I am also an English teacher and a Steinbbeck researcher. The film adaptation makes absolutely no sense. We open the movie with a scene created only for the movie and it appears as if Kino is from white, European descent. As he matures, however, he becomes Hispanic with a horrible accent and Mickey Mouse ears to boot! The film has added in "love" scenes not present in the book and basically made a farce out of Steinbeck's beloved work! If I had to guess, one of the creators and/or directors of one of the Monty Python movies took on this project with outrageous comedy in mind! It was a sure disappointment, even to my students who did not read the book in its entirety!
Worthwhile for the classroom
I am also an English teacher and I was thrilled to learn of this film adaptation. Even after reading the other two reviews I was excited to show this to my students after we finished our reading, and the changes that the film makes are interesting rather than disappointing. One of the projects that I offer to my students is to change the storyline to fit their interests, including the ending, and I presented this film as one person's vision. I love the way it starts with Kino as a little boy listening to his father's advice, and I like the actor who is cast as Kino the grown man. I like how his brother Juan has a larger role. In fact, I like the happy ending because it is something I used to discuss with my students, asking them how things could have been resolved differently. Richard Harris is wonderful as the shrewd doctor, and the scene where he "buys" eternal salvation from the priest is excellent. Yes, it is always preferable to see a faithful adaptation of a novel, but it doesn't ruin the fact that I can enhance my own and my students' appreciation of a great story.
the pearl
As an English teacher, I was very eager to purchase this modern adaptation of Steinbeck's novella to show to students. Imagine my shock and horror when I discovered this film has a HAPPY ending! Hollywood has totally changed the impact of Steinbeck's original work to satisfy those who need to walk out of a movie experience with a smile on their faces...unfortunately, a smile isn't what people will walk out with after viewing this film. Very disappointing!
A strong argument favors Gary Sinise's 1992 Of Mice and Men over the classic 1939 version that critics have historically preferred. As adapted by the great playwright-screenwriter Horton Foote, John Steinbeck's Depression-era masterpiece comes alive with timeless simplicity, more candid in language and behavior, and therefore more honest in its embrace of Steinbeck's beloved pair of lowly dreamers George (Sinise) and his retarded cousin Lennie (John Malkovich). On the lam, they find work as farmhands, joining a close-knit crew and trying to avoid trouble stirred by the dangerously seductive wife (Sherilyn Fenn) of the boss's sadistic son (Casey Siemaszko). There's not a false note or bad performance in the entire film; as veterans of Chicago's acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gary Sinise - John Malkovich Director(s): Gary Sinise DVD Release Date: Released the 04 March 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Harry Hook's adaptation is not as faithful to the William Golding novel as you'd wish (they excised the Lord of the Flies dialogue with Simon!) and because of it, the movie is less allegorical and less resonant. A group of young men from a military academy are stranded on an island. The group quickly becomes fractious with a passive section led by Ralph, trying to get rescued, and a hunter faction, led by Jack, trying to procure meat and "have fun." Peter Brook's 1963 filming seemed to get closer to the Darwinist sense of this cultural disintegration. Here, the hunter faction seems more like Peter Pan's Lost Boys than the bloodthirsty murderers they are. The performances, particularly young Getty, don't quite carry the weight of the situation. It's still, however, sobering to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Balthazar Getty Director(s): Harry Hook DVD Release Date: Released the 20 November 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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After the technical achievement of Babe, it was inevitable that "talking animal" effects would be applied to the serious themes of George Orwell's Animal Farm. A bitterly satirical indictment of Stalinist Russia and the failure of Communism, Orwell's 1945 novel is a time-honored classic, so it's only fitting that this TNT production remains largely faithful to Orwell's potent narrative. A showcase for the impressive creations of Jim Henson's Creature Shop (where director John Stephenson was a veteran supervisor), the film employs animatronic critters and computer animation to tell the story of uprising, unity, and tragic rebellion among the animals of a British farm.
Ranking No. 21 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, this 1940 classic is a bit dated in its noble sentimentality, but it remains a luminous example of Hollywood classicism from the peerless director of mythic Americana, John Ford. Adapted by Nunnally Johnson from John Steinbeck's classic novel, the film tells a simple story about Oklahoma farmers leaving the depression-era dustbowl for the promised land of California, but it's the story's emotional resonance and theme of human perseverance that makes the movie so richly and timelessly rewarding. It's all about the humble Joad family's cross-country trek to escape the economic devastation of their ruined farmland, beginning when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns from a four-year prison term to discover... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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