SOSC 4319 |
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Theoretical Approaches
to Film Adaptation
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based on the film adaptation of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Novel
CAST: Michelle Pfeiffer |
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(Buena Vista - 1997) |
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Plot
summary : Smiley's novel, King Lear with a shocking twist, portrays the enduring violence of incest to body and spirit. The narrative voice describes her family--a wealthy farmer and his three daughters. Family relationships are explored, especially the hidden roots that shape and define behaviors and conflicts, some lasting a lifetime. The disclosure of a horribly dark secret explains the
personalities of the three daughters and, for two, their
metaphoric afflictions (infertility and breast cancer).
Smiley's novel is layered with rich complexities, but
none more powerful and astonishing than the core event,
the sexual victimization of two vulnerable teenage girls
who, as the story unfolds, are permanently scarred. Through
a reinterpretation of Lear, Smiley demonstrates the cost
of this hideous form of male domination and female victimization.
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Disclaimer © 2003 - 2004 by class of SOSC 4319 at York University |