Examples Of Adaptation In The Old Man And The Sea

When novels are adapted for the cinema, directors and writers frequently make changes in the plot, setting, characterization and themes of the novel. Sometimes the changes are made in adaptations due to the distinctive interpretations of the novel, which involve personal views of the book and choices of elements to retain, reproduce, change or leave out. On the contrary, a film is not just an illustrated version of the novel; it is a totally different medium. When adapting the novel, the director has to leave out a number of things for the simple reason of time difference. Furthermore, other structures and techniques must be added to the film to enhance the beauty and impressions of it. Like a

Regardless of age, race, culture, religion, lifestyle, etc. everyone experiences adversity. As this as inevitable in everyday life, struggles and hardship are elements that are demonstrated in literature as well. Ernest Hemingway shows how adversity can affect someone in many ways through the individual's actions. Hemingway utilizes characterization to prove how one can overcome adversity. In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway shows how a person can overcome hardship and adversity through tenacity and persistence.

Textual form is an issue which divide many critiques and audiences. Some view texts as a form being superior and more expressive, whereas others may view film as to be losing its credibility of expression. Never the less it is adamant that through a comparative study of two differing forms exploring similar ideas it becomes clear that one form isn’t always superior over another. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) mirror this thesis. Whilst being

Whenever books are adapted for film, changes inevitably have to be made. The medium of film offers several advantages and disadvantages over the book: it is not as adept at exploring the inner workings of people - it cannot explore their minds so easily; however, the added visual and audio capabilities of film open whole new areas of the imagination which, in the hands of a competent writer-director, can more than compensate.

“The last thing you want is Hannibal Lecter inside your head.” It is a daunting task to effectively transfer textual tonality from page to screen. Balancing proper visual interpretations of the text with original insights is not an easy procedure, and not every filmmaker is equipped with the artistic skills necessary to complete such an undertaking. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s wildly unsuccessful attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune, for example, ended in bankruptcy for the studio and premature cancellation of the project due to the extensive runtime the film was to have in accordance with the length of the book. Many filmic adaptations fail in their inability to recapture and translate what originally gave a text literary merit. Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of the quintessential Thomas Harris novel Silence of the Lambs is so well

Victoria de Zwaan is a professor of experimental fiction, film theory, and adaptation studies at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, and argues in this article that while fidelity studies could be considered a stagnated and outdated vain of research in adaptation theory, it can be examined from various angles to achieve a deeper understanding of the source text instead of cutting up both sources only to fight one other for superiority; in this case Zwaan uses the film, Midnight’s Children, to expand upon her theory. Zwaan takes note of George Bluestone’s capstone work, Novels into Film, and states that most of the work done, outside of his book, on the subject was merely a mode to break down the film adaptation and highlight the lack of “justice”

Have you ever thought about how everything that you’ve accomplished and learned in your lifetime can eventually be forgotten about once you pass away? That all the knowledge you’ve consumed will no longer be passed around to help others? Ernest Hemingway explores this topic in his novel, The Old Man and the Sea written in 1952. Set in Cuba near Havana, the novel revolves around Santiago and his struggle to catch a marlin, the biggest fish he’s ever dealt with. Santiago’s only companion is Manolin, a young boy who Santiago taught how to fish.

The Old Man and The Sea is more than a book about a fish and an old man, it teaches us strength and never giving up on ourselves. The Old Man and The Sea is written by Ernest Hemingway about Santiago, The Old Man. Hemingway is a writer known for his iceberg themes in his novels, where ten percent of its message is what you read and the ninety percent is hidden. That ninety percent is up to interpretation. My interpretation is Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea he expresses the idea of staying humble no matter the consequences through the struggle Santiago has with the greatest catch of his life. I believe that Hemingway wishes he was Santiago, because he is a kind, humble and sober old man.

ʽThe book was betterʼ is pointed out by Robert Stam as one of the most common made statements comparing a novel and itʼs cinematic adaptation. Therefore, a clear focus on the loss rather than a gain can be detected.1 The notion of fidelity between a novel and the adaptation seems to generally have a high importance to the masses; one can be disappointed if the adaptation does not meet personal expectations such as narrative, thematic and aesthetic features.2 Fidelity between a literary and a cinematic work might, according to Stam, be impossible due to automatic differences in change of medium.3

While most of us love watching films, those of us who have read the book in which a film was developed from, will most likely feel uneasy when the film does not match exactly what we read. In most cases, we feel disappointed to not see our own interpretation of the book on the screen. A film made from a book or inspired by a book is called adaptation. Many people who have read Cornell Woolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder" and then watched Alfred Hitchcock’s film, “Rear Window,” were disappointed that the adaptation did not reflect exactly the

Having considered the opposing side’s perspective, individuals should also recognize not only a filmmaker’s necessity to express their creative freedom but the factors which contribute to the limitations of adapting a book into a movie. Members of an audience often scrutinize an adapted film because of their initial bias and previous knowledge of the original work, without taking into consideration the possible factors which play a part in alterations of the original works. Prior to the adaptation of a film, there is a lengthy process a film must go through before its production. In these facets of adaptation the creator of a film must attempt to transform an author’s work into a physical and tangible vision for his audience. In screenwriter and script adviser Linda Seger’s book The Art of Adaptation, she explains the vital factors which film producers are subjected to when adapting literature. In her introduction and “Why literature Resists Film” chapters, Seger deals with recurring issues in adaptation such as timing constraints, commerciality of a film, plot clarification, and the elimination of key plot points and characters (1-13). Having an audience be aware of the limitations and factors which filmmakers face, makes them less liable to scrutinize a film or at least makes them aware of the existent hardships of adaptation and the reason behind potential alterations to the original work. As a result, of both genres’ unique process and struggles, some supporters of the film industry propose that both genres should be seen as independent from one another, and that criticism be set aside to respect each other's effort to create something of value. Researcher James M. Welsh, cinematography writer and author of the book, The Literature/Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation, agrees. However, in his book he also acknowledges that those opposed to a film’s creative freedom will

When books are adapted into movies certain aspects of the book are changed to aid in translating the story from page to screen. Details are changed to appeal to the audience.

In evaluating the film adaptation of Island of Lost Souls the film is an intermediate adaption of the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. The definition of an intermediate adaption is, “Some elements of the story are kept in the film, other elements are dropped, and still more elements are added” (Desmond 44). The film has many of the same narrative elements but the addition of the female character Ruth creates a distinct change in the film. This additional character of Ruth allows the film to have a more romantic or sexual aspect, which helps to draw in more viewers. Since this film is an intermediate adaptation the director is better able to create a more appealing story for the viewers.

It is common in today's media-driven society to reach into the past for inspiration and ideas. A trend has developed where original works are transformed into other mediums. For example: books are turned into movies and/or plays, movies are turned into weekly sitcoms, and cartoons will spawn empires (Disney). These things happen so often that an audience rarely stops to question the level of authenticity that remains after these conversions. Perhaps it is only when a project is not well received that people begin to think of the difficulties involved with changing a work's genre. Using Gulliver's Travels as an example, discrepancies and additions in the movie can be

No matter how it is judged, a film adaptation owes something to its original i.e., an adaptation of a novel owes something to that novel. An Adaptation can fall into three categories based on how faithful it has been in representating the facts and spirit of the novel.