Why hate the Film?
Why Hate the Film?
Paula Oliveira
Dr. Sucheta Choudhuri
Literature and Film 2315
21 February 2014
Why Hate the Film?
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 story. That’s because, we lack the understanding that a Literature–Based film although called an adaptation is indeed a translation of the story.
“Every act of translation is simultaneously an act of interpretation”. (Cahir 14) Meaning that in the translation of the book into a movie is the director’s own interpretation of the movie and of the visual images that he made in his own mind during the reading of the book. There are three different translation types to consider. Literal Translation - “reproduces the plot and all its attending details as closely as possible to the letter of the book” (Cahir 16). Traditional Translation - “maintains the overall traits of the book (its plot, settings, and stylistic conventions) but revamps particular details in those particular ways that the filmmakers see as necessary and fitting” (Cahir 16). Radical Translation - “reshapes the book in extreme and revolutionary ways both as a means of interpreting the literature and of making the film a more fully independent work” (Cahir 16-17).
We need to understand that when the medium changes from print to film even if it is a literal translation, the film will never match our expectations and our imagination one hundred percent. Even though there
Paula Oliveira
Dr. Sucheta Choudhuri
Literature and Film 2315
21 February 2014
Why Hate the Film?
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 story. That’s because, we lack the understanding that a Literature–Based film although called an adaptation is indeed a translation of the story.
“Every act of translation is simultaneously an act of interpretation”. (Cahir 14) Meaning that in the translation of the book into a movie is the director’s own interpretation of the movie and of the visual images that he made in his own mind during the reading of the book. There are three different translation types to consider. Literal Translation - “reproduces the plot and all its attending details as closely as possible to the letter of the book” (Cahir 16). Traditional Translation - “maintains the overall traits of the book (its plot, settings, and stylistic conventions) but revamps particular details in those particular ways that the filmmakers see as necessary and fitting” (Cahir 16). Radical Translation - “reshapes the book in extreme and revolutionary ways both as a means of interpreting the literature and of making the film a more fully independent work” (Cahir 16-17).
We need to understand that when the medium changes from print to film even if it is a literal translation, the film will never match our expectations and our imagination one hundred percent. Even though there
Cited: Rear Window, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr. Paramount. 1954. DVD. Cahir, Linda Costanzo. Film Translation: Literal, Traditional, and Radical. Literature into Film: Theory and Practical Approaches. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2006. (13-43) Woolrich, Cornell. It Had To Be Murder. N.p.: Popular Publications Inc., 1942.