After watching the film Wit, I am tempted to say I find myself at a crossroad, as to whether I like the film more or the play. That is, once I read the play, I could picture the actors saying their lines to my liking. As for the film, I cannot do much but criticize how the actors perform their part, their gestures, if they are overreacting, etc. The film does provide the image the director believes the playwright originally thought his or her work would translate visually, but as I mentioned before I prefer reading and making out my interpretation of a play, with the help of the play’s directions of course.
I noticed, at the beginning of the film, when Kelekian was diagnosing Vivian, how she seemed unfocused yet there was no monologue in the back of her head brought up in the film. I believe this small scene could’ve been done as in the play, but the director probably thought it was not important. Perhaps he thought it would’ve saturated Vivian’s character, as for her being an English professor was beyond clear.
The film did assist Dr. Jason Posner’s character. It showed a much more insecure human being, that knew very well what he was doing, as well as how thoroughly focused he was on the research for ovarian cancer. He even mentions how “awesome” cancer is, and such excitement over the research causes him to become detached from his patient, in a way that his treatment towards her is as that of a scientist to a test subject. Vivian did start thinking at one point she should’ve taken it easier on her students, and I believe so because she mentions how Jason should’ve been given an A as to whether an –A, and she does bring up, while a tear rolls down her cheek, that time she turns down a student’s proposal for the due date of a paper.
As for John Donne’s influence in the play and film, his sonnets talk about his perception of life and death, and in the play/film, Vivian decided to take up on studying and analyzing Donne’s sonnets. Vivian ends up analyzing her life and death situation in accordance to Donne; up to the extent she does not want anything to do with Donne, towards the end of the film, this I supported by the scene in which professor Ashford offers to recite something to Vivian, when she mentions Donne, Vivian moans a barely audible no.
1 comment:
Your blog brings up an important point about the value of reading, and your points about Donne are very perceptive. Good blog. While I like films, I always prefer reading. The spate of Jane Austen films is a good example. Austen herselfnis always betternon the page than on the screen.
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