The Wah-Wah Diaries

The Making of a Film

By: Richard E. Grant

Narrated by: Richard E. Grant

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Here are the very personal diaries of Richard E. Grant's debut behind the camera, as writer and director of his autobiographical movie of the same name.

It is both a fascinating insight into the intrigues and agonies he encounters along the way, and also a deeply moving portrait of his childhood and his love affair with Swaziland, where he was born and brought up during the last throes of the British Empire.

Through the mayhem - never-ending financial pressures; hostilities, and finally breakdown of communication with his producer; the nerve-racking quest to persuade the King of Swaziland to grant permission to film in his country; the assembly of a stellar cast including Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, and Julie Walters - Richard E. Grant has written and reads, with characteristic humour and charm, an extraordinarily honest and revealing account of a labour of love and the realisation of a dream.

©2006 Richard E Grant (P)2006 Macmillan Digital Audio

An Actor's Actor Makes a Movie

Richard E. Grant is a phenomenal actor (his portrayal of Sir Andrew Agueface in Twelfth Night is one of my favorite renderings of Shakespeare's character) but this is his story of the writing and making of a film. So this is a great insider look at the craziness of the film world. I had never heard of the film until I saw this audiobook advertised (a defect since remedied) but it is a gem of a film. It (the film) is the autobiography of Grant and is a tremendously moving film as well as being a comic pleasure. Grant's African childhood form the narrative but this audiobook is a look at how casting works (the number of actors who expressed interest in and then backed out of being in for various reasons is a Who's Who of mainly British actors), the overwhelming complexity of financing a film, and then the agony of editing a modern film are thoroughly documented here. Ultimately, though the listener knows that the film will be made, Grant vividly shows how many times the film seemed like a doomed enterprise. This book is worth the credit just to listen to a great actor read, but what makes it special is that Grant is such a thoroughly likeable person that I think it would be impossible for a fair person to root against him.

The Perils of Film Making

Loved this book, thoroughly enjoyable ride into the highs and lows of making a film.
Richard E Grant is fabulous as the narrator as he takes us on his personal journey full of triumphs and disasters. I hope Audible adds his other book With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant to its library.

What a journey! Loved the entire thing!

A very poignant story. Richard E Grant is a brilliant story teller (as well as actor). The facts of his solid marriage and family life are testament to his tenacity of spirit and character that overcame what could have been a life mirroring the chaos of childhood. That he chose to be (or innately is) the upbeat and witty man he is, just celebrates his wonderful self.

Loved the movie and had to read this book

Engrossing backstory about the making of a film. Gives great insight into the process. Hearing the author (also an experienced actor) read his own words relieves any anxiety that the Audible book won’t capture something in the written text, although I did have to keep pausing to look up the many names referenced in the text.
Don’t even try to read the Diaries before watching the film Wah-Wah (which is wonderful!).

Real insight into making a movie

Great true story told by a master narrator! Also listen to Richard E Grant’s book POCKETFUL OF HAPPINESS.