Clash of the Titans: Bridget Jones's Diary - Movie v. Book
Posted by Clare , Tuesday, April 20, 2010 10:21 AM
So I will be the first to admit that my title is way dramatic, but I like coming up with headings-so just let it happen.
I'm not sure if everyone noted this but in the opening credits Helen Fielding, the author of BJD, was listed a one of the screen writers for the movie. I thought this was interesting considering the altered subplot, increase in Bridget weight (she was around 10-15 heavier in the film)- among other added and altered things.
Obviously, we know the world of movies is much different than that of books and some liberties had to be taken- but I do believe the focus of the movie was more about the happenings in the plot; whereas, in the book -clearly because it was a diary- the focus was on Bridget's personal and private reactions to the things going on around her.
We could look at this as a manner of "forwarding" the book to the movie, although I see it more as the author and director's interpretation (are those the same things? This fancy writing lingo confuses me) into film. How would Bridget's life look to an outsider, one who could not possibly know what she was thinking. Even though, Bridget does sometimes narrate and there is writing on the screen, we forget the significance of the diary, and see Bridget as someone out in the world rather than a young woman sitting in her apartment scribbling away in her diary.
As far as successfully translating the book into a movie,where the story and characters are concerned- I believe they are both accurately represented and given justice on the screen. However, I think the experience of learning Bridget's story loses someone it's charm in the film- we lose the insight of being inside Bridget's head.
I noticed too that Helen Fielding was one of the screen writers! I think that the movie was both the forwarding of the book and a little of how the director interpreted it. I agree that the movie accurately depicted the story and characters.