From text to screen

[lostumbrella]

 I am fascinated by the class's reception of and reaction to the film adaptation of Howards End (1992), and am curious about this question: Much as we must credit cinematic possibilities and its commercial appeal (and therefore the usefulness of film in teaching), how is it that to the modern audience, a 'true' or close interpretation and

Comments

Mingming says:

[anonymous]

I feel that it's unreasonable to expect the film to be absolutely loyal to the text without omitting a single detail. After all, it is unlikely that anyone will watch an 8-hour film that has everything but is so long drawn that everyone's asleep by the 3rd-hour. As idealistic as artistic pursuit is, I think that it cannot be denied that the fundamental requirement any film must meet is the box-office. A film is, at the very core, to entertain and to attract crowds and to sell itself. To this effect, I do feel that the film adaptation of Howards End has done quite a good job given the confinements of the text (which wasn't mind-blowing and hang-on-the-edge-of-your-seat to begin with

Mingming says:

[anonymous]

Sorry about the typo errors in my comment. I trust their won't affect your comprehension =)

Ashleen's Response - Leonard Bast booooo!

[crimsondell]

Let me make this clear. I have no problem with Margaret's hairdo, but I honestly cannot stand their interpretation of Leonard

Re: Ashleen's Response - Leonard Bast booooo!

[crimsondell]

Yijiao

Re: Ashleen's Response - Leonard Bast booooo!

[crimsondell]

I feel sad.

I think I'll die for this patchwork since my responses are nothing but a bundle of my emotions.

Oh well.. Yijiao, let me clarify, what I've wrote is basically what I felt. I didn't want to generalize it as everybody feeling the same way, because I thought nobody was probably going to feel as uniquely as I did. *grins*

I'll respond again.

But don't need to get so upset dearrrr Yijiao. HAHA

Re: Ashleen's Response - Leonard Bast booooo!

[crimsondell]

Yijiao
Okay, I have actually nothing much to reply, except to state that I'm not as upset as you imagine me to be.

But on personal feelings, I just had another thought. I remember being disgusted at the dialogues inserted in by the scriptwriter in the script for the movie. I cannot remember properly now, but I remember being baffled at the ideas Margaret commented on money in one of the multi-conversations at Margaret's home when they were entering a room, or exiting a room.

Perhaps even if the movie had added in the details, the problem of dialogues exist. Since the novel was not (and definitely not) in script form, scriptwriters have to make up dialogue for the characters in scenes or in between scenes that Forster had no original dialogue in the book. In that case, the scriptwriter may be unable to spin dialogues out of Margaret or Helen's mouth, in truly understanding the way they feel. The dialogues then pose as a problem in making the movie and true and real good adaptation of the novel, or true to the novel itself.

Jodie(:

[anonymous]

In response to jiayu's disappointment, I guess we're easily disappointed by the adaptation because we're lit students, and after discussing the many ideas and themes of this story, we would expect the film to show us(the audience) these elements as well. However, as mingming mentioned, we must note that ultimately, producers aim to satisfy a mass-market audience. Thus we cannot expect the producers to think entirely from the literature point of view, as they have to keep in mind that the audience are mostly not deep-thinkers and would not be able to easily comprehend so many ideas in a 3 hour movie

Re: Jodie(:

[anonymous]

haha i didn't find anything wrong with Margaret's hairstyle too because after looking at the cover of the book for so long, (i suppose that woman in black is Margaret) i expected worst.

Re: Jodie(:

[chengteng2]

haha i didn't find anything wrong with Margaret's hairstyle too because after looking at the cover of the book for so long, (i suppose that woman in black is Margaret) i expected worst.

[shadedpages]

Hmm. I agree with Mingming's point about not expecting a 100% similar movie, unless they are filming a serial, not a movie.

Plot and bringing out of themes wise, I would say the novel wins hands down and the movie did not do much justice to it. For example, in the novel we would be able to understand that Helen was disturbed by the notion of panic and emptiness during the concert (goblins, etc) and thus she left. However, if I had not read the novel I would not be able to relate when the lecturer at the piano concert said "the goblins symbolize panic and emptiness", and would have drawn a blank as to why Helen left.

Thus I feel that yes the movie is a good teaching aid but only in addition to the novel. The novel must still be read.