This week in British Literature we watched a modern movie production of the Importance of Being Earnest. Personally, I much preferred reading the play to watching the movie. Part of the beauty in the play is the absurdity of each situation. However, the absurdity is best understood when read with complete sincerity. If one believes that it is a joke then the play becomes a joke. Wilde did such a wonderful job almost making fun of society that when transferred into actors some of the magic was lost.
There were parts of the movie that I liked, there were parts that I didn't like. My biggest annoyance at the play was the depiction of Cecily and how she imagined Ernest. What makes the naivety of Cecily and Gwendolen so absurd and their interactions so interesting is the fact that they believe they are serious. Cecily made up an engagement and broke it off all in her head because she believed she was serious. With the fantasised knight and biblical allusion scene, Cecily's absurd engagement was lost in jest.
I appreciated the artistic elements of the movie. The depiction of the homes, the grounds, the costumes, most everything added to the elements of the play.
Overall the movie did a decent job translating play to movie, some of my favourite lines were lost but that is bound to happen in transition. The play was fun although our class reading's were more obnoxiously absurd than an absurdist play, and the movie did a fine job overall.
No comments:
Post a Comment