A pedestrian walks past an advertising placard for the movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
IN PHOTO: A pedestrian walks past an advertising placard for the movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey' which will be screened at the upcomming 65th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 4, 2015. The February 5-15 Berlinale kicks off the European festival season. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

Sam Taylor-Johnson, the director of the much anticipated film “Fifty Shades of Grey,” found it “really, really frustrating” to work with the author E.L. James, on whose best-selling book the erotic film is based. Sam also said that James has not congratulated her at the completion of her film, which is now scheduled for a Feb. 13 release.

In her latest interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sam said she found it very “difficult” to work with James and they both shared a very “challenging relationship.” “I'm not saying that at times it wasn't helpful, but there were times when it was really, really frustrating,” Sam is quoted as saying to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

The conflict between Sam and James happened when Sam reportedly hired Patrick Marber to help her work more on the film's lead characters, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. According to Daily Mail, the author did not like the changes and said that the script by Marber was completely different from her book “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The website said that James threatened to advise her million fans on social media to “give the movie a miss” if her version of the film was not chosen by Sam. The website further adds that James was “eventually placated” by the production team when they included her version in their film.

Sam also told THR that the book contained a lot of sex scenes and her idea was to make a studio film, which was not based completely on sex but also had “more psychological and emotional and a real deep, dark romance.” The director looked at various films for inspiration, including “9 1/2 Weeks,” “Last Tango in Paris” and “Blue is the Warmest Color.”

Sam also added that she did not feel the need to make a film that was “as graphic” as “Blue is the Warmest Colour.” She told the website that “eroticism sort of ends when there's penetration.” She wanted to focus on the foreplay part more for her film, said the director. The film has been given R rating in the U.S. while Britain has slapped it with 18 rating. “Fifty Shades of Grey” tells the story of a kinky billionaire Christian Grey (played by Jamie Doran) who has a BDSM past. The female lead is played by Dakota Johnson, who plays the role of Anastasia Steele.

For any questions/comments on the article, you may contact the writer at: n.tewari@ibtimes.com.au