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| Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow.
In comparison to Washington Irving's original story, Burton's film adaptation is very different. The entire narrative is transformed, and it basically is a new story. However, Burton noted that it was important to him to keep the atmosphere of the story the same as well as the historic character names. Both of those things gave a certain feel to the story that he did not want taken away. Regardless, the plot is completely different and Burton adds many more elements that definitely make it more appealing to Hollywood audiences.
An important element he creates is Ichabod Crane's parental backstory. The audience learns that his mother died when he was a young child and his father was a stern religious man. Because of this, the audience develops a sense of poignancy toward the character and can relate to his early struggles. It also explains his dependency on science and reason. In Washington Irving's story, his parents were not even mentioned and he did not have trouble straying away from the ideals of scientific thought. The flashbacks in Burton's film help the audience understand why Ichabod has become the man he is.
Also in Burton's version, Ichabod does not suddenly disappear at the end. Instead, he saves the day by returning the skull to the Headless Horseman. Additionally, he continues falling in love with Katrina, which was not expanded on in the original story. The ending resolution and addition of romance makes the story more likeable to audiences, since people generally enjoy happy endings and evil being defeated.
Another contrast between the two stories is the addition of Ichabod Crane's accomplice, the young boy. Since his parents have died, he asks Crane if he can join in figuring out the mystery of the Headless Horseman. He helps him along the way and adds to the plot.
Burton's version enhances the story in a way, but really it is completely different so it's hard to compare which one is "better." He uses the original legend in the story, the character names, and the familiar atmosphere, but the entire narrative has been changed. He does much more with Irving's story, making it very different from the original Sleepy Hollow.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013
McCurdy- Sleepy Hollow
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I agree that Burton completely strays from the original story. He really milks the orphan angle, causing Crane and the small boy to both have very fleshed-out orphan background, causing the audience to feel sympathy for them and in turn sympathy for Burton for being the "misunderstood" man that he is. The film definitely ends in a much more Hollywood, feel-good way. Instead of the girl marrying some random guy named Brom, the main character disappearing, and the existence of the horseman remaining ambiguous, Burton gives us a guy gets the girl and defeats evil and learns something about himself in the process sort of ending. You have very nice tags also.
ReplyDeleteCyrus Nabipoor
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ReplyDeleteThis version of Sleepy Hollow is definitely altered to fit the Hollywood formula. If it was faithful to the original story it probably would not have been successful. It ends in the typical way of the hero saving the day and winning the heart of the beautiful girl. If it were anything like the story than in the end the main character would disappear after being rejected by his crush and the existence of the Headless Horsemen would be up for debate. I agree that Burton pretty much created a completely new story with a few of the elements from the original story. The inclusion of the little boy as the accomplice makes perfect sense in terms of Burton’s obsession with the orphan/outsider aspect. Both men have very vivid and violent backgrounds involving the death of their parents and it is almost two perfect that they would end up working together.
ReplyDelete-Yamato O'Connell
I think it is really important to remember that like Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood we see Burton take an Outsider character and make him a hero. I think this is a important characteristic of Burton's films. Burton takes the audience and says look at it from my point of view. All of a sudden, we have fallen in love with a dorky, odd and quirky Ichabod Crane. Burton does this all the time he takes a character that people would normally not empathize with, and turns them into heroes. For me that is the biggest difference between the stories, the way we view Crane. Is he a dorky teacher, or is he a intelligent detective? This is where Burton excels.
ReplyDeleteMichael Pizzini