Michel Hazanavicius to adapt The Search

Bérénice Béjo and Michel Hazanavicius on their Scottish odyssey Photo: Valentina Bonizzi

The director of The Artist Michel Hazanavicius has revealed in Paris that his next project will again feature his wife Bérénice Béjo (both of whom came to Scotland with his James Bond spoof OSS 117). It will be a loose adaptation of Fred Zinnemann’s film The Search, which was made in 1948 and featured Montgomery Clift. He has transferred the conflict from the Second World War to the Chechen War with the Russians. Béjo plays a resistance fighter and a major Hollywood name will anchor the projection which is due to start filming in the summer.

Hazanavicius, who was in attendance as a special guest at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris, declared himself happy with a project that would allow him to move on from The Artist without any expectations or comparisons.

Hazanavicius and Béjo were lured from France to Scotland five years ago partly thanks to a friendship struck up between Béjo and Scot Phoebe Grigor, daughter of the film-maker Murray Grigor. Hazanavicius had apparently dreamed of making a silent film for 20 years, but had to wait until he had made a name for himself with the OSS 117 spoof and its sequel before anyone gave him a chance.