Romulus, My Father: Screenplay

by Nick Drake, Raimond Gaita (Based on the novel by)

Tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. This title also tells the story of how a compassionate and honest man taught his son the meaning of living a decent life, triumphing over a new life in Australia scarred by profound tragedy.

100 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Nick Drake was born in 1961. He lives and works in London. His first book-length collection, The Man in the White Suit (Bloodaxe Books, 1999), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 1999, and was selected for the Next Generation Poets promotion in 2004. From The Word Go was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2007. His most recent projects include a stage adaptation of Philippe Petit’s To Reach the Cloud; the screenplay for the Australian film Romulus, My Father, starring Eric Bana, which won Best Film at the Australian Film Awards; Success, a play for the National Theatre's Connections project; and a trilogy of historical novels (Nefertiti, shortlisted for CWA Best Historical Crime Novel, Tutankhamun and Egypt: The Book of Chaos which Mammoth Screen are developing for TV). He is a screenwriter, and is also working the composer Tansy Davies and director Deborah Warner on an opera for ENO. In September 2010 he was invited to join Cape Farewell's trip to the Arctic to explore climate change, and from that journey arose a commission from United Visual Artists to create poems and texts for their ground-breaking installation High Arctic at the National Maritime Museum (2011). Those poems, together with others inspired by the Arctic and its voices, are gathered in his collection The Farewell Glacier (Bloodaxe Books, 2012).

Reviews

[Arna Peelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read. Could have gone into more depth

[Steve Castley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great analysis of a father / son relationship. It explores so many themes as Riamond Gaita analyses and celebrates his father's life. Immigration, mental illness, suicide, work ethic, ethics, love, loyalty, honor and many other topics are explained as they relate to Romulus's life. It is not always an easy read, but never, did it lose my interest. I highly recommend it, and can't wait to see the film.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting insight into a very different life experience. I felt the narrative became a bit tedious towards the end and was anticlimactic

[Amy-Jane Wewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great screenplay adapted from a beautiful novel.