The Wah-Wah Diaries by Richard E. Grant

Richard E. Grant is best known for his acting but he is also a terrific writer and as anyone who has read his books or seen his interview with Andrew Denton on Enough Rope would attest, a total charmer. (I notice there’s a Facebook group called ‘I fell in love with Richard E. Grant after watching him on Enough Rope’.)

Wah-Wah, Grant’s directorial debut about his troubled childhood in Swaziland, came out in 2006. Released to coincide with the film was The Wah-Wah Diaries, his hilarious written account of what it took to get the movie made.

Wah-Wah (2005)

I orginally wrote this DVD review for The Australian back in November 2006. Posting it here now to go with my review of The Wah-Wah Diaries.

As a boy, actor Richard E. Grant witnessed his mother having sex with his father’s best friend. Later, in an alcoholic rage, his father nearly shot him. This doesn’t make for much of a childhood but it certainly gave Grant all the material he needed for Wah-Wah, his semi-autobiographical debut as a writer and director.