Researcher in Focus: Natalya Kusel

As part of my undergraduate degree at Queen Mary, University of London I have been writing a dissertation entitled 'Losey and Pinter's unrealised feature film:In Remembrance of Time Past'. My introduction to Joseph Losey's work came when I saw Accident (1967). What particularly struck me was his skill in truthfully, even brutally, capturing the darker facets of human nature. As I watched more of Losey's films and read about him, I became fascinated by the incongruity of his career: the discrepancy between his talent, the critical acclaim his films garnered and the suspicion with which the film industry regarded him. My particular enjoyment of the Losey-Pinter collaborations, The Servant (1963), Accident (1967), and The Go-Between (1970), led to a fascination about their planned adaptation of Marcel Proust's In Remembrance of Time Past. Despite reaching an advanced stage of development, the film was never realized. My project sets out to discover the how and why behind this, with a complete hypothesis on the final form the film would have taken.

My supervisor informed me that the BFI held Joseph Losey materials in its archive and I would find relevant information there. This was excellent advice as the collection provides extensive and invaluable files of personnel correspondence and papers regarding his realised feature films: various drafts of scripts, production budgets, shooting notes and set design diagrams. Additionally a large amount of material relating to planned but unrealized projects is stored. Such a quantity of material was donated that the fleet of taxis sent across London crammed full of boxes has become a frequently recalled anecdote. Of particular relevance to my project were the boxes relating to the realised Losey-Pinter collaborations and the huge amount of material held about the Proust screenplay. This includes criticism and commentary in the media that gives a sense of the anticipation and inordinate amount of attention paid to a film that was never made.

Accessing such information enabled me to discover what a prolific and amusing letter writer he was, at odds with a slightly dour reputation. The respect and fondness with which his crew regarded him became clear and I was surprised by the generosity and thoughtfulness of the gifts he sent to favoured colleagues. Conversely, he could be very cruel about those he did enjoy working with. Thus, it seems his personal life was as conflict-ridden as his career. Particularly lovely were the hand-written, meticulously planned script annotations and shooting notes. Likewise the luxurious fabric samples and illustrations sent by the couture houses. An extra frisson of excitement came from finding out how much everyone was to be paid for their involvement.

In February, I was able to use my research as a basis for a paper at the Joseph Losey centenary conference at Queen Mary, University of London. My dissertation will be completed in the summer of 2009.