Posts Tagged ‘Novel’

  • 21 Nov

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    Review: Twilight

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    Twilight One Sheet

    Director: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown)
    Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
    Producer: Wyck Godfrey, Greg Mooradian, Mark Morgan, Karen Rosenfelt
    Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Cigandet, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 122 min

    When it was announced that Stephenie Meyer’s wildly successful book “Twilight” was being adapted for the big screen, no one seemed to pay much attention but when fans started to buzz at the possibility of seeing their favourite (and for many, their first) sweeping romance on the big screen, the media took note. And who can blame them? Out of the woodwork came a devoted legion of fans, mostly female, ready to react with the fervour usually reserved, and expected, from fanboys; watching every trailer, reading every new tidbit of information, carefully dissecting and discussing every photo. Were the fans, a group of teens and women, vindicated by the greatness of the film adaptation? In one word: no, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a fan who didn’t walk away satisfied with what they saw.

    Twilight Movie StillIt’s a simple story: girl meets boy, boy is apparently unattainable, boy and girl eventually fall in love. At its core, Twilight isn’t a vampire story; it’s an age-old tale of lovers divided. In the past these tales revolved around feuding families or class inequality but in this case it’s vampirism. What could be more dividing than the thought that you could be devoured by the man you love? Perhaps it speaks to the sensibility of the masses that love isn’t easy. There are hurdles to jump and often, giving up is easier than giving in but the fact that these two, Bella and Edward, stick it out suggests that sometimes, love is worth a fight to the death.

    The film is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the novel. The key players are all here as is all the action but it’s lacking the most important element: the character development. Melissa Rosenberg’s script touches on all of the main plot points and introduces the key characters but her script fails to create whole people out of them. Even Bella and Edward, the romantic duo, are only lightly shadowed. From scene to scene I found myself recalling the novel, filling in the blanks left by the script – the interactions between Bella and Mike, the tension with Jessica and the awkwardness of meeting the Cullen’s. There are vague attempts to fill in some of these blanks but these are left mostly to Bella’s limited voiceover and in every case, it is focused specifically on Edward. That leaves the young cast with the daunting task of filling in the blanks with their performances and the results are mixed.

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  • 30 Oct

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    Gabaldon’s Outlander Coming to the Big Screen

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    Outlander NovelRomances. As of late, the majority of these fall into the “chick-flick” category or badly tacked onto some action film. Not necessarily a bad thing but for the rest of us who prefer something with a little more drama, they’re not exactly fulfilling but a recent announcement is bound to change all that. Or so I hope.

    When it was announced that a film titled Outlander was in the works, I was excited only to then find out that it was not the film I expected but rather a Viking picture but according to news from Variety, it looks like my initial hope has been fulfilled. You see, Essential Pictures, a newly minted production company, has picked up the rights to Diana Gabaldon’s best selling historical romances.

    I was introduced to the novels by some very persuasive literature bound friends. The fact that they, who tend to read Pulitzer and Giller Prize winning novels, were shelling for a period romance peaked my interest and by the middle of Gabaldon’s first novel, titled “Outlander”, I could see why. Aside from the fact that Gabaldon’s writing is better than average, her characters and their adventures made for some of the most entertaining stories I’d read in years. The series, which now runs into six novels, tells the adventures of Claire Randall, a nurse working for the British forces during World War II when she is transported to the eighteenth century Highlands and finds herself in the middle of Scottish clan life. In the midst of her first adventure, she encounters and reluctantly falls in love with Jamie Fraser, a handsome but brash Highlander. It sounds like fairly standard romance stuff but Gabaldon breaks more than a few romance conventions and along the way inserts her characters into historical events. The great thing about Gabaldon’s novels is that Claire doesn’t simply sit back as a maiden in need of rescuing. Though she sometimes gets herself into trouble, she’s never useless and on more than one occasion, she rescues the men; makes for a nice change of pace.

    Depending on the direction they take with the story, this has the potential to be a very good and lucrative franchise. Not only do they have a large built in audience pining to see their most beloved romantic hero on the big screen, the books have the potential to attract a large male audience since there are endless scenes of action and adventure. I am hopeful, very hopeful, that something great will come of this.

    At the moment, there are no details on casting or direction though it sounds like the announcement is coming very early into production (it doesn’t even sound like a script is ready though it’s worth noting that the novel is being adapted by Randall Wallace of Braveheart fame). As for casting options, I’m not going to speculate to avoid disappointment if things don’t go as expected. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get more information.

    Looks like the opportunity may also be ripe for me to return to the series. The novels are massive (800+ pages for the trade paperbacks) and after reading the first three back to back, I took a break from Jamie and Claire’s adventure. I’ll be getting back to them sooner rather than later.

  • 27 Sep

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    VIFF Review: Blindness

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    VIFF Banner

    When City of God was released, it caused quite a stir among film fans. The film was both a critical and financial success and out of nowhere, director Fernando Meirelles became the next big thing. His follow up, an adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, The Constant Gardenerwas an entertaining film but both the story and style seemed conventional in. I had expected more from the director who had been so innovative with his debut feature. For his third film, Meirelles has again taken up the written word for translation ontot he big screen this time choosing to take on Nobel Prize winning author José Saramago’s work.

    Julianne Moore

    As a novel “Blindness” is a brutally honest examination of the human condition when pushed to the edge and Meirelles’ film manages to capture all of Saramago’s themes. A sudden illness begins afflicting the population of a city leaving the sufferers blind. As a precaution, the health organization gathers all of the afflicted and sends them to a containment camp which appears to be an old jail. The quarantined group is small to begin with and they quickly set up a form of governship that seems to work but as more infected arrive, the small society begins to fall apart. A group of men decides that it is going to take charge of the food and from here, the situation quickly begins to dissintegrate. The resulting chaos serves as a reminder of the violence which rests within humanity but it also shines a light on the opposing goodness of people. Mixed in among the big moral dilemas are smaller stories of individuals and relationships which further question motives and preconceptions. The film doens’t just focus on the social aspects of the fall of manking, it’s also interested in relationship dynamics and how they change.

    Blindness     owes a fair bit of its success to the fantastic performanes. Meirelles is much more concerned with the story than with the visuals (though that’s not to say that the film is lacking in the technical department). Poor performances could have seriously hindered the film but this cast doesn’t fail. Julianne Moore leads the way, yet again playing the woman on the brink of colapse. As the only one in the camp who can see, she is mother and protector and her performance is both tortured and strong. Moore has built her career on roles like this one but here, there’s a tenderness to her that I had yet to see. Mark Ruffalo, an actor who showed great promise with earlier roles, is on a war path. He was excellent in Zodiac and his performance here is wonderful, walking the fine line between fearless leader and helpless victim. Alice Braga proves that she’s more than just a pretty face and Gael García Bernal stands out in a showey but unforgettable performance as the leader of the corrupt group but it’s Danny Glover who surprises. It’s been years since I’ve seen him in anything memorable but his small, quiet performance here is indication that the actor isn’t done yet.

    Visually, Meirelles does not disappoint. His vision of a city in collapse is eerily reminiscent of 28 Days Later, it’s follow up 28 Weeks Later and even children of Men (though not quite to that level of devastation). Meirelles uses the decaying surroundings as a metaphor for the corruption of society and the result is an ugly marvel; a city scape crowded by garbage, bodies and animals. The director also makes excellent use of the fact that the the victims suffer from an ailment which leaves thems seeing everything white rather than black and portions of the film are stark white, which adds yet another layer to the alredy metaphor dense film.

    Like the novel it’s based on, Blindness is a cerebral film. Though on the surface it makes for an excellent, bleekly entertaining apocalyptic drama, peeling back the layers reveals the film’s real staying power. This is the type of film that keeps audiences deep in discussion well into the night and which lingers in the consciousness long after the lights have come up.

    Also be sure to check out Michael’s review of the film!

  • 12 Aug

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    Anne Shirley Turns 100

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    Anne of Green Gables Still2008 marks the centennial of the release of one of Canada’s most well known and prized novels, Lucy Maud Montgomery‘s “Anne of Green Gables“. Written by Montgomery based on notes she had made as a young child, the book tells the story of the Cuthbert’s, a middle aged brother and sister who request that the nearby orphanage send them a boy, likely to help out around the farm, but instead, they’re sent a red haired independent girl named Anne.

    The book has become a staple of Canadian fiction and the much acclaimed CBC mini-series which has, gasp!, garnered even more acclaim than the BBC version, premiered in 1985 and re-invigorated interest in the classic. I remember growing up watching the entire saga, the 1985 series and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel which premiered a few years later. My aunt had a VHS collection of both series and we’d spend entire days glued to the TV with cookies, tea and the occasional bathroom break to take in Anne’s adventures (and mishaps). Canadian actress Megan Follows has continually reprised her role in the various adaptations, growing in the roll, which has given all of the subsequent installments an authentic feel. In addition, the series made director and producer Kevin Sullivan a very rich man but it also encouraged further adaptations of Montgomery’s works not to mention, a number of spin offs including the upcoming “Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning” miniseries which is due for release in 2009 and which is not based on any of the novels.

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  • 29 Jul

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    Review: Brideshead Revisited

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    Brideshead Revisited One Sheet

    Director: Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane)
    Writers: Jeremy Brock, Andrew Davies
    Producers: Robert Bernstein, Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae
    Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 135 min

    There is a certain amount of expectation that comes attached to a work adapted for film from a novel as prestigious as Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited”. Things are even trickier when the book has already been transferred, to much acclaim, to the small screen starring Jeremy Irons in the lead role. Few novels can survive multiple treatments but Austen has done just fine and though I’ve never seen the mini-series, Brideshead Revisited is just as successful.

    Brideshead Revisited Movie StillAdapted from the novel by the multiple award winning writing team of Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies, the film is a recounting of the memoirs of Captain Charles Ryder, a painter whose life becomes intertwined with that of the aristocratic Marchmain family when he meets Sebastian Marchmain at school. Sebastian and Charles become good friends, though it’s clear from early on that Sebastian is interested in more than just friendship, but things get complicated when Charles is invited to Brideshead, the Marchmain’s ancestral home, for the summer. While there, Charles falls in love with Sebastian’s sister Julia and becomes acquainted with the family matriarch, the cold Lady Marchmain and from that point on, his life becomes forever connected with that of the Marchmain’s. That is the bones of the plot that hold up Brideshead Revisited but as with any great film, it’s the meat on those bones that makes it unforgettable.

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