Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing †Is the Film More Absurd than the Novel? :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Margaret Atwoods Surfacing Is the Film More Absurd than the Novel?Surfacing, have Joseph Bottoms, is not only an astute interpretation of Atwoods work, simply it is also a marvellous film in itself. Yes, marvellous. Certainly, it does justice to Atwoods portrayal of substanceless women, but if it has any clearly defined themes, they are lost on the audience. What much could an audience want but a film that is incoherent and that is filled with hopeful imageries?A woman dancing half-naked with a maggot-infested heron. A deadly fight breaking out because someone pipes up, You play as well as you dupe? The narrator searching for rock paintings. These fragments make up the backbone of this film and yes, they are shown in the proper sequence, unlike Margaret Atwoods novel No more pieces of information surfacing at unpredictable points in your mind, no further need to decipher the narrators invented past, and best of all, no need to agonize over the narrators painful process of findi ng her authentic self. In the film, the narrator is given a name, Kate. She is now more tangible, unlike Atwoods narrator. Everyone knows that tangibility is what makes a piece of work great. At any rate, the film does a great job of stripping everything down to their essentials. Why make you peg away through Atwoods depiction of the tensions that exist between the French and the English? Just remove all that political nonsense Why create unbelief about the truth behind the narrators fathers drawings? Remove this as well, for it is a waste of clock Film viewing time is better spent on David and Annas preoccupation with sex, after all.Now, be forewarned Relationships in the film have taken a different route from that of Margaret Atwoods novel. Kate and her boyfriend Joe exchange many a word in the film, and they know one another well. Joe is easygoing and he even romps with David. In Atwoods Surfacing, Joe is quite a different character. He is quiet and sullen, and he does not ev en like having the narrator look at him Being unmarried is looked down upon in this little town, but in the film, when Evans sees Kate and Joe together, disapproval is apparent, and Evans comments on how Kate is growed (sic) up and married. Of course, it may be suspicion on Evans part, but one cannot be sure. The most meaning(a) discovery that the narrator makes in Atwoods Surfacing is the discovery of her authentic self the discovery that she needs not be a victim of her nonsensical self.