What a great quote from Ishiguro - and the important distinction made between the novel's emotional repression and the film's emotional reticence. Regardless, I remain a huge fan of both novel and film in this case. The most bizarre adaptation I'm aware of was the film of Sebastian Barry's 'Secret Scripture'. It was a complete travesty of the novel and - after all these years - I still cannot understand why Barry put his name to the infantilization of his powerful novel.
Thanks Robert. I love the Ishiguro quote! I had thought of including some remarks on his recent adaptation of Kurosawa's Ikiru, Living, which in turn is a version of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich but that would have been a whole other newsletter!
I must watch The Remains of the Day and re-read the book. So many books . . . So many movies!
I very much like that phrase “intuitive morality repressed by expediency.” To your question: I remember Kazuo Ishiguro saying that the most a writer can hope from an adaptation is that it will have the same title as the book, and that the film and source material will be at least cousins (siblings being too much to hope for). A friend of his, he reported, said that the film of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY was about emotional reticence while the novel had been about emotional repression.
Interesting about the Barry film - I hadn't realised the book had been adapted. I won't be rushing to watch it based on your comment!!
What a great quote from Ishiguro - and the important distinction made between the novel's emotional repression and the film's emotional reticence. Regardless, I remain a huge fan of both novel and film in this case. The most bizarre adaptation I'm aware of was the film of Sebastian Barry's 'Secret Scripture'. It was a complete travesty of the novel and - after all these years - I still cannot understand why Barry put his name to the infantilization of his powerful novel.
Thanks Robert. I love the Ishiguro quote! I had thought of including some remarks on his recent adaptation of Kurosawa's Ikiru, Living, which in turn is a version of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich but that would have been a whole other newsletter!
I must watch The Remains of the Day and re-read the book. So many books . . . So many movies!
I very much like that phrase “intuitive morality repressed by expediency.” To your question: I remember Kazuo Ishiguro saying that the most a writer can hope from an adaptation is that it will have the same title as the book, and that the film and source material will be at least cousins (siblings being too much to hope for). A friend of his, he reported, said that the film of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY was about emotional reticence while the novel had been about emotional repression.