Peter Hessler's 'River Town' to Be Remade For the Big Screen

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, the 2001 book by New Yorker writer Peter Hessler is set to soon be remade into a film, with Chinese director Lu Chuan, who made the harrowing 2009 Nanjing Massacre movie City of Life and Death, is set to direct.

River Town chronicles Hessler’s two year Peace Corps teaching assignment at Fuling Teachers College in Fuling, Sichuan starting in 1996.

Hessler’s other critically acclaimed books include Oracle Bones, Country Driving, and Strange Stones, and as with all these works, his account of his time in Fuling is thoughtful, poignant and wryly observed. 

Lu, who made his directorial debut in 2002 with the slick urban comedy-thriller The Missing Gun, has been described as one of China’s most talented young directors and should be well placed to bring that sensitivity to life on the screen.

Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, Lu’s 2015 fantasy adventure blockbuster followed the adventures of grave robbers as they raid ancient tombs across mythical sites in China. 

Speaking to the LA Times’ Julie Makinen last week, Lu said there was a lot of sensitive material in the book but that he will worry about after he finishes the film. The director has proven that he has a way of pushing the boundaries of both the Chinese censors and the Hollywood studios.

Speaking at the inaugural US/China Motion Picture Summit last Friday Lu recounted how he had almost lost his job when he insisted on changing the ending to Mountain Patrol (see trailer below), his portrayal of the day-to-day struggle between poachers and rangers in remote Tibet.

“It’s a question of listening to your heart or just following the rules of the industry,” Lu said.

Lu is currently putting the final touches to a Disney nature documentary called Born In China.

Image: Vanity Fair