Actor Paul Giamatti compares his star turn as the title character in Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version to 'doing, like, a Dickens novel or something.' (CBC)Shooting got underway on Barney's Version in Rome this week, with everyone from star Paul Giamatti to movie mogul Robert Lantos feeling the weight of adapting Mordecai Richler's award-winning Canadian novel for film.

The project is a labour of love for Canadian uber-producer Lantos, who knew the iconic Montreal author and has toiled for 12 years to turn the 1997 book into a movie.

"I have to do this right because it is Richler's magnum opus, because I think that he is the most important writer we've ever had in Canada," Lantos told CBC News this week during an exclusive visit to the Rome set of the $28 million project.

"He certainly speaks to me more than any other Canadian voice ever has in literature," Lantos said.

'I think [Richler] is the most important writer we've ever had in Canada,' said Canadian movie mogul Robert Lantos. (CBC)"I doubt very much that for the rest of my career I will ever get my hands on material as rich and as bawdy and as wonderful as Barney's Version.

Finding Barney

Prior to his death in 2001, Richler himself tried his hand at adapting his 10th novel into a script, Lantos said. And, over the years, in addition to having to find the right screenwriter, Lantos also battled with casting the perfect actor as the title character — Richler's aging curmudgeon Barney Panofsky.

"Then out comes this film called Sideways and I see this actor I've never heard of before. And I said 'Barney!'" Lantos exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "I couldn't cast anyone else once [I knew] Paul Giamatti lives. He is this character."

Nevertheless, the American performer — most recently acclaimed for his portrayal of John Adams in the multiple award-winning HBO miniseries about the U.S. founding father — acknowledges the difficulty in taking on such a memorable character, created by a writer as revered as Richler.

Scott Speedman, left, and Paul Giamatti are seen on the Rome set of Barney's Version. (CBC)"It is an iconic Canadian book. It is an iconic Canadian author...You feel like you're doing, like a Dickens novel or something. It's so hugely Canadian. I'm an American doing it so I hope I don't blow it," Giamatti said.

Montreal actress Rachelle Lefevre — who made headlines recently when she was dropped from the hit Twilight teen vampire film series because of her decision to join the Barney's Version cast — says she feels screenwriter Michael Konyves has captured the spirit of Richler's work.

"It's hilarious, it's filthy, it's heartbreaking, it's amazing. Michael's script really does [the book] justice," said Lefevre, who portrays Barney's first wife, the troubled artist Clara.

Adopted by Italians

Interest in the film is high in Italy, where Barney's Version also resonated with readers, became a bestseller and where Barney Panofsky was beloved.

"The book is so celebrated in Italy and has so many champions that it has become an integral part of Italian popular culture," Lantos said.

Newspaper Il Foglio helped spark the country's devotion to the Richler novel after Barney's Version struck a chord with its editors, who ran multiple reviews of the book on consecutive days. So began a veritable campaign to promote Richler and the title through countless articles and features.

Italians loved Barney's Version because 'finally, we have a character who was able and was willing to say whatever he wants, whatever he thinks,' said Il Foglio journalist Christian Rocca. (CBC)The paper even started a daily column called Barney's Version: a commentary on Italian politics written in the voice of Richler's cantankerous protagonist that continues to this day. Other papers followed with the so-called Barneymania.

"We didn't just love the book. We adopted it like a son, or maybe like a father," said Il Foglio journalist Christian Rocca.

"We love outspoken people. We love, how do you call them, curmudgeons? ...Finally, we have a character who was able and was willing to say whatever he wants, whatever he thinks," Rocca said.

Beyond being "a wonderful love story," Barney's Version is "a manifesto of political incorrectness. We Italians are deeply politically incorrect people so we love the book — I think — for this reason."

After Rome, shooting moves to Montreal and New York. The cast also includes Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Rosamund Pike, Scott Speedman, Bruce Greenwood and Macha Grenon.

The big-budget Canadian film, directed by Richard Lewis, is tentatively set for release in 2010.

With files from Peter Wall