Catcher In The Rye- Movie Proposal

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Movie Proposal:

The Catcher in the Rye

To the Producer:

The Catcher in the Rye, a contemporary novel by J.D. Salinger, is a thought-provoking, fascinating look at society’s values and issues in the 1950’s. This book would make an excellent transition to film because it is full of both action and implication. It focuses on a four-day period of time in the life of a sixteen-year-old cynic with emotional problems. The book follows Holden Caulfield as he struggles with others and himself to find his way through the “phoniness” and disillusionment involved in his adolescent life. These struggles essentially make up the novel, occurring during a long “flashback” of the four days as he relates them to a psychoanalyst. It would make a brilliant movie because it is written with so much detail, so many pictures that would be beautifully expressed through visual representation. Not only that, but the novel possesses substance, providing a subjective view of the superficiality of modern life, which is represented by the world Salinger creates around Holden.

Summary:

The movie would be named after the novel it is based on, and would attempt to follow the exact storyline. Pencey Prep, the private school that Holden attended would not have to be in Pennsylvania, but somewhere resembling the area. Most of the city incidents would actually be filmed in New York City. Of course, certain streets would have to be singled out, and the costuming and cars, etc., would have to resemble1950’s New York in order to fit the time period.

The movie would be narrated by Holden, who would stop talking at times to allow focus on the flashbacks taking place in what would then seem like present tense. Much of the narration does not need to be put into dialogue because Holden spends a great deal of time in his descriptions of what is going on around him. This aspect of the book would have to be carried out carefully and precisely by actors with the right kind of talent (see Characters/Acting) in order to make the movie successful in capturing Salinger’s exact tones and concepts.

Note: the main objective of the movie is to present The Catcher in the Rye in visual format. This means to follow as closely as possible to the original plot, dialogue, settings, etc. as written in the book unless truly impo...

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...ovel, whether obviously or inconspicuously. The novel accurately describes most of the other characters, because of Holden’s observant nature. All details given by Holden should be carried out accordingly.

The movie would be best directed by Stephen Spielberg, because of his ability to keep movies true to nature, and still produce a compelling story. This would be an excellent project for him because the objective of the film is to do exactly what Spielberg did with movies such as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan: to take a story, fiction or non-, and portray it as a emotionally moving picture, while keeping it true to the original vision.

The movie spin-off of The Catcher in the Rye should accurately represent the novel written by J.D. Salinger. The budget for the film should be whatever is deemed necessary by the director to make the movie as realistic and well done as possible. The budget should not be a consideration because it would hinder the quality of the film and therefore not allow it to live up to the wonderful the novel could have as a film. If carried out well, this film would be a huge success.

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