-------Original Message------- From: JIM DOHERTY <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com>
" Depends on what they're purporting to be doing. If THE LONG
GOODBYE puported to be a film adaptation of Chandler's novel.
What it was in actuality was Altman's canvas through which he
could display his sneering, oh-so-superior contempt for
Chandler's work specifically, for the character of Marlowe in
particular, and for the hard-boiled genre and ethos in
general. If he wanted to do that, he should have commissioned
an original screenplay instead of pretending that he was
doing a faithful adaptation of Chandler's novel."
I don't think Altman has ever made such a statement about THE
LONG GOODBYE. I believe the mandate he was given by the
studio and the producers was that he make "A Robert Altman
FILM", which he did.
"So no he WASN'T free to adapt (and before somebody points
out that the film rights had been bought and paid for, I'm
talking ethics here, not legality) as you use the term. He
was obligated to be faithful, within the limits of his talent
and the medium in which he was working, to the work he was
adapting."
I'm not sure how Altman got around this supposed "obligation"
and slipped past the "ethics" police to use his own
creativity on this project and bring us one of the most
original and interesting films of its era (and a fantastic
time capsule to boot), but I'm sure glad he did. It's
certainly not a rare event when filmmakers don't "shoot the
booK" (it's more often the case than not), but rarely does
someone reinvent a work so entertainingly that it becomes a
classic in its own right. Altman doesn't play by ANYONE'S
rules. Thank god there's at least one like him out
there.
And if you don't like his movie, you don't have to watch it.
It shouldn't be an insult that it exists. As the pros always
say, "He didn't ruin the book. It's still fine right there on
the shelf." Maybe one day someone will shoot a "faithful"
adaption of Chandler's book. If it's half as good as Altman's
film it will be better than most of the stuff crowding the
theatres nowadays.
TL
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 21 Aug 2003 EDT