Living in Hope - The Writer Explains

The Film

The Director Speaks

The Writer Explains

The Writer Explains

When I started Living in Hope I didn't know what it was about. That probably sounds strange. I mean I knew it was about students, but I didn't know what was to happen to them or what I really wanted to say about them.

Writing can be a surprisingly organic activity. The story almost seems to grow from itself. Characters take over. And as I wrote I found that I was almost being taken on a journey myself. Writing the last page of the script was like the last day of the last term.

The film's central theme is about making the most of opportunities. I felt that university is a time of huge opportunity frequently wasted by those not realising the chances that are on offer.

It was certainly something I only realised in hindsight looking back at my time as a student. People ask me if Hope is autobiographical. It isn't. But I guess that Posh is the bloke I wish I had been, sadly not the one I was.

For a writer, university offers a fantastic precinct in which to set a story. It seems strange that there haven't been more UK films covering the genre. The USA is bunged full of high school and college movies – American Pie, Risky Business, Animal House etc – but for some reason we haven't followed suit.

There are so many themes to explore. At no other time in life do people arrive in a strange place, knowing almost no one, surrounded by people of both sexes of the same age, yet sharing a variety of common purposes – to learn, have fun, have sex, drink, do drugs, excel, avoid a nine to five, better themselves. (And not necessarily in that order and not necessarily all of the above).

I was interested in the dynamics that exist within university life. In Bristol 47 per cent of students come from private school. Often these kids exist as a homogenous unit, looking, thinking and acting the same. They settle best into university life because they're already attuned to it from their school days.

They share the same values and quite often the same backgrounds. For many, no conscious thought went into the decision to go to college, it was just expected of them.

Lined up against this block is everyone else. For many, going to university is a huge sacrifice, a massive decision, quite often – initially – it can be a pretty scary experience – strange town, no friends, away from home for the first time. I wanted to explore these dynamics and see how friendships are made and which last and which fall away.

I also wanted to explore Posh's mindset. He is one of those private school kids who finally makes the leap across the social divide that many do not. But why him and not the others?

And it is only when he makes that leap outside his own social set that he learns what he is about.

Posh is not an easy character to write. I wanted him to grow throughout the film. I didn't want people to like him too much to begin with, yet I needed them to find him engaging and entertaining, mirroring the feelings of the four lads. In fact it's only when the other characters begin to rub off on him that we begin to see his transformation. And we like what we see.

Footsie represents those for who university is some sort of Catholicism – there's redemption in the end (good qualifications, better job prospects), but a whole lot of guilt to get through first. This is centred on Footsie's concerns about his family that prevent him from enjoying life. His journey is about learning to cut loose from guilt. And yet Footsie is not all that he seems.

Liam is the guy who needs to break away from home and take the plunge. His girlfriend Reena is the umbilical chord to what he was before. He's the bloke who's going to have a fantastic time at university if he can break free. Not many relationships go the distance when one half heads away to college. As Liam is about to find out.

Animal is the victim of the piece. He doesn't have control of his own destiny and has always been a victim of his father's ambition. He's the guy from whom university represents the chance to become his own man – sadly Animal isn't brave enough to take the opportunity.

Harry is our lugubrious narrator. For me he represents a form of sanity within the cauldron of emotion that is university life. He is the adapter who very quickly discovers that being true to yourself is the only happy way forward. He is Posh's foil who surprises himself when he discovers how much he likes this middle class joker.