April 22, 2015

 

Dr.Jekyll & Mr.Hyde

Movie review with insight of the book

     When I first read the book “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, I expected not to enjoy it because I was “judging it by its cover.” Turns out, I enjoyed it more than I thought. Similarly, with the movie, I made my own hypothesis of how I would not enjoy it, but once again, I was wrong and was surprised of how interesting it actually was to take a look back into time and how movies were in the forties.

Negatives:

  • Mr. Utterson, the main character from the novel, was not present, so the comprehension was harder for me to understand because it was easier for me to learn through the prospective of Mr. Utterson.
  • In the film, I based my thought of the transformation from Dr.Jekyll into Mr.Hyde from the book and to be more dramatic and not as “risqué.” I was almost lost in the weirdness of the transformation that I forgot what was actually happening.
  • Also, I pictured the differences in appearance between the two to be a greater amount. I figured Mr.Hyde would be more of a freak with a less intelligent look while Dr.Jekyll was more sophisticated and carried himself in such a way.
  • Finally, there were certain parts in the film that I felt weren’t needed and could have been replaced with something that is a key to the storyline from the book. For example: the scene with Ivy before Mr.Hyde comes to kill her, I feel as though it was unnecessary to have the woman (Ivy and Beatrix) because it changes the storyline into a love story instead of an insane case of a mad man and a crazed scientist.

Positives:

  • The cameramen did an excellent job keeping the movie going with different angles so the film wouldn’t get boring at a side angle or a view straight on. It adds “voice” just like sensory details do in the book.
  • For a film made in the forties, even though it was black and white, there were times throughout the movie that I could imagine what the colors would be like and the expressions that they would have on the movie and the emotions given from the film towards the viewers.
  • Director Victor Fleming did a fantastic job of setting the scenes based on the book details. For example: the laboratory was filled with liquids and substances, beakers, and other tools to make the body changing concoctions.

Overall, I believe that both the book and movie resemble each other very well and follow pretty much the same bases of a storyline. I also agree that even though they may seem boring and “too old” for someone of today’s time, both the movie and book are worth a read and watch.