Is the film version of ‘Of Mice and Men’ inferior to the original novel Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ was written in 1937 during the great depression, by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck was born in 1902 in California; some of his other novels are The Red Pony, Cup of Gold, To a God Unknown, In Dubious Battle, Canary Row, Sweet Thursday and various others. After months of ill health, John Steinbeck died of heart failure in December 1968 and is buried in Salinas, California. The film was directed by Gary Sinise, and runs for approximately 115 minutes and was made in the USA. Of Mice and Men is suitable for adaptation as the plot line is not too complicated and the scenes will be relatively easy to make, on the other hand there are several problems, a various amount of the scenes in the book cannot be adapted for the film, such as when Lennie hallucinates by the river. The opening sequence opens with George and Lennie’s escape from Weed, this is set in a big open field, with vibrant colours this will get the audiences attention as vibrant colours give the impression of danger. The camera starts of in a long shot, this is important as it shows the audience her ripped dress, then the camera zooms in to a close up to show the tears and fear on her face. The opening in the film is much more dramatic to the one of the novel, the director choose the include this section because it gives a contrast from George being in a combined place on the train, to having dramatic colours and wide open space, this makes the film more dramatic and exciting for the audience. In the novel Curley’s wife and Curley are never seen together, they are always looking for each other, the incident with Crooks is not included. In the film Curley’s wife does not have red mules, and is not heavily made up, she is wearing white and pink this gives her the look of femininity and innocence, which will give a different portrayal of the character to the novel. She is always seen in doorways, for example when she sees George, the camera uses a mid shot so the audience can see both their reactions, Curleys wife is looking outside like she is looking out for Curley, she is giving him no eye contact this shows us that she is not trying to lead him on. George is giving her eye contact, this might be making her feel nervous as she starts the fiddle with her dress. In the novel she is shown as being a dangerous, flirty character whereas in the film she is made to be totally different, the director has chosen to portray her sympathetically this is because this will enforce more of a reaction when she dies, this makes the audience feel sympathy for her. George and Lennie are presented with more sympathy in the film than the novel, the novel is less extreme. When Lennie has the fight with Curley the camera is in mid shot and Lennie is sitting down, this makes him look more vulnerable. The director uses a strong use of sound in the scenes of the fight, the punches are made to sound loud, this can make the audience relate to Lennie. A close up is then on Georges face to show his concern for Lennie, then a extreme close up of Lennie is used, this is very dramatic way of showing a characters emotions, the audience can see Lennie’s angry eyes and almost makes the audience feel scared as he has blood on his face when he is breaking Curley’s hand, this makes the film superior the reading the novel as the camera shots and sound can make more of an effect on the audience and makes Lennie and George more three dimensional, whereas the novel makes them seem more one dimensional. The beginning of the novel is very different as Steinbeck sets the scene in clear detail, he creates a peaceful atmosphere by using nature ‘the leaves lie so deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them’. Unlike the novel the film shows an exciting and tense atmosphere. At the beginning of the film the director chooses to show George on a train, this scene is not included in the book because it would only work in a film, the director uses a haunting shilling melody lingering in the background, the camera shot focuses on a lonely figure crouched in the corner. By using this scene at the beginning it grabs the audience’s attention and a spirited mood is set in the audience, he sets a stark contrast between that scene and the one that follows. This scene shows George sitting in the dark, which shows more about him than in the novel it shows that George is in the dark. The film relates to Steinbeck descriptive prose well, but some scenes could have been presented more like the book. In my opinion the film does do the film justice, but some characters could have been presented more like the characters in the book, for example Curley’s wife, she is presented to be a flirty and dangerous character in the book and presented as a feminine vulnerable character in the film. The scenes are set in different ways but are successful in giving the audience the same amount of emotion as in the novel. The scenes that are in the novel that are not included in the film are not important and they are replaced with scene of the same importance that are easier to make. Overall the film is a good adaptation of the novel.