Ambition of killing two birds with one stone

Briana 2022-11-03 23:55:04

This is a treacherous and cunning movie, because the director took Salinger’s creation of "The Catcher in the Rye" as the main line of the narrative under the banner of making Salinger's documentary, and indirectly took "The Catcher in the Rye" as the main line of the narrative. The works were put on the big screen in fragments. As many loyal readers know, Salinger did not allow his work to be adapted into a movie during his lifetime. This is the treacherous and cunning nature of this film and the director.
There have been many unsuccessful attempts in academia to find Salinger's autobiographical elements from the protagonist Holden in "The Catcher in the Rye", but they were all unsuccessful. And this movie clearly depicts the parallel features between the author and the protagonist of the novel. Some scenes in the movie are also selected from classic scenes in the novel. For example, at the end of the novel, Holden is watching the carousel in the rain. After Salinger stayed in the park to watch the merry-go-round, Holden asked the taxi driver where the duck went after the lake was frozen in the winter park. Salinger got in touch with a stranger in the park and asked the duck where to go in winter and was beaten up by a stranger. There are many examples of using classic scenes in the novel to frame Salinger in this movie, and this kind of treatment can easily lead people to think that the novel contains a lot of autobiographical elements, which is very absurd and misleading.
This film is also a big challenge for Nick, because what he wants to portray is not Salinger alone, but two roles of Salinger and Holden. At this point, he failed: there is one person from the beginning to the end. Nick in the play, and he worked hard to perform the role he was not qualified for. On another point, Nick wanted to shape Salinger's different states in different periods, and the transitions during the period were too abrupt and unconvincing.
The structure of the film is also very strange, especially the beginning of the flashback, and this flashback is from the time when Salinger was mentally traumatized after Salinger stepped down from the front line. Such a treatment would make people who are not familiar with Salinger's life feel inexplicable.

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Extended Reading

Rebel in the Rye quotes

  • Whit Burnett: I got an eye. I can spot talent coming a mile away. Saroyan, Cheever, Caldwell, I discovered them all. Of course, it would be nice if somebody discovered me.

    Jerry Salinger: Hey, come on, you've been published.

    Whit Burnett: I not only discovered them, I shaped them, I challenged them.

    [Pointing at his flat]

    Whit Burnett: This is me.

    [On the stairs]

    Whit Burnett: You should continue to write about Holden, but not as a short story.

    Jerry Salinger: Well, hang on, wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean?

    Whit Burnett: I think Holden Caulfield is a novel.

    Jerry Salinger: No, no, I couldn't write a whole novel. I'm a dash man, not a miler.

    Whit Burnett: You only say that because you're lazy. Holden Caulfield deserves an entire book all on his own.

    Jerry Salinger: A novel's a lot of words.

    Whit Burnett: It's just more words. Imagine the book that you would want to read and then go write it.

  • Jerry Salinger: Anyway, how's everything at the home front with you? You are good with Martha chewing your ear?

    Whit Burnett: Everything at my home is fine...

    Jerry Salinger: Yeah?

    Whit Burnett: Because what you'll learn about having wife is that occasionally she just needs to yell to feel better.

    [Jerry laughing]

    Whit Burnett: Oh, and by the way, I'm awfully sorry about the New Yorker.

    Jerry Salinger: How'd you know about that?

    Whit Burnett: Oh please. They canned the Caulfield story because you wouldn't take any of their notes. You know, you cannot be a pain in the ass until you're a success.