Explore Film Adaptation by Examining The Long Goodbye
By all accounts, Robert Altman’s adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye is a “deliberate departure” from the novel, not a “faithful” adaptation with strict “fidelity” to its source. The article, “Adaptation” by Robert Merrill discusses the extremely divided and diverse critical responses to the 1973 film. Some some critics call it a “travesty” but others point out how the film is “essentially faithful to the spirit of Chandler” and an example of “how adaptation may work best when it does not strive to be very literal or even, in some senses of the word, very faithful.”
Write a 450-500 word essay about The Long Goodbye as an adaptation of the novel in relation to this quotation: “A successful adaptation balances ‘the comfort of ritual and recognition with the delight of surprise and novelty,’ not only carrying the aura with it, but contributing to its continual expansion.”
To craft your response, please adhere to each of the following criteria:
- Have a thesis statement and supportive points
- Use specific passages from the novel and scenes from the film to support your view (and use in-text citations).
- Also support your view from at least two of the three assigned articles on the Module 12 Overview page and use in-text citations. As a reminder, these are the following:
- Article on “Adaptation” from The Chicago School of Media Theory;
- Turner Classic Movies page on The Long Goodbye by Sean Axmaker;
- “Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye: Adaptation or Travesty?” by Robert Merrill.
- Focus your commentary on specific elements of the film that differs from the novel. Discuss the effects on the overall “spirit of the original.”
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