An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge: Film VS. Short Story

When it comes to choosing whether or not to read the text along with the film, most would recommend reading the story first for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. While the film had a mostly accurate portrayal of the story, one would need to read the text for the entire account. Although, the main character was believable as he made the reader or viewer sympathetic towards him. With flashbacks to his family, one could almost be empathetic with thoughts of losing someone. The use of camera angles was very effective. During the grand escape, they shot a majority of the shots at a high angle to show how helpless he was, at the mercy of the river. At times, the music could be a bit distraction. For example, when he first escaped, they played the song “Livin’ Man” and it was a bit strange. But at other times, the music helped to add intensity or emotion to the scenes when words could not.
The film version of the story did a decent job of showing the main theme but left out a few key details. For instance, the film does not tell us how the main character, Farquhar, gets into the situation he is in. He is about to be hanged for unknown reasons. Also, the film is repetitive and some would say that being so recurring would cause the viewer to lose attention. Overall, the lack of color, while ionic, seemed to enhance the mood of the film by making it seem more ominous. It also could make one more attentive to the setting and what it consisted of rather than the color. The general theme of time was well demonstrated throughout his escape. It makes one feel like all of the elaborate escape is happening over hours of time when in fact, it is only a matter of seconds.
The text version was able to add some more description to Farquhar’s character. We learn how he got into the situation of being hanged. “Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an