bigbearomaha
Site Admin
Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 40
Location: Omaha, Nebraska USA
|
 Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:13 am Post subject: Silence of the Lambs |
 |
|
I find that some movies are great movies not because they do a great job of staying true to the text of the book they are based on, but also for staying true to the spirit, the presence, if you will of the original story.
Silence of the Lambs is like that.
While it does not follow the text it was based on even 80%, it does manage to stay true to the story by at least 90%. For a hollywood movie, that is very good.
Hollywood has a hard time maintaining the "integrity" of a book based story. To b honest, it's very difficult to accomplish. A book is different for everyone who reads it. The individuals imagination has conjured up the images that best represent what is written.
Sometimes a movie based on a book, regardless of how true the movie stays to the text, can still be true to the story, without necessarily being true to the words.
I think this movie is a fine representative of that rare breed of movie.
The casting is one of the most overlooked parts of making a movie. Whoever does the casting is responsible for finding someone to take on a character from a book that they think will most represent the books character.
The people casting the movie MUST have read the book then the script, several times in order to get a 'feel' for each individual character to be represented in the movie.
Case in point, Casting Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lector.
I must say I have been a fan of Mr Hopkins work for a long time and while I think he can more than do justice to many roles, Dr Hannibal Lector is one character that must tax even the best actors. His person is revealed and delineated so finely that one must think the actor who can successfully portray him, must themselves begin to identify or recognize the possibility of a Lector even within themselves. If only for a bit.
Jodie Foster was a good match, if not quite as matched or or portrayed a well as Lecotr. In Clarice Starling, Jodie Foster had to begin to see herself as a "normal" person. Not as an actress or star.
Thomas's characters are too demanding, too 'real', to allow someone to just walk in and say " I am Starling" or "I am Lector."
_________________
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx |
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
