After reading Edson’s play “Wit” and viewing the film adaptation I must say that I enjoyed the film more. A play is written to be acted out, and so the content lacks an entire dimension that will become present once the characters are brought to life by actors. For example when one reads the play one understands that Vivian is trying to be witty and humorous in her dialogue with the doctors and the audience, but when one watches the film one actually laughs as a consequence of her remarks. Vivian looks straight at the camera, or at you, and tells you “I’ve been asked, ‘How are you feeling today?’ while I’ve been throwing up into a plastic water vase. I’ve been asked as I was emerging from a four-hour operation with a tube in every orifice, ‘How are you feeling today?’” Although these are the same exact lines from the play, one understands more clearly how miserable she feels by actually seeing her in the hospital setting. The irony of it is made much more apparent in the film, seeing as the viewers, just like the caregivers, can see that she is bald, pale, gaunt and miserable when they ask if she is feeling well. There is absolutely no point to the question. Everyone knows she is not okay, but she replies “I’m fine,” as if stating in a way that a stupid question deserves a stupid answer. When one sees her later on in the film throwing up in a plastic vase one can’t help but smile at the thought of she being asked the question at a time like that. So, in this sense the film enhances one’s enjoyment of the play because one is able to actually see the character and what she is referring to.
Similarly, there is a scene in both the play and the film in which her former student, now her doctor, is giving her a pelvic examination. In the play one gets an idea of how uncomfortable and humiliating it must have felt for her. However, when one views it in the film Vivian’s experience seems much more mortifying. One views her physically uncomfortable position that she is set in, how rough and detached he is while examining her and how awkward he makes the entire situation, and one can’t help but feel sympathetic towards Vivian. In this case I wouldn’t say the film enhanced my enjoyment of the film, but it did enhance my appreciation of it. Words on their own are powerful, but images make the story and its sentiment much more real to its audience.
3 comments:
Seeing a play does have the advantages you speak of. A play is even more immediate than a film. A play is immediate; a film is one stage removed; and the written play is reallymonly a script that needs to be realized.
I do agree with you on how images add sentiment to words. The uncomfortable scene in which Vivian receives a pelvic examination from her former student, Dr. Posner, does make it far more mortifying than in the play. The actress handled that scene pretty well I might add, and not many actresses can play a role as Vivian Bearing. The evolution of the character throughout the film seems very demanding to act out, because we see this strong woman who then becomes weak and vulnerable.
What I like about plays is that it gives readers directions so one can imagine the scenes and act them in their heads, give a personal touch so to speak.
I did find it rather stupid to be asked how Vivian was feeling while she threw up or looked miserable, but it is a doctor’s duty to ask such questions, just in case the patient is feeling something out of the ordinary. Still, I can imagine the annoyance of being asked how I was feeling after such procedures and incidents.
I did enjoy how director Mike Nichols shot the film. It was shot in a way that the essence of watching a play was not entirely lost; yet being a film it enhanced certain aspects that plays cannot display.
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