Fight Club film Vs novel PDF

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Must compare a book to a film using class terms and concepts. This is off of the novel and film, Fight Club...

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Kennedy Smith Movie Vs Book: Fight Club CTAT 145: Intro to Film Appreciation Fight Club Book Vs Film Analysis Everyone talks about how the books are better than the movies, whether it’s a wildly popular phenomenon like “Harry Potter” or a lesser known book to movie transition like “The Shawshank Redemption” which was actually based on a short story by Stephen King in the book “Different Seasons.” I will be focusing on a movie that does a decent job at the daunting task: “Fight Club.” While screenwriter Jim Uhl’s adaptation of author Chuck Palahniuk’s book is uncommonly faithful, there are key plot points in the novel that were changed for the film version. The ends of both the film and the novel differ drastically and should be the primary focus. In Palahniuk’s novel, The Narrator does shoot himself through the cheek, similar to The Narrator, played by Edward Norton, does. What happens next in both the film and the novel is quite different. In the film, The Narrator is reunited with Marla, seemingly rid of Tyler forever and ready to begin to discover a life with Marla. In the novel, The Narrator shoots himself but then wakes up in what he believes is Heaven. However, Palahniuk’s depiction makes it pretty clear that The Narrator has woken up inside a mental institution. The Narrator believes his psychiatrist to be God and continues to see orderlies and other employees in the institution with bruises and cuts telling him that they are eagerly awaiting his return to the fight club Tyler/The Narrator created.

So, in the film The Narrator reaches a middle ground between the two personalities. He kind of absorbs Tyler upon shooting himself and is able to become his main personality again. In the novel, it is Marla and his concern for her that allows him to snap Tyler’s hold and it is pretty unclear on whether or not The Narrator is free of Tyler. It is a semi-common thought that the last chapter may even be narrated by Tyler instead of The Narrator. The ending in the book, if it were to be put on the big screen, could have been too depressing for movie-going audiences. In the novel, Tyler’s big finishing number was purely destructive in nature while in the film there was a touch of politics involved. In the novel, Tyler intends to blow up the Parker-Morris building so that it will fall onto a nearby museum. In the film, he planned the detonation of many buildings. Each of these buildings were big credit card company headquarters and he wanted to erase the debt of as many people as he could. You could say that Tyler was slightly different in the film and the novel. Most of the dialogue Palahniuk wrote was intact in Uhl’s screenplay. However, Tyler is much more charismatic. There is a much darker Tyler in the film that isn’t so charming. However, one thing that the Tyler’s have in common is their goal to eliminate Marla. In both versions she is seen as a threat that could undermine Tyler’s very existence. If The Narrator is able to be with her, he won’t require a Tyler Durden in his life. There are some homoerotic overtones between The Narrator and Tyler in both versions. It is common knowledge through the fanbase that Palahniuk approves this as he has stated it in many interviews. The bond between the men does enter a love triangle. The Narrator becomes very jealous of the fact that Marla taking his time with Tyler away. Uhh also makes the character “Angel Face” a victim of The Narrator’s

jealousy. In both versions, he fights Angel Face and does a lot of damage once he gets some praise from Tyler. Finally, there is Marla. In the film, there is no backstory, while in the novel she gets a work background in funeral homes. The chapter in the novel where The Narrator consoles Marla about the lump she found in her breast by telling her an embarrassing story from his past is not visited in such detail in the film. Instead, The Narrator gives Marla an awkward breast exam and there is no real intimacy between the two. Public opinion is that the novel and the film are fairly good reflections of each other. Really most complaints are about Marla and how she is less interesting and fleshed out. People say she isn’t really a character, but an object or goal of The Narrator’s affection or Tyler’s abuse. But everyone raves about the dialogue staying true and many of the scenes are mirrored. In the end, it was probably a good idea to go with a lighter ending that wouldn’t leave people so sad and depressed....