Comparison

No Country for Old Men: Film and the Novel

No Country for Old Men: Film and the Novel

Introduction

A book and a novel are different works with different ways of telling about things. A direct comparison of the two might reveal the changes that have been brought in the film adaptation of the book in various areas to bring out the effects required that would appeal much to the audience. Cormac McCarthy's famous novel No Country for Old Men was adapted to an award winning film in 2007 by Joel and Ethan Coen. Upon reading and watching the movie there can be found some changes in the plot or setting from the book to the movie in terms of exclusion and inclusion of some details and changes in the to make them successful.

Discussion

The movie No Country for Old Men when compared to the book can be found to be doing justice to the source with most of the dialogue delivered as it was written in the book with the structure of the narrative also the same. According to the necessity, there have been some trimmings and condensing but important details are brought out to make it coherent and in line with the theme of the novel. Some changes in the plot of the movie as noticed include a very important scene that comes in the end. It is when Chigurh confronts Carla and an opportunity is provided to her to save her life with a flip of a coin. In the novel she chooses heads but the result is the opposite which states the verdict of her life and is killed. In the movie, on the other hand, Carla resists saying her life is more than just a flip of a coin and she won't accept him reduce her to that. The end result is though the same but it brings out a different personality of the character. In the book she capitulates while in the movie she resists. Her defiance though a brief one, means a lot to add to the movie. It also signifies that Carla does not compromise on her humanity contrasting it with Chigurh.

The fact that Carla was killed or she survived is still a debatable topic as far as the movie was concerned. The movie does not show her fate and this silence on the matter speaks much louder than if they had shown it happening. There can be inferences on both ends such as the Chigurh checking his shoes and cleaning it, depicting that he might have killed her, but since she stood up against him it can also be assumed that he have not killed her. If one has not read the novel, her fate is something one would keep pondering on since there are instances that can make the audience infer it according to their perception.

Apart from that there are many little changes in the plot that are made for the adaptation of the movie from the ...