Film Studies Essays Film or Book

get hold of Studies Essays Film or BookWhich is better the film or the book?The upset over the superiority of literature over film or crime versa seems to rear its head every time a major put up of literary work is adapted. Even unbridled success stories such as Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy have heterodox voices unhappy with his changes and omissions. However changes and omissions ar absolutely necessary when adapting hundreds of pages of prose into a couple up of hours of film. This essay will look at how autobiography is adapted and retold in two films Mrs D totallyoway (Marleen Gorris, 1997) and The Color Purple. (Steven Spielberg, 1985)Mrs Dalloway is not a conventionally narrated novel. over the line of work of a day it follows the eponymous promoter through her preparations to host a party and how the unexpected arrival of am old suitor makes her reminisce about her youth. At the same time we see how Mrs Dalloway and her associates lives intersect with that of a shell- ball over solider. What is produced is a type of mosaic annals, which is then left for the reader to go steady and discern meaning.In the beginning of the film as she walks about capital of the United Kingdom on her way to collect the flowers for her party we argon allowed to view moments of her youth in flashback. These flashbacks are generally triggered by something in the present. For example a meeting with Hugh reminds her of how Peter Walsh never to this day forgiven her for liking him. (Woolf, p 8) These are intonationed in and out of aurally, as she hears voices of people she knew in her head and the ocular waits a beat before transitioning back as well. This replicates the mosaic narrative style of the book.There is however one major difference in the midst of the beginning of the book and the beginning of the film. The character of Septimus (Rupert Graves) is much more promptly established as a major character in spite of appearance the film. In th e book he is introduced as a car backfires and he is shocked rigid by it although no immediate reason is given why. Over the course of the novel we learn more about his experiences at state of war and the lasting effect upon him. Mrs Dalloway and Septimus never meet in the novel, yet we are led to discern they are connected thematically through the mosaic narrative.The Film version of Mrs Dalloway opens with a brief sequence of Septimus (Rupert Graves) in the trenches of dry land war one. The shot is thick with smoke and is filmed in lento motion to give the sense of a dream sequence although the backup Italy 1918 suggests that this is a flashback. The camera slowly zooms into Septimus face singling him out as the protagonist of this sequence. We see his reaction to a friend being blown up by an explosion and as he sinks into despair the smoke fills the cover song fading it to white and softening focus. This soft white backdrop then becomes the drapes in the bedroom of Mrs. Dal loway (Vanessa Redgrave). These two environments could not be more contrary however the transition is not jarring or unsettling we are taken from the horror trenches into the gentile and elegant world of a Whitehall socialite with the greatest of ease. The transition leaves the viewer with the impression that the two peoples lives are someways connected, but perhaps is not as subtle and gently coaxing as the book.The Color Purple tells the story of a young shocking woman in the Deep South. It is about the oppression and abuse she suffers in a racist sexist world and the bonds of friendship she finds with other(a) women. The climactic emotional moment of the novel is the sequence ion which Celia tells her husband that she is leaving him and sorrowful to Memphis. The dialogue form the scene in the film is taken more or less word for word from the book. It is a moment of great personal liberty for Celia, and a moment of fantastic performance from the unusually restrained Whoopi Goldberg. She has been ill-use and sub-serviant all her life and she finally has enough sense of self cost to speak up load and powerfully. Youre a lowdown dog is whats wrong, I say. Its time to leave you and enter into the creation. (Walker, p180)First of all the scene is set in Mr.____s (Danny Glover) House as opposed to Harpos (Willard Pugh) in the book this is significant because it has been Celias prison for some(prenominal) years a place where she has been continuously abused. This adds extra dramatic tenseness to the scene and focuses it on Celia. However this does to some extent detract from the arcs of the other characters such as Squeak (Rea Dawn Chong) and Sofia. (Oprah Winfrey) In the novel thither are continuous denotations to Squeak being Harpos mistress and stimulate of his child. This is less prominent in the film and as such leaves Squeaks going away with much less dramatic weight. Also the film omits the visit of Eleanor Jane and reference to Sofias probatio n. In the novel Sofia is denied her emancipation by the legalities she is still involve with, the film instead reinstates Sofia as a dominant force at the dinner table.What is clear from this scene is that although as the stories protagonist Celias narrative arc has remained intact, omissions have had to have been made on behalf of other characters within the novel due to the narrative constraints of time.Film can strive to attend the stylistic form of literature successfully as in the episode of Mrs Dalloway or unsuccessfully as in the case of The bonfire of the Vanities (De Palma, 1990) In certain cases such as The Godfather (Coppola 1972) and Jaws (Spielberg 1975) the film adaptation can transcend the source material. Although argument other which form is better may be mere sound and fury direct comparison of the two dissimilar narrative forms can lead to a better understanding of reading itself.BibliographyBordwell and Thompson. (2001) Film Art An Introduction, unexample d York McGraw Hill.Kawin, B (1992) How Movies Work, capital of the United Kingdom University of California press.Thompson, K (1999) Storytelling in the New Hollywood Understanding classical Narrative Technique. London HarvardWalker, A (2004) The Color Prurple, London Pheonix.Woolf, V (1996) Mrs Dalloway, London Penguin popular classics.FilmographyBonfire of the Vanities (Dir Brian De Palma, 1990, US)Color Purple, The (Dir Steven Spielberg, 1985 US)Godfather, The (Dir Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, US)Jaws (Dir Steven Spielberg, 1975, US)Lord of the Rings The Two Towers, The (Dir Peter Jackson, 2002, US, New Zealand, Germany)Mrs. Dalloway (Dir Marleen Gorris, 1997, UK)