After reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, I learned there was a movie production based on the book. I was intrigued about how these two would compare and decided to watch the movie. This movie was released in 1982 and directed by Jeremy Kagan. When I looked up the movie I saw that it was only 1 hour and 47 minutes which seemed really short to me. I figured that there were parts of the book that had been cut, but I was curious to see what.
The beginning of the movie started out very similarly to how the book had started — at a ball game. Towards the end of the game Reuven had been brought in to pitch and Danny was at bat. Just like in the book, Danny hits the ball right back at Reuven's eye and he ends up in the hospital. In the book, there is a whole chapter about Reuven getting to the hospital, but in the movie, there was just a scene change where we flip from the accident to him being in the hospital bed.
While Reuven is in the hospital for a long time in the book, most of that is skipped over in the movie. In the book, Reuven forms relationships with some other people in the ward — Billy, a young blind boy, and Tony Savo, a former boxer. Reuven’s dad also comes to visit him a few different times while he is in the hospital. And while Reuven is in the ward, towards the end of his stay, he becomes friends with Danny. In the movie, there are only two scenes with Reuven in the hospital. The first is when his dad comes to see him. His dad tells him about his eye and brings him a radio so he can stay informed about the outside world. The other thing that takes place while Reuven is in the hospital is Danny's apology. In the movie, he comes in and tries to talk to Reuven but Reuven doesn't want to talk to him. He keeps turning up the radio and telling Danny to go away. That is the only time Danny comes into the hospital to see Reuven. Once Reuven is out of the hospital, Danny comes over to their house and that is where they start to talk and become friends.
Another difference between the book and the movie had to do with Reuven going and living with Danny's family. In the book, Reuven went to live with Danny after his dad suffered a heart attack, whereas, in the movie, Reuven went to live with Danny's family because his dad was going to Chicago to speak about the foundation of a Jewish state. While at Danny's house in the movie, Reuven starts to fall in love with Danny's older sister. That never happens in the book. I thought that this change allowed the audience to see how differently the Hasidic community treats relations between boys and girls. At a party to celebrate a wedding, we see the boys and girls celebrating separately, and it is also at that party that Reuven learns from Danny that his sister's marriage has been arranged for her.
Overall, I thought this movie was a really good adaptation of the book. While it did change some parts, it stayed very true to the story. The movie did a great job of showing us what the Hasidic community was like and how it would seem for an outsider like Reuven or us. I would definitely recommend this movie to anybody who enjoyed the book.
My goal for this project was to compare the book and the movie. I knew that I wanted to write and respond about them and I think this response turned out pretty well. There was a lot I could talk about, so choosing just a few things to write about in this response was a little challenging.
After reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, I learned there was a movie production based on the book. I was intrigued about how these two would compare and decided to watch the movie. This movie was released in 1982 and directed by Jeremy Kagan. When I looked up the movie I saw that it was only 1 hour and 47 minutes which seemed really short to me. I figured that there were parts of the book that had been cut, but I was curious to see what.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the movie started out very similarly to how the book had started — at a ball game. Towards the end of the game Reuven had been brought in to pitch and Danny was at bat. Just like in the book, Danny hits the ball right back at Reuven's eye and he ends up in the hospital. In the book, there is a whole chapter about Reuven getting to the hospital, but in the movie, there was just a scene change where we flip from the accident to him being in the hospital bed.
While Reuven is in the hospital for a long time in the book, most of that is skipped over in the movie. In the book, Reuven forms relationships with some other people in the ward — Billy, a young blind boy, and Tony Savo, a former boxer. Reuven’s dad also comes to visit him a few different times while he is in the hospital. And while Reuven is in the ward, towards the end of his stay, he becomes friends with Danny. In the movie, there are only two scenes with Reuven in the hospital. The first is when his dad comes to see him. His dad tells him about his eye and brings him a radio so he can stay informed about the outside world. The other thing that takes place while Reuven is in the hospital is Danny's apology. In the movie, he comes in and tries to talk to Reuven but Reuven doesn't want to talk to him. He keeps turning up the radio and telling Danny to go away. That is the only time Danny comes into the hospital to see Reuven. Once Reuven is out of the hospital, Danny comes over to their house and that is where they start to talk and become friends.
Another difference between the book and the movie had to do with Reuven going and living with Danny's family. In the book, Reuven went to live with Danny after his dad suffered a heart attack, whereas, in the movie, Reuven went to live with Danny's family because his dad was going to Chicago to speak about the foundation of a Jewish state. While at Danny's house in the movie, Reuven starts to fall in love with Danny's older sister. That never happens in the book. I thought that this change allowed the audience to see how differently the Hasidic community treats relations between boys and girls. At a party to celebrate a wedding, we see the boys and girls celebrating separately, and it is also at that party that Reuven learns from Danny that his sister's marriage has been arranged for her.
Overall, I thought this movie was a really good adaptation of the book. While it did change some parts, it stayed very true to the story. The movie did a great job of showing us what the Hasidic community was like and how it would seem for an outsider like Reuven or us. I would definitely recommend this movie to anybody who enjoyed the book.
My goal for this project was to compare the book and the movie. I knew that I wanted to write and respond about them and I think this response turned out pretty well. There was a lot I could talk about, so choosing just a few things to write about in this response was a little challenging.