 Initially intended to be a made @-@ for @-@ TV film , the film 's producer <unk> <unk> upgraded his original plan to a cinema feature . The original working title for the film was " Falling Man " . <unk> Simon Gray was commissioned to write the screenplay , and Pat O ’ Connor chosen to direct . In contrast to the book , which is narrated as a recollection by Birkin as an old man , the film is set entirely in the 1920s , except for a brief moment towards the end . In initial drafts of the screenplay , Gray had included a narrator , but O 'Connor felt this was not the correct way to present the story : 
