Screenplay/Book // Sonnets From The Portuguese
Granted unprecedented access to unpublished materials, Barbara Neri has unearthed truth and beauty for contemporary moviegoers and readers.
The Sonnets from the Portuguese screenplay and book are culminating projects of The EBB Project.
SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE
Feature Length SCREENPLAY, Period Romance|Historical Drama
Logline: Legendary poet Elizabeth Barrett must face the truth about her reclusive life when the brilliant young poet Robert Browning falls in love with her.
Short Synopsis: Legendary Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett blames herself for her family's greatest tragedy and retreats from life becoming a reclusive invalid. The success of her poetry turns her toward life again, and beckons the love of Robert Browning, a brilliant, misunderstood young poet. Illness, loss of faith and her tragic father, Edward Moulton Barrett, stand in the way of destiny in this famous and most powerfully romantic love story of all time.
This enduring love story is part of Hollywood and Theater history. MGM produced two other popular films about the Browning's love story: Oscar nominated in 1934, it was produced again in color in 1957. Both titled The Barretts of Wimpole Street, the screenplays were adaptations of Rudolf Besier’s 1930 play of the same title. But these versions are now dated representations of Elizabeth and Robert’s love story: One of intellectual equals and lovers who would not sacrifice the other’s happiness for their own. Elizabeth’s tragic family history and the complexity of her father are of relevance today. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, Sonnets from the Portuguese re-envisions this powerful romance for contemporary audiences. Producer Sol Papadopoulos (Hurricane Films A Quiet Passion) called the script “an incredible triumph of language and a wonderful interpretation of the growing relationship between the poets Barrett and Browning”. 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' was in the top 15% of all entries in the 2021 Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship Competition.
POETS IN LOVE
BOOK: Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote her enduringly popular sequence of forty-four love sonnets, Sonnets from the Portugueseem>, as her relationship with Robert Browning deepened. Neri's book, POETS IN LOVE, thoroughly explores the writing of the love sonnets for readers, with annotations, illustrations, online content, related excerpts from Neri's screenplay, and relevant passages from Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning's legendary love letters.
The Screenplay and Book pages are currently password accessible only. For access: