Scratch Post

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is about "the remains of the day." It is narrated by the butler Mr. Stevens and set in the early to mid 1900's. The title may stand for night, or the part of the day people look forward to. It also stands for the remains of one’s life or retirement, which people also look forward to. It can also symbolize the remains of the old English society where there were lords. Sadly, “remains” connotes wreckage or whatever survives a storm.

The filmmaker changed an element in the film, the point-of-view in which it was told. The novel was originally told in the voice of Mr. Stevens himself. Everything was limited to his point-of-view, but the filmmaker chose to make the view omniscient. The film showed the scenes where Miss Kenton was with his husband, parts which were supposed to be not seen or known by the narrator Mr. Stevens.

Also, the filmmaker removed an element that played a big part of the film –bantering. The issue on bantering may seem like a small part but it tells a lot about the character. The butler is unable to banter, so he tries to “learn” how to banter from the start. He ends up still trying to banter by the end of the story. While this element was not in the film, it was re

placed by symbolisms throughout. The acting of the butler was also very good, but not of the same effect of the character talking very formally throughout the while story in the novel.

The formal tone of the persona or narrator was substituted with the formal composure of the actor. The plot in the film given most prominence is the not-love story of Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton. The novel however does not even stress that there was indeed any love shared by the two. Intimacy, yes, with the scene on Mr. Stevens reading a book. In the movie the book was on the English grammar, while in the book it was said that it is a romance novel.

Another part of the film that was not given prominence as it was in the book was the character of Mr. Stevens Sr. In the book, his “fall” literally one day, and figuratively too, signified the remains of his own days. The character of Mr. Stevens Sr lacked depth in the film. In other words, the character of being a butler was not fully communicated in the film. Mr. Stevens Sr, the Society of Butlers, and the butler at the end of the story were not given significance. The butler at the end of the film was even removed, replaced by the setting free of a pigeon from the Darlington Hall. Nonetheless the same effect was achieved by the film through the love story.

The same themes were in the film as with the novel. There was the theme on history or how Lord Darlington changed the course of history. The “remains” of the English society was portrayed well, with the American owner moving in, and Mr. Stevens becoming a “genuine” butler, in contrast with the new society with no lords anymore. Of course, the “remains” of the own “day” of Mr. Stevens was retained. In the end he lost his love that never was. In the book he ends up trying to “hone” his skills in bantering to please his new master. In the movie, a pigeon from a room in Darlington Hall was set free by the master. In the end Mr. Steven’s remains of the day is dedicated to his profession, in service to his master. A tragic story captured perfectly in the film as it was in the book.

Sin City is an example of a film that copies everything from the comic book: frame-by-frame. Even the illustrator’s style was copied, so much so that the film was like watching the comic book literally come to life.

Sin City provides a rich visual experience. The use of lighting and the unusual use of color in film were amazing. This was taken from the original comic book text where Frank Miller played with the use of light, shadow and color. The film was like the comic book coming to life in the big screen.

The visual pleasure however alone does not make the film as good as the original text. While visually appealing, the script or dialogues were not as good. What will be very noticeable to Sin City comic book fans is the use of the original text or dialogue from the comic book itself. Now here we have a film that copies everything from the comic book. It was like no effort has been made to translate the original text to fit the film medium. What could have gotten wrong? Sin City the comic book was great, but where did the film fall short when it was completely faithful to the successful comic book?

While the comic book was great and all, the problem is that the film medium is very different from print. Print can only give so much detail and life to a work of art which is why we adapt print to film. Creating a film that is exactly (in all ways) like the print format defeats the purpose of having a film adaptation. Film adaptations are supposed to give life to characters that were originally in print text. The additional elements of movement and sound, and making the characters human are supposed to give life to a story. In the case of Sin City, the character of Marv was not as human as a character in film. While the other characters were brought to life, it seemed like the protagonist himself was still a comic book character. Marv the thug had formal speech patterns in his overdone voice-overs that it was far from being natural.

The film’s Marv was not flesh and blood but seemed more like an action figure with his thoughts read straight from the comic book. The first couple of minutes of the film were actually cool but as Marv continued talking in his head, it becomes a bore –like a documentary where scenes are shown and a voice explains things.

The film could’ve been better if there was a better adaptation of the script. There is no question about the film staying true to the original story, being faithful with the order of events too, but there is more to adaptations that the flow of the story and how to make the film visually cool. The totality of a text is considered when a film adaptation is made; the film medium is very different to print.

It's a wholly different universe in here. A universe well-crafted, well-though of that you can live in it. It's the universe way ahead of us in time; where an emperor ruled the universe and great houses (clans) ruled planets.

Similarities with humans and conflict with the human emotion is the same, but the totally different environment makes reading it just take you to a different universe. The book is just like the spice melange in the book -addicting.

The story in about Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica from the planet Caladan (which is much like Earth). They move to the planet Arrakis, the only source of the precious spice melange, as ordered by the Emperor Shaddam IV to take over the CHOAM Corporation, which drives the imperial economy.

Arrakis is a desert planet, with each drop water being very precious. The spice melange is addicting, but the deserts from which it comes from is infested with sandworms -a force that none but the fremen could tame.

The House (ruling clan) Harkonnen employed treachery to get Arrakis back by murdering the Duke Leto. Lady Jessica and Paul managed to escape and were able to live with the Arrakis natives, the Fremen. The pre-spice mass is a poison that induces having visions for those who withstand it.

Paul was later on known as Muad'dib, or Usul to the Fremen tribe. He also findoud out that he is the Kwisatz Haderach, or the male who could be in many places at once through space and time. His mother Lady Jessica became a Great Mother, or the head of the Fremen religion.

Paul Muad'dib lead the Fremen into victory against the Harkonnens and assumed his inherited position as Duke. After finding out about the treachery wherein the emperor had transpired in, Paul also defeats the imperial soldiers in his leadership. He married the Bene Gesserit-trained Princess Irulan, eldest daughter of the emperor, to become emperor. This he did but kept CHani, a Fremen woman, as a concubine but treated her as the real wife.

Frank Herbert has created a whole new universe in the Dune series. A different history, language, culture that captivates the reader into thinking Dune. The "different universe" was so consistent, that one would have to look up what seems like a "dune dictionary" to get it, or to really memorize the whole uncommon names of the characters, lest one gets lost into who is already talking to who. It is like being captured by a foreign world -you may not be able to comprehend everything there, but you want to because it is just too interesting to let it pass.

The idea of having mentats or people who have minds that function like computers is a way different view that having real computers or robots that can sort out information. More on mentats are talked about in succeeding books.

Sandworms could seem an abominable force, but the real abomination in the story is the hunger for power. More than love, foresight and jsutice, it was the desire for power that drove the events. The Harkonnens, the emperor, the Bene Gesserit, the CHOAM, and later on even Paul himself were consumed of this desire. It is as addicting as the spice. And more of this power is seen in the next book Dune Messiah. The same human principles and nature apply in the Dune universe. This is the novel that stirs up one's senses, imagination and thinking. Herbert is a genius.

If you are having problems finding a hard copy of the text, you can read it in www.truly-free.org