Abstract This paper explains that one of the biggest challenges of adapting literature into film is the complex task of finding the actors to convincingly bring them to life on the big screen; Adam Egoyan's version of "The Sweet Hereafter" has done this. The author points out that, in a novel, the characters are developed with the aid of small clues from the author and are much more fluid than those captured on film, which is why the casting task is so challenging. This paper relates that, by relying on a cast of talented actors, by filming in anamorphic CinemaScope, and by adding a particular set of visual clues, Egoyan has remained faithful to Russel Banks's heart-wrenching, emotional tale.
From the Paper "In Banks' version of The Sweet Hereafter, Dolores Driscoll has a very distinctive voice. She speaks in colloquial terms, and her descriptions are short and frank. Banks has Dolores speak about the essential area of religion in order to illustrate this trait: "Oh, like most people, we go to church - First Methodist - but irregularly and mostly for social reasons, so as not to stand out too much in the community" Clearly, Dolores is a brutally honest woman. She goes to church merely to uphold an image, and she discloses this motivation without any hesitation. Dolores does not feel the need to put on airs or to pretend to be something that she is not."
