LIVE FILM PROGRAM (ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE THROUGH ZOOM & VIMEO)

Border (Ali Abbasi, 2018, 110min.)
Christopher Llewellyn Reed, chair, film & moving image department, Stevenson University

Based on a short story by John Ajvide Lindqvist (who wrote the novel Let the Right One In, itself adapted for the screen), this film gives us a twisted fantasy where nothing is quite what it seems, and that’s all for the best. Protagonist Tina, with her scarred skin, beady eyes, excessive hair, and bad teeth, is seen as an odd duck (or ugly duckling) by all, yet her ability to smell fear and discomfort makes her an ideal customs official. And then, one day, she meets a man just like her, and nothing is thereafter the same. Great performances and crazy plot twists make this a delightful arthouse horror-cum-fairytale-cum-thriller, with some fascinating changes to the original text.

No fee for members, subscribers, and guests of members and subscribers

Film Series Overview - Take 2: Cinematic Adaptations of the Written Word

Adapting any creative work from one medium into a vastly different one is always tricky. Readers of literature, in particular, tend to feel a very strong ownership of any source novel or story that gets the cinematic treatment, and often complain about how much the book has been altered—usually not for the better—in its transformation. But writers and film directors work under vastly different imperatives, and what is good as text may not be good as image, and vice versa. The best adaptations are often those where, faithful or not to the book, the director has a vision, and the movie has a raison d'être beyond the mercenary. Join us as we examine six provocative literary adaptations and explore how the written word translates to the screen. And don’t worry: if you don’t have time to read the original text, we’ll explain how the films compare and contrast with their sources. In order, our movies are Luce (Julius Onah, 2019), Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016), The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950), Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960), Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995), and Border (Ali Abbasi, 2018).