Golf in the Kingdomhas had many fits and starts on its way to the big screen, but it appears to have taken a crucial step forward with production now planned for later this year.
Cast and crew for the independent film are now prepping for a scheduled 30 days of on-location shooting at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Oregon coast, the movie’s producer, Mindy Affrime, confirmed to styledtoatee.
Golf in the Kingdom is a classic tale of the game’s most mystical aspects. When a young man, Michael Murphy (the book’s author), travels to Scotland, he meets Shivas Irons. The two join for a round of golf and Irons imparts the words that set the author on a most memorable experience and a journey of self-discovery.
Affrime also confirmed the individuals who will be responsible for providing the movie’s characters with their distinctive look and feel.
As previously reported, John Ashworth, who has longbeen involved in pre-production and is a personal friend of Murphy’s, will be costume designer, while Auke Hempenius will be director of wardrobe.
Ashworth is founderof the Ashworth Golf Company where he serves now as creative consultant. His keen interest in the project dates from his own travels abroad that hastened a meeting with the author some years ago. Ashworth eventually accompanied Murphy on the author’s first trip back to Scotland after the book was published, along with the photographer Barry Grimes.
Hempenius is a veteran men’s fashion retailer and former fashion editor ofGolfweek. He maintains his own website atwww.aukesphere.comand a network of ties within the golf sportswear and men’s clothing industries.
As a designer and stylist, Ashworth will play a role in creating the movie’s visual tapestry, while Hempenius will be responsible for procuring clothing and making arrangements with suppliers. The two are expected to work closely together. Asked if he envisioned designing costumes from scratch or crawling through wardrobe warehouse and thrift stores, Ashworth replied that it might be some combination of each. Hempenius said he believed he would canvass a number of resources, and that Shivas Irons’ costumes might be created from scratch or found in a vintage boutique.
While the book’s journey to the big screen has beencircuitous and oft chronicled, it nearly goes without saying that a critical few details will have to be nailed, captured or distilled just so, or a passionate golfing public may be loath to embrace the big-screen version. So Scottish accents; golf grips, stances and swings; even the terrain of the by-the-sea linksland are elements that probably can’t be compromised. Bandon Dunes, for instance, is a visually stunning site and was ranked No. 7 inGolf Digest‘s list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, published in May 2007.
The Scottish actor David O’Hara ("The Departed," "Hotel Rwanda," "Braveheart") has been cast as Shivas Irons. Mason Gamble ("Gentleman’s Game," "Rushmore," "Dennis the Menace") will play the young Michael Murphy. Others actors linked to the production areFrances Fisher and Malcolm McDowell.
"The major reason the film is being made now is [the book's author] Michael Murphy decided he was going to put his heart and soul into it," Affrime told us. "We’re going to stay very close to the book and be very authentic to golf. That’s something most golf movies run away from. It’s authentic to a tee."
WhileGolf in the Kingdomstands as the ultimate in literary golf mysticism, the action in the story is rather slim and so the story itself can and might be richly styled.
We use "styled" in the way you might say movie director Ang Lee is a stylist. So when Lee makes a movie about life in the 1970s — "The Ice Storm" – the ice cube trays are so authentic you can feel your skin sticking to those frosty and frozen aluminum contraptions. — Robert Lohrer
