Film Adaptation of Cormac McCarthys The Road

Film Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The RoadCormac McCarthy's The Road, which was recently adapted into a film starring Russell Crowe, is a coming-of-age story about the two friendships and personal journeys that intertwine the protagonist, Jake Gittes, with a family from West Virginia, a romance that takes him across the country, and a political awakening, in the wake of his father's assassination. To be an effective film adaptation, it needs to not only appeal to the artistic sensibilities of audiences, but to have several of the structure and theme of the novel.The story is told through the eyes of a young man, Cormac McCarthy, who has relocated to West Virginia from Michigan. He ends up homeless, living in a dilapidated motel, after being disowned by his parents for an incident involving drunkenness. He lives off of the kindness of strangers, and witnesses the town's past residents struggle with racism, and the unfairness of the local social hierarchy. He also meets his first re al love, Alicia Boggs, who is from the nearby town of Poinciana and subsequently falls in love with her.The characters in Cormac McCarthy's novel are complex and interesting. In the short span of two hundred pages, readers are introduced to almost all of the main characters, and witness their gradual change in direction of the story as it progresses. But there are several key plot elements that the film adaptation needs to incorporate into the film, if it wishes to be a successful adaptation.A major part of the film adaptation of The Road, and perhaps the most important element, are the introduction of the main character, Cormac McCarthy. The director, Tony Montana, had a great deal of success in the film industry with films such as Leaving Las Vegas, and Gladiator. His characters were expressive characters that never failed to move the audience, as well as make them cry, in different ways. So, while he did create some incredibly emotionally charged scenes, the problem for the direc tor was making them work well in the confines of a ninety minute movie.The director's solution was to edit the scenes into one-hour segments, and then let the audience watch the first segment without the other, to better determine whether or not they liked the movie. His decision is a brilliant one and helps to keep the movie entertaining, without becoming monotonous. His next film, Taps, however, was much more successful, as it allowed him to use an expanded version of the same techniques, and still, many people found it more enjoyable.While editing, the director also added some key elements to the screenplay, that are related to the themes, and historical references in the novel. This allowed him to interweave some of the details into the story and make the character development more clear. One thing that he did include that may be a bit different from the book, is that the main character, Jake Gittes, does not visit the town of Poinciana until much later in the film. This makes a lot of sense, as he never really saw or had contact with the town.Some other smaller things that the director did to make the film more successful include the inclusion of a minor character who was 'an abused wife' of the local sheriff, Sheriff Cameron Greene. This small addition strengthens the connection between the two characters, and raises some of the philosophical issues of the novel.It is up to the filmmakers to determine how to best adapt this novel, and they must be careful with their choices in order to ensure a successful film adaptation. While the structure of the book was obviously excellent, there are several elements of the story that the film cannot live without, and some aspects of the plot that may not be adapted.