Novels into Film

Paper Summary:

In this paper the author looks at how novels are adapted into films and the changes that are made to give a more graphic understanding of the novel. The author focuses on how the novel and the film are two very different mediums, the novel mainly linguistic and the film mainly visual. The paper shows how each medium also hails from different origins, caters to different audiences and undergoes different modes of production and forms of censorship. He specifically looks at how the camera has the ability to move and this mobility enables it to achieve visual effects that may not be projected to the reader of a novel and applies this notion to sexual scenes that appear or do not appear in films and how they are translated from novels. In conclusion, the author states that each medium has its own properties, for better and worse usage and intelligent film viewing and criticism, like intelligent reading, needs to understand and respect both the limitations these create and also the triumphs they invite.

From the Paper:

"Conceptually, female bonding is a pre-condition for lesbianism in feature films and lesbian audiences seem to find female bonding an acceptable displacement for overt lesbian romance. The spectator works to find lesbian context in a Hollywood cinema shy of lesbian content. As with sexuality in general, efforts to subdue lesbian connotations can stimulate innovations... When female bonding occurs in feature narrative film, its readiness for lesbian appropriation is often acknowledged by internal efforts to forbid such conclusions (Straayer, 350). Female bonding can include the exchange of intimate information, physical closeness, and support for each other in times of need. For the viewer, this female bonding creates an erotic subtext, with lesbian connotations. In movies where female bonding is central to the plot, such as Boys on the Side, Beaches, Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Color Purple, and The First Wives Club, women become strong and gain independence through each other (Tasker, p 146). As Evelyn Couch grows closer to Ninny and learns about Ruth and Idgie, she gains independence by losing weight, getting a job, and finding self-worth outside of her marriage."

More papers on Novels into Film:

• Comparison Essay # 109631 : "Frankenstein in Print and on Film"
• Comparison Essay # 104890 : "Madame Bovary as Film and Novel"
• Film Review # 65366 : "Film Adaptation: Identity in "Silence of the Lambs"

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