Grant was being congratulated on his Oscar nomination. He came across so humble and funny in podcast I thought I’d give the book a listen and so happy I did. The book is a tells the story of the making of the movie, from the very first meeting with a producer to movie getting a distribution deal, and all the ups and downs in between. Richard E. Grant doesn’t so much perform the book but relives each moment and you can you can hear genuine joy and sadness as he reads his own words. I’ll never look at an independent movie again in the same way. The blood, sweat and tears that went into making the move are all there. I was sorry when I finished it, because it was so interesting and enjoyable. I look forward to seeing the movie.

A fantastic insight into the world of filmmaking

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An (at times unbelievably) frank, deep dive into the peaks/troughs journey of getting an independent film made. Funny and moving. I found it addictive listening

Super honest

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It is what it says on the box.
When Richard E Grant (also popularly known as Withnail) began to write the screenplay for a film about his early life, growing up in Africa before the white colonists handed over power and returned to their motherlands, he began to keep a diary, about his writings, his attempts to get financed, enlist the actors and film crew - all of that behind the scenes stuff we who merely watch the final product never know about. It took over five years, times of elation, despair, frustration, anger, tears, laughter, friendship - almost every emotion known. And this book is the diary read by the excellent author/ actor himself.
Sheer delight.
Now to find the film, and another audio book by Richard E Grant

"Mirages and mirrors."

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If you like Richard E Grant (and how can one not) and you have an interest in how films are made with all the trials and tribulations that go with it, then this book is a great listen. Grant is as always a wonderful and honest writer, and a great narrator.

A very ry engaging insight into film making

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