On How Hollywood Cooked Dickens' Best Work into a Pot of Chicken Soup

Vincent 2021-12-22 08:01:31

The title is not accurate enough, it should be said that it is a mixture of a pot of chicken soup and romance films.
I think it’s acceptable to watch this movie alone; however, it’s a bit unbearable under the title of adapting the original Dickens.
"Great Expectations" is Dickens's most outstanding and mature work (one of), and it is also my personal favorite Dickens. In my opinion, the greatness of "Great Expectations" lies in its possibilities-it shows all the most real and cruel aspects of life, but also contains hope. Some people see it full of optimism and love. Emotions, some people lament the ruthlessness of life. When I close the book, I will sigh, I will think, but for a while it will be difficult to tell "what is the truth"-because of its richness and complexity, it is impossible to see through it at a glance.
To a certain extent, this is also the shared charm of classic literary works-from life but higher than life, can arouse aftertaste and resonance, but it is not clear in a few words.
Therefore, it is very embarrassing to change such a work to be too straightforward and too thin. In the 98 edition of "Great Expectations", the defect is not that it changed the original, but that it was not changed well. The idea is very important, and the screenwriter is very important.
First, the movie weakens the dark side of human nature. Not to mention how many complicated relationships between characters have been deleted. Compared with the original, the lady and Estella are a bit "warm". It seems that the former is just a woman hurt by love, and the latter is just a tangle. Little girl. It didn't highlight how Estella played and tortured Pip (Finn) indifferently, and seemed to just dare not face the "beam of light." Failure to highlight this point cannot reflect how Miss Havisham destroyed a young girl who could have learned to love, which makes people infinitely surprised and regretful. Not to mention its failure to portray the prisoner's character, beautify its psychology, weaken the sense of disillusionment of Huang Liang's dream, and dilute the heavy theme and critical power of the original work.
Secondly, the film too highlights the emotional lines of the heroes and heroines. The focal character of the original book is Pip, who shows society and life through his growth, realization and disillusionment of his dreams, and the movie almost focuses on the line of his relationship with Estella. It is true that love for Estella is Pip’s motivation to enter the upper class, but it is by no means the whole of "Great Expectations." Undeniably, many shots of this relationship in the movie are beautiful, such as kissing in the fountain, painting Estella, etc. However, after watching the movie, the most impressive is these shots, which in itself shows that the movie is a failure. of.
In the end, the film adaptation is a bit too bright and positive. It seems that Pip’s success is attributable to his kind heart (to treat prisoners kindly); it seems that his kindness can make up for the spiritual damage Estella suffered during her growth-it seems that everything can be restored. It seems that with the goal of "for love", it is understandable and forgivable that he desperately wants to enter the upper class but ignores Joe's feelings. The film ends with two people holding hands, "She knows me, and I know her". It seems that the two can rebuild well. Compared with the open ending of the original book, it is much more successful. This is the fundamental reason why I said it cooked the original into a pot of chicken soup.
The original book reads the mixed flavors, and after boiling it into a pot of chicken soup, only the warm flavor remains, and all the flavors beside it have disappeared. Maybe it has become more acceptable, maybe it has become more inspirational, but it is also less tasteless.

PS: I'm ready to take a look at the David Lean version someday to wash my eyes...

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Extended Reading

Great Expectations quotes

  • Finn: Seven years passed, I stopped going to Paradiso Perduto, I stopped painting. I put aside the fantasy and the wealthy, and the heavenly girl who did not want me. None of it would happen to me again. I'd seen through it. I elected to grow up.

  • Finn: The night all of my dreams came true, and like all happy endings,It was a tragedy, Of my device, for I succeeded. I had cut myself loose from Joe, from the past, from the gulf, from poverty I had invented myself. I'd done it cruelly, but I had done it. I was free!