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| Marj |
 Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:13 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Ehle wrote:
Quote: A Home at the End of the World is being released on DVD, November 2nd.
Did you see the movie? |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:26 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Marj wrote: Ehle wrote:
Quote: A Home at the End of the World is being released on DVD, November 2nd.
Did you see the movie?
Yes, I was the one. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:00 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Hmmmmm.
I wonder if this is available as a book on tape?
I saw and enjoyed the movie over the weekend. Colin Ferrell was at his best. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:08 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Mo,
Yup. In fact I have a friend who can only read via recorded books or Braille. So I had to look into it. The unabridged version is about 37 dollars. The abridged version has actors reading each chapter with Colin Farell, Dallas Roberts, Blair Brown and Jennifer Van Dyke. This is about 25 dollars.
I can't wait to give it to him so I can borrow it back! 
Wade,
How did the movie compare to the book? |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:27 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| The movie is very different from the book. For one main thing, there is no Eric character. He just didn't exist in the movie. That for me was kind of hard to grasp hold of, because so much of Jonathan's feelings were shown through his interactions/dealings with Eric. This is what mainly stuck in my craw, but, there were other things. There's a great scene in the book between Clare and Alice after Ned's death. The movie plays that out between Alice and Bobby. I was all, why? What was the point?? We get that Alice and Bobby are close already and that scene was written so great because it was shared between two women who loved the same man. Jonathan. Those are the major bits I have problems with, I'm sure there will be more when we go farther along. I didn't dislike the movie, however, just realized how hard it is to invest time and feelings into characters and then have them act completely differently by the same author. Does anyone have Michael Cunningham's e-mail address? I have a few questions I'd like to ask. I also agree that Colin Farrell does his best work so far as Bobby, an amazing character that luckily wasn't ripped to shreds in the novel-to-film adaptation. |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:37 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Ehle,
It is too bad that MC chose to change 2 very essential character's/scenes, that is the difficulty I usually have with books to film - something changes, and usually not for the better. I am actually glad to know this so that I won't be quite as dissapointed when I see it.
And I don't see how to do the story without Eric. He is, as you say, how we learn much about Jonathan, to say nothing of his importance at the end of the story. Doesn't make much sense really. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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http://www.seeq.com/popupwrapper.jsp?referrer=&domain=michaelcunningham.com&direct=true
The link above is the official site for him, Wade, but there is no email address that I could find.
But remember there is that B&N online discussion group that I hope to take part in on Sept. 7th. And it IS open!
I am shocked that Erich was left out of the book. I felt that the last chapters with Erich were where Jonathan came into his adulthood; where he found his home! And before that we see so much of Jonathan's angst, through his relationship with Erich.
Maybe I'm wrong and please tell me if I am, but it sounds as if rather than do a film about the relationships of ALL these people, they focused on Bobby?
But that is wrong, so wrong! |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2242
Location: TX
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Ehle, whaddaya mean "no Eric"? Maybe you fell asleep watching, dude, because there can be no ending to this movie without Eric! jesus christ, it's not playing anymore in Austin and now it's gonna drive me buggy thinking about it until November.
Okay, look: Please tell me how the movie ends. I'll refrain from cussing until then. |
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My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:22 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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Quote: I am shocked that Eric was left out of the book.
Obviously I meant the movie! 
But I'm with you Kate. I'd rather know this now, rather then when I'm sitting in my seat, and he just doesn't show up! But I cannot figure how they ended the movie?
Btw, one friend of mine said her problem with the book, was that she had trouble discerning who was talking from one chapter to another, because each character was speaking with the same voice, Michael Cunningham's!
I didn't agree. But I could at least see her point. I felt there was a purpose or a design, Cunningham had in mind by having all the characters sound so much a like. Or maybe I'm wrong? Maybe it was just his writing style, and to try and change styles for each character would have been impossible? |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Luckily, the film ends exactly like the book. Jonathan and Bobby coming home from the Cafe. Are they waiting for Clare and the baby girl to come back? Or are they just going to make it their home. They obviously really love each other, whether or not sex is an issue.
I didn't see that the movie was all about Bobby, however, I did feel like he was the most fleshed-out character from the novel. |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Marj,
I understand your friends issue, for the first 3 or 4 chapters, I had to keep checking the chapter title to make sure I knew who we were reading about. This ran throughout the book, but what was wonderful was after I began to really know these people, I knew who was speaking to me without even checking the chapter title. This was the beauty of Cunningham's writing, effortlessly he helped you know these people. It was very intimate in that way. Very lovely. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:37 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Wade,
You know how you picture in your mind how a charcter may look, when your reading? I always pictured Colin Farell as Bobby, and no I didn't have the copy of the book with him on the cover. I never ever pictured Sissy Spacek, as Alice.
I loved Alice in the book. But I do think Michael Cunningham has an affinity for writing certain kinds of women. Alice much morerso than Clare. |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:47 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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| Because I knew Colin Farrel was playing the part, that is who I pictured. I think Sissy was perfect. As I mentioned, I think Clare was the least fleshed out character. She was too reminiscent of many other character's I have come across. |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: TX
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Marj wrote: Btw, one friend of mine said her problem with the book, was that she had trouble discerning who was talking from one chapter to another, because each character was speaking with the same voice, Michael Cunningham's!
You might clue your friend in, Marj, that each chapter is titled as the name of the character prominently featured.
Notice Bobby doesn't talk much; usually a surprised "huh?" as he's startled out of reverie suffices for him. He's all about interior dialogue.
Jonathan is full of bullshit and uncertainty. Typical line: "Basic visit to the parents. Guilt and movies. They live in a pueblo now."
And Clare cracks me up: "The difference between thirty-six and twenty-five," she said, "is that at twenty-five you can't look pathetic. Youth is the one overriding excuse. You can try anything out, do anything at all to your hair, and walk around looking perfectly fine. You're still thinking yourself up, so it's okay. But you get a little older, and you find your illusions starting to show."
I just don't see the similarities between characters' voices. Perhaps there is a sameness in descriptive passages, which didn't bother me at all and didn't hinder my ability to discern discrete characterizations.
Do y'all remember the first paragraph of the book? The chapter is called "Bobby."
Quote: Once our father bought a convertible. Don't ask me. I was five. He bought it and drove it home as casually as he'd bring a gallon of rocky road. Picture our mother's surprise. She kept rubber bands on the doorknobs. She washed old plastic bags and hung them on the line to dry, a string of thrifty tame jellyfish floating in the sun. Imagine her scrubbing the cheese smell out of a plastic bag on its third or fourth go-round when our father pulls up in a Chevy convertible, used but nevertheless -- a moving metal landscape, chrome bumpers and what looks like acres of molded silver car-flesh. He saw it parked downtown with a For Sale sign and decided to be the kind of man who buys a car on a whim. We can see as he pulls up that the manic joy has started to fade for him. The car is already an embarrassment. He cruises into the driveway with a frozen smile that matches the Chevy's grille.
Wow. |
_________________
My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:59 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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Kate wrote:
Quote: but what was wonderful was after I began to really know these people, I knew who was speaking to me without even checking the chapter title. This was the beauty of Cunningham's writing, effortlessly he helped you know these people. It was very intimate in that way. Very lovely.
That's exactly how I felt! And not only was it lovely, he may be the first writer I've found, who can take me from laughter to tears within a moment! |
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