You cannot underestimate what a radical thing it is to change from one art form to another. An author slaves to start with just the right word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph. The sounds of the words are crucial. But all the demands of words and prose are lifted when you make a movie. The physical presence makes many unnecessary and some necessary ones impossible. So you serve two masters as an adapting filmmaker: the author's intention and the needs of film. Sometimes "fidelity" can mean only focusing on one day of a story told over twenty years in a book.


As quoted in "Mansfield Park and Film : An Interview with Patricia Rozema" by Hiba Moussa, in Literature/Film Quarterly 32, No. 4 (2004), p. 255

Patricia Rozema Quotes

You cannot underestimate what a radical thing it is to change from one art form to another. An author slaves to start with just the right word,...

You cannot underestimate what a radical thing it is to change from one art form to another. An author slaves to start with just the right word,...

You cannot underestimate what a radical thing it is to change from one art form to another. An author slaves to start with just the right word,...

You cannot underestimate what a radical thing it is to change from one art form to another. An author slaves to start with just the right word,...