The Big Sleep - The Movie and The Book :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The monumental Sleep - The Movie and The Book   One would think that it would be quite easy to adapt a novel to a screenplay later on all, what is there to do but turn the dialogue into lines and description into set design? However, common sense, aided by the horrifying number of absolutely irritating adaptations, dictates that it simply is non that easy. When moviegoers have problems with a film adaptation of a book, their complaints tend to lie in the tendency of the creators of the film to change elements of the narrative plot, consultation, and the like. It would seem, then, that the dress hat way to generate a successful adaptation of a novel would be to just stay as true as possible to any detail mentioned in the book. However, staying as true as possible to plot points, char propeler type, and the like may be the best way to a awful adaptation.   In lamentable from the printed page to the silver screen, moviemakers must be aw ar that they are no t simply reproducing a narration&emdashthey are ever-changing the medium by which the narrative is presented. Oddly enough, cinema lends itself easily to some of the tenets of writing well namely, the command of, show, dont tell. In cinema, there is no option, really, of telling, the details are not assert as such by a narrator but simply presented. (Chatman 406). The use of a voiceover, of course, is an option, but even the voice of an omniscient narrator cannot stymy the viewer from seeing the images and interpreting what he sees. In movies, the viewer does his own telling.   The very nature of The Big Sleep, then, makes adaptation difficult. The entire narrative is described by a character within the story space Marlowe tells us the entire story. Our view of the plot, then, is clouded by Marlowes sight. Being a character within the story space, he has his own feelings and his own reactions to what happens to and around him, and he passes those reactions&e mdashalbeit unconsciously&emdashto the reader, who, also unconsciously, picks up on them.   Marlowe does not act the role of mediator, though, in the film version of The Big Sleep.The Big Sleep - The Movie and The Book Movie Film comparison compare contrast The Big Sleep - The Movie and The Book   One would think that it would be quite easy to adapt a novel to a screenplay after all, what is there to do but turn the dialogue into lines and description into set design? However, common sense, aided by the horrifying number of absolutely awful adaptations, dictates that it simply is not that easy. When moviegoers have problems with a film adaptation of a book, their complaints tend to lie in the tendency of the creators of the film to change elements of the story plot, character, and the like. It would seem, then, that the best way to make a successful adaptation of a novel would be to just stay as true as possible to every detail mentioned in the book. Howeve r, staying as true as possible to plot points, character type, and the like may be the best way to a horrendous adaptation.   In moving from the printed page to the silver screen, moviemakers must be aware that they are not simply reproducing a narrative&emdashthey are changing the medium by which the narrative is presented. Oddly enough, cinema lends itself easily to some of the tenets of writing well namely, the command of, show, dont tell. In cinema, there is no option, really, of telling, the details are not asserted as such by a narrator but simply presented. (Chatman 406). The use of a voiceover, of course, is an option, but even the voice of an omniscient narrator cannot stop the viewer from seeing the images and interpreting what he sees. In movies, the viewer does his own telling.   The very nature of The Big Sleep, then, makes adaptation difficult. The entire narrative is described by a character within the story space Marlowe tells us the entire st ory. Our view of the plot, then, is clouded by Marlowes sight. Being a character within the story space, he has his own feelings and his own reactions to what happens to and around him, and he passes those reactions&emdashalbeit unconsciously&emdashto the reader, who, also unconsciously, picks up on them.   Marlowe does not act the role of mediator, though, in the film version of The Big Sleep.