The novel Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

The novel Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century (1860-1861). It is said to be one of the classics of the English literary heritage and several film adaptations have been made of it. It first appeared in a weekly magazine called All the year round. Great Expectations is a book in which Dickens returned to the theme of a youths discovery of the realities of life. An unknown person provides the young hero, Pip, with money so that Pip can live as a gentleman. Pips pride is shattered when he learns there source of his Great Expectations. Only by revising his values does Pip restore his life on a foundation of empathy rather than on social position. In this coursework I shall be comparing two film versions: David Leans 1944 black and white version starring John Nutts and the 1997 colour version directed by Alfonso Cuaron which features, Ethan Hawke; Gwyneth Paltrow; Anne Bankcroft and Robert Deniro. I intend to compare the opening chapters in the two film versions, in which the young Pip/Finn encounters a scary convict who later becomes a momentous figure in Pips life.  Both films start with the adult voice of Pip/Finn reflecting on his childhood. The David Lean (1944) version closely follows the actual text whereas Alfonso Cuarons Version follows a sequential order but digresses greatly from the text. As the credits began rolling there are a variety of styles of music. The first style that we hear is a full orchestra and it then harrows down to only one flute which plays a childish style of music which is obviously representing the young PIP. Afterwards it goes into a romantic mood and after that a sad mood. It finally becomes a symphony of emotion to signify the films happy ever after ending. In the opening scene we start with a long shot of Pip and the tracking of pip across the field. At the camera is tracking Pip we see many images of death, for example as Pip is running the audience see a number of Jibbets. As Pip is running the audience is able to see how closely David Lean has followed the text. The marshes are seen to be just a long black horizontal line and the river a long horizontal line but not much thicker. The sky is also just a row of angry red lines and dense black ones. The camera again zooms in on Pips face to show us his apprehension as he climbs over the wall. The audience is able to see many gravestones are crooked and a lot of plants and weeds are overgrown. This suggests that this churchyard is uncared for. This adds tension to the opening scene because we wonder why this young child is there. All throughout the opening scene there is wind sound affects. The wind is an eerie sound which also adds to the tension of the scene. When I was watching Pip I felt a lot of sympathy because I had seen from the gravestone that both of his parents had died and learned that his only relative was his sister who he lived with and she wasnt exactly a ray of sunshine. Alfonso Cuarons version also starts with the credits first which is unusual for a modern day film. As the credits begin there is soft music with very exotic instruments such as a rainpie. The letters of peoples names appears in a fluid pattern, which gives us a watery feeling. This s a good technique as it sets the audience up for the opening scene where things are not necessarily as they seem. The first thing the audience sees is the character of Finn Pip) looking at the fish and then climbing into the boat. Finn takes out a notebook and begins to draw. At this point there is virtually no tension as there is an ordinary boy who is playing in the sunshine and frankly looks quite happy. There is none of the heart tugging emotion that is apparent in Leans black and white version. Finn then climbs out of his boat and carries on looking for more fish to draw. All of a sudden there is a big cloud of red forming underneath the water then a hand comes out of the water and grabs Finn and we realise that this is the convict. This method is more effective than Leans version because it is so unexpected; there is virtually no tension at all up to this point. Whereas Leans version builds the tension up so high that we actually expect something to happen to PIP. I assume that David Lean directed his film as he did in order to retain the essential authenticity of the book. This was important for Lean to do because the book has a way of taking you out of your own reality and this was what the people of 1944 needed to get away from the Second World War. Whilst the 1997 version is not trying to reproduce a historical piece- it is a modern version of the plot transposed to America. I believe that Cuaron did this in order to make the film more realistic, so that the audience could feel that this can happen to anybody. In doing this Cuaron lost the essence of the plot, with its fairytale ending. The similarity that I have seen in the two films is the contrast of Pip/Finn compared to the convict. The directors are both trying to balance Pip/Finns innocence compared to the convicts corruption. Lean does this by keeping Pip polite and sincere all the time while the convict is strangling and pushing him etc. Cuaron does this by making the convict swear to scare Finn; I feel that Cuaron does this because he thinks he needs to do more to shock the modern day. The main differences between the two versions are the location, setting and background. For example Cuarons version had an American actor doing Finns voiceover, it took away some of the reality of the film because I feel that Great Expectations is so typically English. I can agree to some extent that both films had a strong opening which is essential in a film. The reason for this is because if there is a weak opening t the film you will not want to watch the rest of it; the same when reading a book if the first few chapters are not engaging you will not want to finish the book. Generally I preferred David Leans version because it kept to the book. Maybe I might have differently if I hadnt read the book first, but the 1997 version deviated from the book so much that I was confused which character was meant to be which. Lea I felt was also much more effective in setting up the story. Although both films id follow a chronological order, David Leans 1944 version kept very closely to the text where as the coloured version altered the location and dialogue of the novel.  David Lean built up the tension first using sound effects I.e. wind and bustling trees, the dreariness of the marshes and using the numerous visions of death I.e. the jibbet and the crooked gravestones.