A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (1977)
Director Joseph Strick had already received some acclaim/notoriety with a cinema adaptation of ULYSSES when he turned his hand to another of Joyce's works, A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. I have the former in my collection but am saving it until after I've read the book (whenever that may be) so for now I decided to sample the latter.
Essentially a tale of a boy becoming a man, the scenes of the young boy's childhood are stale and lifeless. Even as he grows up the film only occasionally displays the odd burst of energy, despite the best efforts of Bosco Hogan as Dedalus, the title character and Joyce's alter ego.
The blame for this can perhaps be attributed to a few factors. For one thing, the UK DVD release isn't the most flattering - leaving aside the fact that it claims to be widescreen but isn't, the print is in less than stellar shape, with both picture and sound in need of a good clean-up.
Allowing for technical issues, the photography and set design still seems a little claustrophobic and drab - the film just rarely seems to come to life.
There are moments of joy - John Gielgud hams it up delightfully in the wonderful speech about the nature of hell - but ultimately the main problem is perhaps one of misplaced artistic integrity. It's a faithful adaptation for sure but one thing that struck me when I read the book recently and then approached the film is that the book is not even remotely cinematic.
In the end, the desire to remain truly faithful to a text - something few films ever come close to achieving - is admirable and definitely achieved. That unfortunately on this occasion may also be the film's undoing.
Essentially a tale of a boy becoming a man, the scenes of the young boy's childhood are stale and lifeless. Even as he grows up the film only occasionally displays the odd burst of energy, despite the best efforts of Bosco Hogan as Dedalus, the title character and Joyce's alter ego.
The blame for this can perhaps be attributed to a few factors. For one thing, the UK DVD release isn't the most flattering - leaving aside the fact that it claims to be widescreen but isn't, the print is in less than stellar shape, with both picture and sound in need of a good clean-up.
Allowing for technical issues, the photography and set design still seems a little claustrophobic and drab - the film just rarely seems to come to life.
There are moments of joy - John Gielgud hams it up delightfully in the wonderful speech about the nature of hell - but ultimately the main problem is perhaps one of misplaced artistic integrity. It's a faithful adaptation for sure but one thing that struck me when I read the book recently and then approached the film is that the book is not even remotely cinematic.
In the end, the desire to remain truly faithful to a text - something few films ever come close to achieving - is admirable and definitely achieved. That unfortunately on this occasion may also be the film's undoing.
Labels: Irish film
posted by Alan at 9:36 pm
3 Comments:
This sounds interesting despite the negative review. I haven't read Ulysses either. I started it a while ago and gave up. Maybe one day.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there - obviously it is a negative review, but I wouldn't want to give the impression that it's not worth at least a watch - I just don't think I'm likely to ever revisit it.
As for reading Ulysses... I fully intend to read it one day, but after hearing so much about it, I decided to work my way up to it. I've read Dubliners, then Portrait of the Artist... so I'll try Finnegan's Wake next, before I pluck up the courage to try Ulysses!
Thanks for the comment,
Alan
Well, I think anybody into literature should be automatically interested in film adaptations, regardless of how good they are. :)
No problems. I think I got here after looking for reviews of some mother's son.
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