To the Lighthouse, a novel by Virginia Woolf, has enormously innate and insightful stream of consciousness. It is evidently found, many a times, in the forms of literary texts and its film adaptations that texts explain better than the frames. In light of the current audience of 21st century, majority would go to films, than to read texts. But, artistic liberty or creative liberty takes place in films, sometimes for attracting the larger audience or sometimes to do experiments with frames. This blog also covers a film adaptation of much celebrated novel To the Lighthouse.
In order to understand the film frames, one may need to be familiar with the original text also. For better understanding here are some links to have quick view.
Film: To the Lighthouse
Director: Colin Gregg
Released: 1983
Frames from the film
The third frame, that directly introduces us to a sleeping girl, affirms the viewers' former prediction about the story of film.
Lily Briscoe is a character who finds her own voice through her painting. She paints a landscape and then tries to paint Mrs. Ramsay also. She is thinking about life. Her dialogues are: "Sea, teams with eternal life, yet threatens with oblivion."
Lily further thinks about James, that he is like a kite and the string is in the hands of Mrs. Ramsay. This frame also captures the textual reference of this line. James is coming down to the hill like a kite.
This is the fourth frame which is an entry of James, a character whose wish is to visit the lighthouse. The night scene captures the longingness and waiting for something. When a character is awake in the late night, it is assumed that he/she is thinking something significant, or worrying something, planning something, wishing something. Here James looks at the lighthouse through the window. His wish is going to be a driving force for the film.
There are some novels also written specially for the film adaptation which carries the screenplay and narration both. But here in this film, director has taken the liberty to put this core idea of the novel at the very initial frames to give better viewing experience to the audience.
The white dot in the fifth frame is actually the far stated lighthouse at which James is looking. The narration of camera and narration of books are quite different. We see the lighthouse through the eyes of James.
Those who have read the novel may quickly get the idea about the summer house. This big house having a design of around early 20th century, conveys the wealth and prosperity of the people included in the story.
Mr. Ramsay who is interested in philosophical talks at dining table. He is talking about a metaphysical essay "Appearance and Reality" by F H Bradley.
James biting his thumb nails, is a sign of frustration and anger towards his father. In the novel we find a long description of James' hate towards his father that even he could find and axe or any weapon, he would have directly stabbed it to his father's chest. And here this expression is framed with grinning face of James.
A girl is looking at James and Mrs. Ramsay from the bushes. The gaze of child in this way is always with the motive of comparison. Parents can't be biased with the love and acceptance they give to their children. But here Mrs. Ramsay seems to be more close to James.
For a wealthy family, playing cricket was the favorite pastime activity. Here Ramsay family plays cricket while they are on the vacation stay at the summer house.
Lily further thinks about James, that he is like a kite and the string is in the hands of Mrs. Ramsay. This frame also captures the textual reference of this line. James is coming down to the hill like a kite.
Charles Tansley wants his scholarly dissertation to be checked by Mr. Ramsay and he finds some opportunity to talk about this. But Mr. Ramsay seems a bit loose in checking the chapters.
1:08:11
Lily Briscoe paints Mrs. Ramsay. As the novel says, Mrs. Ramsay wants herself to be remembered for long time. In addition, Lily also wants to pursue her painting. As it was a quite rebellious act in the early 20th century. It was a time of end of Victorian era. Still the Victorian thoughts were quite prevalent.
1:12:55
In this frame, James is upset by the striking order of his father. Mr. Ramsay harshly said, "There will be no trip to the lighthouse tomorrow." Mrs. Ramsay consoles James.
1:34:50
Mr. Ramsay at a dinner table. When Augustus Carmichael talks about a poem he had written at 17 years and tries to remember the magazine in which the poem was published. Here, Mr. Ramsay speaks a significant dialogue. That, "What we produce in the flush of our youth, is often the best we ever produce, then we sing our melody. From then on its elaborate harmonies and orchestration, but the melody is already sung."
1:48:18
The boat is now sailed off to the lighthouse. James wish is now fulfilled.
1:51:30
Lily completes her painting of Mr. Ramsay. She pursued her passion and fulfilled it.
In the blog of Dilip Barad sir, some questions were also asked with reference to this novel.
1) Reference to Shakespeare
Mrs. Ramsay reads Shakespeare's sonnets.
2) Reference to India
There is also a passing reference of India in the novel. Here are the quotes from the original text where India is mentioned.
(1) "...for reasons she could not explain, for their chivalry and valour, for the fact that they negotiated treaties, ruled India, controlled finance; finally for an attitude towards herself which no woman could fail to feel or to find agreeable... to the marrow of her bones!"
This was the reference found in the first part The Window. Mrs. Ramsay's approach towards the hospitality and his affection with men's care taking. The reasons are vaguely discussed why Mrs. Ramsay is much leaned on the nature of hospitality.
(2) "... Bank of England, and the Indian Empire, of ringed fingers and lace, though to them all there was something in this of the essence of beauty, which called out the manliness in their girlish hearts, and made them, ... been invited to stay with them—in the Isle of Skye."
India is described, in this paragraph, as prosperous and a good place to live. India has empathy and love with romance and adventure.
"(3) Holding her black parasol very erect, and moving with an indescribable air of expectation, as if she were going to meet some one round the corner, she told the story; an affair at Oxford with some girl; an early marriage; poverty; going to India; translating a little poetry “very beautifully, I believe,” being willing to teach the boys Persian or Hindustanee, but what really was the use of that?—and then lying, as they saw him, on the lawn."
This excerpt is from the first part. August Carmichael thinks about India and its a kind of achievement to him to visit India.
(4) "But which was it to be? They had all the trays of her jewel-case open. The gold necklace, which was Italian, or the opal necklace, which Uncle James had brought her from India; or should she wear her amethysts?"
This is a reference where Rose wants to choose which necklace to wear. Mrs. Ramsay also helps her out. A necklace from India is a sign of some worthy possession of a valuable things which is famous even outside India.
(5) "The autumn trees, ravaged as they are, take on the flash of tattered flags kindling in the gloom of cool cathedral caves where gold letters on marble pages describe death in battle and how bones bleach and burn far away in Indian sands."
Here, India is taken as an unknown yet good place to visit.
(6) "Her horizon seemed to her limitless. There were all the places she had not seen; the Indian plains; she felt herself pushing aside the thick leather curtain of a church in Rome."
Again here, India is described as a breathtaking land. A desirable place to travel.
3) Reference to Philosophy
* Philosophical points are discussed by Mr. Ramsay. He, at the dinner table, talks about F. H. Bradley's essay, Appearance and Reality.
* One more reference of philosophy is, when Mrs. Ramsay thinks about her husband Mr. Ramsay and his work. She thinks about a philosophical trajectory, that a persons thinking can be patterned from A to Z. But in Mr. Ramsay's case, he is unable to move beyond Q. He is stuck somewhere at Q. In short, Mrs. Ramsay thinks that her husband isn't making a mark in his philosophical field. She is also afraid that someone would become more successful than Mr. Ramsay, as if this was any race of thinking.
We get some quotes from original text about this as following.
"It was a splendid mind. For if thought is like the keyboard of a piano, divided into so many notes, or like the alphabet is ranged in twenty-six letters all in order, then his splendid mind had one by one, firmly and accurately, until it had reached, say, the letter Q. He reached Q. Very few people in the whole of England ever reach Q."
"He had not genius; he laid no claim to that: but he had, or might have had, the power to repeat every letter of the alphabet from A to Z accurately in order. Meanwhile, he stuck at Q. On, then, on to R."
References
Barad, Dilip. India in Virginia Woolf's Lighthouse. blog.dilipbarad.com/2015/09/india-in-virginia-woolfs-lighthouse.html
Barad, Dilip. Worksheet: Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse. blog.dilipbarad.com/2014/09/worksheet-virginia-woolfs-to-lighthouse.html
Thank You!
No comments:
Post a Comment