“Golf in the Kingdom” movie to be finally released on Friday in New York
“Golf in the Kingdom”, the famous 1972 novel written by Michael Murphy has finally been translated into a movie, due to release this Friday, July 29 in New York.
The novel which is literally considered a “Golfer’s Bible”, has been one of the most revered and highly respected pieces of literature in the sport’s history and people who have been associated with the sport with one way or the other, have been waiting
for it to be turned into a movie for a longtime.
The story has been re-written and directed by Susan Streitfeld, primarily because of the reason that the original writing has been more philosophical and spiritual in nature, making it all the more difficult to be beaten into a movie. Murphy, now 80, not
only accorded the rights to the filmmaker and producer Mindy Affrime, but also allowed her to have it re-written all over again.
“I’ve been waiting for this a long time,” he said of the movie. “I had got to calling ‘Golf in the Kingdom’ the world’s longest virtual movie, coming soon to a mind near you.”
The story is about a young golfer who has been searching for the perfect swing and was on his way to visit a Hindu Temple in India when he stumbles into Shivas Irons in Scotland, who is both a golf professional but also an expert in Mathematics and old Hindu
Scriptures.
Shivas not only helps the young lad discover the spiritual insight of the sport but also ends up completely transforming his life with his mythical overtures.
This is not the first time the copy rights of the movie were acquired by any of the filmmakers in the past three decades. Reportedly, Clint Eastwood retained the rights for the movie for almost a decade before giving them up. Famous Irish actor Sean Connery
was approached for the role of Shiva while director and filmmaker Gus Van Sant was also interested in making a film out of Murphy’s work.
The film has been shot in Oregon in order to lessen the financial burden of the project. Bandon Dunes, a scenic golf resort in Oregon, which resembles much to the Scottish Links courses, was selected where Mike Keiser, owner of the resort, extended support
to the team for consecutive 20 days.
“It’s hard to escape Mindy,” Keiser said last week. “Using ‘Golf in the Kingdom,’ she became an expert mooch. I think Michael approved, and I’m sure the Shivas character would have approved too.”
Murphy not only took keen interest in the making of the movie but also helped chart out an end sequence where a barmaid and golfer are shown in an intimate moment, where both turn each other on by hymning the famous Robert Burns poem, “Nine Inch Will Please
a Lady”.
Tags: