Comparing Movie and Book Versions of Cains Mildred Pierce Essay

Comparing Movie and Book Versions of Cains Mildred hurtle I pity the screenwriter who had to adapt the novel, Mildred Pierce, from 289 pages down to an hour and 57 minute scene. The master(prenominal) character, Mildred Pierce, repeatedly steps out of the traditional graphic symbol for women of that era, and challenges societys norms about class. Significant changes were made to the plot fleck converting it from book to movie. These changes add up to a significant difference in the meaning. In both the book and the movie, the story is about a housewife who dramatically changes her tone. She kicks out her unfaithful husband and starts making a life on her own. Her lifes desire is to win the love of her private daughter Veda who steals her money, her clothes, her man, and acts handle a spoiled brat throughout the story. (Easterbrook) Mildreds sick, driving love for Veda has a hint of masochism. She spends years providing love and money, and act to please Veda. Mildred uses p eople to try to get Veda back into her life and ends up with nothing. As LaValley says, Veda is ungrateful and vicious (LaValley 11) Mildreds obsession with Veda is less like a mother but more like a lover who has unexpectedly detect an act of faithlessness and avenged it. (Cain 240) An example of this is in the passage At Vedas . . . sticky kisses that started at her eyes and ended below her throat, Mildred relaxed . . .(201), or she Mildred took the lovely creature Veda in her arms and kissed her, hard, on the mouth. (268) Although Mildred and Vedas family stays basically the same, changes were made to adapt the story. The background of several of the main characters is not detailed, but rather sketchy. Many of the characters ha... ...e book for screen changed the peevishness of the story. The book is timeless and in many ways it feels like it was compose yesterday. It has a very modern feel to it, which is not reflected in the movie because of the manner in which it was prod uced. In the movie the focus was on the inglorious murder mystery. The focus of the story in the book was about a woman and her struggles to survive the hardships of the Depression, while coping with the dysfunction of her family and relationships. The book is in any case an in-depth study of human behavior and corruptness, dealing with the shortcomings of men and women. David Madden say it best when he wrote he Cain created an objective, disinterested, often pessimistic view of life that is simultaneously terrifying and starkly beautiful. I think its bad that the movie almost completely loses Cains judgment and analysis of life.