Stay tuned to our new posts and updates! Click to join us on WhatsApp L&C-Whatsapp & Telegram telegram Channel
L&C-Silhouette Subscribe
The L&C-Silhouette Basket
L&C-Silhouette Basket
A hand-picked basket of cherries from the world of most talked about books and popular posts on creative literature, reviews and interviews, movies and music, critiques and retrospectives ...
to enjoy, ponder, wonder & relish!
 
Support LnC-Silhouette. Great reading for everyone, supported by readers. SUPPORT

Open to Interpretation

September 23, 2013 | By

The interplay between cinema and literature is as old as the medium of celluloid.

For me, Clarke Gable is Rhett Butler. And Scarlett O’ Hara, heroine of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, is personified by Vivien Leigh, with her dazzling eyes, impish smile and, of course, that tiny waist. Maybe it’s because I saw the movie first.

When I read the book, though, I experienced the richness of detail about the American civil war and life in that era and the additional layers to Mitchell’s characters — all of which were lost in the cinematic version. However, I had to admit that just by sheer casting and characterization, the filmmaker had made a masterpiece, true to the original to the best of his ability.guide

That isn’t always the case unfortunately. Even celebrated films like Guide, based on R.K. Narayan’s novel, pale in comparison to the original work. The characterization of Rosie was a fine performance by Waheeda Rahman. But read the book and you find the cinematic version only a shadow of her literary genesis, devoid of the many textures and nuances that make her one of the most enthralling characters in literature.

Arundhati Roy has refused to let her Booker winning The God of Small Things to be filmed, despite offers galore, unwilling perhaps to see her finely etched characters distorted. Therein lies the rub. Will a writer ever be satisfied with the handling of his precious creation by another? One way is for the author to become involved himself with the adaptation of his work and impart his views and vision to the director.

But let’s not forget that cinema, too, is an art form. A good film can be a study in eloquence and a director is an artist, nurturing and structuring his vision to bring it to the viewer. His right to exercise creativity cannot be overlooked.

Another important factor is the role of cinema in popularizing literature. In an age where books are losing their relevance to many, with it becoming increasingly difficult to get youngsters to pick up a book, cinema can play a crucial part in reviving interest in literature.

Perhaps a little creative license to update a literary classic and make it relevant to the modern age is not a bad thing. After all, if the film is made well, and does well, the original will get far more readers from the younger generation than it otherwise would have. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility are examples of literature that has been revived and repopularised, thanks to excellent adaptations and star casting.

The interplay between cinema and literature is as old as the medium of celluloid. And it will continue as long as there are good books to read and filmmakers with the vision to translate them into movies.

There will be controversy, and criticism. But however good, or bad, an adaptation, one must remember that the original will always remain; it cannot be obliterated or erased by the existence of its celluloid version. Writers can take heart from this. And realize that for their works to reach a wider audience, they must be open to interpretation.

This opinion was first published in Meghdutam between 1999 – 2003.

Arati Rajan Menon is Deputy Editor, Harmony Magazine.
All Posts of Arati Rajan Menon

Hope you enjoyed reading...

... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting our creative, informative and analytical posts than ever before. And yes, we are firmly set on the path we chose when we started... our twin magazines Learning and Creativity and Silhouette Magazine (LnC-Silhouette) will be accessible to all, across the world.

We are editorially independent, not funded, supported or influenced by investors or agencies. We try to keep our content easily readable in an undisturbed interface, not swamped by advertisements and pop-ups. Our mission is to provide a platform you can call your own creative outlet and everyone from renowned authors and critics to budding bloggers, artists, teen writers and kids love to build their own space here and share with the world.

When readers like you contribute, big or small, it goes directly into funding our initiative. Your support helps us to keep striving towards making our content better. And yes, we need to build on this year after year. Support LnC-Silhouette with a little amount - and it only takes a minute. Thank you

Support LnC-Silhouette

Creative Writing

Got a poem, story, musing or painting you would like to share with the world? Send your creative writings and expressions to editor@learningandcreativity.com

Learning and Creativity publishes articles, stories, poems, reviews, and other literary works, artworks, photographs and other publishable material contributed by writers, artists and photographers as a friendly gesture. The opinions shared by the writers, artists and photographers are their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of Learning and Creativity- emagazine. Images used in the posts (not including those from Learning and Creativity's own photo archives) have been procured from the contributors themselves, public forums, social networking sites, publicity releases, free photo sites such as Pixabay, Pexels, Morguefile, etc and Wikimedia Creative Commons. Please inform us if any of the images used here are copyrighted, we will pull those images down.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Today’s Motivation

<div class=at-above-post addthis_tool data-url=https://learningandcreativity.com/motivation-quote-think-unthinkable/></div>“Being an architect isn't only about construction, it's about creating wide spaces with small spaces.” 
― Yannick Heywang<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings above via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings below via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons above via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons below via filter on get_the_excerpt --><div class=at-below-post addthis_tool data-url=https://learningandcreativity.com/motivation-quote-think-unthinkable/></div><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt -->
“Being an architect isn't only about construction, it's about creating wide spaces with small spaces.” ― Yannick Heywang