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Ethan From --- Contrast Betwe

Many novels are being made into films nowadays, resulting in media exposure and perhaps an increased amount of readers for the novel. However, the film seldom shows the true essence of the book, and can result in a misleading view of the novel.
In the case of “Ethan From”, the movie has sought to capture the haunting tragedy as it was portrayed in the novel by its author, Edith Wharton. The movie starts with the introduction of the equivalent of the novel’s narrator, now a pastor instead of an engineer. The reason for this change in roles is perhaps for the narrator to have a better reason for judging the people of Starkfield in the way they treat the Froms. Otherwise, the audience might find the fact that a young engineer is judging the people a bit strange. However, the change results in a lot more dialogue and interaction between the narrator and the people in the town. This is different from the detachment the narrator has which is prevalent in the novel.
The movie adequately captures the bleak and dreary mood in the novel. The camera shows the From household in the middle of nowhere, with no houses nearby, in the middle of winter. This, with the addition of appropriate music, creates a bleak atmosphere, and there is no doubt in the audience’s mind of an impending sense of gloom and tragedy. The darkness of the house amongst the pure white of the snow is a symbol of the darkness within the house. It shows that the people living in the house, the Froms, are not happy people. They have their burdens and a darkness in their lives that is further intensified by the joy of the people around them. The audience is perhaps more aware than readers of the book of the dreariness of the isolated town as they are shown visually, aspects of isolation and desertion that the reader would have to imagine in their own minds. The poverty of the Froms is also evident as the From house is shown to be old and worn. Just as it is described in...