Recommending a movie is a thankless task. A film based on a book, especially if the interlocutor is familiar with the original source. Anything can not suit: the distortion of the plot, the selection of actors, the director’s interpretation of the main idea. And yet we dare to offer three film adaptations of literary works filmed in 2020 that deserve attention.
“AND FIRES ARE SMOOTHING EVERYWHERE”
Adaptation of the book of the same name by Celeste Ing; USA, 2020, 8 episodes.
Shaker Heights is the perfect town. Something like Monterey in Big Little Lies or Stepford in The Stepford Wives. The best schools, the neighborhood patrol, the lawn aligned with the ruler, the townspeople with an active lifestyle. And they, the townspeople, are also ideal – joint family celebrations, homemade cakes, book club meetings. Or does it just seem so?
The plot about what can actually be hidden behind an impeccable “facade” (with and without quotation marks) is as old as the world — and now, in the era of Instagram pictures as a hidden window into someone else’s beautiful and prosperous life, it is more relevant than ever. As well as the story that everything may not be what it seems in reality.
An exemplary family – not so exemplary. Diligent, well-mannered, friendly children are not so nice, and marginalized adults are much more successful and accomplished than one might imagine. And in any, absolutely any family, there may be their secrets, fragments of shattered hopes, which are usually swept under the carpet. And it would be good to deal with all this before a spark of discontent flares up from a flame that will eventually consume all this ideal life.
What else to see
Big Little Lies (USA, 2017-2019, 2 seasons, 7 episodes each) is the case when, after completing the first season, it might be worth stopping. He in itself is a completely finished story that every family is unhappy in its own way, but together we women are strong. Based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty.
“UNORTHODOX”
Screen adaptation of Deborah Feldman’s autobiographical novel Unorthodox: A Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots; Germany, 2020, 4 episodes.
– This is America. You can make your own decisions.
Williamsburg is not America. You don’t know the rules.
Geographical Williamsburg, of course, is the real America: the area is located no less than in Brooklyn. But culturally and mentally … Hasidim live here, Orthodox Jews, whose world even today, in the XNUMXst century, is reliably fenced off from the rest of New York with thick glass, which does not let in new trends and allows the religious community to thoroughly “mothball”.
However, through the glass behind what is happening on the other side of it, you can at least spy on what young Esty does. She is only 17, she really wants to make music, even though it is “sinful”. But she doesn’t want to get married at all, but “it is necessary”: these are the rules of her community.
By the way, Deborah Feldman, the author of the novel “Unorthodox: A Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots,” got a lot from the Hasidim for announcing these rules – she allegedly denigrates the movement itself and incites girls to organize a personal rebellion.
The director Maria Schrader also got it, but already from film critics: they say, the images of Hasidim and Berliners (namely, Esty escapes to the capital of Germany a year after the marriage did take place) turned out to be too flat and clichéd, and the film adaptation itself is too discreet.
But, perhaps, sometimes this is exactly what is needed to convey the main idea. It is that following traditions is good exactly as long as it does not distort our ideas about the world and does not limit our freedom to live the way we want. And this, of course, happens not only if we belong to an ultra-religious movement.
What else to see
Behind the Mask of a Gigolo (USA, 2013) is a film by John Turturro starring John Turturro (other roles include Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Vanessa Paradis and Sofia Vergara). Allen’s hero offers a friend in need of money to “work” a gigolo. One day a girl from an ultra-religious community comes to the reception…
“NORMAL PEOPLE”
Screen adaptation of the bestseller of the same name by Sally Rooney; Ireland, 2020, 12 episodes.
She is in love with him, he is in love with her, but they are no match for each other. She is an outcast, he is one of the most popular boys in school; she is from a wealthy family, and his mother in this family is just a visiting housekeeper. At first, at school, he is ashamed of his connection with her, and then it’s her turn. At the same time, both reflect a lot, grow up, learn to choose a profession, friends, life position.
The plot itself is so hackneyed that it ceases to be important: the main thing is how the story is told. And if there are no questions about the original source (the novel “Normal People” quickly became popular, and its author, the Irish Sally Rooney, as soon as they do not call it both “Salinger for millennials / Snapchat / influencers”, and “Jane Austen of the Instagram times”), then Opinions about filming are polarized. Someone considers it piercing and heartbreaking, someone considers it mournful, and what is happening on the screen is faded and viscous.
Perhaps this is the case when the impression of what you see largely depends on the mood and expectations to start viewing. “Normal People” is a discreet thing, devoid of bright dramatic twists. And, perhaps, that is why it will not be possible to try it the first time.
What else to see
13 Reasons Why (USA, 2017-2020, USA, 4 seasons, 49 episodes in total) is a coming-of-age film about what it’s like to be a teenager. The most striking of the four seasons filmed so far is the first. In it, a teenage girl commits suicide, and her friend has to figure out what led to the tragedy by listening to audio cassettes on which the deceased names her 13 reasons.
· “It’s good to be quiet” (USA, 2012) – Emma Watson, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman in a poignant, gentle and funny adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky.
End of the F***ing World (UK, 2017-2019, currently filmed for 2 seasons) – teenagers with psychopathic tendencies (or not) against the whole world.