Watchmen

The Watchmen

1. The Book

            Set in an alternate history, Watchmen is a story about superheroes taken with a grain of salt. Similar to Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles, it views superheroes from a perspective of what kinds of issues they could face if they actually existed, but unlike The Incredibles, it does so from a much more dark, gritty, and adult angle. Fetishes, world politics, and various psychological tolls taken on the heroes themselves are the centerpiece of the story, depicting how ridiculous the modern concept of superheroes are and how the world would be with actual individuals like that.

 

2. The Movie

            The film decided to change the ending of the graphic novel, and in so doing, to change the final message of the piece. The new message contended that Dr. Manhattan himself represented a part of the arms race in the Cold War, and the only way to achieve a lasting peace would be to remove him from the equation, for as long as he existed, Russia would feel threatened.

 

3. The Adaptation

            Pleasing cult audiences has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks in adapting comics to film. For most of the production, it was able to stay almost completely faithful to the source material, but changing the ending had a domino-like effect on several other key points and such dramatic changes are guaranteed to enrage fanboys. Such changes could only have been made to appeal to larger audiences, but it raises the question of whether deviations like this are acceptable.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2012130054&site=ehost-live

Examines how some of the changes made in the Watchmen movie may have been influenced by 9/11.

 

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/zack-snyder-on-watchmen-legacy-as-the-anti-avengers-movie/

Analyzes the movie in relation to the other comic movies Snyder has done. Most especially, it focuses on the context of the new Superman movie.

 

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/03/review-watchmen/

An analysis by one of the fans of the original comic.

 

5. Critical Argument

            The Comedian’s personality in his nihilism and viewing the world as a joke could be compared to The Joker in certain Batman comics. Of course, the Joker is famed for being so widely portrayed in different stories, but The Comedian’s line “It’s a joke” reminded me of a quote from the Joker in the comic The Killing Joke (coincidentally also written by Alan Moore):

 “Do you have any idea how many times we’ve come close to World War 3 over a flock of geese on a computer screen? Do you even know what triggered the last world war? An argument over how many telegram poles Germany owed its War Department creditors. Telegram poles! It’s all a joke! Everything that anyone has ever valued or struggled for, it’s all a monstrous, demented gag.”

Sherlock Holmes Adaptation

            The character of Sherlock Holmes is no stranger to being adapted to film. With over 200 films using the detective, he is consistently cited by Guinness Book of World Records as being the most portrayed movie character of all time. However, almost none of those films are based directly on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, so the image of Holmes that most people hold in their minds isn’t necessarily accurate to the character originally created.

            Upon examination of the novel The Sign of Four, there are many aspects that seem to have been lost over the years. First and foremost is Holmes’ drug addiction, as we see him in the very first chapter taking an injection of cocaine and Watson remarking on a similar habit with morphine. Holmes is often portrayed as smoking a pipe, but it tends to be generally accepted as tobacco, and at no point in the novel did Holmes smoke any substance. Another trait portrayed is a certain social insensitivity. Again, in the very first chapter, Watson attempts to distract Holmes from his drugs by challenging him to analyze as much as he could about a pocketwatch Watson had just received as a gift. Holmes’ response was to casually deduce that it had belonged to Watson’s older brother, and describing the sibling as drunk, careless, and poverty-stricken, all of which turned out to be true. While he often demonstrates a keen ability to understand humans in an abstract and intellectual sense, he struggles properly applying such skills socially.

            Still, some of Holmes’ other famous eccentricities seem to be accurate. His ability for abductive reasoning, or deducing great amounts from small details, has always been a defining characteristic. While he isn’t exactly an unorganized individual, he does seem to be something of a packrat, refusing to ever throw out any old documents and meaning that his living space must eventually devolve into chaos that only makes sense to him.

            What was most surprising, though, was the discovery of Holmes’ skill at fighting. It turns out that he had once actually held a reputation as a skilled boxer, to the point where a former prize-fighter employed as a guard at a house they were visiting actually remembered him from an amateur match they had four years before.

“”Not Mr. Sherlock Holmes!” roared the prize-fighter. “God’s truth! how could I have mistook you? If instead o’ standin’ there so quiet you had just stepped up and given me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, I’d ha’ known you without a question. Ah, you’re one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy.””

            The problem with a direct adaptation, though, is that much of the story is taken up with long-winded backstory which would be extremely boring to film in almost any context or interpretation. As such, the Guy Richie adaptation to the overall storyline by making a movie that takes place at some point in the future when Watson is leaving is a clever approach. It allows Holmes to have descended into depression, letting them emphasize certain characteristics without too much trouble, while exploring why Holmes chooses to have Watson around.

            As a result, the moral ambiguities of the original Holmes seem to have been the most emphasized. Not only the drug usage, but also in terms of gambling, drinking, and law-breaking during his cases. As mentioned in The Sign of Four, “So swift, silent, and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained blood-hound picking out a scent, that I could not think but what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law, instead of exerting them in its defense.” There have been many detective stories where the protagonist’s skill set would have made him a frighteningly skilled criminal, but Sherlock Holmes was probably one of the very first.

            It’s surprising just how many ways Richie ended up managing to convey the original Holmes in the movie, and some scenes in particular have a strong similarity to parts of the novels. For a start, the scene where Holmes analyzes Mary bears a striking resemblance to the insensitivity displayed when Holmes examined Watson’s pocketwatch. In both cases, the abstract problem seemed to almost blind him to what he was saying. Another good example would be the scene where Holmes is taken by carriage to meet the leaders of the Temple of the Four Orders and despite the blindfold, he is able to pinpoint almost every step of the journey and deduce where their headquarters are. In The Sign of Four, Holmes makes a similar analysis of a high-speed carriage journey he takes with Watson on a dark foggy night with almost no visibility, and the resemblance to the carriage scene from the film is almost uncanny. Other instances of such moments were observed by Trevor Gentry-Birnbaum:

In the early part of the film, Watson finds Holmes in his room, completely in darkness and firing his revolver indoors. In “The Musgrave Ritual,” Watson describes a similar situation: “Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V.R. done in bullet-pocks…” (The V.R. being Victoria Regina, Latin for “Queen Victoria,” of course.) And in The Sign of the Four, after taking a dose of his seven-per-cent solution of cocaine, says “My mind […] rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work…” An identical line is spoken in the movie.

There are multiple instances of quotes being lifted directly from the source material to provide authentic dialogue and situations. And while he only used it for tuneless plucking, the Stradivarius was present for several scenes. The film makers definitely made it a point to keep Holmes feeling like the original.

            Another impressive adaptation is how Guy Richie portrayed Holmes’s analytical style of fighting, which could very easily explain his reported combat skill in the novels. Also, Holmes had a powerful talent for disguises, which made an appearance when following Irene Adler to the man who turned out to be his archenemy, Professor Moriarty. One of the more amusing instances of this kind of clever inclusion of character details was how Holmes preferred to let the police and authorities take all the credit for his cases in the novels. In the film, Holmes covers his face in the picture that makes the newspaper front page about catching Lord Blackwood, and later when he is being hunted by the police and is looking at the warrant for his arrest, he smiles as he remarks that they didn’t have a photo of him to include with it.

            One of the most significant similarities, though, is how Watson is portrayed in the film. In many other adaptations, Watson is just a plump guy in a waistcoat who acts befuddled and asks questions that Sherlock is supposed to respond to with “Elementary, my dear Watson.” In the novels, Watson is an experienced and intelligent man by the standards of 19^th century London. He fought in the Afghan War and is a licensed doctor, competent and sensible by any standard. The contrast set up both in the film and in the novels is how this intelligent, respectable man pales in comparison to the deductive powers and attention to detail of Sherlock Holmes. However, Watson could probably be considered Holmes’ equal, or even his better, in several areas outside detective work. According to an interview by Rob Morton and Bob Verini:

“The main focus of his work, [Tony] Peckham recalls, was “really to get the Holmes and Watson dynamic going. I think what I defined was that they’re actually at the end of their relationship…I thought it was interesting to come into this relationship as Watson has decided to move on – you know, he’s had enough of this life. Watson’s decided he wants some of the normal things – he’s been doing abnormal things long enough [and now] he wants a wife, a family, a medical practice. He has a yearning for something other than a primary relationship with Sherlock Holmes.

            “And I always felt like Holmes knows he can’t function without Watson. It’s not simple jealousy that’s making him try to get in between Watson and [Watson’s fiancée] Mary – he knows that Watson’s his bedrock in some ways, and if I were writing the R-rated version of this, Watson is [also] his dealer and his therapist, so it’s a friendship born of necessity as well. It’s a story of a friendship between two men in which one man is growing up to become an adult, if you like, and the other one refuses to and tries to put obstacles in his way, then gets his friend almost killed as a result.”

            It’s never really explored in the novels exactly why Holmes chooses to keep Watson around. One could assume it’s so he has someone to bounce ideas off of, or as an expert in certain areas he doesn’t know much about, but it’s never specified or developed. In fact, the main characters themselves develop very little in the novels, which makes direct adaptation difficult as well. This explains one of the primary deviations the movie makes from the novels: the pacing.

            Although the novels sometimes discuss Holmes’s fighting prowess, most of the time the action takes place out of sight. In the film, the action is all in plain sight for everyone to see. The novels tended towards a strong emphasis on the mystery, or perhaps on Watson’s love interest, but the conflict rarely developed the characters in any meaningful way. Changing this for the film adaptation was most likely a wise move, despite the side effect of some critics accusing the film for having undertones of a homosexual relationship (or at least a “bromance”) between Watson and Holmes.

            Introducing a love interest for Holmes was a change as well, despite the fact that Watson’s womanizing habits in the novels usually meant he was the one with the love interest. Still, selecting the character of Irene Adler was a wise decision, as she is possibly the only woman in the original stories who Holmes held a powerful fascination and admiration for, primarily because she is the only woman to have ever outsmarted Holmes. As Watson describes her in A Scandal in Bohemia, “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.”

            Finally, although some would consider this nitpicking, it is probably the place the movie would hold in the Sherlock Holmes timeline that would prevent it from being considered a part of the continuity, since the timing conflicts with the progression of events in several books. For starters, Mary Morstan, Watson’s fiancée, was the client in the book The Sign of Four. However, in the next book, A Scandal in Bohemia, Watson has been married for some span of time, and Holmes’s encounter with Irene Adler is supposed to be his very first. So, although each of the individual events taking place did occur in the official Sherlock Holmes canon, it cannot be said that there was ever a moment where they could all be true.

Works Cited

http://www.yeoldelibrary.com/text/DoyleAC/signfour/index.htm

http://www.themovingarts.com/sherlock-holmes-then-and-now-a-comparative-analysis/

http://whatculture.com/film/how-faithful-is-guy-ritchies-sherlock-holmes-to-arthur-conan-doyle.php

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f3h&AN=44862261&site=ehost-live

Fantastic Mr. Fox

1. The Book

            There are two dynamics in the themes of Fantastic Mr. Fox. First, there is message and dynamic comparable to Robin Hood, in stealing from these greedy farmers in order to survive. It justifies the immoral act using a variation of the classic “steal from the rich to give to the poor”. However, the thing that keeps it from simply being a rewrite of Robin Hood is the fact that Mr. Fox’s immoral actions had consequences not only for him, but for every woodland creature in the area. Even though the resolution of the book involved more stealing, it was done in a way that took into account everyone Mr. Fox had neglected, to make up for his inconsiderate actions in the past.

 

2. The Film

            The movie version of Fantastic Mr. Fox focuses especially on the themes of family and being yourself. Mr. Fox’s attention on his nephew made his son feel as though he needed to prove himself, and Mr. Fox was oblivious to all of this as his focus was entirely on his old life and who he was. The constant use of the phrase “we’re wild animals” refers to the importance of not hiding who you really are, but at the same time, the importance of taking responsibility for what that means and considering how it will affect those around you.
 

3. The Adaptation

            Turning children’s books into films is always a tricky thing to do, both due to the length and the subject matter. This film chose to get around that problem by expanding the story far beyond the book, making the characters more anthropomorphized and humanlike than they were in the book and continuing the story beyond where the book left it. It was still able to keep most of the themes from the book, but also took the opportunity to add some new ones that complemented them.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=48879417&site=ehost-live

An analysis of Fantastic Mr. Fox in comparison to other children’s movies released recently. Specifically, it remarks on how it is able to appeal to both parents and children at the same time, how it is refreshing and enjoyable without being preachy.

 

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2009442210&site=ehost-live

Examines the film in the context of Wes Anderson’s career.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/24/wes-anderson-fantastic-mr-fox

Analyzes Wes Anderson’s history as a director and how it must have impacted how he went about making this movie.

 

5. Critical Argument

            The film makes the statement that a balance must be found between individual fulfillment and societal expectations. Being oneself is important, as evidenced by the constant reference of the characters to themselves as “wild animals” despite how anthropomorphized they are. However, doing so irresponsibly can result in consequences both for yourself and those around you. Everyone must find a compromise that can allow all to be happy and satisfied.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

1. The Book

            The novel is clearly children’s literature, but with a dark twist and subtle themes that can make it appealing to older audiences as well. As the series has gone on, it seems to have shifted towards the more adult and grimdark themes, most likely because the readers have been growing up with the books. Still, this is the last book before the turning point at the end of Goblet of Fire, and Harry can still afford to go on playful romps through Hogsmede and play Quiddich without a care in the world. The shift towards darker themes is evident, but good is still triumphing.

 

2. The Film

            The movie version of The Prisoner of Azkaban is certainly darker than the previous two films, but this sort of shift was part of what makes the series so good. The reason the directors kept getting changed was so the movies wouldn’t stagnate or become formulaic or predictable. Each new director added their own touch to the movies, and allowed each one to be unique while still part of one long storyline.

 

3. The Adaptation

            The Harry Potter movies were some of the most influential in adapting books to films, primarily because they demonstrated that there are better ways to adapt a book to the big screen than just filming the book page by page. Books are not movie scripts, and most things do not transition well from paper to film, so changes must be made. In this particular case, it was how the details were changed that was most effective in the adaptation.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aft&AN=505086909&site=ehost-live

Focuses on the cinematography used in the film.

 

http://www.explorefaith.org/film/potter.html

Analyzes the underlying messages and motivations of characters.

 

http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_PotterAzkaban.html

Compares some of the concepts in the film with how they are generally perceived abstractly, and evaluates if the film is really appropriate for children. It lingers about the portrayal of the various occult concepts, but is reasonably restrained for coming from a religious source.

 

 

5. Critical Argument

            Professor R.J. Lupin, when leaving at the end, is absolutely a metaphor for real-world discrimination, but he is not representative of any single kind of discrimination. Some might say that his character and being a werewolf is supposed to be comparable to homosexuality, but although he was good friends with Harry, it never reaches the point of evoking that particular sentiment. Essentially, he could be seen as representative of any group of people who have been discriminated against for being “someone like me”.

A Scanner Darkly

1. The Book

            In A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, the author’s note at the end states that there isn’t a moral to the story, and that he wasn’t conveying that the characters had done anything wrong by taking drugs. He had meant to convey that they were a form of victim, but it seems that itself is a moral. If any message can be taken away from this book, it is that the people to blame are the ones creating and distributing the drugs, not the ones taking them. Everyone has moments of weakness, and that’s all it takes to get hooked.

 

2. The Movie

            The film version of A Scanner Darkly uses rotoscoping throughout in order to create an effect similar to hallucinogens. This has the effect of creating a surreal visual aesthetic that well suits the subject matter and acts as an effective deterrent against drugs. The audience is encouraged to ask themselves if this is how people on hallucinogens see the world all the time, and that perhaps it isn’t such a great place to be.

 

3. The Adaptation

            It is true that long, doped-up conversations are difficult to bring into a film without making them tedious, but this is offset by the shifting visual aesthetic. It almost hypnotizes the audience, and while they can understand subjectively that the dialogue is tedious, they don’t really mind all that much. It manages to capture most of the main themes in the book without sacrificing content or trying to film it page-by-page.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=24682533&site=ehost-live

Focuses on the animation techniques and styles of A Scanner Darkly.

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/summer_movies/2006/06/watching_the_detectives.html

Emphasizes and examines the slacktivism in the film.

 

http://www.infowars.com/articles/media/scanner_darkly_linklater_its_world_were_living_in.htm

Compares the movie to the current world situation. This was before the scandal with the NSA, but it calls itself a cautionary tale on several levels. Linklater also describes it as “the world we’re living in”.

 

5. Critical Argument

            In this film, slacktivism is really the only course of action for protest against the government since it’s the only way this government lets anyone protest. We see at one point someone trying to speak out against the government, only to get shoved into a black van and driven away. We see firsthand just how closely monitored the population is. So what is the only way to fight back? Don’t cooperate. Do nothing. Don’t contribute, don’t work, don’t do anything to benefit the government. They can’t arrest you for being lazy, after all.

No Country for Old Men

1. The Book

            The novel is written in an interesting narrative style. The back-and-forth banter of the dialogue with the speakers implied rather than stated, as well as the barest of physical details, gives the reader the freedom to create the scene in their own minds using the emotional details given instead. It allows the reader to give the dialogue the tone and emphasis that would make the most sense to them and to invent details that they would consider worthy of such acts of brutality.

 

2. The Movie

            Like the book’s themes, the movie shows a battle of good versus evil. The sheriff represents good, holding to his duty and the rules despite all the things he’s seen, while Chigurh represents evil, with his brutal and nihilistic outlook. Moss is representative of the average individual, neither good nor evil, but able to be swayed both ways.

 

3. The Adaptation

          Due to the lack of details in the book, despite how it almost resembles a script already, it is nearly impossible to duplicate that technique in film, and totally impossible in a film like this. In horror video games (and perhaps the wider horror genre, but I’ve only heard it used for games), there is a widely accepted philosophy that the more you see of a monster, the less scary it becomes, because no one can ever hope to design something more terrifying than what exists in the player’s imagination. The lack of details achieves a similar effect with the violence in the book, because all the adjectives in the world would not be able to create a scene as brutal as the reader could imagine it to be. The level of brutality is certainly emphasized and not softened through the sound design and lack of musical score, but as long as we can actually see the details of the events, they will always be inferior to the book in their effectiveness.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=27252329&site=ehost-live

A conversation between the author and the directors.

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=27311293&site=ehost-live

An analysis of the film in the context of where it was shot. It explains the politics of the Rio Grande, how so many westerns have been shot there, and how those things are reflected in the film. All the old western tropes are pointed out, and how No Country for Old Men uses them.

http://arbitrarynonsense.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/no-country-for-old-men-ending-explanation/

An examination of the themes of the ending of the film, using quotes to denote the progression of the ending scene in its analyzation.

 

5. Critical Argument

            Although Chigurh is undoubtedly a nihilist rather than a psycho-killer, it only applies in that he feels others’ lives are trivial and unimportant, not worth considering. Nihilism is also defined in a lack of rules or beliefs, but Chigurh only ignores the generally accepted rules. He still maintains his own twisted sense of honor, demonstrated through the coin toss. True nihilism is nearly impossible to express in literature without the character drifting towards being an anarchist rather than a nihilist, like with The Joker from The Dark Knight.

American Splendor

1. The Book

            Ordinary life is absolutely one of the central themes of American Splendor. It contains ordinary people without any special powers or big punch lines, yet lacks the drama of soap opera comics. It contains experiences everyone can relate to at one point or another.

 

2. The Film

            Determination and not being afraid to be unique are the two biggest themes in the American Splendor film. Harvey isn’t good looking or athletic or especially smart, and could even be called a nerd. Even so, that doesn’t stop him from finding love, happiness, and some small modicum of success in life. Not only that, but the determination that carried him through those things gave him the strength and support needed to get through adversities like cancer.

 

3. The Adaptation

            The film makes a concerted effort to blur the line between the comics, the movie, and the author’s life by including pages from the comics and interviews with the author and his friends. By doing so, the film is able draw all three of them together and give a powerful sense of reality. They are no longer actors on a movie screen, they become real people and the events of the movie and comic are their actual lives. It especially helps that the actors appearances could be described as halfway between the characters in the comic and the actual people they correspond to, and it is clear the actors have studied both in order to play their roles.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://movies.about.com/cs/americansplendor/a/amsplendpekar.htm

Interview with Harvey about the movie and his comics.

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-splendor-2003

Analysis of both the film and the comic in relation to each other

 

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=23483257&site=ehost-live

Analysis of Paul Giamatti in his role as Harvey, and how the actor and the author are alike. It makes an interesting observation that they are both somewhat shy individuals who are committed to their craft, and cites an interview where Paul describes how he went about deciding how to portray Harvey. The implication is that Paul does such a good job in the role not only because he’s a skilled character actor, but also because he has more in common with Harvey than just his appearance.

 

5. Critical Argument

            The most interesting thing I found about the interplay between comic, film, and interview was how they ended up almost becoming the same thing. The Harvey in the film was the one being interviewed, as well as the one portrayed in the comics. The appearances certainly helped in demonstrating how much they looked alike, but they also offered insight into Harvey’s mind that one of the other sources expressed, but didn’t explicitly state. Fact and fiction end up blurring into a single story crossing all three mediums.

Adaptation

1. The Book

            The Orchid Thief is written in the form of a character study and seems to almost be an analyzation of the American Dream. Laroche may have questionable morals, but he is a testament to what can be accomplished if a person sets their mind to a goal. He seems determined to take a topic he is fascinated with and find some new way to let people benefit from his knowledge while making a living from it, even if he has to bend the rules to do so.

 

2. The Film

            Adaptation is almost a satire of the film industry and the difficulties of adapting a book into a movie. Translating from one narrative medium to another is very difficult, and the movie takes great pains to express the specific difficulties about why this is. Eventually, Charlie becomes so desperate he ends up following Donald into mortal danger in pursuit of finding a way to adapt the book, ironically turning the film into everything that Charlie expressed a desire for the adaptation to not be.

 

3. The Adaptation

            Adaptation is about adapting The Orchid Thief, not an actual adaptation of the book. If anything, it is almost a continuation. The book is only directly adapted to provide backstory and exposition, but the focus remains on Charlie trying to get to know the author. Still, this exposition is narrated via voiceovers using a tone very much like in the book, providing a mirror to when Charlie does the same thing.

 

4. Outside Sources

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=8610432&site=ehost-live

Describes the film from the perspective of an actor.

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=8589222&site=ehost-live

Brief interviews with some of the actors and characters portrayed in the film, and especially their reactions to their on-screen performances/portrayals.

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=8583180&site=ehost-live

Focuses on Jonze’s role in the film rather than the actors or the source material. Apparently Spike has an interesting reputation with the press, which didn’t appear for this interviewer, which may have just been another elaborate prank from playing off his expectations. It also turns out that Jonze was instrumental in encouraging Kaufman to write the film and convincing Susan Orleans to allow herself to be included.

 

5. Critical Argument

            Calling the movie an adaptation of The Orchid Thief doesn’t seem especially accurate. True, some of the parts of the book are portrayed in the movie, and the storyline is established, but it’s always in the past tense. They feel like flashbacks and exposition, not actual progression. A much better label for this movie would be to call it a sequel to The Orchid Thief.

Film Treatment: Arrows of the Queen

1. Concept

            We start with the main character, Talia, daydreaming about tales of Heralds (basically, servants of the Crown who possess the highest quality moral fiber and special Gifts that are sort of like psychic powers). She lives in a place called Sensholding, on the southern border of the land of Valdemar, and the people who live there, the Holderkin, are incredibly insular and set in their ways. On Talia’s 13^th birthday, she is told that she must be married to someone within a Holding, but Talia rebels and runs away, exclaiming that she wants to be a Herald. After hiding and moping for a while, Talia is about to return and accept her fate, when a Companion (the horse that a Herald rides) comes along down the road, and something about Talia’s instincts and the Companion’s behavior compels her to return him to the capital city of Haven. Upon arriving there, she discovers that the only way for someone to become a Herald is for a Companion to choose them, which is exactly what Rolan (Talia’s Companion) had done to Talia. It turns out that although Companions look like white horses, they are actually at least as intelligent as humans, and share a sort of psychic connection with their Herald and with other Companions. Now, not only is Talia going to be a Herald, but the most important Herald in the entire kingdom, the Queen’s Own (the reason for this is that Rolan’s previous Herald, Talamir, was also the Queen’s Own, and the Companion of the Queen’s Own is unique). She also learns that a monarch of Valdemar must also be a Herald, and the current heir to the throne, the 7-year-old Elspeth, is so spoiled and self-centered that there is almost no hope of her being Chosen, and Queen Selenay hopes that Talia will be able to change that.

            Next, Talia is introduced to the Collegium, where Heralds are trained. It is mentioned here how the previous Queen’s Own had died under suspicious circumstances, and that it may have been because he was advocating that Elspeth be sent off to a country estate in an effort to rid her of some of her brattishness and there are quite a few highborn who would have a lot to lose if Elspeth were ever Chosen. Because the Collegium also teaches the children of the highborn, Talia is warned that their parents may use these fellow students to make Talia’s life miserable in an effort to make her leave, and that many Heralds suspect that these same highborn were responsible for Talamir’s death. Talia does make several friends at the Collegium among other Herald-trainees (a former thief named Skif, a senior trainee named Sherrill, and a retired Herald named Jadus, just to name a few), but it turns out these highborn students do in fact make her life miserable, though her friends are able to help make it bearable. Eventually, it culminates during the winter term when these highborn decide to take more direct measures, and a gang of blue-clad students attacks Talia and throw her into a frozen river. Rolan just barely manages to save her, she spends several weeks suffering from an extremely severe case of pneumonia, and the trauma of the experience ends up causing her Heraldic Gift to manifest prematurely. It turns out she has the Gift of Empathy, which allows her to sense and even directly influence the emotional state of others.

            After this period, Talia begins taking a slightly more active role as Queen’s Own, somehow knowing when Selenay is in need of counsel and finding just the right thing to say, though she suspects her Gift has something to do with it. She also begins trying to interact with Elspeth, but her nurse always seems to find some excuse why Elspeth is busy, so busy that it gets suspicious. With the help of Skif and Jadus, they discover that Elspeth’s nurse, Hulda, is part of the plot to ensure Elspeth never gets Chosen, and has actually been poisoning the other nurse to ensure she maintains authority over Elspeth. Hulda flees, and Talia takes over as Elspeth’s keeper, putting her experience at the Holding to good use (Talia had often been given responsibility over the younger children, and since Holderkin practice polygamy, there were always a lot of young children). Using a combination of tough love and gentle sympathy, she’s able to make Elspeth start taking responsibility for her actions and stop being such a spoiled brat.

            The climax is when Talia starts experimenting with her Gift some, seeing just how far it can go, and she ends up accidentally witnessing the ambush of a Herald miles away who was carrying information about the plot to overthrow the Crown that had been both Hulda’s employer and the group responsible for Talia’s near-drowning. With Talia’s help, they are able to retrieve this information, and Talia finally feels like she has a place to belong.

 

2. Characters.

-Talia: 13 years old, Holderkin, which is an extremely rigid and xenophobic society allowing no deviation, Talia is a free spirit that they are striving to break to their ways; she is creative, clever, cheerful, and enthusiastic, but having lived her whole life in the Hold, she isn’t accustomed to how open-minded the world is

-Selenay: Queen of Valdemar, kind-hearted and benevolent, but very busy. Her father died several years ago in a conflict known as the Tedrel Wars.

-Elspeth: Princess of Valdemar, but can only inherit the throne if she is “Chosen”, introduced as a spoiled brat, one of Talia’s jobs is to change that

-Skif: former thief, currently a Herald-trainee like Talia, and one of her best friends, roguish and mischievous, serves as a love interest for Talia, but foul luck ruins every attempt they make to get together

 

3. Themes.

            On the surface, this is a coming-of-age story in a fantasy setting. Underneath that, the main themes are open-mindedness, acceptance, and learning to trust one’s friends. Talia has been raised by one of the most insular groups in all the kingdom, and although she always chafed at their restrictive ways and traditions, they are still all she has ever known. She must be able to overcome that if she wants to fulfill her dreams and find a place where she belongs.

 

4. Locations.

-Sensholding: the place on the southern border of Valdemar where Talia was born and raised. Rural area, lots of women and children living in large buildings, the inhabitants seem very fond of walls and fences.

-Palace-Collegium complex: Located in the capital city of Haven, this is a collection of buildings built around the palace, a stone fortress, where the education of Heralds, Healers, and Bards takes place. It also houses Heralds when they are not riding circuit somewhere in the Kingdom. Together, it is all known as the Palace-Collegium complex. Aside from these buildings, there is also a field of several acres where the Companions spend most of their time when they aren’t with their Herald, with a small grove of trees containing the ruins of a church.

 

5. Action Scene.

            Talia is on her way to a weapons training class in winter (such classes are held outside) when she is ambushed by a group of other students her age or older, wearing blue uniforms. She struggles to get away, and almost does, but slips and falls into a pile of compost manure in the garden she is walking through. Her ambushers quickly pin her down, and take turns rubbing the muck into her face and hair in an almost sadistic fashion before hauling her off. Talia continues to do her best to struggle, but she bangs her head on the ground and is stunned, semi-conscious…that is, until she hits the water of the frozen river flowing through the city. The last thing Talia hears before they throw her is “Farewell, bumpkin! Give our greetings to Talamir!”

            She quickly starts succumbing to the icy waters, the screen starts to fade to black, when an almighty neigh sounds out through Talia’s mind. Rolan! Life surges into her for a moment as her Companion dives into the river. They quickly reach each other, and for a moment, it seems like Rolan will save her, but then Talia’s fingers go numb, she can no longer hang onto her Companion’s mane, and she begins to slip away. Suddenly, a hand grasps her by the collar and hauls her out of the river. Rolan had sent for help through the other Companions before diving in after Talia himself, and Karen had dove in right after him, actually swimming under the ice to retrieve her. As soon as Talia realizes she is now safe and surrounded by friends, hypothermia takes hold and she passes out.

 

6. Dialogue Scene.

(Talia has arrived at the capital after a week or so of travel and has been escorted to a room in the Palace and told to wait)

[Elspeth enters]

Elspeth: Oh! What is someone like you doing here?

Talia: I’m waiting, like I was told.

Elspeth: Well, aren’t you going to kneel?

Talia: [mock astonishment] Kneel? Why should I kneel?

Elspeth: You’re in the Presence of the Heir to the Throne!

Talia: Really? Where?

Elspeth: Me! I am! I’m the Heir, and you should treat me with respect!

Talia: Oh, I don’t think so. I’ve read all about the Heirs. The Heir is always polite and gracious, and treats the lowest maid like the Queen herself. You, on the other hand, act like you’d treat the Queen like the lowest maid. You’re nothing but a little having a temper tantrum; one who fibs a lot. Maybe I should call a guard and tell him there’s an imposter in here.

[Elspeth struggles to come up with something to say, mouth opening and closing]

Talia: Maybe you’re a fish. You certainly look like one.

 

7. Pitch.

            The fantasy genre has been growing in popularity recently, especially with films like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but all these other films have a mild sense of idealism about their endings. They aren’t quite on the level of “and they lived happily ever after”, but the implication is there. The Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey takes place in a similar fantasy setting, with all the idealistic mechanisms in place, but manages to be much more down to earth by having those mechanisms reconciled to allow for human nature without needing an absolute monarchy. They accept that no one is perfect, and they will never be able to make a kingdom where everyone is happy and everything is perfect, but the Heralds exist to try and accomplish this anyway.

            Although much of the side stories in the book may need to be cut out, the core storyline still provides a great deal of material to work with. The most important thing I feel to carry over from the book to the film is the sense throughout the film that despite their dire responsibility and almost heroic reputation, Talia and every Herald and Herald-trainee are still normal people, with normal problems and normal worries. Even as she is thrown into this world of political intrigue and dream-fulfilling wonderment, Talia still has the same kinds of self-esteem and confidence issues that any 13-year-old would have, and she still has them at the end of the film.

            This story would be appealing to adolescents, teens, and people in their early twenties. Sure, there would be a good amount of teen girl angst in it, but it’s relatable enough to appeal well outside that demographic.

The Hours

1. Analysis of the book

            One of the biggest things emphasized is the characters who are living a kind of lie. Virginia Woolf believes that her mental illness means that she is condemned to a life in the country, and despite her efforts to write and the printing press they set up for her, it only forms a façade of her happier days. Laura Brown wants to do more with her life than spend it doting on her husband and son, but social expectations force her into that role, which she is miserable with. Richard understands that he has been reduced to a symbol for AIDS groups, and that the things he really cared about, his life’s work, is only successful because of that.

 

2. Analysis of the film

            In the film, it often seems like Virginia Woolf is writing the story of the people affected by it. Her mention of killing off the poet, the various lines that are mirrored exactly as she writes them, makes it seem as though she’s predicting the future. And it is very clear that a parallel exists between Woolf and Richard, not only through their suicides, but also through their lives and their situations.

 

3. Analysis of the adaptation

            Although it is not possible to directly convey a stream-of-consciousness narrative in a film, a similar effect can be achieved by skilled enough actors and detailed enough set design. On a subconscious level, there is an immense amount of emotion and implication that can be achieved through body language and subtle clues about the environment that can provide almost as intimate a view into a character’s mind as a stream-of-consciousness narrative. Richard clearly has some chronic disease, but the viewer is somehow instantly able to guess that he has AIDS well before it is explicitly stated. Laura Brown’s scenes practically scream Pleasantville, and plays on how idyllic and artificial such an environment feels to demonstrate Laura’s feelings about living in it.

 

4. Outside sources

http://www.cinescene.com/dash/hours.htm : analyzes what the film was trying to achieve, but points out several ways it fell short.

http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/Movies/thehours.html : focuses intently on the gay and lesbian undertones of the film.

http://www.radiodramareviews.com/silkroadofadaptation/id19.html : Focuses on both the adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway into The Hours, and the book into the movie. It points out several changes that were made over the various iterations, and how the messages and themes changed as a result.

 

5. Critical argument

            One of the pervading messages and beliefs expressed by the two characters who committed suicide seems very similar to a sentiment I saw in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager by an immortal being who was trying to kill himself, and that sentiment is what motivated their suicide. Virginia Woolf, an accomplished author, had seemingly been forced into retirement in the country. Richard the poet had just received a lifetime achievement award for poetry, which he implies he earned only because of his AIDS. The Star Trek character had achieved perfection, for all intents and purposes. To quote the Star Trek character on just what that sentiment they all shared was, “Captain, you’re an explorer. What if you had nothing left to explore? …When life has become futile, meaningless, unendurable, it must be allowed to end.” All these characters had felt like they had achieved all they ever would do in life, and continuing on would just be going through the motions without ever actually accomplishing anything close to what they had previously done.