by Linda Seger
Translating the theme from one medium to another is not always an easy matter, for the way one person handles a theme can be very different from the way another works out an idea. The process first demands deciding on the theme, and then finding dramatic, rather than literary, means to explore it.
Although there may be a number of themes in any story, either one central theme will come to the forefront or the other themes will be aspects of one overriding idea. The strongest films will emphasize one theme that resonates through story, character, and images.
When there are several themes in a story, it’s up to the writer and the director to make some decision about what theme to emphasize. When I was directing the play The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt as my dissertation project, I decided to play out the theme of the process of spiritual corruption. At the end of one performance, another director came up to me and said that when he directed the play, he emphasized the theme of the dangers of capitalism. Both themes were implied in the material, but the play became more cohesive by focusing on one main idea.
Sometimes a film explores connected themes, using the A story to explore, perhaps, the nature of identity, but using subplots to explore related themes such as integrity (integrity means knowing who we are and taking a stand), love (when we find our identity we are better able to reach out to others), perhaps even justice (people who stand up for what they believe are often taking a stand for justice for others, as well as for themselves).
If you use a variety of themes, make sure they’re related to each other, with each subtheme dimensionalizing the main theme. Sometimes writers create unconnected themes, such as an A story about love, a B story about greed, a C story about reincarnation, and a D story about community. If there’s not one clear theme that moves throughout the story, the meaning of the film won’t be clear.
FINDING THE THEME
Obviously, before you can decide how to translate the theme, you need to find it. Themes can be conveyed a number of different ways in a book. To identify themes, look at these areas:
1. The narration of the writer
2. The dialogue
3. The story choices that the writer has made
4. Choices that the characters make
5. Images used in description that can be translated into cinematic images
The Narration
In early novels, such as Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, the theme was readily apparent. The writer simply stopped every now and then to have a chat with the reader about what the story was really about.
In Chapter 11 of Tom Jones, called “Containing Many Rules, and Some Examples Concerning Falling in Love: Descriptions of Beauty, and other More Prudential Inducements to Matrimony,” Fielding discusses his theme of love. “It hath been observed by wise men or women, I forget which, that all persons are doomed to be in love once in their lives. No particular season is, as I remember, assigned to this; but the age at which Miss Bridget was arrived [‘past thirty’] seems to me as proper a period as any to be fixed on for this purpose.” Fielding then continues to discuss aspects of love, the differences between the loves of older women and younger women, and between reasonable and superficial passions.
Contemporary novels are more subtle in their approach. The writer uses the narration to imply and explore the theme. In A Room with a View the narrator gives us insights into Lucy’s struggle to find her identity by mentioning that she did not even know her own opinions about works of art. “She walked about disdainfully [in Florence], unwilling to be enthusiastic over monuments of uncertain authorship or date. There was no one even to tell her which, of all the sepulchral slabs that paved the nave and transepts, was the one that was really beautiful, the one that had been most praised by Mr. Ruskin.”
Many novels are written in the first person. The narrator who tells the story is also a character in the story. In Deliverance, Postcards from the Edge, Stand by Me, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and Rear Window a character tells the story to the reader. This gives us an opportunity to get inside the head of the character, as he or she thinks through the meaning of events.
In Deliverance, Ed reflects upon the inconsequence of his life:
Before I made a move, though, I sat for maybe twenty seconds, failing to feel my heart beat, though at that moment I wanted to. The feeling of the inconsequence of whatever I would do, of anything I would pick up or think about or turn to see was that that moment being set in the very bone marrow … . It was the old, mortal, helpless, time-terrified human feeling, just the same.
This feeling motivates him to join Lewis, Drew, and Bobby on a journey into the wilderness. Although this exploration of the theme isn’t as direct as Henry Fielding’s, nevertheless it’s quite clear that the narrator is taking time away from the telling of the story to reflect upon its meaning.
Dialogue
In many novels there is one character who embodies the theme. In Deliverance Lewis wants to live on the edge, testing himself against the elements, desiring to be prepared so that he can win in life-and-death situations. Ed tells the story of Lewis, who, “a year or two before, had stumbled and crawled for three miles to get out of the woods and back to his car and then driven it home using a stick to work the gas because his right ankle was so painfully broken.”
Lewis motivates his friends by discussing why it’s important they go on this trip down the river. He unrolls the map of the wilderness, saying, “When they take another survey and rework this map … all this in here will be blue … . This whole valley will be under water. But right now it’s wild. And I mean wild; … We really ought to go up there before the real estate people get hold of it and make it over into one of their heavens.”
The film begins with the men already driving into the wilderness, but using much of this same dialogue to discuss their motivation for the trip.
In A Room with a View the theme is stated a number of times in the film by reworking dialogue from the book. In both the book and the film Mr. Emerson says, “My poor boy has brains, but he’s very muddled … . I don’t require you to fall in love with my boy, but I do hope you can help him. If anything can keep him from brooding—and about what? … ‘Things don’t fit.’ … And make my boy realize that at the side of the everlasting why, there is a yes and a yes and a yes.”
In the film, the identity theme is also conveyed when George realizes that he—and Lucy—have changed as a result of encountering passion and violence in Florence.
GEORGE
Something tremendous has happened.
LUCY
Well, thank you again. How quickly these accidents do happen, and then one returns to the old life.
GEORGE
I don’t. Something tremendous has happened to me—and to you.
When adapting dialogue, be aware of the actual words as well as the subtext of what’s being said. This scene is rich with the subtext of George’s sense of connection to Lucy and Lucy’s lack of awareness, of Lucy drawing away from the impact of her experience and George realizing he’s had a life-changing experience. Sometimes the dialogue can’t be directly translated to film, but the subtext could be used as a guide for other dialogue.
Story Choices
The writer plays God when writing a novel, or script, or play. The writer has the opportunity to decide what happens to the characters, and these choices help the reader or audience understand the theme. If a writer is writing about love and there’s a happy ending for the couple, that might imply a theme “ultimately love will win” or “love conquers all.” If there’s not a happy ending, the theme becomes something different—perhaps that “we don’t always get what we want,” or “love is difficult to find” or “love ultimately is destructive.”
In Deliverance, James Dickey makes a number of story decisions. With each story decision, we might ask, “Why did he choose this decision instead of another?” “How does each decision create a different theme?”
We mi
ght ask: Why did he decide that the story takes place right before a dam is built? Why did he decide that this particular dam would destroy the wilderness? Why couldn’t the men take a river trip on a well-traveled river? How does the imminent dam help communicate the theme of the contrast of civilization with the primitive?
Why did he decide that Drew had to get killed? Why did he decide to have the canoes tip over? Why did Bobby have to get raped? Why was it important that Ed watch the rape? Why did he decide to have Lewis kill the rapist, rather than Ed, or Drew, or even Bobby?
What was Dickey trying to explore by having the men confront so many dangers in the wilderness? How does he explore his theme by choosing natural dangers, as well as dangers from the mountain men?
In A Room with a View, why did E. M. Forster have Lucy watch a murder? Why did he decide to have George kiss her, Miss Lavish observe the kiss and then proceed to tell Miss Bartlett about it? What do these actions tell us about Lucy’s coming of age? About her discovery of her real identity?
In The Little Foxes, Regina allows her husband to die because she ignores his pleas for his medicine. Why did Lillian Hellman choose to let him die, rather than to be incapacitated, or in a coma? What does that story choice tell us about the theme of corruption and manipulation?
Making one event happen rather than another gives a whole new set of meanings to the story.
Characters’ Choices
Throughout any story, characters decide to do one thing rather than another. Sometimes these choices are moral choices that help to express themes of good and evil, or themes of integrity and identity. At other times, these decisions tell us about the values driving the characters, or about their ambitions, desires, and goals.
With good writers, these characters’ choices are not arbitrary. In Deliverance, we get insight into the theme by asking, “Why did Ed choose to kill the mountain man, rather than to make a run for it through the rapids?”
In Amadeus, why did Salieri choose to actively destroy Mozart through his masquerade, rather than by spreading rumors or swallowing his pride and retreating into obscurity?
In High Noon, what was the significance of the sheriff standing up to the gunslingers? What does that say about the nature of integrity?
Each of these character’s choices not only add new dimensions to the character, but help the writer communicate theme.
Story Descriptions and Images
In a novel or short story, the writer needs to use a certain amount of description to give the reader the context, and to build the story. Although some of this description simply tells us where we are, or what the character is wearing, some of the description is carefully chosen to build an image.
Pictures have meaning. And the pictures that the writer chooses to show are pictures that can help convey an idea. Sometimes a story contains a great many light images—daylight, the sun, bright light. At other times a story uses images of night and darkness to communicate ideas about corruption, evil, or decay.
Deliverance uses images of ugliness, disease, danger, and brokenness to tell us about the nature of the primitive, applying it to both people and the place:
In the few times I had ever been in the rural South I had been struck by the number of missing fingers … . There had also been several people with some form of crippling or twisting illness, and some blind or one-eyed … . And so many snakebites deep in the woods as one stepped over a rotten log, so many domestic animals suddenly turning and crushing one against the splintering side of a barn stall … . But I was there, and there was no way for me to escape, except by water, from the country of nine-fingered people.
Writers will often build images by repeating the same image, by adding details to the original image, and by using contrasting images.
In Gone With the Wind, the repetition of images of the death of the Old South helps the reader understand the changes from a period of romance and graciousness to one of corruption and pragmatism.
In A Room with a View, the writer and filmmaker build up images of passion, sensuality, and violence by first showing images of statues in violent poses, then the fight and the killing, and then they present a number of sensual scenes, such as the scene with the carriage driver and his amorous companion, the scene of George kissing Lucy, and the scene of George walking home in the rain. All of these images bring Lucy out of her safe existence, where others defined her, into experiences that force her to define herself.
Many stories contrast images. Deliverance contrasts wildnerness images that contain beauty—“We were among trees now, lots of them … . I was surprised at how much color there was in them … . I had no notion what the trees were, but they were flaming”—with the wilderness images of ugliness and decay and violence.
The pictures that the writer selects become important means for communicating the theme. Although, in films, many images will be brought to the material by the director, if they aren’t at least implied in the adaptation, the director won’t have anything to work with.
METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING THE THEME
When I’m called into a project at the story stage, before the writing of the script, I usually start by looking at the structure of the story. Secondly, I want to see if the story choices also convey the theme (or, with some changes, can be reworked to strengthen the theme).
I’m a list maker. My work as a script consultant is very analytical, so making lists of story events, character choices, thematic statements and images is particularly helpful for me to break down a book in order to evaluate the material.
For instance, if I were working with A Room with a View, I might begin marking, or listing, some of the identity statements that E. M. Forster mentions. I would mark both narration and dialogue, such as “Lucy, who had not yet acquired decency, … rose to her feet, exclaiming ’Oh, Why, it’s Mr. Beebe,” and “A few minutes ago she had been all high spirits, talking as a woman of culture, and half persuading herself that she was full of originality,” and Mr. Emerson’s words “My dear, I think that you are repeating what you have heard older people say.”
Several statements about Lucy’s piano playing let us know that she has a Beethovenesque passion hidden within her, if she could only let it out.
Some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic … yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and Lucy had decided that they should triumph … . Mr. Beebe … pondered over this illogical element in Miss Honeychurch … and made a remark, ‘If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting—both for us and for her.
From this small list, it’s possible to see that the theme emphasizes Lucy’s lack of identity. And already there is some dialogue that is usable, some comments that are purely literary and not necessary to adapt, and at least one statement about her piano playing that can be turned almost word-for-word into a comment by Mr. Beebe on that subject.
Further on in the book, we can see that for Lucy, learning about her identity involves first making a wrong decision to be engaged to Cecil, and then making a right decision for George, as she learns who she is and what she wants. Although the book has a great deal of narration about the theme, it is clear that the theme is reinforced by choices that can be translated into drama.
If as a writer you find this list-making too logical and analytical, you may find it more helpful to read the story and then free-associate with it. When you finish reading, what images remain in your head? If there aren’t any, chances are it’s not a very visual story, and images will need to be created for the translation. What fascinates you about the material? What associations do you make with the theme? Does it apply in some way to your own life? If so, what other ideas do you bring to this theme? Is the theme universal, or does it only apply to a small number of people?
A Room with a View might make you begin to think of your own grappling for identity when you were Lucy’s age. You might identify with George, who believes that “things don’t fit” and has to learn to say yes
to the universe. Try to think of certain situations, people, and events that helped you understand yourself. These ideas will also help to clarify whether you are working with a universal and accessible theme.
Many writers and producers turn to novels and plays to find material for film specifically because the themes are often deeper, more dimensional, more unique than in many original scripts. But in film more than in any other medium the theme needs to be carefully balanced with the story and characters. If it is presented through abstractions or overwhelms the action the film can become static, talky, philosophical, pedantic, cerebral. If the theme works through the action and character revelations and images, it can make the film more accessible, more involving, and ultimately more successful.
TRANSLATING THEMES INTO FILM
If the theme is completely conveyed through narration in the book, the adaptation will be difficult, perhaps close to impossible. What the author talks about can often be too “on-the-nose” and pedantic to put into dialogue. Some narration simply can’t be translated. It contains no story or character choices, and there is no way to create an image around the idea. Under those circumstances, careful thought needs to be given as to whether adaptation is worth the difficulty, when there is little chance of success.