Looking for Alibrandi
Melina Marchetta’s novel, Looking for Alibrandi, was produced into a movie directed by Kate Woods (2000). It is a reproduction of the book with its own interpretation. The changes in the film from the book are shown through the characters, the scenes and important events that have been either cut or changed to suit the audience. In both the movie and the film it reflects Greek culture and traditions. Looking for Alibrandi relates to growing up and the everyday disasters of being a teenager.
Some of the characters in the film are how they are portrayed in the book, whereas many are quite different. In the book Ivy Lloyd (Poison Ivy) is Josie’s arch enemy and Carly is just someone who is mentioned in chapter 8, whereas in the movie Ivy and Carly have been blended into the same character. The fights between Josie and Ivy have been omitted and they don’t reconcile their differences at the end. Also in the book Josie has three friends, Anna, Sera and Lee but in the movie Lee has been blended into both Sera and Anna. In the book Lee has a different point of view and brings more to the group of friends. Other characters such as Josie (Pia Miranda), John Barton (Matthew Newton) and Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia) are well casted in these roles for the movie because they looked like they were described in the book. Christina, Josie’s mum, looked too much like Marcus Stanford in the movie and in the book was described to look more Italian. All in all the characters in the movie were very good interpretations of the characters in the book.
The scenes in the film were jumbled compared to the storyline of the book, but were close to the text and had a real feeling to them. When Josie and her dad first start to bond, they’re sat in a real café that can be found in Sydney. This gives the film a more realistic feel to it. The law firm that Michael Andretti works for is a real law firm and the scenes where he and Josie are in his office were filmed at the law firm building.
Some of the characters in the film are how they are portrayed in the book, whereas many are quite different. In the book Ivy Lloyd (Poison Ivy) is Josie’s arch enemy and Carly is just someone who is mentioned in chapter 8, whereas in the movie Ivy and Carly have been blended into the same character. The fights between Josie and Ivy have been omitted and they don’t reconcile their differences at the end. Also in the book Josie has three friends, Anna, Sera and Lee but in the movie Lee has been blended into both Sera and Anna. In the book Lee has a different point of view and brings more to the group of friends. Other characters such as Josie (Pia Miranda), John Barton (Matthew Newton) and Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia) are well casted in these roles for the movie because they looked like they were described in the book. Christina, Josie’s mum, looked too much like Marcus Stanford in the movie and in the book was described to look more Italian. All in all the characters in the movie were very good interpretations of the characters in the book.
The scenes in the film were jumbled compared to the storyline of the book, but were close to the text and had a real feeling to them. When Josie and her dad first start to bond, they’re sat in a real café that can be found in Sydney. This gives the film a more realistic feel to it. The law firm that Michael Andretti works for is a real law firm and the scenes where he and Josie are in his office were filmed at the law firm building.