Books Film On Screen

1960s cult classic novel Adrift In Soho to be turned into a movie

1960s cult classic novel Adrift In Soho to be turned into a movie
1960s cult classic novel Adrift In Soho to be turned into a movie
Note that I independently write and research everything in this article. But it may contain affiliate links.

Have you read the book Adrift In Soho? You really should, especially if you are a fan of Absolute Beginners, as it carries a very similar vibe (and covers a similar time period. If not, there’s a film on the way.

The book was actually recently reissued by New London Editions, a tale that focus on Harry Preston, who waves goodbye to the provinces and heads to London looking for life and adventure. He finds it in the 1950s Soho circuit, discovering the bohemian characters within that area and Notting Hill, finding his own role within it.

It’s a great period observational book (like many of the New London Edition novels) and one that showcases the world that spawned the mod scene of the late ’50s and early 1960s.

Hopefully the film will capture that magic (unlike the Absolute Beginners movie). That movie is via Burning Films, who are currently filming right now, with the movie out on 2015.

According to the initial write-up, the movie plot is:

SOHO, LONDON 1959
Jazz dictates the rules of engagement.
Musicians command the streets.
Booze is the currency of choice.
Drugs is the business of the future.
Love is what everybody is looking for.
Words get lost in the mayhem.
ADRIFT IN SOHO.

Five individuals with different backgrounds are brought together by chance to take one last look at a world that is about to change right in front of their eyes. Harry Preston, a young philosopher from Leicester arrives at a surreal neighbourhood full of unusual characters that seem out of time and out of place. The mood is of a pre-apocalyptic scenario where everybody knows their fate but refuse to accept it.

It is said to be filmed in the manner of a 1950s Free Cinema documentary, which is perhaps apt as that scene also lived on the Soho streets.

You can buy the book here if you haven’t read it, with the movie website here. There is a promotional video too, which you can check out below.

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One Comment

  1. Paul Nicholls

    Probably one of the best films to depict the Mod era was ‘Blow Up’ staring David Hemmings, Jane Birkin and Vanessa Redgrave. Although it was not specifically Mod orientated it depicted the London lifestyle of the early Mod era.

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