A testimony to Minghella's humanity By Susannah Tarbush JUST days before the BBC TV premier of the much-anticipated drama “No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency”, came the dreadful news that the film's director Anthony Minghella had died suddenly in a hospital. Minghella was famed for a succession of groundbreaking cinematic works including “The English Patient”, “Truly, Madly Deeply”, The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cold Mountain”. He succumbed to a hemorrhage at the age of only 54, following an operation on for neck and tonsil cancer. Minghella's death added much poignancy to the screening of “No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency”. The drama is based on the first of the hugely successful series of nine novels by Edinburgh professor of medical law Alexander McCall Smith set in Botswana and featuring female detective Precious Ramotswe. The novels have sold nine million copies and been translated into 42 languages. The latest, “The Miracle at Speedy Motors”, has been released recently. The vibrancy of the drama with its colors, warmth and appealing characters, all suffused with the atmosphere of Botswana, is a testimony to the humanity with which Minghella approached his work. Minghella had said: “what is so fantastic about this material and why I was always so drawn to the books is that they are a celebration of what we might learn from Africa.” The casting of Precious Ramotswe was crucial, since she represents the central presence on which all else hinges. Minghella had difficulty in finding the right person to play her. The US soul singer and actress Jill Scott, winner of three Grammy awards, might seem an unlikely choice. But she brings tenderness, sweetness and strength to the role, as well as a Botswanian accent that sounds authentic. In the novel, McCall Smith describes Precious as a woman of “traditional build” with a fondness for red-bush tea, and Scott revels in her generous physical proportions. Jill Scott describes the experience of being in Africa for the first time during the making of the film as “the most amazing three months. What I saw with my eyes, what I heard, the Botswanian people's attitude and energy towards life. I'm sure it sounds like I'm romanticizing Botswana. But I'm being completely honest when I say it was the best thing that's ever happened to me.” She felt bereft and missed Botswana for several months when she returned to the USA. Some critics were hard on the drama, and considered that it gave a rosy portrait of Africa and Africans and was even patronizing. But why should this feel-good entertainment be expected to cover all the ills of Africa, any more than a drama set in Britain must cover the gamut of British problems? The drama, despite its exotic location, is part of a genre of detective fiction in which authors and producers do not strive for a portrayal of society as a whole. They are a form of escapist fiction. At the same time, McCall Smith and Minghella were keen to show a different side of Africa from that usually focused on in the media in which news from Africa is dominated by poverty, war and disease. And in any case the story lines in “No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency” do touch on problems in Botswana such as AIDS, corruption, witchcraft and the abduction of children. The government of Botswana welcomed shooting the film in Botswana and contributed $5 million to the $40 million cost. The audience certainly appreciated the drama, and it received the highest ratings on Easter Sunday, at 6.3 million viewers, far ahead of ITV's “He Kills Coppers” at 3.8 million. Some of those who praised it the most highly have worked or lived in Botswana and thought it captured the spirit of the place. And it was highly unusual and pioneering in having no white characters at all. Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's first woman detective. At the beginning of the story, she says farewell to her late father. From him she has inherited a bushman's eye for physical detail and clues, as well as 180 cows which she sells to raise the money to found her detective agency. The death of her father is not the only sadness in Precious's life. She has also been separated from her unreliable husband. Business at the agency is slow at first. But its starts to pick up, and Precious is given support by shy and adoring taxi driver Mr. JLB Matekoni (Zimbabwean actor Lucian Msamati), sharp severe secretary Mma Makutsi (Tony award-winning American actress and singer Anika None Rose) and the flamboyant owner of the hairdresser next door BK (Desmond Dube). The role of Mma Markutsi is expanded from that in the original novel, and Rose portrays her as sharp, spiky and efficient. Minghella, worked for seven years to bring the novel to the small screen. On reading the novel he was “enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe and the sly humor of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, his deft evocation of a culture.” Minghella's production company Mirage acquired the rights to The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in 2001 but it took another six years for a script to be prepared. Minghella visited and fell in love with Botswana in 2004, and decided to collaborate with the celebrated comic screenwriter Richard Curtis on the script. Curtis is writer of the films “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Notting Hill”, “Love Actually”, and for TV series “Blackadder”, “The Vicar of Dibley” and “Mr Bean”. Minghella said: “I have never set out to make a comedy before and this is also the first time I've collaborated with another writer on a film.” He added: “I consciously made the decision to work with him to make sure that I didn't drift into a way of looking at the world which is essentially glum, because I go there very quickly. I go to sorrow, pain and tragedy instinctively, so it is lovely for me on this film to encourage myself and those around me to find a tone that is playful and big-hearted.” Curtis was “the ideal person to help adapt the script. Richard was one of the founders of Comic Relief so he has already been involved in an incredible venture to help in Africa. But also, he has this incredible investment in decency. He is a very optimistic person, so he was the perfect choice to help fashion the upbeat tone of Mma Ramotswe's story.” The drama was the pilot of a 13-part series, in a deal between the BBC and the HBO network in the US. Despite Minghella's death the series will go ahead, and shooting is due to start in August. A BBC spokesman said the BBC is committed to co-producing at least six episodes for which Minghella had mapped out the storyline. “From the BBC's perspective, it's a very tragic situation, but the commitment remains,” the spokesman said. Minghella had hoped that the “No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency” series would become a classic of detection, such as the ever-popular Inspector Morse series starring the late John Thaw. If the reception among the public of “No 1 Ladies' Detection Agency” is anything to go by, this hope has a good chance of being realized. __
