Have you seen the trailer for HBO's upcoming adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 yet?
It's intriguing enough that I've decided it's a necessary re-read. I didn't love Fahrenheit 451 when I read it in high school, but I don't remember hating it either.
After my third read of Ender's Game recently (review to come), I'm realizing my tastes have changed. -Dare we say they're becoming more sophisticated?-
If you missed my review for the book, you can find that right here. I had, well, a lot to say about it, so buckle up for a fun comparison! I did this comparison as a video, but I've added the text to the post for those of you who might prefer to read it. Enjoy. ;)
On the whole, there are a good number of things I actually prefer in the film over the movie. Especially the ending.
I did dislike that the extra plot details they
infused to better adapt the story to film came at the expense of the
vivid characters from the book. Even though Armande was played by
the beloved and fantastic Judi Dench, she was not as interesting a
character on screen as she was on the page. I thought her entire story
line, especially with Luc, was handled poorly. I didn't get a good sense
of their relationship; I thought it was horrible that they have Luc the
one to discover his grandmother is dead. I suppose they wanted to skirt
around the issue of Armande planning for death, on her terms, but if
they were trying to avoid potential unpleasantness, I don't think having
her grandkid finding that she died in her chair while he did dishes was
a good move. It felt horrific and traumatic; it didn't convey the
sense of peace Armande has in the book. On the upside, it did act as a step in the repair of Luc's relationship with his mother, which is maybe what they were really going for.
I love Johnny Deep. I love Johnny Depp as Roux. I did not like how they altered his character to be so mellow.
They played his initial distrust of Vianne, but after that they didn't
stay very true to his character. I don't remember any memorable
conversations between him and Armande, and their relationship was one of
my favorite parts, this big gruff man and this tiny old woman always
giving each other a hard time. He didn't get mad when his boat burned
down, he didn't go off and sulk. He was almost...too perfect. The film
took away the flaws of his personality to fit him into the role of
romantic interest, but his flaws were what made him interesting.
I
didn't entirely mind that the film turned Roux and Vianne's
relationship into a romance. Even thought it didn't happen in the book,
with the way they altered the story and the ending, they made it work.
And since the relationship of Roux and Josephine in the book is only
talked of as an eventuality, and never actually 'happens' within the
context of the story, it didn't bother me adversely, because I did
actually like the ending Vianne got. What can I say? I'm a happy ending
kind of girl.
I was very sad they didn't play up
Vianne's magic in the film. Instead, they shifted it all onto the
'clever North Wind' that pulls her from place to place like the unseen,
mysterious Charlie giving mission directives to his Angels. Part of what
I loved about Chocolat was this essence of magic realism, the
sort of unexplained reality that, yes, magic is real, Vianne uses it,
people don't really believe it, but it's true all the same.
Vianne was made a much more volatile
personality. I liked it better in the book when she doesn't fly off the
handle once Reynaud starts encouraging people to boycott her store. She possessed a kind of carefree surrealism in the books regarding the town and the opinions of others which I loved.
Now for the most important part of this little comparison. Let's talk about the ending.
In the book review I did for Chocolat,
I ranted a bit about how unsatisfactory I found the ending, especially
concerning Reynaud. No offense to
Joanne Harris, but I hated the ending she used in the book. The movie
literally did exactly what I wanted them to, as far as Reynaud's
character. True, they drastically changed his role in the story from the
zealous, self-absorbed priest to the mayor who doesn't want to admit
his wife has left him, but the final scene in the book, when Reynaud
breaks into the chocolate shop to demolish everything and instead stuffs
himself with chocolate -they did that exactly as what I wanted it to
be, what I was waiting for the entire book. Instead of being caught by
the whole town and turned into a laughingstock, he's instead awakened by
Vianne and the priest, who help him out of the window. And Reynaud
looks at Vianne, looks at what he's done, and he's horrified. He's
mortified. And he apologizes. He changes.
I don't
think the film needed to change him from the priest to the mayor. They
probably only did it to work in a romance between Reynaud and Caroline
Clairmont (who they also widowed in the movie) which, again, was unnecessary,
BUT it transformed them into more sympathetic characters and I liked
them much better than I did in the book. I also didn't mind the priest
character they created to fill Reynaud's vacancy, and not just because
he got caught singing 'Ain't Nothing But A Hounddog' by the uptight
mayor.
But the ending didn't just benefit Reynaud! Nearly everyone accepted the chance to learn and grow over the course of the story -like Claire, the controlling mother who actually learns to trust her son, and Luc, who by the end of the book simply tolerates his mother, but by the end of the film had actually reached an understanding with her that improved their relationship! This was what I truly wanted to see in the book, this growing and changing of most of the characters, rather than the elite few.
I wanted to see the various relationships actually benefit from the events and that is what the movie gave me. The town itself is happier because issues are resolved and people come closer together.
Let's discuss!
Do you have a preference between the book and the movie?
This time I'm taking a look at the three versions of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, so if you've ever wondered which is the best, or whether the movies are true to the story, you can stop wondering and find out!
