One Day script needed ‘varied rhythm’

David Nicholls, writer of One Day, made sure the movie adaptation had “varied rhythm”.

David penned the hugely successful romantic novel, before adapting it for the big screen. The picture, which follows the relationship between two college pals over a number of years, is due for international release later this month, and will star Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the lead roles.

David has explained how important it was to him that the screenplay didn’t become too intermittent, as the story focuses on the characters’ whereabouts on the same date each year.

“We did want to do all 20 days, but realised early on that some of the days would have to change. Emma, for instance, spends quite a lot of time in the book quite bored; on the page you can get away with that, because the character has an inner life, but on screen it was clear that would become relentless.

“If you gave each year five minutes, for example, 20 five-minute sketches would inevitably feel very episodic. We wanted a much more varied rhythm,” he told MovieScope magazine.

For that reason, David and director Lone Scherfig maintained the emphasis on fundamental scenes. The less action-packed sequences were kept to a minimum.

“There were seven or eight key years in their relationship, confrontations or reunions or reconciliations that we decided to focus on. And some of the other years are dealt with very quickly,” he added.