Screen Style: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

I've been meaning to watch this movie for ages and I finally bit the bullet yesterday and put it on to watch over lunch. It's not that I was worried it would be rubbish, I just tend to put on re-runs of TV shows I like during lunch. It means I have something fun to watch, but that I can just keep on in the background while I blog. That's the thing about my lunches: I may not have more than 7 people who read this blog, but I like to consider my lunches 'working lunches'. E is napping and I can set up shop in the living room to get a few things done that would take too much of my attention while he's awake.

So anyway, back to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.  I first got the recommendation to watch it from Diana over at exPress-O. Though there are lots of genres of film that I enjoy, I do like my romantic comedies, and love stories in general. Ewan McGregor is the uptight fly fishing expert, Dr. Alfred Jones. The gorgeous Emily Blunt is Harriet Chetwode-Talbot; financial adviser to a visionary Yemeni Sheikh who wants to bring the sport of salmon fishing to his home country.

The story is a fun one, and though the romantic part of the plot does end up following the usual script, I personally think that the writers left room to have it take a non-conventional direction, and the story certainly wouldn't have suffered if they took a path that didn't bring its main characters together in the normal way. I think, in that sense, that it works as a romantic comedy because it doesn't make its 'predictable' ending feel like a foregone conclusion for most of the movie. Also? It's fun and well-written and has some to-die-for scenery. Oh yeah...and the style!

1) Ewan McGregor's (Dr. Alfred Jones) shirt when he first meets Sheikh Muhammad is a lovely multi-colour check on white. It's clean and preppy, but still understated. This offering from Joules comes pretty spot-on to achieving the same look. I'd advise pairing it with a v-neck jumper and a fishing vest!

2)This fly fishing print is a fun way to get the look of some of the flies without necessarily going the kitschy earrings-and-brooches route.

3) Emily Blunt's work outfits the first 2 times she meets Ewan McGregor are cute. Harriet seems to have a thing for nice cardigans. I can't say I blame her! I've added more jewellery than she wears in the film, just as an option on how to accessorize these sorts of outfits.

4) Moroccan-style lantern. I know that this takes place in the Yemen, but the lanterns they have set up at Sheikh Mohammed's camp do look an awful lot like this one.

5) The Voido rocking chairs in white make an appearance in the offices where Emily Blunt's character, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, works. They're on the expensive side, but they're really fun!

6) Dark Salmon paint by Benjamin Moore. Not only is the name completely appropriate; it looks to be the same colour on the walls of the dining room of Sheikh Muhammad's Scotland manor. I could imagine doing a room in this colour with some white board & batten up to chair rail height...

So there you have it! The adorable British romantic film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I may have to go and read the book now, just to see how it compares. This is definitely a film I'll be watching again.