Comparing the novel and the film of about a boy



Maria Smolyakova Journalist Faculty, ‘ - 1st year student

Samara State University -

Comparing the Novel and the Film of About a Boy ^; ■

After watching the film “About a boy” 1 understood that it is really different from the book. It was a strange feeling that appeared after crashing two points of view inside of me - my own imagined world of “About a boy” and the world of film-makers.

Of course, the film shows a lot of similarities - strange and mad Fiona, rich and careless Will and Marcus who is alone in this world and who has a lot of troubles and misunderstanding with people.

At the end of the book we see that Marcus became another person and we can be sure that everything will be all right with him. And we feel like this bad experience in Marcus’ life is over and that it no longer existed. But there is another situation in the film. We can’t really understand that Marcus changed at the end of the film. We can see that he is very happy but we can’t enter his soul and mind. It’s the main misapprehension of the film.

A lot of episodes of the book were cut in the film. For example, the personality of Ellie was much brighter in the book comparing to the film. And where is Kurt Cobain? Where are Marcus and Ellie’s talks about death?

In my opinion, the book is better than the film because when you read a book you can turn on your own imagination and see your own film. But when you see somebody’s point of view you miss the main aim that suits your character and personality. The book makes you think and you make your own conclusions. The film cannot do this because it is a ready-to-use product of someone else’s mind. And you can just swallow it because there is nothing left for your own attempts to imagine something other. That is why I have all the pros for the book. ■