Compare And Contrast Movie And Play
When a play or novel is turned into a movie, there will always be missing elements. With “Doubt”, its movie adaptation is more of a companion piece. Each medium has their advantages and disadvantages, but I think they benefit each other. In the play, the reader gets more freedom to come to their own conclusion about Father Flynn, whereas in the movie, there is a strong influence on his guiltiness. As Shanley is the playwright and also the director, he constructs both to be beneficial in their own right. On one hand, the movie is a visual medium where we can actually see the characters, their expressions, hear their tone of voice, etc, and on the other, the play is more imaginative for the reader. Both the play and the movie influence the audience to address their doubts,
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especially about Father Flynn but also on a more general level as how it pertains to our individual lives. While one shows the power of seeing the play with real people, the other shows the power of not having everything visualized and foreshadowed. As both have their own strengths and weaknesses, what one medium has as a strength is a weakness for the other and vice versa, which shows how they can be companion pieces that ultimately provide a richer and fuller image overall.
A major strength of the movie is that it adds certain elements, such as music and camera angles, to enhance the production that a reader or audience does not get just from reading the play. The specific camera angles or shots enhance the tone or message of the scenes. For example, when the priests, including Father Flynn are eating and drinking around the table, and then it cuts to the Sisters eating in silence, shows the contrast between the two groups at the same point in time (Doubt/movie). By cutting to the Sisters, it shows the stark difference of the kind of relationship between the members of each group, how carefree Father Flynn is and how hostile Sister Aloysius is. Another enhancement is the music. Music adds tone to the scene, and the eery music that plays in certain scenes allows for the tone to be addressed. The music in the background influences the audience subconsciously, and then as a result, alters our beliefs about what has happened with Donald and Father Flynn because the tone changes. When the music changes, the tone changes, and then our intuition changes about the truth. The music is constantly influencing what the audience thinks, and it is an element that reading the play does not have. Both the music and camera angles enhance the movie production of the play because they add a level of clarity to what the audience should think in that it makes it easier to sense the tone of the scene and identify the characters’ objective in the scene.
A weakness of the movie is that it adds characters that are not seen in the play. By adding characters, it takes the focus off the four main characters that the play wanted to focus on. However, this can also be seen as a strength. For the movie, the additional characters add more to the storyline because it allows the audience to see how all the characters interact with more than only those who are mentioned in the play. The audience gets to see Father Flynn with other boys, other Sisters, and other friends. The same is true for all the other main characters, the audience sees the relationships they have with other characters that we could only imagine in the play. Although it adds to the storyline, it takes away from the four characters we are supposed to focus on. Because we see the interactions with Father Flynn and other boys, we are convinced that he is not innocent, and therefore our own doubts are not really doubts anymore because a little too much is given away when we see the nature of Father Flynn with other people. Compared to the play, keeping it simple with four main characters allows for the reader to only focus on the nature and relationships of those four characters, which then in turn allows for the reader to conclude with their own decision about whether or not Father Flynn is innocent. This is the major advantage for the play because the audience should not be influenced to lean towards one over the other, and the play certainly prevents that from happening.
In the play, compared to the movie, the symbolism was a little subtler, which is beneficial because it is not overbearing with symbolism. The play subtly highlights the wind as a recurring symbol, most likely used to acknowledge when something is going to take a turn for the worse, which would then make the reader a little more aware of the upcoming change. In the movie, there are numerous shots of storms, wind, and leaves blowing, which all overdramatize the following scenes and already set preconceived notions about what is going to happen. The excess of symbolism in the movie redirects the belief of Father Flynn’s innocence even more so and ties in with my previous paragraph. Because of the heavy symbolism, we are further pushed in the direction of believing that he is guilty, where as there is more of a possibility of believing his innocence when it comes to the play. The purpose of reading the play is to come to a conclusion on Father Flynn on our own, even if we are all left with our own doubts about his innocence. With the various symbols in the movie, such as the cat and mouse, the lightbulb burning out, the broken toy, the wind, the stained glass window with the eye, we are all lead collectively to believe him to be guilty, without much room for coming to our own discoveries about him.
One final strength of the movie adaptation is that we actually get to see the characters in real time and their reactions, expressions, etc.
A character’s facial expressions are some of the biggest clues to their true objective or motivation. While there are stage directions, such as in the second scene, an aside says “(Sister James cries a little)” or in the fourth scene, “(Sister Aloysius smiles for the first time)” (“Doubt”/play). While the asides like those describe their reactions or facial expressions, it gives much less to visualize than the movie when the audience can see the characters. By being able to see the characters and their facial expressions and such, we can see much more than one simple emotion. The complexity of the characters is developed because actually seeing the characters instead of reading their expressions provides depth and curiosity to the characters. Seeing Sister James cry a little or seeing Sister Aloysius smile in the movie gives a more concrete visualization of their emotions than reading it in the play. The characters become much more intriguing because we see how they react with other characters and we get a better sense of the characters’ true
motives.
Both the play and the movie adaptation provide elements that the other lacks. In the play, the limit to the number of characters allows the reader to focus on those four characters alone. The centration on those 4 characters prevents the audience from straying too far from the main focus on Father Flynn. However, the movie also adds to centration on Father Flynn by the additional characters because we then see his relationships and interactions with those other characters. The movie also has features like music and specific shots that add to the overall tone being conveyed in each scene. The music and skewed camera angles also add a level of mystery and suspicion, whether it is about the truth or the character in the specific shot. While both have their advantages and disadvantages, they can be used as companion pieces.
especially about Father Flynn but also on a more general level as how it pertains to our individual lives. While one shows the power of seeing the play with real people, the other shows the power of not having everything visualized and foreshadowed. As both have their own strengths and weaknesses, what one medium has as a strength is a weakness for the other and vice versa, which shows how they can be companion pieces that ultimately provide a richer and fuller image overall.
A major strength of the movie is that it adds certain elements, such as music and camera angles, to enhance the production that a reader or audience does not get just from reading the play. The specific camera angles or shots enhance the tone or message of the scenes. For example, when the priests, including Father Flynn are eating and drinking around the table, and then it cuts to the Sisters eating in silence, shows the contrast between the two groups at the same point in time (Doubt/movie). By cutting to the Sisters, it shows the stark difference of the kind of relationship between the members of each group, how carefree Father Flynn is and how hostile Sister Aloysius is. Another enhancement is the music. Music adds tone to the scene, and the eery music that plays in certain scenes allows for the tone to be addressed. The music in the background influences the audience subconsciously, and then as a result, alters our beliefs about what has happened with Donald and Father Flynn because the tone changes. When the music changes, the tone changes, and then our intuition changes about the truth. The music is constantly influencing what the audience thinks, and it is an element that reading the play does not have. Both the music and camera angles enhance the movie production of the play because they add a level of clarity to what the audience should think in that it makes it easier to sense the tone of the scene and identify the characters’ objective in the scene.
A weakness of the movie is that it adds characters that are not seen in the play. By adding characters, it takes the focus off the four main characters that the play wanted to focus on. However, this can also be seen as a strength. For the movie, the additional characters add more to the storyline because it allows the audience to see how all the characters interact with more than only those who are mentioned in the play. The audience gets to see Father Flynn with other boys, other Sisters, and other friends. The same is true for all the other main characters, the audience sees the relationships they have with other characters that we could only imagine in the play. Although it adds to the storyline, it takes away from the four characters we are supposed to focus on. Because we see the interactions with Father Flynn and other boys, we are convinced that he is not innocent, and therefore our own doubts are not really doubts anymore because a little too much is given away when we see the nature of Father Flynn with other people. Compared to the play, keeping it simple with four main characters allows for the reader to only focus on the nature and relationships of those four characters, which then in turn allows for the reader to conclude with their own decision about whether or not Father Flynn is innocent. This is the major advantage for the play because the audience should not be influenced to lean towards one over the other, and the play certainly prevents that from happening.
In the play, compared to the movie, the symbolism was a little subtler, which is beneficial because it is not overbearing with symbolism. The play subtly highlights the wind as a recurring symbol, most likely used to acknowledge when something is going to take a turn for the worse, which would then make the reader a little more aware of the upcoming change. In the movie, there are numerous shots of storms, wind, and leaves blowing, which all overdramatize the following scenes and already set preconceived notions about what is going to happen. The excess of symbolism in the movie redirects the belief of Father Flynn’s innocence even more so and ties in with my previous paragraph. Because of the heavy symbolism, we are further pushed in the direction of believing that he is guilty, where as there is more of a possibility of believing his innocence when it comes to the play. The purpose of reading the play is to come to a conclusion on Father Flynn on our own, even if we are all left with our own doubts about his innocence. With the various symbols in the movie, such as the cat and mouse, the lightbulb burning out, the broken toy, the wind, the stained glass window with the eye, we are all lead collectively to believe him to be guilty, without much room for coming to our own discoveries about him.
One final strength of the movie adaptation is that we actually get to see the characters in real time and their reactions, expressions, etc.
A character’s facial expressions are some of the biggest clues to their true objective or motivation. While there are stage directions, such as in the second scene, an aside says “(Sister James cries a little)” or in the fourth scene, “(Sister Aloysius smiles for the first time)” (“Doubt”/play). While the asides like those describe their reactions or facial expressions, it gives much less to visualize than the movie when the audience can see the characters. By being able to see the characters and their facial expressions and such, we can see much more than one simple emotion. The complexity of the characters is developed because actually seeing the characters instead of reading their expressions provides depth and curiosity to the characters. Seeing Sister James cry a little or seeing Sister Aloysius smile in the movie gives a more concrete visualization of their emotions than reading it in the play. The characters become much more intriguing because we see how they react with other characters and we get a better sense of the characters’ true
motives.
Both the play and the movie adaptation provide elements that the other lacks. In the play, the limit to the number of characters allows the reader to focus on those four characters alone. The centration on those 4 characters prevents the audience from straying too far from the main focus on Father Flynn. However, the movie also adds to centration on Father Flynn by the additional characters because we then see his relationships and interactions with those other characters. The movie also has features like music and specific shots that add to the overall tone being conveyed in each scene. The music and skewed camera angles also add a level of mystery and suspicion, whether it is about the truth or the character in the specific shot. While both have their advantages and disadvantages, they can be used as companion pieces.