ENG 400 Group 2 Spring 2011: Hitchcock's Adaptation

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hitchcock's Adaptation

There are two differences that between the original Strangers On A Train, and Hitchcock's adaptation. There first being the characterization of Bruno. In the book, there was a clear sign of insanity. During the build-up to Miriam's death, the text is very disturbing. Bruno essentially dehumanizes Miriam into another piece of flesh. The text even reads how thrilled/relieved Bruno was after strangling her. However in Hitchcock's adaptation we loose that, and I feel that he leaves it up to the audience to classify how insane he really is. I believe because of this change, it fails to respect the original work. I do not think it matters, because Hitchcock wants mystery behind his "villains". I believe Hitchcock does this to keep the audience always on their toes, waiting for the next scene to happen.

The other difference between the two is a major plot change. In the original work , Guy ends up killing Bruno's father. However in Hitchcock's version, Guy decides against it and attempts to tell Bruno's father what is wrong with his son (Bruno finds this information out because he is hiding in the bed). I believe the reason why Hitchcock does it is to make the Guy character more relatable to the audience. This change also makes Bruno stand out much more as the clear "villain"/insane one. This change obviously fails to respect the original work, and it truly does matter. This is a story of somewhat of a flawed hero. Once we change the fact that Guy kills Bruno's father, he becomes your typical average-joe character caught up in a sticky situation.

Looking at these films and other films, Hitchcock wants his audience to think about what is to come next. If that means taking out character development of some characters, than so be it. Hitchcock also likes placing average people in not-so-everyday situations. Hitchcock's use of this makes it possible for audiences to connect closer to the character and feel the same fear/tension/stress the character feels.

1 comment:

Jeffrey Jett IIApril 17, 2011 at 10:15 PM
Also, Guy never really considers just how weighty the situation is he's been placed in until Bruno goads him to commit to murder. I always wondered what might have happened if Guy simply pulled the trigger and simply went through with the murder, killing Bruno in the process accidentally. I feel that this twist may have made the film even more tense and psychological as Guy would have been the criminal on-the-run, making this case of role-reversal damning for Guy's reputation. The buildup to this scene establishes that Guy is a tennis star, and is the esteemed boyfriend of a Senator's daughter, and if this scene would've occurred, I feel that the buildup of character growth would have been shattered and the tone of the film would be much darker for it. Imagining the possibilities simply boggles the mind when contemplating the outcomes of this one, subtle change.
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