Guillaume Gallienne To Adapt Marcel Proust’s ‘In Search of Lost Time’

Guillaume Gallienne, the French filmmaker behind Me, Myself and Mum, is adapting Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time into a TV series.

Gallienne has teamed with Marseille producer Federation Entertainment, Cinéfrance Studios, and Don’t Be Shy to produce La Recherche. The show was unveiled at Series Mania in Lille.

Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time, which was first published in 1913, consists of seven volumes and follows the narrator’s recollections of childhood and experiences into adulthood, during late 19th century to early 20th century aristocratic France, while reflecting on the loss of time and lack of meaning to the world.

Gallienne will create, direct and co-produce the series. He will work with a team of writers from the world of drama and literature. Federation Entertainment’s Pascal Breton and Lionel Uzan will exec produce with Cinéfrance Studios’ Julien Deris and David Gauquié. The companies are planning three seasons of eight episodes.

Gallienne said, “Should we live every minute as if it were the first or last of our life. Is beauty what we live, or the stories our memories create? Give me 24 hours and I’ll give you an answer. Not mine, but that of Marcel Proust, in the most beautiful saga ever written ‘Remembrance of things past’. As much as to lift Proust’ work out of it’s personal museum as to make it my own, I have chosen to set ‘Remembrance’ in the 1970’s-90’s. This was a period where time was not accelerated. Telephones were still attached to cords, aristocrats still had servants and my grandmother was still alive. These years were our yesterdays, and if for some they were considered as Post-war, for us they were already our Pre-war.”

Breton added, “Few projects demonstrate ambition—not to mention audacity—quite like Galienne’s Proust. His flair for creative adventure is essential for renewing the genre in France, and Guillaume is clearly one of our most talented writers.”