1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My friend and her daughter invited us to go see the film Allegiant over break. I had read the Divergent series a while ago and saw the first film. I liked the books and the first film; the character Tris, while not completely groundbreaking, seemed original and interesting to me.
But I hated this latest film installment. It was just awful.
I thought, "Was the book this bad or what did the film change from the book to make it so bad??" So I decided to reread the book, and it was very different from the film -- the film takes out all of the reasoning and investigating and discovering that happens in the book, and all of that stuff explains the origins of the world and just adds some depth to the plot. The film strips all of that away and the story becomes boring. Apparently, they also want to be The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, so they're splitting the book into two movies -- an unnecessary move, in my view: there's just not enough there.
I am glad that I reread the book, though, just to cleanse my palate.
2. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
This novel is also a reread for me, and I also need to watch the film. We are studying this text in my IB Literature and Performance class -- my students' (and my) homework over break was to read it and watch the film. I like the choices the filmmaker makes in adapting the novel and transforming the mythological stories of the Ancients and the Whales into the magical realism depicted the film. I am looking forward to hearing what my students think about this novel and its adaptation, They will eventually write an exam paper detailing how they would adapt the novel to the stage, and they have been so creative all year that I think this text will inspire their best work all year.
No comments:
Post a Comment