Comparison between a Book and Movie (“Atonement”)

The Differences between the Book “Atonement” and Its Movie Adaptation

The modern film business has been making cinematic adaptations of literature for many years. The goal of the films based on these books is to draw in readers who fell in love with the book, as well as those who are most likely to enjoy the films as a result of the book’s popularity and strong plot. The books have been adapted into popular films. However, because of the constrained time allowed by the film business, the movie versions of the novels wind up omitting a lot of amazing aesthetic substance. The writers of the movie have to alter some aspects of the books in order to accommodate the needs of the movie industry. This text explores the various differences between the book “Atonement” and its movie adaptation with the same title. It is about Briony Tallis, who is an aspiring writer undergoing the growth process. It also includes characters like Robbie, her lover and the cousins of Briony Tallis, Robbie Turner.

Omitted Scenes and their Impact

In the movie, important scenes, explanations, and other important stuff are omitted. It is fair to state that the reason many things have been left out of the movie is that most of the book takes place in the minds of people, and hence it is completely complicated to bring it to life in form of a movie. The scenes that have been omitted have affected the understanding of various scenes that are important to the overall storyline. The movie tries to show the emotional scenes of the movie while the book is wordy and it details the various moments in full explanations (Geraghty, 2009). As a result, the some of the themes of the book are lost or affected. However, this does not mean that the movie completely avoided the major themes in the book. It clearly exhibited the themes of love, atonement and innocence. It just misses some themes or fails to clearly show the development of them.

Affected Symbolism

One theme that is affected is symbolism. This is because the movie does not follow the smaller changes in the character of the individual characters. It only focuses on the major events that take place in the book. An example of the time the book explains the changes that happen to the individuals is when it documents the transition of Briony. Her character development is well captured in every page and chapter. For example, in one of the chapters, the changes in Briony are shown where it is written that she slowly dispenses with childhood (Groes, 2013). However, she soon realizes that the process of growing up is more complex than she thought.

Lack of Humor in the Movie

Similarly, the movie does not have the same sense of humor as the book. One instance in which the sense of humor seems to be clear and effective in the book is when Briony thinks about slaying all her cousins and then following the path of an Olympic nettle-slasher. Despite the use of words in exhibiting the scene, the book makes the scene seem goofy and hilarious. On the other hand, the movie does not show the humorous side of this event. Additionally, the movie focuses on the consequences of Briony are clearly shown, but the motivation behind them is not. In the book, the reader can feel and sympathize with the grave decisions made by Briony. In the scene by the fountain, the thoughts and expectations of Briony are explained alongside those of Robbie and Cecelia. It shows that they all had different expectations of the meeting, and how they all ended up misunderstanding each other (Hidalgo, 2005). On the other hand, the movie simply looks at the decision made by Briony and not what was the cause of the decision.

Differences in Characterization

Therefore, the personality of the main character is different in the movie and the book. In the movie, the character Briony exhibits is that of a person who is simply decisive, shallow, and emotional to some extent. On the other hand, in the book, it is clear that she is a nuisance. Her character is more understandable in the book because of the decisions she makes and the things she gets wrong are well explained. However, in the movie, her character is not fully exhibited due to the missing scenes and explanations. The book explains the conflict clearly and as a result, the stakes are higher in the book compared to the movie. This is because the situations facing Briony are well explained and she the reader is shown what made her make her decisions, her misjudgments, and the fatal repercussions that happen as a result.

Lack of Character Development for Robbie and His Friends

It is also clear from the book that Robbie went to France for a reason, and the time he spends in the war is well explained. In the movie, it is different because he only seems to be wandering in the wastelands of France. Additionally, his two friends were not explored well in the movie, where there is nothing clear about their characters. They do not say anything, and they are simply there to show that Robbie did not go to France by himself (Finney, 2004).

Different Endings

However, the movie creates a good ending when it comes to the Briony talking in an interview about what unfolded. However, in the novel, she is conversing with herself and the details are lengthy and non-conclusive.

Conclusion

Therefore, the movie adaptation of the book does a good job in showing the various themes in the book. However, it does not show the full development of the characters of the book. It leaves important scenes, probably because it tries to depict an entire book in less than two hours.

References

Geraghty, Christine. “Foregrounding the media: Atonement (2007) as an adaptation.” Adaptation 2.2 (2009): 91-109.

Groes, Sebastian, ed. Ian McEwan: contemporary critical perspectives. A&C Black, 2013.

Hidalgo, Pilar. “Memory and Storytelling in Ian McEwan’s Atonement.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 46.2 (2005): 82-91.

Finney, Brian. “Briony’s stand against Oblivion: the making of fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement.” Journal of Modern Literature 27.2 (2004): 68-82.