Some say that Arlington Road can be compared to Rear Window because it effectively used Hitchcock’s elements in the film. In my opinion, Arlington Road does not live up to its Hitchcockian roots. Although I believe Arlington Road does not prevail as a Hitchcock worthy film, there are many similarities in the thematic and stylistic elements between the two films. One of Hitchcock’s repetitive elements is that the villains in the films are appealing. In Rear Window, Thorwald is a normal looking fellow.
The book also has more suspense while the movie moves too fast and cuts out scenes. The movie moving too fast causes it to be very predictable. Three major differences that stood out include missing characters and characters perceived differently, essential scenes left out and the way the book shows individual people while the movie shows the relationships in action. The book versus the movie shows clear differences but the morals are all still the same. ... ... middle of paper ... ... To say both the book and the movie of To Kill a Mockingbird were closely related would be an understatement.
Although the overall plot was similar, the directorial style was quite obviously different. Both movies had a blurred line between good and evil, which needed to be crossed in order to stop the villain. Also the both protagonists are just regular, ordinary guys. However, the differences between the two movies far out-weigh the similarities. In the end of Arlington Road, the villain gets his way and moral order is never reinstated which is unlike Rear Window.
The addition of supporting characters, such as Lisa, diminishes somewhat the loneliness of the short story character. The character in the short story has more in common with Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade than with Jimmy Stewart’s Jeff. That Hitchcock took a story written in a style similar to Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, and chose not to make a film noir detective story speaks much to Hitchcock’s purpose here. Rather than creating a conventional detective story, Hitchcock creates an everyman, whose injury prevents him from action. The impotence the character feels heightens the tension of the film, as well by forcing the viewers to identify with his frustration.
However this is not the case with Nunn’s Twelfth Night, which achieves this exploration of the serious essentially through his interpretation of some of the play’s principal characters including Malvolio, Feste and Maria. Malvolio's character is significant to Nunn’s adaptation in many respects with it initially appearing that Malvolio brings an air of respectability and chastity to the film. However his essential flaws and his inability to recognise the reality of people's feelings, including Olivia's, remove him from the position of moral overseer to a simple player in the game of love. Malvolio's error is related to his self-perceptions and his consideration of his own self-importance, rather than his caring and compassion for his mistress Olivia. Malvolio’s function in this film is to serve as a comedic contrast to the merry-makers, as well as a vital reminder to Feste t... ... middle of paper ... ... provides glimpses of these issues, yet valorises a light-hearted, aesthetic approach to the text as a whole.
When stripped down to basics it is nothing more than a generic love story with a few twists added in for extra kick. The characters in the same vain can be very bland and not make you care much for them due to their backstories not being deeply explored. The only character that I found to be interesting was Jay Gatsby because of the mystical aura that surrounds his character at the beginning of the movie that leads you to want to uncover more of this ever mysterious man. All in all the visuals clearly outpace the story in this adaptation but the character and... ... middle of paper ... ...cs in America: Anti-miscegenation Laws). So it can be seen that the race relations in the Great Gatsby were in fact accurately portrayed.
It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on. I enjoyed The Big Sleep by Howard Hawks, but can still recognize and appreciate the differences between it and Chandler's masterful novel. It is an objective appreciation of the two works which forms the foundation a good paper. One must look at the book as a distinct unit, look at the film as a distinct unit, and then (and only then) use one to compare/contrast the other in a critique. The film, after all, is not an extension of the novel&endash;as some would like to argue&endash;but an independent entity that can be constructed however the artist (Hawks in this case) wants.
Contrasting Themes? When has one ever seen a film that could compare to the words written in the book? Movies are almost always different, almost always never compare, and almost always have a different premise than that expressed by a novel. The reason, one wonders, is because you have to keep the audience interested. Ambrose Bierce’s short story and Robert Enrico’s film adaptation entitled, “An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge,” is a great example of differing themes in a piece of work.
Due to the nature of movies, there are some large disadvantages to using film as a medium for historical portrayal. Movies tend to play up certain character traits or moments in time to further the plotline. The destructiveness and greed of certain characters in this movie, like Aguirre, was certainly exaggerated. These exaggerations often over dramatize the situation, which as a filmmaker is not necessarily a bad thing. In a historical drama, as opposed to a documentary, you have the unsung responsibility to keep the audience interested and entertained.
The film does a fantastic job of taking your perception of not only what is supposed to be in the norm in society, but also what is supposed to be the norm in a story. The first time I watched this film I understood some of this, but not to the extent I do today. How could a film have such a split in reception that resulted in actual verbal disagreements by the end of the film? A story typically has an antagonist and a protagonist, as well as a set evil and innocence. This movie does not truly allow you to... ... middle of paper ... ...goes against the norm.