American Pastoral

[Gold Trumpet]

Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Evan Rachel Wood

Director: Phillip Noyce
Writers: John Romano, Philip Roth

Plot: The film is based on the novel by Phillip Roth (The Human Stain) and revolves around devoted family man Seymour Levov, a golden boy and star athlete who is living the American dream in postwar America - becoming wealthy and marrying the most beautiful woman (Connelly) in town . His picture-perfect life unravels when they learn that their daughter (Wood) breaks family ranks to become an anti-Vietnam War radical and bombs a post office.
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One of my favorite writers is being treaded on so I'm starting this thread. The writer is the novelist Philip Roth. During the period of 1993 to 2000, his output was amazing. He won 2 PEN/Faulker awards, a National Book award and a Pulitzer. And he did it all with different books. He only wrote one book during that period that didn't win a major award.

First, his novel The Human Stain was adapted. See, I understood that adaptation. That novel had a plot that went the entire length of the book. The problem is that American Pastoral has a plot that only lasts 40 pages. The rest of the book is novel writing at its least adaptable. Take the focus that Faulkner had on the psyche with his most daring novels and implant it to a confessional writing style that focuses on the intensity of one man's anger. There are hardly any "scenes" in American Pastoral. It is one man reliving his most painful moments over and over again to the point that reader is really bothered to keep reading. The effect is a punch to the gut. Its as close to witnessing a hemorrhage on page as I've ever seen before. Yet American Pastoral did win the Pulitzer. I just never thought Hollywood would every try adapt it. Even a standard adaptation has to deal with the intensity of this book in some way. If you get away from its style you still have to look at its content.

I think there is a way to adequately adapt this novel. Even the adaptation of Finnegan's Wake in the 60s was commended by most film critics. I just don't think a Philip Noyce film starring Jennifer Connelly and husband really works. A Dardenne style realism mixed with an Oliver Stone fervor of editing could have been the perfest mesh.

[pete]

will jennifer connelly stand on a pier in this one?