“The book was better than the movie”, is a common line told when a person has read a book then watches the movie. In the case of the play, Wit, I believe it to be partially true. In some ways, I enjoyed the movie more. It was interesting to see the characters come to life off of a stage setting. I have enjoyed Emma Thompson in other films, and she did not disappoint as Dr. Vivian Bearing in Wit. Even Christopher Lloyd, most widely known for his role as “Doc” in the Back to the Future trilogy, was impressive in his role as Dr. Kelikan. The film was much more intense to me than the play. Seeing the people on screen, not being able to gloss over the more gruesome aspects in my mind, such as the scenes where she vomits, make the film that much more real to me. Seeing and hearing Dr. Bearing only enhanced her wittiness, and made her a much more likeable character. On the same hand, seeing the film certainly elicited a more emotionally charged response from me. My blood was boiling at the end when Jason didn’t even realize she was dying, and then proceeded to call a code, knowing full well she was DNR. I found myself much angrier than I was while reading the play. To his credit, they do show Jason as a bit insecure and unsure of himself, which did give him a more redeeming quality that was missing from the play.
While I certainly appreciated the film as well as the play, surprisingly, I did enjoy the stage aspect that the film was missing. I cannot say for certain if it is because I read the play first or not, but I do not think that is the case. I thoroughly enjoyed the stage type atmosphere, and the way Vivian would address the audience. I am rather enticed to see the actual stage production, and will likely do so before the end of summer.
3 comments:
I couldn’t agree more that the book was better than the movie. I enjoyed connecting with Dr. Vivian Bearing on an emotional level, but the movie had a serious lack of the clever “one-liners” that made the book so entertaining. Bearing’s attitude and witty comebacks are what truly separate the book from the movie. Sure, I would suppose that my bias comes from a matter of taste rather than poor quality of either piece – that is to say, I did in fact enjoy the movie, but I liked the book much more due to its portrayal of Bearing as a comical, sassy, highly intelligent and witty professor of metaphysical poetry.
We agree that the intensity of the process of chemotherapy (especially one that is as intense as the one that Bearing underwent) is much better explicated in the movie (as compared to the book). The example you stated of the vomiting scene is a prime illustration of the pain, agony, and exhausting/disgusting nature that accompanies cancer.
We disagree, however, that the movie “enhanced her wittiness.” I believe that Bearing was much wittier in the play. Her clever asides to the audience were much sharper in the play than they were in the movie, and perhaps it was meant to be that way. As with most movies, they are able to touch on a higher emotional note due to the live portrayal from actors, whereas the play was able to dominate the clever, comical aspects of Dr. Bearing’s character.
I think the disagreement about wit is important. For Vivian, wit is about words. Reading the witty lines is one experience; seeing a person say the lines adding expressions, etc., is a different experience. Good blog and comment.
I do believe that the book goes more in dept about Vivian Bearing and her battling cancer but I find it better to be able to watch what it is taking place. Seeing the characters come to life and the emotions they express is a wonderful thing. Seeing the films of novels has always been more interesting than reading the book. However I discovered that the films does not always cover everything that I would read in the book. I truly enjoyed the book and the film but I was given a true vision of what Vivian was going through. Battling with cancer is not easy at all and to see her suffer really moved me. The scene when she was regurgitating showed how gruesome cancer treatment can be. It’s saddening to see someone being treated for an illness but in return, the treatment causes more suffering and pain. Unfortunately she was terminally ill and dies at the end but her days of being sick and suffering were no more. I think Vivian chose DNR because she knew that she was going to die; her health was declining by the hour. Though the film was a bit on the sad side, I really enjoyed it.
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