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» Columns » Reviews » Screenplays » Short Stories
| Movies from Mars, Women from Venus The transition from novel to screen is a notoriously limiting one. Directors often find it difficult to decide which segments to cut and which to focus on. Sadly, in the case of women authors, it is usually the feminine sensibility that winds up on the cutting room floor. The question must be asked as to why women keep writing exceptional novels and men insist on directing them and largely missing the point. Books ostensibly about female liberation, discovery and empowerment, often lose something in the translation through both the lens and the male psyche/libido. Despite the glaringly obvious and physiological answer, there's more to the issue than meets the eye. Take The Lover, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud: Based on the brutally honest novel by Marguerite Duras, it is the tale of innocence lost and corruption realised, yet it hinges on the premise of personal realisation and growth. Annaud however turns the film into little more than a sophisticated 9½ Weeks, whose text is subverted by media hype around whether or not the actors simulated or indeed had sex on set. Compare this with Catherine Breillat's Romance. There is virtually no doubt about the reality of the sex on screen, yet at no time does it ever seem pornographic or arousing in any sense. Breillat's use of sex is clinical and, at times, poignant. Very often the so-called 'chick-flick' is no more feminine in its sensibility than rucking on a sports field on a Saturday afternoon (depending of course on your take on contact sports). There are exceptions, but generally if men can't understand women, how can they possibly interpret a novel in any complete sense? It's not all bad news. Women have been directing films for years, and seem to be pushing the boundaries more and more. But here again, a woman can be just as easily out of touch with the female psyche as a man, (see David Lynch's daughter and female prototype Jennifer-Chambers Lynch). Bridget Jones's Diary, starring Renee Zellweger is directed by newcomer Sharon Maguire and is based on the immensely popular novel written by Helen Fielding. It tells the story of an ordinary woman who decides to record her experience and observations of her life as a woman. Films like this may prove to be successful in presenting a picture women may identify with, but they can also just reinforce the male dominated ideas of what women want. (Mel Gibson tried it and proved to be phenomenally unsuccessful.)
There are many films adapted from novels that a man can say he truly identifies with: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk spring to mind. The question is, how many films can claim the same thing of their female audience members? | | |
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