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Of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and Men
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Garry Sinise’s realistic filmic interpretation of John Steinbeck Nobel Prize winning novella Of Mice and Men chooses to add and remove scenes to emphasize particular themes. He uses cinema graphic techniques to replace the objective third person narrator but maintains the dialogue to effectively confront the responder with Steinbeck’s concern relating to the need for companionship and understanding. Sinise uses imagery development in the novel to explore friendship, loneliness, and sacrifice in the context of the 1930’s rural California during the Great Depression.

Garry Sinise interprets the novel version of Mice and Men through his choice to add and remove scenes. This emphasizes the movie so that the audience will feel emotionally attached to the character and creating a deeper understanding of the plot. A critical scene that has been added to the film is the long shot of candy all alone sweeping the ground in overcast skies after his dog was shot. The overcast sky symbolizes the loneliness of candy and his feelings of loss. This gives a sense of foreboding to the views of his sadness and that maybe something will go wrong. Also the ending long shot of Lenny and George down at the river, after George kills Lenny. In the novella Steinbeck writes that “the boys” come down to the river to find them however in the film it’s simply George alone. The removal of this scene portrays the shooting being more of a personal matter between George and Lenny. The audience also reflects back to the comment made by candy where he said he should have put his dog down and not left it for someone else to do. The audition and removal of this scene creates a dramatic feeling in the film and allows us to see the close bond George and Lenny shared.

However Sinise’s specific film techniques and camera angles show dramatic emphasis on certain sections of the film. Sinise chooses to use a point of view camera angle in the opening scene of the film to

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