Jabberwocky – Lewis Carroll

Jabberwocky- Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking Glass

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

« Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch! »

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought–
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

« And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! »
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

The last lesson, we watched the Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland and I understood something that I didn’t perceived when I saw the film for the first time. I understood that, as you can see, Tim Burton was also inspired by this poem in order to make his film. It’s Alice who killed the Jabberwocky.

I perceived that there are not an only referenced but the film is composed of a mix of different references to the works of Lewis Carroll.

I found interesting to show you this poem because even in the film the Mad Hatter recites it for Alice. I find it’s a great homage to Lewis Carroll. I think it’s for that I really liked this adaptation. And you ? What did you think about this film? Did you enjoy watching it?

Snow White and the Hunstman

I would talk about a movie that I particularly adore. This is Snow White and the Hunstman directed by Rupert Sanders, with Kirsten Stewart (Twilight), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Charlize Theron (Dior). It is the adaptation from the tail Snow White written by Grimm brother. I find this movie well directed, there are a dark atmosphere all along and some touch of poesy when the Snow White is close to the nature. The dwarves bring a humorous side and the love story between the Hunstman and Snow White stay subjective so it break the stereotype of the Prince Charming.

As Kristen Stewart said in an interview of the magazine Première « …we took the tail and we underlined from black the line that Disney had colored before… » I am agree with this, the Queen appears realy vicious and horrible, Snow White seems to be more emancipated and robust and on the opposite of the tail, the Hunstman has a heart and feelings.

The film technics made by computer are still necesary to see what the director has in his head. It permits again to enter in the kingdom of Rupert Sanders and to settle the story in a faraway area and in an dark atmosphere.

I advise you to watch this movie !!!

Peter Pan

Today I want to write about another adaptation from a fantasy novel. It’s the really famous story of Peter Pan or The Boy who wouldn’t grow up. The novel was written in 1911 by J.M Barry who is Scottish.

As everybody knows, the story is about Peter, a young boy who can fly and who lives in Neverland with Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys. He meets Wendy Darling, her brothers and bring them to his land where they will meet Tiger Lily and Captain Hook and live some fabulous adventures.

But I’m here to write about the adaptation directed by J.P Hogan and released in 2004. I think it’s quite interesting because we are used to know the Walt Disney’s animation version but this one is with real actors and I found that the effect is totally different. To me the story seems more real (I dreamed that the Neverland existed…) and there’s a real effort for the sets and the costumes. I was really surprised by the cast ; the childs are good at playing, especially Peter(Jeremy Sumpter) : his expressions seemed very realistic,he is really active and good looking (haha forget this argument). I liked Captain Hook’s role too, Jason Isaacs is really fun and his play is really convincing.This film is not boring at all even if it’s for kids; they are a lot of plot twists and the Tinker Bell’s character is really well elaborated; I think it was a good choice. We can easily believe in the story and appreciate it. By the way I noticed the soundtrack that is really nice but a little bit too much present.

Overall, it’s a good production that is timless.

This is my favourite scene from all the film : the fairy dance is real poetic moment broken by the doubt : Can Peter have real feelings although he is still a child ?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGz56SQ7EVE[/youtube]

Alice in Wonderland

We saw in class 2 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, the novel by Lewis Carroll and the movie by Tim Burton. I liked the two but I prefer Alice in Wonderland by tim Burton. The special effects are fantastic and I like that because during the movie, there are a special atmosphere at a time magic and strange.
Moreover, I chose the two works for the « tpe ». I have compared the two and we have much to say because there are several difference between the novel and the movie.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

In the several works we studied, I prefer The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The videos we saw in class was at a time engrossing and a little bit terrifying during the transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, it was interesting to see the separation the two different indentities, the good side and the evil side who  are inside of Dr. Jekyll. I like the story because it concerned about everyone who have two-faced like Dr. Jekyll.
I enjoy this kind of novella that combines romance and horror but I really like also the movie adaptation who is very realistic..

Frankenstein

The Frankenstein’s play was, for me, quite nice. I found that players were really good because they played a lot of characters. Moreover, I was really impressed, I thought not that I could understand the play so easily. I don’t regret to seeing the play, it was very interesting and I think that it helped me to better understand the story because I never read the book.

I enjoyed the film too. Although supernatural isn’t always my type of movie, I found it interesting to see. In my opinion, players were good too. Finally, I liked working about Frankenstein.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Since we saw on friday the Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, I wanted to write about another film from this director : Charlie and the chocolate factory. This film is an adaptation from the novel written by Roald Dahln in 1964, an english author.

The plot is about the fabulous adventure of Charlie Bucket, a little boy. One day, Willy Wonka, the owner of the biggest chocolate factory of the world announces that he has hidden 5 golden tickets in his Chocolate bars : if a child finds the ticket, he wins a visit in Willy Wonka’s fabulous chocolate factory. Charlie finds the last golden ticket and decides to visit the place with his grand father. During the visit, a lot of strange events are happening and the childs disappear one by one…
I have to say that I really loved this film; the sets are just incredible inside the chocolate factory, everything is colorful and huge like in a dream : they is chocolate absolutely everywhere, an huge pink boat and strange candies… The actors are really good too : Johnny Depp is just perfect as Willy Wonka : he is funny but quite mysterious and completely crazy, I think he was made for this role. There is Freddie Highmore as Charlie who plays very well too. The soundtrack is really nice too, it fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the film.

 

So if you haven’t seen it, you have to watch it ! Tim Burton succeeded in creating a wonderful whole world. You will like it no matter what is your age !

Here is the trailer :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVGCUIXJls[/youtube]

Alice in wonderland, behind the scene

In class we watched Alice In Wonderland, a movie directed by Tim Burton.

Here we have a video that show us how this movie was made. This movie contains a lot of scene made with synthetic image so the actors had to play surrounded by a green screen imagining the other wonderful characters, this is a great performance.

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDTT7iRzuY[/youtube]

Eragon : another magic world.

I want to talk about Eragon’s books written by Christopher Paolini, because the film Eragon doesn’t respect the story of the book. Christopher Paolini wrote the first book when he was 16.

The story talks about a poor young man : Eragon; who lives with his uncle and his consin. He doesn’t know who his mother and his father are. The land is called Alagaësia and different kinds of people live inside like humans, elves, dwarves, urgals, ra’zac and before a war many dragons lived there. The Kingdom is ruled by the last man with a dragon : Galbatorix.

One day Eragon goes hunting and when he wants to kill a doe, there is a big flash. When Eragon open his eyes, he sees a blue stone ! It is a dragon’s egg ! But Eragon doesn’t know that so he come back with this blue stone and one day the dragon was born.

After that the story explain adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira. Magic is very present and important in Eragon’s world and there are many battles and romances. Like Bilbo in The Hobbit, Eragon evolues during the story. I would like to live in this world because is my favorite book and I adore this kind of story. This is a book to read for people who love fantastic stories.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a very good movie, the make up of the monster is very realistic and highly sought after. The scene where Victor Frankenstein create the creature and when the monster wakes up is impressive because it’s not expected that the monster is alive at the beginning.

I think Victor deserves what happens to him, trying too hard to played God, he gives life to one hideous creature. A hatred born of the monster to his creator. His ambition cost him the life of his wife and his brother. The human being isn’t made to relive again and no man can replaced God.

Alice in wonderland

Lewis Carroll is a great English writer of the 19th century. He is the author of the famous story of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. He found his inspiration thanks to a little girl named Alice during a photo shoot. Lewis Carroll told the fantastic story of a dreamy girl to the young Alice, who asked him to write this story. The author has published this story in 1845.

This story was adapted numerous times but one of the most representative and popular is “Alice in Wonderland” by Walt Disney in 1951.
The goal of this adaptation was to target a young public, which was a great success.

Then we have seen in class another adaptation that was also a real success, “Alice in Wonderland” by Tim Burton in 2010. Unlike adaptation of Walt Disney, Tim Burton aims a wider public because he doesn’t just represent the original story, but to rewrite to suit his way. This adaptation is for me the best and the most impressive.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

In the both extracts we have seen in class that we could consider two versions on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I prefer the second version because the first one is not really realistic : indeed according to this version Mr Hyde is ape-like and that refers to prehistoric men although in the second version he looks like a monster : we can say that they choose a monster because it’s more impressive : the monster is horrible. On the one hand he presents physical ugliness and on the second hand psychological ugliness. In my opinion, that’s more realistic : that’s why I would say that I prefer the second version.Dr. Jekyll et Mr. Hyde : Photo

Danny Elfman and films’musique

Danny Elfman is an american composer who was born in 1953 in Texas. He was a leader of a group of rock and  new wave called Oingo Boingo. He is more famous for  his composition of musique of film like for films by Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow,…) or by Sam Raimi (Darkman, Oz: The great and powerful,…). He wrote also the musical themes of famous TV serial’s credit like the credits of The Simpson or Desperate Housewives. He participe too to creat the musique of a videogame, Fable.

I find his musique very interesting. It permits really to create an atmosphere in films. I remember when I listen the soundtrack of Sleepy Hollow I was scared! In Alice Wonderland, It complate the wonder of the story and his non-sence with sound who we don’t understand, mysterious sound. In this film we aren’t scared but intrigued.

For me, the musique by Danny Elfma completes really films. We are absorbed by an universe. If we don’t have it, films will become very boring. Don’t you think?

On the road

On the road is a novel written by Jack Kerouac. He transcribe his road trip when he was young. He makes this trip after his father’s death. He did this road trip for discover the west of america, find over landscape, makes a spiritual quest in order to find again his inspiration. Jack makes this trip with Neal Cassady and creates a big friendship with Neal.

This novel is adapted in the cinema. Walter Salles dircted the movie « On the road » but there is fewer details in the movie than in the novel. I prefere the novel.

Pleasantville

Pleasantville (1998) is a fantastic american film and a dramatic comedy by Gary Ross.

The story is about David and Jeninfers who are twins and totally opposed. To escape to his stressing family of the 90’s, David loves to watching TV and more « Pleasantville », a TV serial in black and white dated of the 50’s. Contrary to him, his sister is one with the modern world. Still, a day, they « come in » « Pleasantville » so they integrate the story and upset the characters in this one.

I find very interesting the game with the black and white or colours pictures in this film. And it questions about the changement: may be we don’t see that we do daily something bad, but we continue because it normal for you ; or we don’t do some things because it says that we mustn’t do that. To change, we must be very brave and question you. To achieve a good world it’s necessary. Moreover it permit to build you too.

You can remark in the tittle the french word « ville » so I think it’s refered to (of course) the french word of town but too that in France you find many city that their name finish with « ville » (like Tocqueville, Valcanville,…). Moreover « pleasant », it’s  to represent that in the world of the TV serial, all is perfect. It’s an utopian world. And may be, like Aldous Huxley said, when you achieve an utopian world you want to leave it because all it’s so perfect that it become boring.

So just live!

My 2 favorite version of Alice in Wonderland

Like most of students, my first favorite version of Alice in Wonderland is directed by Tim Burton thanks to the modernity with special effects and a beautiful landscape. This film makes me laught and respect Lewis Carroll’s story. Moreover, the actors are great, like Johnny Depp who plays the Mad Hatter.

My second favorite version is the animated fantasy comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions (1951) based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. In fact, I love Walt Disney and this adaptation makes me laught, fun, and relate correctly the story. Wonder is here and the animated story is a good idea. I love this.

And you, what is your favorite version of Alice in Wonderland?

The Great Gatsby

Yesterday I’ve watched The Great Gatsby and I think it’s a good idea to inform you about this movie.

The Great Gatsby is a 2013 Australian-American drama film and an new adaptation which it was a tribute F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel (1925). The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann.
This film is about a millionaire man called Gatsby (Leonardo Di Caprio) and his neighbour called Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire)

In 2014, the film was nominated for the two Academy Awards: Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Have you already watched The Great Gatsby? Or read the book? Give us your opinion!

For more information : http://thegreatgatsby.warnerbros.com/

Alice in the Wonderland and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The movie Alice in the Wonderland is an adaptation of the eponymous novel of Lewis Carrol, published in 1865. Directed by Tim Burton in 2010, the film talk about the adventures of Alice in a day-dreaming world. Alice, interpreted by Mia Wasikowska, was at a very important crossroad time of her life, she was in the point to get married. She escape from a Victorian’s England to live a dream that she have dreamt a lot of times before : a World of Wonder. Alice found peoples and animals : Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the White (good) and the Red queen (evil) who had separate the field in two, Tarrant Hightopp (played by Johnny Depp), the Jabberwocky and so many others. This queer world is dominated by the Red queen, this character hates animals, choosing to use them as servants and furniture. Alice is forced to kill the Jabberwocky to save this era. After that fight the withe queen will be the reunification queen who reign and the all era.

     The dream’s world of this movie remind me of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a movie directed and stars by Ben Stiller in James Thurber’s classic story of 1939 is about a day-dreamer man who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a dreaming world. Walter Mitty works at Life Magazine. Because the monthly magazine turn into a online magazine, the transition manager put Walter in charge of releasing the last cover. A day, Walter received a pack from Sean O’Connell, a very old fashion photographer who takes argentic’s pictures ( played by Sean Penn ) for the cover, but, the 25th negative, the « quintessence » of Life is missing. Walter is forced to find this picture and to broke his daily routine. Walter will travel to distant lands that he never before thought possible.

     More and more he go true the adventure, more and more his dreams disappears because he was giving life to them. Last but not least in this two movies they arrived to set their aims coming true, Alice win the Jabberwocky fight and Walter ultimately find the 25’s negative. As you probably realize, I love ending my items by a quotation. So I’ve decided to end by the purpose of Life magazine.

« To see the world, things dangerous to come to see, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of Life » 

I hope it’s was not that bad and you don’t want to do like the Red queen like to do 

 « OFF WITH HIS HEAD » 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I have decided to talk about a film I’ve seen three times. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty directed and stars by Ben Stiller in James Thurber’s classic story of 1939 is about a day-dreamer man who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a dreaming world. In his daydreams, Mitty is heroic, brave, and he is always the strongest.

Walter Mitty works at Life Magazine in New York, he is a negative asset manager. Because the monthly magazine turn into a online magazine, the transition manager put Walter in charge of releasing the last cover. A day, Walter received a pack from Sean O’Connell, a very old fashion photographer who takes argentic’s photos ( played by Sean Penn ) for the cover, but, the 25th negative, the « quintessence » of Life is missing. Walter is forced to find this picture and to broke his daily routine. Walter will travel to distant lands that he never before thought possible. 

He goes to Greenland then Iceland to find Sean at the Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption. He dove into a shark bay from an helicopter. He goes to an Afghanistan’s ungoverned area where Sean was taking photos of Snow Leopard during the magazine was move.

This movie is definitely very inspiring, you need to watch it.

« To see the world, things dangerous to come to see, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of Life » 

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWO2w0H2V8[/youtube]

« Ciel in Wonderland » inspired by Alice in Wonderland !

The Alice in Wonderland’s story inspires in every field ! Even in the univers of mangas ! I’m going to talk about a OAV of the anime « Black Butler », entitled « Ciel in Wonderland ».The main character, Ciel, plays the role of Alice, and was envoyed in the Wonderland following the White Rabbit, plays by Sebastian, the butler.

All characters of the manga play a character from Alice in Wonderland, and the story is the same !
It’s a funny adaptation of the novel !

Here a link of a picture to illustrate this adaptation :

http://static.zerochan.net/Ciel.in.Wonderland.full.272848.jpg

 

The Beauty and the Beast

The Beauty and the Beast, released recently, is a french movie, directed by Christophe Gans. The story is faithful to the tail written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1755. It is directed with lots of poesy and lyrisism.

The naration sat between: a woman telling the story to her children, the love story of the Beauty and the Beast and Belle’s dreams when she was emprisoned in Beatst’s castle.

The movie is also punctuated of wonderful elements and of divine interventions. Several times, the Beast uses magic powers and all around the castle, the presence of fairies (which look like fireflies) and of goddesses of the wood, give a fabulous and imaginary sides to the movie.

Something that suprised me a lot in this film: to create a complet entry in the story, the director had chosen to shoot lots of scene on green sets and to use modern technics on computer.

Even if many people consider this technic as a cheating. I find it used with ingenuity and it permits to travel in another faraway area and also in another universe, more poetic and wonderful than our universe.

The result is mind-boggling, equally thanks to the acting of the two main actors, Lea Seydoux (La vie d’Adèle chap.1&2) and Vincent Cassel (Le parrain). In spite of a silly story and a elevated language of the 16th century, they success to carry us away in this beautiful love story betwenn a young woman and a monster.

French Contemporary Literature

This article isn’t about fantastic or gothic theme, as many written in this blog, but rather about french contemporary literature. I just finished the book Les Choses by Georges Perec. This author studied letter and psychology before becoming writer in 1954. He wrote many works such as Un homme qui dort or La Vie mode d’emploi.

In Les Choses (1964) Georges Perec tells the life of a young couple, Jérôme and Sylvie. They live in Paris and they are psychologist. They always dream to have more things and to be rich. One day, they go to Sfax in Tunisia because they want to leave their monotonous life. But this departure is a failure. So they decide to return in France. Nothing suits their, they are indecisive. At the end, they are in a luxurious train for a new destination…

During the story, Jérôme and Sylvie try to find a meaning of their life, but they don’t achieve their dream. This short novel is very interesting because it deals with the materialism and the pursuit of happinness. Georges Perec questions a lot of things. Although it was published in the 60’s, Les Choses refers us to our current lifestyle.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles is an American film directed by Mark Waters in 2008.
In reality, this film is inspired by a novels’ series written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi.

I’m going to tell you the synopsis: After her divorce, Helen Grace decides to settle in her aunt’s old house with her children. It’s a new life that begin for them. But a strange discovery turns upside down. Jared, the most sharp of the three children, finds an old book. This guide reveals an incredible truth about a secret world inhabited by fantastic creatures hidden all around them. After that, Jared, his sister and his twin brother launch into a dangerous adventure protecting the book and many secrets.

Freddie Highmore, who plays in the film Charlie and the chocolate factory, interprets the character of Jared.

When I was a child, I read the book and I also watched the film The Spiderwick Chronicles. I think that it’s a good fantastic story with a lot of action.

Harry Potter seen by Jon Cozart

   Jon Cozart, is a 20 years old american student, also known as Paint, who makes songs on Youtube. He get famous with a song about Harry Potter : he makes a summary of the famous movies by singing on the original musical theme. It’s a funny way to discover the saga if you didn’t see it (I think everyone had seen at least one of the Harry Potter‘s movies !) In this video he sum up the seven movies in 99 seconds!

 

Alice in Wonderland View Master

hello !

I love « Alice in Wonderland » , all movies are surprising! when I was young, I saw the first story of Alice in Wonderland with a viewer, a kind of binocular in which is inserted a cardboard’s disc. Its name was View-Master, have you ever seen this viewer?

(view master)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BS2zNZ0GcoI/T9sr-QxvG9I/AAAAAAAABQU/WvsZOljRAU4/s1600/view+master.jpg;

( a picture of Alice) on

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUZXK8WWqYxZs9Mog4GooXfy8pKEtTRfEXFXgu3n0Oqo9q_vXi)

Alice in Wonderland

The author of the book was Lewis Carroll, in 1865. The story is about a little girl who falls in a rabbit-hole and discovers the imaginary world with a lot of funny creatures like the Cheshire Cat. The first version  was in 1903, we saw the film in class and I loved it, it made me smile because characters were moving strangely. Besides, it was very different than the other versions that we all know, so it was really interesting. After we studied the text of « Alice and pig baby » and « Alice speaks to Cheshire Cat », it was very pleasant for me because I like this story. Many things like the conversation between Alice and the Cat take us in a fantasy world. I was very pleasant and I really loved to work about this story.

Do you know the wonderful wizzard of Oz?

You have probably heard this story or its name when you were a child, I didn’t read the book but there is a lot of similarities with Alice adventure’s in Wonderland.

The main character is Dorothy, a little girl who flies away because of a hurricane. She arrives in an imaginary world and her house, which has also flown away, kills one of the witchs opposed to the wizzard of Oz. She needs to this wizzard to go back to her home. On the road to reach the wizzard, she meets a lion which needs courage, a scarecrow (used to scare the birds in the fields) which needs a brain and a lumberjack (cuting trees in the woods) who needs heart. Each one goes to the wizzard of Oz to get what he needs. This wizzard asks them to kill the others whitch opposed to him and helps the three Dorothy’s companions but not her ; the wizzard flies away in an airship and another whitch (a kind whitch this time!), that helps her to go back home.

This story seems strange as much as Alice in Wonderland, we can recognize many similarities between both story, but if Alice is only a story for child, The Wonderful wizzard of Oz is indeed a metaphor of the economic situation at the end of the 19th century, in the United States. There is a great depression and each characters of this story represents a political party or an economic agent of the United States society at this time ( for instance, the scarecrow symbolises the farmers, the lumberjack represents the workers and the travel of Dorothy represents the misadventures of a normal citizen ).

Alice in Wonderland

In class, we saw the Alice in wonderland’s film dating 1903.

I was very surprise about the representation of that movie, first it was very short, about 16 minutes instead of nowadays movies that  are about 1-2 hours.                                                      We can also see that there are no special effects but we can understand what happened when Alice becomes large and small when she drinks the potion.                                         Thanks to this film, we can see the cinema’s evolution and another production about Alice by Lewis Carroll.

« Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland » by Lewis Carroll

In class we watched « Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ». This film was in black and white. Moreover, it’s the first representation of Alice in Wonderland… I find that it’s interesting because he is well made for his age. The customs and graph are good whereas they haven’t special effects ! I like this story. I am in a hurry to study « Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ».

« Frankenstein » by Kenneth Branagh

In class we watched Frankestein. The representation was very dramatic. We could understand what they said and the story. Helena Bonham Carter playing is very well. I find that she is a good actress. She plays always in films of Tim Burton and she is radiant ! She is also in « Frankestein ». Some scenes are sometimes long but this story is strange and interesting.
 We have seen the play of Frankestein with school and the film. I can compare and I prefere the play of Frankestein !


The Island of Dr.Moreau

I want to present the Island of Dr.Moreau that is a novel of science fiction written by H-G Wells and published in 1896. This story talks about a crazy scientist called Dr. Moreau. He is obsessed about the vivisection and the blood transfusion. Montgomery is his assistant. Both men do several surgery interventions on many animals whose goal is that these animals can speak and think like humans. Edward Pendrick is the only survivor of a shipwreck and he meets Montgomery and Dr. Moreau.
This book makes me think about Dr.Jekyll & Mr.Hyde because in both stories there is a scientist who likes doing some amazing experiences.

I Frankenstein, the sequel of mary shelley’s novel.

i,Frankenstein is one of the new fantasy movies from the begining of this year. It’s directed by Stuart Beattie, an australian scriptwriter and directer (he is famous for being the scriptwriter of « australia » in 2008).
A lot of journalist said that it was an horror movie, after seeing it I can say it was only a thriller. It can be entertainig if you like fantasy and action movies. it’s not really my case so i did’nt really like it althought the staging was suprising sometimes. I find the story was really superficial and without real interest. It’s only based on special effects unfortunatly and, for me, a good movie isn’t just some visual effects with a nice music. Moreover, the Frankenstein’s story doesn’t really interest me and , generally, i don’t appreciate films about Frankenstein ( except  « the bride of Frankenstein » which is really awesome).

Make your own opinion!

Into the wild by Sean Penn (2007)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwtZgBFKlzs[/youtube]

I would like to present a film that I really liked : Into the wild. This film is from a writter-director Sean Penn. The story was based on the best seller by Jon Krakawer. And this film was inspired by the true story.

Just graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, the main character Christopher Mc Candless played by Emil Hisch, 22 years old, was promised a bright future. However, turning his back on the confortable existence without surprise that awaits him, the young man decides to take the road by leaving everything behind him. He breaks away from his student’s life. He sends the money he has saved to a charity organisation. He want’s to start a new life.
Thus, he leaves. He passes through the tumultuous waters of the Dakota, to Colorado through the hippies of California communities. Chritopher will then meen extraordinnary people. Finally, at the end of his trip, Christopher achieves his ultimate goal by venturing alone in the wild expanse of Alaska to live in total harmony with nature in loneliness.

This film is deeply,moving and captiving film. and Into the wild is not just an entertainment, it allows everyone to think to question his own destiny. The director takes us on board a high adventure profoundly original. Then, it’s a road movie which can hesitates between On the road by Kerouac and Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford.

A verry good adaptation of Alice in wonderland by Tim Burton.

 

I saw Alice in wonderland last year and I do not regret. I wanted to present this film in relation to the first adaptation we saw in class. It is an American film directed by Tim Burton in 2010 with the famous actors like Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway. He realised a very nice adaptation of the work of Lewis Carroll. Tim Burton has used animations shots and at the same time the real shots. Thus, the effects are so realistic, and we truly believe to be in the Alice wonderland’s. Thus, the atmosphere is magical and the  » costumes » and makeup are also verry verry well done. Not to mention the actors who played verry well. It is for all these reasons that I advise you to see this film.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

We saw in class the first adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It was created in 1903 by Cecil Hepworth, and it was a silent movie.

The movie was well-done for the epoque, and the story, decors and costumes corresponded to the novel. The special effects were well-done too, even if in 1903, we were in the debut to the movie !

It was interesting to see !

 

Vincent, a Tim Burton Short film.

Vincent is a 1982 stop motion short horror film, written, designed and directed by Tim Burton. This is the story of a seven year old boy, Vincent Malloy, who dreams to become Vincent Price. Behind his quite appearance, he dreams to make diabolic things (like transforming his dog into a zombie, or transforming his aunt into a wax statue), and he’s obsessed by Edgar Allan Poe’s novels.

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9flk_vincent-tim-burton-vostfr_fun[/dailymotion]

The film’s narrator is Vincent Price himself, the idol and inspiration of Burton. Gradually, the two men become friends.

Because it is a black and white film, Burton decided to work with light and shadow, that choice gives birth to magnificent shots (when we see Vincent’s dog’s shadow at 02:14)

I found this film both beautiful and scary, because of lighting effects and music. The characters are really scary, and have an unusual physic. In Vincent, we find the main themes of Burton’s film : Gothic, creepy and odd.

Tim Burton and Vincent Price on the set of Vincent

Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks is an American-Australian-British film directed by John Lee Hancock in 2013. This story tells the meeting between P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson), a famous British author, and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks), business magnate and well-known American producer. He has been courting Travers for twenty years, seeking to acquire the film rights to her Mary Poppins stories. But the two characters are in perpetual disagreement because the author won’t discover a stupid animated film ridiculing her heroine. Suddenly, we learn that Mary Poppins is closely linked with P. L. Travers‘ youth.

It’s very interesting for the audience to learn the story of this famous film (with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke) and the origins of Mary. We discover the figure of each famous character and we dream in the wings of Walt Disney Productions, during the flashbacks, etc. I was surprised when I saw Tom Hanks (his transformation is incredible…) . All the cast is excellent, particularly Emma Thompson who is a great actress.

The film directed by Robert Stevenson received 5 Oscars, including Best Actress.

Most of films produced by Walt Disney were inspired by existing novels or short stories belonging to Anglo-Saxon literature, like One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Dodie Smith), Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie), The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling) or Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) for example.

Old Alice or New Alice?

I didn’t know the first movie « Alice in Wonderland » made ??in 1903 that we saw in class, but only one that was released in 2010, directed by Tim Burton. Progress is huge, cinema has changed very much since then, mainly due to the effects. Despite the lack of material, I found that the movie 1903 was quite well done, although it is clear that the recent adaptation is much better! In more than one century, progress is very visible!

Frankenstein’s versions

   Personally, I don’t really like the Frankenstein’s play. I found it not really faithful. For example, the creature didn’t kill the same characters as in the book and the end was really strange. I found this adaptation too babyish. It’s strange for me that they wanted to show a funny version of the book whereas it is rather dramatic but I understand because it is represented for teenagers. However, I think that I would have been more interested if it was more faithful and more dramatic. Nevertheless, even if I didn’t really appreciate the play I think that the players were really qualified because they arrived to play few characters whereas they are just 4.

 I didn’t appreciate also the film of Coppola. I found it was far-fetched and really strange.

 A new adaptation of Frankenstein was released last week. I found it, even if I didn’t watch it, really exaggerated. The fact that the creature is still alive and there are vampires is strange. It is not faithful at all. And you, did you enjoy this different version of Frankenstein? Do you know a version more faithful that I can watch?

Big Fish

Big Fish is Daniel Wallace’s novel appeared in 1998. The original title is Big Fish: to Novel of Mythic Proportions:  » a novel in the mythical proportions « .

I would like to talk to you about this book which was also adapted in a magnificent movie by Tim Burton. I have never red the book but I watched it last year with other classmate.

It is a fantasy movie, a comedy drama. Ewan McGregor is the central figure, he also played in the movie Frankenstein. His partner in these two movies is also Helena Bonham Carter!

Big fish is Edward Bloom’s story, a south America, at the end of his life, endowed to tell fantastic stories, who fell out with his son. He is going to tell his life of young adult to his son and his daughter-in-law, played by Marion Cotillard.

I like this story, which has a very beautiful morality, great actors and great director. If you haven’t seen it yet or not read, don’t wait longer!
The trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEh2eRhZNkA

Alice in Wonderland.

Among the two videos we watched in class, the first one I liked
I found that the « special » effects (such as narrowing of the door …) were well done. Precisely at the time, I thought the movie was well filmed. It is true that the film « suffered » (as said Mathys), but it stay interesting.

However, the second extract me seemed boring and very long. I think it is because I do not like to give me the reading. The illustrations were however very nice and well done

Frankenstein

About the story of Frankenstein, we’ve seen a film too. It was rather a recent movie and I thought that elements well represent the book and romantism (the place of dance, colours representing emotions, red for example…) so it was interesting. The actors adapted them to the genre. Still, in my opinion, it is made to touch a wide audience and there was any details that make it very interesting, I think it’s just a distraying film

Lewis Caroll : Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Caroll was a brilliant photographer, mathematician and writer of the 19th century. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dogson, he was born in England in1832 and died in 1898.

He’s mostly famous thanks to his book Alice in Wonderland published in 1865.  He tells a story to a young girl named Alice Liddell who suggest to write this story and published it. This little girl had inspired the name of the main character : Alice, arrived in a world of nonsense.

The huge success of this book had generated his sequel : Threw the looking glass and what Alice found there, published in 1872.

Those books had inspired lot of director : from the first film about Alice in 1903 to the well known Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton.

old cinema!

In class, we watched an adaptation of « alice in wonderland ». it dated back to 1903, only a few years after the cinema’s birth. For the time it was a really good adaptation despite the limites means (money and special effects) and i think a lot of people in class enjoyed that.

Perfect Illustration.

I want to present a picture who represent Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It shows the caracteristics of characters. We can see that Dr jekyll is a respectable man so that Mr Hyde is represented as the evilside of Dr Jekyll. Moreover we can deduce  that the characters are a threat thanks to the deadface. I think this photo illustrate this story.

TCM (Turner Classic Movies )’s ‘Summer Under the Stars’ Poster :

http://www.google.fr/imgres?q=dr%20jekyll%20and%20mr%20hyde%20illustrations&safe=vss&client=firefox-a&hs=qVj&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla%3Afr%3Aofficial&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&tbnid=0y2jFPmsW5DTBM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatacreative.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Ftcms-summer-under-stars-posters.html&docid=g0JOMo5ad_g10M&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_xASjDDor5ns%2FTE9GW9_fKxI%2FAAAAAAAAAZ0%2F_evo7OWcT7k%2Fs1600%2FDr%252BJekyll%252BMr%252BHyde.jpg&w=610&h=942&ei=uu7TUv3FKqmV0AWIlICYAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=528&page=3&start=58&ndsp=35&ved=0CL8CEK0DMEw

 

Alice By Tim Burton.

In class, we watched an adaptation of « alice of wonderland » it dated back to 1903. So I would like to introduce the Burton’s version from 2010. I liked this movie because he « respect » the original story by Charles Lutwidge Dogson. And His movie is comic but it is very moving. Special Effects are very spectacular and beautiful. I suggest to watch this modern version product for Walt disney pictures. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9POCgSRVvf0[/youtube]

Matilda, Charlie, James and Mr. Fox…

These characters are the heroes of famous novels written by an exceptional writer, Roald Dahl. For many years, everyone can dream with these incredible situations and his picturesque characters like Matilda Wormwood, James Henry Trotter or Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka. Born in September 1916, he was officer in the Royal Air Force during World War II before becoming a best-selling author. Many novels was illustrated by Quentin Blake, a well-known cartoonist who worked for Dr. Seuss’ novels too.

Roal Dahl wrote novels for children and adult, but also a few short stories, poems and screenplays, especially for the James Bond film like You Only Live Twice and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which were adaptations of novels by Ian Flemming. Over the years, he became « one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century » . He died in November 1990.

Today, Roald Dahl is always model and his stories continue to be adapted. Lately, Wes Anderson directed in 2009 the adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, an other success of the writer…

Of Mice and Men : the novel and its adaptation

Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. In this story, we encounter two characters: George and Lennie, his simple-minded friend. They will try somehow to be accepted to work in a ranch during the Great Depression. Lennie is an imposing character and has a passion for smooth things. But his strength harm him all the time. George is Lennie’s guardian angel because he promised to take care of him to Lennie’s aunt. So, they navigate both.

There are many adaptations of this work of art but the film directed by Gary Sinise with him and John Malkovich is really exceptional because the director incorporates all the elements of the original story and he allows to integrate George and Lennie’s adventure in a flash-back. If you want to know why, you must read or watch this story…

Frankestein film vs. Frankestein Drama

I would like talk about this two adaptations of the Mary Shelley’s novel!

I saw, in literature in English class, the film Frankestein directed by Kenneth Branagh who plays also the main character Victor Frankestein. Before seeing the film, I went to the drama adaptation of this story. The troup who performs this calls Theatre en Anglais

Personally, I prefered the actor’s acting in the drama rather than the movie. In the film, the actors tend to exaggerate the feelings, the emotions, it’s almost « too much ». Although, during the drama, in spite of the wrong lights, the actors are very exceptionnal, I was impressed. In my opinion, the single thing which are very great in the film is the make-up, and perharps the special effects. I was very very suprised when I knew that the creature were interprated by Robert de Niro. 

Finally, I can say that I prefer the drama, even if I don’t like the some change of the original story. I find their perform breathtaking, because they manage to play in spite of the lack of space, and the fact they are only four actors, for many more characters.

Frankenstein

Recently, we watched Frankenstein.
Unlike the others, I liked this movie. I think the players play very well. But, yes, some scenes are sometimes long, very long. But the film remains interesting to see and the action scenes are impressive. I like very much this type of story : strange and supernatural. I recommend this movie wich is different and creepy.

Frankenstein : The drama

Last week we saw a theatre representation of the famous novel  Frankenstein. The actors were an English troup called  THEATRE EN ANGLAIS

Frankenstein his the story of Sir Victor Frankenstein who had been created a monster with dead pieces of body. He had marry Elizabeth, his adoption sister.  After studying he became Dr Victor Frankenstein.

On stage they were four English actors, they had to play on a stage that they didn’t even know one hour before. There was a very well done scene : the actors were playing a kind of « slow motion » like in the movies.This was a very interesting drama, the actors’ playing was very interesting, it was really great because we could understand what they were saying, they were speaking clearly and distincly.

Lewis Carroll’s fancy

I found a poem written by Lewis Carroll and I find it is really interesting. This poem illustrates the fact that in first, Lewis Carroll told the story of Alice in Wonderland to Alice Pleasance Liddell, the daughter of Henry George Liddell and the fact that he liked telling tales to children.

Acrostic poem :

A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July–

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear–

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream–
Lingering in the golden gleam–
Life, what is it but a dream?

Lewis Carroll,  Through the Looking Glass.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173163

 

Moreover, I find the latest verse of this poem really interesting because I think that it can show the parallel between life and dream, which we can perceived in Alice in Wonderland. In the Tim Burton’s version, it’s really emphasized. We don’t know if Alice is dreaming or not. It’s strange but she doesn’t seem to be tired before going to Wonderland. The story is impossible but it seems to be true. Moreover, we still can see the caterpillar after Alice returns to reality.

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

I’m reading the novel entitled The Picture of Dorian Gray, write by Oscar Wilde and published in 1890. It’s a fantastic novel, but philosophical too. It’s the unique novel of Oscar Wilde.

This novel tell about Dorian Gray, who wants keep his beauty. His wish is granted, but it’s his picture which ages.

I haven’t finished the novel, but it’s very interesting and fascinating.

Hunger Games

Last month, I saw Hunger Games, which is a brilliant film realized by Gary Ross. The story is about a girl, Katniss, who has to go to the « Hunger Games ». Twenty four young people had to go there every year. The purpose of the game is to kill all the others and to remain the only survivor. If you like science fiction’s moovies, I really recommand you to watch it!

Beauty & the Beast

[youtube]http://youtu.be/l2U-iX9ChpY[/youtube]

In 2003, the young Catherine and her mother are attacked by a man. If Catherine manages to stay alive with the help of a strange creature, his mother died that night. Nine years later, she became a detective and is still determined to find the person responsible of her mother’s death. During an investigation, she follows the trail of a Vincent Keller, who died in Afghanistan in 2002. She discovers that he’s not dead, he lives since 10 years hiding to others. We learned that, under the influence of anger, Vincent turns into a raging, uncontrollable beast. Catherine agrees to protect his identity and secret if he helps to identify the murderer of his mother.

Although I hated the role of Kristin Kruk in the TV show Smallville, where I thought her character was too naive and irritating, I find that in this series, she plays a lot better the role of an « scornfull »  officer.

Then, the role of Vincent Keller is played by the actor Jay Ryan, I didn’t know before.
This film not only talks about the cutesy love story between the two main characters, but the leak of a man, whose experiences he suffered skidded.

It’s true that this is not the series of the century and many don’t like, but it’s a good occupation when you don’t know what to do in your evenings.

Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

We read an extract of the Chapter 5 of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley then we saw a film adaptation. The actor Robert De Niro played in this movie. I didn’t really like this film even if I like the story. Nevertheless I found that the actors had played well. Moreover I didn’t see the play of Frankenstein who took place on Monday, January 6th. If I had seen this play may be that I would have liked.

Frankenstein : the movie by Kenneth Branagh

Last monday, in class, we saw Frankenstein, the movie made by Kenneth Branagh.

Some students really love this movie and I do too, the actors are good and succeed in showing their emotions without overact (Robert de Niro, who plays the monster, is really great). Moreover, there are no boring times and I think it’s a very good quality in a movie.

Thanks to this movie, I’m going to read the novel of Mary Shelley !

Bilbo Le hobbit

The Hobbit is a novel written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and published in 1937. This story relate the travel of Bilbo in the Middle-Earth, to recover the dwarf treasure, stolen by Smaug, the dragon. They travel with Gandalf, a wizard, and 13 dwarfs.

This novel belongs to Gothic literature. In this novel, we can defined an anti-hero. Bilbo does not have qualities of a hero, but, he reveals over the novel his bravery,  and he are loyal with his friends. I like in this extract the wish of Bilbo to save his friends, and he break te appearances, he exposed his bravery and strength while he seemed, at the beginning of this novel, fearful, and uncourageous.

Before read this extract, I have already seen at the cinema, the film, « Lord of the Rings » and I already know the universe of the Middle-Earth, and the similarity with this two writnigs are appreciate.

« The Hobbit » the book

After I have seen many times « The lord of the rings » and both movies about « The hobbit », I decided to read the book. I started to read it since autumn’s holidays.

Today I’m at moment when Bilbo meets the spiders. The book is different than the movie. I like read this story, because I feel more impressions of Bilbo’s sensations. Thanks to this reading, I begin to have the interest to discovered this fabulous world of Tolkien between elves, dwarfs and wizards.

Frankenstein, the movie

Last monday we began to watch Frankenstein‘s movie in literature in english class. It is a movie starring by Robert De Niro and Helena Bonham Carter, for example (I love so much this actress).

Althought I love actors and how they play, I definitly don’t love this movie and this story, particularly. I don’t like this kind of stories and I think it is quite special… So, this movie was not my cup of tea but it was still possible to watch !

What do you think about this movie ? Did you enjoy or not ? Why ?

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the movie

In class, we saw a movie named Frankenstein, with a famous actor, Robert de Niro.

For me, I liked it because there strangeness all along the film despite of blood’s scene which can be hard.

It’s the first time that I saw a movie like Frankenstein and I’m not disappointed because it’s a good story which is well interpret by the actor. It’s both sad and scary so can create differents emotions for the spectators and can’t be bored by this film.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

I would like to talk about a drama adaptation of the story dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

This story was represented many times, for movies and dramas.
Richard Mansfield was an English, he was an actor-manager, best known for his performances in Shakespeare’s plays, and Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
He changed the story written by Robert Louis Stevenson: indeed, he created new elements as 2 women in love with the same man, whereas they are not from the same environment.
This drama was shown at the end of the 19th century.

« The Fault in our stars » by James Green

I would like to present you a book I really liked.
This is one of James Green works ( a contemporary English author). He then wrote « the fault in our stars ». This novel is about two adolescents suffering from cancer.
A young girl, Hazel Lancaster (she is the narrator),is 16 years old. She survives with an experimental treatment.
His parents forced her to walk out with a support group. During the sittings, she meets Augustus Waters who is a year older than her. Thus, they gradually fall in love. This young boy suffers from osteosarcoma. They often see each other and they realize they have a lot in common. They are passionate by a novel by Peter Van Houten. This novel is also about a young girl who suffering from cancer and ends suddenly in the middle of a sentence. Curious fate of the characters, Hazel and Augustus are planning to go to Amsterdam to meet the autor. They make this trip with a foundation to help sik childrens.

This is a novel about life and death and people who are stuck in between. When we see the book subject we fear that feel sadness and we are worried to end the book totally depressed, but on the contrary this novel makes us love life more than ever. That’s why I recommend it.

The film adaptation of Frankenstein by K.Branagh

We have seen in class the film adaptation of the gothic novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley (in 1818). It was directed by Kenneth Branagh, and produced by Francis Ford Coppola in 1994. In addition to his director role, Kenneth Branagh also played the main character of the film, Victor Frankenstein. The creature was played by Robert De Niro, and Elizabeth, Victor’s fiancée and adoptive sister, was played by Helena Bonham Carter.

Although this movie is the most faithful to  Mary Shelley’s book, there is some differences : in the book, Professor Waldman is a secondary character, but, in the film, it is him who inspire Victor (with his book where it is written how give life). Also, in the book, Elizabeth is strangled by the Creature. In the film, her heart is pulled out by Frankenstein’s monster.

My opinion is mixed : I think a book like Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus can’t be adapted because there is lot of details that we can’t missing out. I was a bit sceptical, and I also think that the begining was to long and really boring. One thing I really liked in this film is the makeup, and I understand why those makeup artists were nominated for the Oscar of the best makeup ! It was really worked, and realistic.

Few anectodes : Gérard Depardieu was early suggested for the role of the Creature and Sean Connery was asked to play Professor Waldman.

Robinson Crusoe, a lonely figure …

For a month, I read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. In my opinion Robinson’s character is very fascinating because during 28 years, this man has managed to live alone on a desert island, (he could have become mad) and with « Friday », with the help of nature. Personally I loved this novel because, as Robinson, I would love to live alone on an island, take care of myself and live many adventures. I also think this novel encouraged many people to explore our world as Neil Amstrong or captain Cousteau…

Bilbo the Hobbit – Peter Jackson

On the eve of the output of the second part of the film Bilbo the Hobbit by Tolkien rehabilitate by Petter Jackson, I’m going to give my own mind about the first part.

Reminding of the three Lord of the Ring, I feel disapoint by Bilbo. First, having read the book, I wonder why they made the film in few parts knowing that the book is pretty short (exept interminable description of landscapes, I mean). Consequently, nothing happend ! Be honest, if you saw it, you was boring, don’t you ? Next, even if there was really beautiful pictures on screan (again and again landscape ! That is the Tolkien’s and Jackson’s strength), I was destabilized by the design of the characters. I believed I was on a kind of freaky fary tale. I was thinking like » is Peter Jackson actually working with disney ? ». So, I check it: he doesn’t. So has he finally realized that it could to be good for children? Mistery… To finish, the last but not the least point of disapointment : the end.I mean, I’m just waiting for action for two hours and it cut when it is going to star ? » No! Is it a joke? Dude, you can’t do this to me! I beg! It is a kind of torture you know? » is probably what I would say to mr.Jackson if he was here. Oddly, he wasn’t.It’s a pity!

And to your opinion ? Will you watch the second one?

Dorian Gray

The film Dorian Gray is an adaptation of the eponymous novel written by Oscar Wilde, published in 1891. Directed by Oliver Parker in 2009, the film tells the story of a naive and young Englishman whose image is captured in an enchanted painting that keeps him from aging. If he commits a sin, his face in the picture changes and loses his beauty. For this adaptation, Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray and Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton, imperious and decadent dandy. Extremely witty, he is seen as a critique of Victorian culture at the end of the century, espousing a view of indulgent hedonism.

I don’t read the original novel, so I can’t establish a comparison between the film and the Gothic novel of Oscar Wilde. In my opinion, I’m not sure if this adaptation is the best but I liked so much the story, the atmosphere emitted, the soundtracks and the splendid shots of the director. The story is very interesting and pleasant.

 The Picture of Dorian Gray remind me the novel of Honoré de Balzac The Magic Skin (La Peau de Chagrin) because in the two novels, we find the notion of physical decadence. Although, the rapprochement is often effected.

Movie Trailer : [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbTWFtLR_ac[/youtube]