Are There Any Film Adaptations Of 'I Who Have Never Known Men'?

Question

Finished the haunting dystopian novel and now craving a screen version - has anyone seen an adaptation of 'I Who Have Never Known Men'?

Maureen James · Answer

I was thinking of a different book. I Who Have Never Known Men is by Jacqueline Harpman. I am not aware of any film adaptation. It’s a pretty profound and isolated read. A lot of the books that play with the title of existence and identity that I’ve read online are all pretty good. Recently I read I was never Human online. It was a pretty good read. It was by an artificial intelligence in a not too far off future where it has to fight for the right to exist. It captures a sense of displacement and feeling out of place that the AI often felt.

Jocelyn · Answer

There is currently no film adaptation of I Who Have Never Known Men. It would be difficult to translate to film due to the novel’s abstract almost allegorical style. The majority of the novel consists of action and dialogue-free scenes which rely on tension to convey the journey of the protagonist. This type of work would likely be independently made, possibly shot in black and white to emphasize the bleak environment of the characters in the novel. Fans are still holding out hope for a film adaptation as the novel’s themes of freedom and dehumanization are extremely relevant to current times.

Yolanda · Answer

'Women's Day' or 'I Who Have Never Known Men' is another highly interesting novel that has not yet been adapted to the cinema yet. The introspective story takes place in a dystopian environment and revolves around topics of isolation and identity. Therefore, it would be very interesting to see a director who is able to translate this novel to the big screen in the best way possible. As the author of 'Women's Day' or 'I Who Have Never Known Men' has already been quoted, a big-screen version would need to be done carefully so as not to spoil the tenuous line of tension. It would need to be a masterpiece. Currently, only a few short clips by eager fans can be found on YouTube, but apart from those, there is not much to find. There were even rumors of a French production some years ago, but in the end it did not make it to the screen.

But, allegedly, a French production company had optioned the book some time ago. Nothing seems to have come of it since. Presumably this is because of the near silence of the protagonist and the bulk of her thoughts as she grapples with her isolation. But Under the Skin is a film of almost complete silence and would be a good template for this novel. Bars of metal clinking. Barren, cold landscapes. The protagonist walking silently across them, going nowhere. This is a novel best left as it is: printed.

Yasmin · Answer

As for adaptating ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ to the screen, I would be a bit reluctant, as the book is very introspective and physically claustrophobic. One would have to invent a lot of visualizations of the protagonist’s memories as they are presented to the reader in fragmented and unclear fashion. The setting is also very bleak and undefined, so one would have to take a big risk and create a lot of new material in order to make the book into a successful film. However, an experimental director like Lynne Ramsay might take on this challenge, using sound design and minimalism to replicate the feeling of oppression and desperation found in the novel. Perhaps one day a cult book like this will be picked up by a streaming platform.

Vanessa · Answer

There is no movie adaptation of ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ yet. I consider one of the main strengths of the book to be its ambiguity and so the biggest problem a filmmaker would face is to decide on a setting for the story (post-apocalyptic world or metaphor) and then stick to it. I would, however, be interested in a film adaptation, provided it would have the same uneasy feeling of the unknown as the book. Maybe as a slow-burning miniseries? Until then, we are stuck with the book’s haunting pages.

Christopher Aaron White · Answer

This has been one of those projects ‘in development’ forever – rumor of a limited series not a movie – the episodic format would allow for the stasis to build and for the different parts of their detention or the different and myriad philosophical conundrums that arise to be explored in separate episodes. A fearless showrunner who would allow scenes to breathe and not explain everything to the audience would be needed. And a great cast, above all a lead who can convey decades of contemplation in a single glance. But until there’s a trailer, I won’t believe it’s actually happening.

Fred London · Answer

I would be very interested to see a stage adaptation of this. A minimalist production would be amazing. A simple bare stage with a few platforms for the bunker and some focused lighting would be sufficient. The actors’ bodies would tell the story of the characters’ claustrophobic space and the live audience would feel their confinement. The narration could be delivered directly to the audience as if they were being told a story and thus break the fourth wall. Abstract philosophical ideas are so much better suited to be explored on the stage than on screen and can be implied by the emptiness of the space. I would pay to see a brave theatre company tackle this work. It feels more suited to the stage than to screen.

Dean · Answer

The minimalistic setting of the novel would have to be brought to life by a film’s production design. The setting of the bunker within the novel is essentially a concrete room. To make a two hour film of this a filmmaker would have to make the costumes, lighting and sound design all work to make the space look and feel interesting. Essentially it would be a cinematographer’s dream and nightmare all at once. To make the space look so empty and vast whilst confining it to a small room would be a challenge. However I do think a director such as Denis Villeneuve in his ‘Arrival’ mode would be able to pull this off. The silence and sense of scale in his films are two of the most profound things in cinema and that is something that is not commonly found. As far as I know, however, no such film adaptation of the novel has been made yet.

Jennifer Wood · Answer

The only film I ever thought I might make was The Quiet Girl, until I saw that. It shows how to tell a lot of information in silence, in observation, in tiny moments. People can connect with a really quiet, really introspective film, made with real emotion. So maybe that film isn’t impossible to make after all. It just needs a good filmmaker to make it gently and then a good distributor to market it as a thoughtful, slow, unusual film and not mistake it for a sci-fi thriller. Strangely, both this and that follow the same silent, watchful, largely constrained protagonist. It gives me a spark of hope.

Vijayendran · Answer

This is really fascinating. So many great points about how it’s unfilmable, but then people said that about ‘Life of Pi’ and ‘Cloud Atlas’ too. Difficult books are often the best source material for films, because they challenge the filmmaker to find new ways to represent them. The internal monologue of the novel would be the biggest challenge to represent on film, possibly by using shifting color palettes and distorted sound to represent the protagonist’s memory, or even using surreal flashbacks. It would take a really visionary director to make this work, though. Someone like Lynne Ramsay, who is so good at representing subjective, traumatic interiority would be my first choice. The impossibility of it all is probably what makes it so attractive.

Are There Any Film Adaptations Of 'I Who Have Never Known Men'?

10 Answers

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