Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton, CBE, FRSLis a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisonsand also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth26 January 1946
CityFaial Island, Portugal
girl giving definitions
If I had to give a definition of capitalism I would say: the process whereby American girls turn into American women.
birth court gave less royal sunday
The Royal Court more or less gave birth to me. I thought it only right that I should come back to have some Sunday lunch.
changed dramatic endangered films kinds
I like L.A., but I think what's changed is that the kinds of films I do, the mid-range dramatic film, has become an endangered species.
happiness religious moral
To seduce a woman famous for strict morals, religious fervor and the happiness of her marriage: what could possibly be more prestigious?
class decadence substitutes
I have always thought of sophistication as rather a feeble substitute for decadence.
husband thinking rivals
I think there's something degrading about having a husband for a rival. It's humiliating if you fail and commonplace if you succeed.
faces violence dignity
It's possible to disagree with someone about the ethics of non-violence without wanting to kick his face in.
important scientist theory
You know very well that unless you're a scientist, it's much more important for a theory to be shapely, than for it to be true.
couple reading thinking
Since my adaptation of Ian McEwan's 'Atonement,' I get sent a lot of novels that people think will work as movies. So every now and then I make a point of sitting down and reading a couple of them.
nice thinking good-movie
Often I think the novels I read won't make very good movies - I better not say which I'm looking at for potential films! - but it's nice to have an excuse to just sit and read for a whole day.
film moments wanted
There was a moment in the early '80s when I wanted to work on films and wanted to live in L.A.
real breathing people
It's great to get out of the study and work with real living and breathing people.
book film ifs
If you take a really good book, then the potential is for a really good film. But you've got to get it right.
play saws firsts
I'm ashamed to say the first play I saw at the Royal Court was mine.