One Day
It's been a busy old week in the Cat House. Following Tuesday's pregnancy testing excitement, RH and I went to see Interpol on Wednesday. They were excellent, and my ears are yet to recover. On Friday RS came round for food and wine, and then yesterday RH and I went for dinner, before going to the cinema to see One Day.
Today, I am mostly going to tell you about One Day, which is one of my best beloved books. I was full of anticipation, and a little apprehensive. Because a film of a book can kill a book stone dead. In this case, the concept of a day a year for 20 years worked brilliantly in the book, but I was unsure how that would translate to the big screen. Reviews I'd read made me anxious, and I actually suggested to RH that we should sacrifice the tickets and skip it, but he insisted.
So. Reports about Anne Hathaway's accent are entirely justified. Why they didn't just make Emma American, I don't know, as nowhere in the film do they discuss her Yorkshire roots. Characterisation is weak overall, and you're left wondering exactly why Emma likes Dexter, who is essentially charmless, if utterly dishy. Emma's portrayed as the little woman, hanging on for him, there's no mention of her political leanings, and the things which make her seem real are a little lost. The whole "affair with the headmaster" bit is skipped - as are a lot of parts of the book - which leaves her looking drippy.
The year concept works okay, but the length of the film means some years flash by - one's simply a shot of Emma swimming. Eh?! The narrative which gives an insight into the characters is pretty much lost, and while the dialogue tries to cram in enough to encapsulate the characters' characters, it doesn't work brilliantly. The letters early on in the book give a real flash inside Emma's head particularly, and it's a shame there couldn't have been a way to get parts of this in.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. And yes, I wept. Not as much as RH, mind, but he wells up at an ad with a cat on it. I'm glad I saw it, but I think the trick here has to be to see it as a film in its own right, not a film of a book, which is harder than it sounds.
One Day - Bjork
Labels: Interpol, One Day film review
posted by Cat @ Sunday, August 28, 2011
5 Comments:
Glad you enjoyed it. From what you've said and other reviews I've read, I may wait for it to come out on DVD :-)
I did enjoy it, but had my expectations been higher I'd have definitely been disappointed. There's a scathing review in today's Guardian - some of the comments made me laugh.
It doesn't really sound like my kind of thing, especially after that Guardian review.
Interpol on the other hand, yes! Headlining The End Of The Road Festival this weekend and very excited. x
Vix, they were great - did you see any of the Leeds/Reading coverage on BBC3? I think they played the same set here. My friend RS is off to End of the Road too - I hope the weather is kind to both of you!
Still need to read this book!!! My friend borrowed it when it came through the door from Amazon because I have so much course reading to do I figured it would be better out of my hands. I'm excited to read it though.
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