From page to screen

When contemporary cinema tops classic literature

April 16, 2009

Classics. To those who would dub novels so, the associations which spring to mind are of beautiful prose and timeless stories. The Classics are the universal commentaries on society and human nature. They are the novels which speak of concepts far beyond their time. They have an almost guaranteed best-of-literature quality that can transport you to another time, and they are available in the comfort of your own living room.

They have their own reputations.

Movies, on the other hand, have earned their own right of passage. Not even 120 years old, cinema has cultivated its own innovative method of conveying universal themes and eliciting emotions through audio and visuals. Unfortunately, cinema has been seriously underrated over the years, even going so far as to have developed a bad rep as a poor cousin of literature and closer sibling to mere “television.”

What directors accomplish with cinema is comparable to what authors do with literature. In the short span of two hours, an audience can feel genuine happiness as well as sadness, can be laughing hysterically, or tearing at the eyes.

All this, while appealing to a vast audience.

It is an emotional rollercoaster, albeit an enjoyable one. Case in point, Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott. The movie falls into the category of historical fiction. While portraying a trying time of the great Roman Empire, the film follows the story of Maximus, a scorned soldier, through triumph and degradation.

With its R rating for “intense, graphic combat,” Gladiator immediate appeal is to the male psyche, but will nonetheless leave tears forming in the eyes of all.

Then, there are, of course, the lessons learned.

While spellbound by the throes of combat and drama, the audience witnesses the hardships of fighting for what one believes in, similar to the classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

And even a classic like Stowe’s novel cannot provide the intense, full-fledged experience of a movie.

A similar example of a more experiential type of movie is Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol. A science fiction film, Gattaca tells the story of Vincent Freeman, a man who is deemed genetically inferior and constricted by his society to subordination because of his “bad blood.”

While conveying a similar message as George Orwell’s 1984 about the dangers of totalitarian societies, the film provides a more immediate impact than Orwell’s novel. The similarities of plot are uncanny, both containing a forbidden romance, and a protagonist who must lie every day of his life in order to glimpse equality.

Perhaps the issue is viewers’ dwindling attention span. But from epic poems to books to plays to cinema, humankind has constantly devised new ways to tell stories.

The universal messages that were conveyed through classic literature in the past can just as easily and more receptively be presented through contemporary cinema.

Batya Rosenblum attends Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School and is a member of Nu’s teen board.