Oscar Films for 2016: Room

[chatchien]

I was not eager to see this film and that is why I saved it for last. I don't like abuse and brutality toward anyone or anything, and particularly not women. (However, Mad Max: Fury Road did not bother me because that is well-deserved cartoon violence. We all get to have some contradictions.) The first 20 minutes of the film confirmed my distaste

Comments

[jlvsclrk]

I read the book and admired it, but haven't seen the movie because, well, it's just not something I need to experience in the movie theatre. Good point about the mother being more interesting than the boy, and filmmakers ignoring that.

[chatchien]

The author of the book is also credited with the screenplay. Is the mother in the book so oddly peripheral to a lot of the action and plot? Is the book just from the child's viewpoint or does it depart to a third person narration at times? I haven't read the book and doubt that I will. In a sort of opposite but the same as you, I've seen the movie, I don't need to read the book.

And is the end of the book as downbeat and a little disturbing? The mother and boy are free, but there are no guarantees that all will go well in their lives in the future.

I can see why filmmakers chose to concentrate on the boy's perspective; the mother's perspective could be very grim and depressing and not too appealing to the audience. But she is the person of importance in the story, no matter how you tell it, even from the kidnapper's viewpoint.