The Bridges of Madison County earlier about "the dreams of a woman named Francesca," gave him the idea for the novella, which was completed in eleven days. After he had written "Bridges", Waller came to believe that he had based the character of Francesca Johnson on his wife, Georgia, whom Francesca physically resembles. According to Marc Eliot, Waller's novella is a modernization of the Noël Coward play "Still Life" (1934), which was adapted into David Lean's film "Brief Encounter" (1945). "Still Life" is about 'the desperation, guilt, and temptations of two married people who meet, fall in love, commit adultery, and then separate forever." In
Still Life (2006 film) contemporaries (and indeed unlike many of Jia's own films), "Still Life" was approved by the Chinese Film Bureau, SARFT, and was co-produced by the state-operated Shanghai Film Studio. Jia himself suggested that this support was due to the fact that "[t]he impact of the Three Gorges project is phenomenal. It’s not something the government can cover up." "Still Life" was therefore given a brief theatrical run in China (opening on the same day as the big-budget "Curse of the Golden Flower") and was also heavily bootlegged. Like many of Jia's works, "Still Life"<nowiki>'s pacing is stately but slow. Unlike his