"The English Patient" from novel to movie summary There are many films adapted from novels to movies in the history of Chinese and foreign films. The reason why "The English Patient" is chosen as the case of this classic reconstruction for analysis and research is mainly as follows: Reason: First of all, "The English Patient" (1997), directed by Anthony Minghella, won nine awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress at the 26th Academy Awards. The novel is a successful adaptation of the film; secondly, as Michael Ondaatje's most influential novel so far, the shaping of its characters and the depth and breadth of its themes have always been the focus of some critics' discussions and have profound artistic value and multi-directional interpretation space. The first part of this thesis: The ease and difficulty of adapting "The English Patient" into a film; the second part: the reconstruction of the film "The English Patient"; the third part: the conversion from written language to audio-visual language. This paper will research and analyze the above three parts. Key words: The English Patient; film; novel; the ease and difficulty of reconstructing The English Patient into a film As American film theorist Prouston said, "The final product of the novel and the final product of the film represent two different Aesthetic kind, just as ballet cannot be the same as architecture". There is no doubt that the difference between the novel and the film is obvious. From the perspective of media means, novels use a combination of languages as their expressive tool, while movies use images (including sound) to achieve this purpose. The basic element of novel language is words, and image symbols are the material forms that the audience can directly perceive. In text symbols, there can be unspoken meanings, while in image symbols, the principle of "what you get is what you see" must be strictly adhered to. From the perspective of narrative mode, the novel "The English Patient" integrates lyrical epic, prose, poetry, diary, and history. The transition of the film also lacks the transition of the narrative, but it is this seemingly chaotic and fragmented plot that deepens the theme, but also makes the adaptation of the film more difficult. In addition, as far as creation is concerned, novels are more of the product of the writer alone. The writer can complete the creation of a novel by himself, while the film director cannot. As a comprehensive art, the sense of picture, composition, tone, set costumes, lines and scripts in the film are all an art form separately. Compared with the novels in which Ondaatje can express his artistic thoughts and emotions to the maximum extent through words, director Minghella's compromise on creation may be a little bigger. But in itself, novels and movies are both temporal arts. Although there are many difficulties to be solved, director Minghella's film of the same name "The English Patient" has also achieved great success and won the 69th Oscar. The nine awards of the Academy Awards can be said to be the work of the novel adaptation of film and television. Reconstruction of "The English Patient" The character changes in the first film are mainly reflected in the following points: First, Hannah changed from a heroine to a supporting actress. In the novel, Hannah is a pivotal character who connects and maintains a harmonious relationship with three men of different personalities and identities in the villa. Hannah, as an observer, observes the three men, examines the joys and sorrows of their lives, and makes constant comparisons and reflections, looking for the traces of war, culture, nationality, etc. left on the three. At the same time, she herself is being observed, her past being described by Caravaggio, her present being read by Emma, and her future being influenced by Kip. In the novel, Hannah occupies a key position. In the movie, Hannah's role is greatly weakened, her childhood is hardly mentioned, and her future is not explained as in the novel. The director used more pen and ink in the description of the love story of Catherine and Emma. For reference, in the list of winners of the 69th Academy Awards, Juliet Binoche, who played Hannah, won the most award. Best Supporting Actress, and Kristin Steko Thomas, who played Katherine, was nominated for Best Actress. In the film, Catherine occupies an important position, and Hannah is simplified from a contradictory individual suffering from "war fatigue" to a kind and simple young nurse. This may be related to the difference in the media methods of films and novels mentioned above. Director Minglag puts the audience in a higher position, and digs the connotation and themes of the film from the perspective of each character. Compared with a lyrical memory that Xiao himself pays attention to, the film is Paying more attention to the story, some side branches that will affect the audience's understanding of the story have been drastically cut. In addition, focusing on the love story, using exquisite pictures, just-right music, and precise and smooth editing to vigorously render the poignant love story of the two is more conducive to attracting audiences and achieving box office success. Two, Caravaggio's relationship with Hannah and Emmaus has changed. David Garner appears in a very different order and manner in the novel and film. In the novel, Garner is Hannah's uncle, and the two are very close. They found her after inquiring about her in many ways. In the movie, Mingela gave Garner a special appearance. Hannah, who was a little embarrassed to drive away the crow, saw Garner and Garner brought an egg. The egg fell to the ground. A seemingly calm and even laughing scene set the stage for Garner's loss of his thumb. In addition, Garner in the novel is a thief and an intelligence officer whose main experience is to steal photos and find it, and this experience is described in detail. Describes how he was photographed, by whom, and how he infiltrated the villa , "pretending to be exposed innocence", "striping myself naked and leaving clothes in the flower bed", how was it discovered and had his fingers chopped off. In the second half of the article, Garner even stated that he had followed Amash and recognized him at the villa. But these experiences and relationships were eliminated from the movie. In the movie, Garner's thumb was cut off directly by Emma. Garner frantically wanted to find the traitor who betrayed the Allies and avenge himself, and finally he smelled it. Emmaus. In the movie, Garner gave up revenge directly after listening to Emma's memories, because he realized that he and Emma were victims of war, small and trampled like ants. Here, the movie maximizes the huge psychological and physical pain caused by the war, and finally Garner's abandonment of revenge can be said to be the finishing touch of the entire movie. Third, in the weakening of Kip's role in the novel, Kip can be said to be a crucial role. His story and transformation push the story to a climax, and he is the main revealer of the novel. Kip is the character. been completely changed. "One bomb. Another bomb. Hiroshima. Nagasaki" was the trigger for Kip's final collapse and roar. The name "Kip" reminds me of British Jeeps, with a strong British color. From this name, we can see that Kip's affection and intentional integration with the British or white people at the beginning. But when the bomb went off, Kip uttered a heart-wrenching cry, "You, then the Americans, made us just like you. With the law of your missionaries. And the Indian soldiers lost like heroes. Lives, just to be 'first-class'. You fight like cricket. How did you trick us in?" This is a question and a complete awakening. And some of these findings can also be seen in Kip's change in his attitude toward his brother from silence to approval. Kip's final motorbike departure and Emma's death represent not only Kip's anger but also the remorse of the white writer Ondaatje. And Caravaggio also believed that "they would never drop bombs in a white country", which is a white man's confession. Finally, the writer made the judgment that "from now on, I believe that there will be an eternal war between individual people and public people" and a warning of "a new war. The death of a civilization". But in the film, these are obliterated for mainstream ideological reasons. The film focuses on Kip's thrilling demining process, as well as the shock and pain brought to Kip by Harley's sacrifice. The memory of the explosion makes people deeply aware of the tragic war and the threat and pain it brings to people, reflecting the intensity of war. anti-war awareness. Section 2 The outstanding character and image is worth noting that the author has a lot of hints of Emma's spy status in the novel, and Catherine's husband is a perfect image. But in the novel, these are hidden and modified. In the movie, although Garner repeatedly identifies Emma as a spy, he never gets an answer. Emma in the novel is knowledgeable and yearns for a way of life without borders and nationalities. "We have Germans, British, Hungarians, and Africans among us," recalls Patient No. 5. Slowly, we became people of the nation. I started to hate the nation. "Emache has expressed his political ideal of "no borders, no nation" more than once, and in the movie, these are erased, and Catherine's husband has become disregarding his family, even a little caring about his wife, and selling the map to the German army is also Forced by love, Emma's espionage behavior became "excusable". In the movie, Mingla highlighted Emma's infatuation, knowledgeable, strong adventurous spirit, great hero image, with strong The protagonist's halo and heroic color. This can be said to be a relatively successful film adaptation. Compared with the protagonist with strong moral stains, such a clean and infatuated protagonist is more likely to arouse the audience's pity. As Mr. Lu Xun said, " Tragedy destroys the valuable things in life for others to see", then what is valuable, in the movie "The English Patient" is Emma's infatuated, brave and knowledgeable character image, "If this value is lacking, we cannot A sense of pity arises, without which there can be no aesthetic experience of grief. "So compared to the novel, the protagonist in the movie is more likely to arouse the audience's pity and love. This is a successful adaptation that not only highlights the protagonist's distinctive character but also takes into account the audience's acceptance and box office." Section 3 Changes in thematic tendencies Ondaatje has weaved a grand story with multiple focuses and fragmented plots, indicting the ruthless aggression of imperialism, and at the same time adding multiple profound themes such as nationalism, identity, religious destination, and feminism. Under the repression of mainstream Western thinking, to find the destination and comfort of one's own soul, there is deep repentance and guilt, and there is a sobering warning. In the movie, these are hidden in the eternal love between Emma and Catherine. "Incites pity and fear, which leads to the purification of these emotions", the film uses the tragedy of love and Ghana's personal destiny to jointly complete the cruel and strong accusation of the war and the infinite grief of the trauma and pain brought by the war. I think this is also an important reason why "The English Patient" won the best picture Oscar. It caters to the unprecedented anti-war and peace awareness of the people of the world who have experienced two world wars. The change in the thematic tendencies of the novel and the film has its own merits, and both can be described as successful. We know that the transformation from written language to audiovisual language is the basis for adapting novels into movies, but these are not enough. The success depends on whether the visual factors in the novel can be extracted, tempered, supplemented and enlarged. The movie "The English Patient" can be said to be a huge success at this point, from which it won the 69th Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound , Best Film Editing, Best Soundtrack (Drama) and many other awards can see people's affirmation. The description of the desert in the novel is borrowed from the book "History" - "It seems that there are steam particles buried underneath, and the steam is ejected from thousands of small holes. The sand particles are beating, forming a rotation. As the wind increased, the sand waterfalls also increased inch by inch... The whole universe is full of sand grains." And so on, while the film takes a live shot, showing the audience a vast expanse Thick and vast desert landscape. The vast desert and the dead sea of sand are truly displayed in front of people's eyes, bringing huge shock to people's vision and soul. There is also praise for the process of Garner's thumb being cut. In the novel, "they baked his hands on the thick legs of an oak table. He stood up holding the table at one point, blood spurting from his left hand. out...
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