The Passing of Arthur and Excalibur
John Boorman adapted the "Passing of Arthur" in the movie"Excalibur." Movies are not the only adaptations of Tennyson'spoem but there are several art and music adaptations. Examplesof these adaptations include music by Loreena McKennit andpaintings by John William Waterhouse, Howard Pyle and ArthurRackham. In Bela Balazs's Art Form and Material Balazs statesthat a good adaptation is a reinterpretation of the original. Boorman uses nature and color to recreate the atmosphere of theoriginal text. These techniques enhance the richness of themovie, provide a more in depth view of Arthur's life and make the Tennyson's descriptive writing allows the reader to form detailed pictures. The atmosphere Tennyson creates focuses a loton the beauty of nature. During the scene when Bedivere throwsExcalibur in the lake he describes the area with "zigzag paths,and juts of pointed rock, the shining levels of the lake...thewinter moon, long cloud and frost." He produces an atmosphere of Tennyson concentrates on the image of the winter moon whileBedivere tries to get rid of the Excalibur. This picture makesthe reader think that the setting is a win
One question that comes to mind after looking at both thepoem and movie is: why would the director make changes from theoriginal text? An adaptation is entitled to have somedifferences but that do not change the context of the originaltext. It parallels what Arthur was goingthrough at the same time. Night closely related to winterbecause both are very dark and bleak times. There are times where the director goesto great lengths just to form the perfect scene. Arthur wasending his life just like the sun but was reborn just as the sunis the next day. Arthur lays injured waiting to be reborn andthe sun is setting behind him leaving a red glow over the wholesetting. There is also a lot of symbolism behind the sunset. The lack of lightshows the sadness happening to Arthur. If anything changed, it would be thefeeling the reader has about Arthur's death. Sidney Lumet states in Making Movies "there are nounimportant decisions in a movie. The moononly comes out during the night. Art directionprogresses on its own according to the text. Scenes can changecolor, style, etc. Changing the winter moon to a red sunset did not manipulatethe plot in any way.
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Acceptance Essays
