Down and Out in Catalonia.

"I have the most evil memories of Spain, but I have very few bad memories of Spaniards. I only twice remember even being seriously angry with a Spaniard, and on each occasion, when I look back, I believe I was in the wrong myself. They have, there is no doubt, a generosity, a species of nobility, that do not really belong to the twentieth century. It is this that makes one hope that in Spain even Fascism may take a comparatively loose and bearable form. Few Spaniards possess the damnable efficiency and consistency that a modern totalitarian state needs."

Apparently, Chariots of Fire director Hugh Hudson is now set to make a film version of Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell's autobiographical account of the Spanish Civil War. "The film will highlight the relationship between Orwell and Georges Kopp, the charismatic commander of the brigade. Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey are attached to star as Orwell and Kopp." Hmm. That relationship isn't what I remember taking away from the (excellent) book, and that casting actually sounds pretty terrible to me. (For Orwell, I'd go with someone like Paddy Considine. For Kopp, I'd go with someone who isn't Kevin Spacey.) But let's see how it goes.