On the basis of what I thought of the play and in light of the filmic techniques we discussed in class my intellectual and emotional thoughts on the film where very different from the book. However I do not think that the film took away any authenticity and vibe from the book, it rather enhanced it especially in the aesthetic use.
The film for me provided a different emotional view of the play. One of the biggest impacts that the film made for me was the characters. When I was reading the book I simulated the character Blanche as deceptive, shrilly and ultimately the antagonist of the play. I didn't notice it at first but throughout the play I started to enjoy Blanche’s character. Vivien Leigh brought life and depth to a worn out role. She turned the whiny helpless damsel in distress into something destructively beautiful in the film. I think that the film definitely helped me understand to what extent Blanche’s problems were real. While acting Vivien Leigh was also experiencing difficulty of her own with alcohol abuse and it clearly resonated in her performance (even if it’s a sad she was experiencing problems in real life there is an undeniable enhancement in her performance). By the end of the film I started seeing Blanche more as the protagonist and her counterpart Stanley as the antagonist.
Another aspect of the film that I thought made a huge impact on my intellectual perspective for the play was the ending. As we all know in the book Stella returns back to her husband and it ends with the image of Stanley as the ideal family man, comforting his wife as she holds their newborn child. Ultimately it answers the calls into question the readers voluntariness to ostracize Blanche from the new family. The ending of the play a...
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... loss of innocence. Another important song was “It’s Only a Paper Moon” that Blanche was singing about in the bath while Stanley explained to Stella about how she had an affair with a younger man in her past. The lyrics of the song describes the way love turns life into a fantasy. The writer of the song explains that if both partners believe in the fantasy then it is technically a reality. This song represent Blanche’s approach on life, she thinks that if she immerses herself far enough into her fantasy world it will eventually become a reality.
In conclusion I think that book was amazing to read and I really enjoyed interpreting the different themes but the film added more depth and option for opinions for the story. For example hoe the director decided to present the characters and the ending of the book. The book can talk the talk but the film can walk the walk.
The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the book. The amateurish style of the book gives it some appeal as a more sleek and sophisticated style wouldn’t evoke a sense of angst’ desperation and confusion that the novel does.
For all the differences the film had from the novel, it was basically the same story just told in a more cheerful way and was more about the Joad family. However, the differences did not take away from the film; they might have made the film even better. No matter how different the film was from the novel, they both have succeeded in their own respective fields and remain classics to this
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
The movie is, most likely, done well enough to intrigue its intended audience. It captured the theme and story line of the book. It falls short, though, when compared to the beautiful, sensitive and contemplative prose of Natalie Babbitt. One could only hope that a viewing of the film will lead the watcher to try the book and be delighted all the more.
During scene one, the audience is introduced to Blanche as Stella's sister, who is going to stay with her for a while. Blanch tries her best to act normal and hide her emotion from her sister, but breaks down at the end of scene one explaining to Stella how their old home, the Belle Reve, was "lost." It is inferred that the home had to be sold to cover the massive funeral expenses due to the many deaths of members of the Dubois family. As Blanche whines to her sister, "All of those deaths! The parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful way!" (21). The audience sees this poor aging woman, who has lost so many close to her, and now her home where she grew up. How could anyone look at her, and not feel the pain and suffering that she has to deal with by herself? Williams wants the audience to see what this woman has been through and why she is acting the way she is. Blanche's first love was also taken from her. It seems that everyone she loves is dead except for her sister. Death plays a crucial role in Blanche's depression and other mental irregularities. While these circumstances are probably enough for the audience to feel sympathy for Blanche, Williams takes it a step further when we see Blanche's...
Our lives are consumed by the past. The past of what we once did, what we once accomplished, and what we once could call our own. As we look back on these past memories we seldom realize the impact these events have on our present lives. The loss of a past love mars are future relationships, the loss of our family influences the choices we make today, and the loss of our dignity can confuse the life we live in the present. These losses or deaths require healing from which you need to recover. The effects of not healing can cause devastation as apparent in the play A Streetcar Named Desire. The theme of A Streetcar Named Desire is death. We encounter this idea first with the death of Blanche and Stella's relationship as sisters. Blanche and Stella had a life together once in Bel Reve and when Stella decided to move on in her life and leave, Blanche never could forgive her. This apparent in the scene when Blanche first arrives in New Orleans and meets Stella at the bowling alley. Stella and Blanche sit down for a drink and we immediately see Blanche's animosity towards Stella. Blanche blames Stella for abandoning her at Bel Reve, leaving Blanche to handle the division of the estate after their parents die. As result of Stella's lack of support, we see Blanche become dependent on alcohol and lose her mental state. Blanche comes to be a a terrible reck through out the play as we learn of the details of her life at Bel Reve. Her loss of the entire estate and her struggle to get through an affair with a seventeen year old student. This baggage that Blanche carries on her shoulders nips at Stella through out eventually causing the demise of her relationship. As Blanche's visit goes on with Stella, the nips become too great and with the help of Stanley, Stella has Blanche committed to a mental hospital, thus symbolizing the death of the realtionship they once had. The next death we encounter in the film is the death of Stella and Stanley's marriage. Our first view of Stanley is of an eccentric man, but decent husband who cares deeply for his wife. However, as as Blanche's visit wears on, we come to see the true Stanley, violent and abusive.
Early in Blanche’s life before she arrived at the Kowalski’s residence, Blanche already led a life of promiscuity and alcoholism, which is exhibited when “she pours a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down.” Additionally, Blanche loses her job due to an inappropriate relationship with a student, and her excessive drinking throughout the play was triggered when she unknowingly married a homosexual man that later committed suicide after the discovery of his sexual preference. These events show who Blanche is as a person and how she operates in the world. She relies on her ability to act as an object of male sexual desire since her interactions with the males in the play always commence with flirtation. This is demonstrated when Blanche tells St...
Tennessee has woven a plot set in New Orleans around three characters Blanche, her brother-in-law Stanley and her sister Stella. Following essay‘s objective is to compare both, Williams’s play with motion picture based on it, highlighting similarities and differences between the two.
The cast did an awesome jobs playing the role but they did not have the same characteristics as the book. The book had more emphasis on some of the characters that weren't important in the movie. May has such an important role in the book but is not important in the book. Another character that is different is Rosaleen. Rosaleen seems to be about over thirty in the book but in the movie she seems young and gentle while in the book she was tough and sassy. Although the characters were different.
Stella represents an important part in this drama by providing a contrast to how life can change people when they go down different paths. In Contrast to her sister, Stella is bound to love. Although she fell in love with a primitive, common man, she most definitely loves him. Stella desires only to make Stanley happy and live a beautiful life together. She wants to find peace between her sister and her husband yet instead she finds conflict afflicting her on both sides. Blanche uses her dilutions and tries to sway Stella away from Stanley yet Stella takes all these slanders and belittles them. Stella does this because she loves Stanley and since she is pregnant with his baby.
The drama is basically about a married couple -Stella and Stanley Kowalski- who are visited by Stella's older sister, Blanche. The drama shows the caustic feelings of these people putting Blance DuBois in the center. The drama tells the story of the pathetic mental and emotional demise of a determined, yet fragile, repressed and delicate Southern lady born to a once-wealthy family of Mississippi planters.3 No doubt that the character of Blanche is the most complex one in the drama. She is truly a tragic heroine.
... believe that the movie is a great supplement of the book, even with its’ imperfections, and I definately have seen much worse and deceptive adaptions of a book.
One of the first major themes of this book is the constant battle between fantasy and reality. Blanche explains to Mitch that she fibs because she refuses to accept the hand fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Stanley, a practical man firmly grounded in the physical world, disdains Blanche’s fabrications and does everything he can to unravel them. The relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearances and reality. It propels the play’s plot and creates an overarching tension. Ultimately, Blanche’s attempts to rejuvenate her life and to save Stella from a life with Stanley fail. One of the main ways the author dramatizes fantasy’s inability to overcome reality is through an explorati...
The essential conflict of the story is between Blanche, and her brother in-law Stanley. Stanley investigates Blanche’s life to find the truth of her promiscuity, ruining her relationships with Stella, and her possible future husband Mitch, which successfully obtain his goal of getting Blanche out of his house. Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she should leave Stanley because she witnessed a fight between the two. Despite these instances, there is an essence of sexual tension between the two, leading to a suspected rape scene in which one of their arguments ends with Stanley leading Blanche to the bed. Branching from that, Stella has an inner conflict because she does not know whether to side with her husband or her sister in each situation. Blanche and Mitch ha...
Blanche uses her fantasies as a shield; and her desires as her motivation to survive. Her fading beauty being her only asset and chance of finding stability. Stella’s relationship with Stanley also emphasis the theme Williams created in this book. They’re only bond is physical desire and nothing at all intellectual or deep rooted. Tennessee Williams exemplifies that their relationship which only springs from desire doesn’t make it any weaker. He also creates a social dichotomy of the relationship between death and desire.