Seabiscuit- the Movie and the Book, Two Approaches Aiming to Achieve Disparate Sensory Experiences - Essay Example

Seabiscuit- The Movie and the Book, Two Approaches Aiming to Achieve Disparate Sensory Experiences of the Visual Arts and Film Studies Name of the Concerned Professor November 28, 2014 Seabiscuit- The Movie and the Book, Two Approaches Aiming to Achieve Disparate Sensory Experiences It is indeed true that the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend authored by Laura Hillenbrand and its film adaptation named Seabiscuit, directed by Gary Ross do differ in many ways. Many of these differences have to do with the fact that cinema and the written word are two approaches towards showcasing stories that aim to contrive and achieve disparate sensory experiences. In that context, the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend is exclusively limited to the power commanded by the written word. Thereby, it aims to influence the minds of the readers by crafting an age, contriving the attendant characters and showcasing an animal protagonist, with the objective of making them have an overall feel of this nonfiction drama through the medium of written word. In contrast, the movie version that is Seabiscuit is both versatile and constrained in many ways. The movie Seabiscuit does afford to extend to the viewers a very rich and all round sensory experience, going by the fact that it could directly stimulate the senses of the viewers. However, cinema being an art form constrained in terms of its time span, the need to retain emotional and factual continuity and the imperative to bring in drama, the movie does drop much in terms of the facts, characters and details, when compared to the book. Thereby, the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend is a well researched, detailed and engrossing nonfictional, biographical narrative, providing much information about and insight into the Great Depression, the sport of horse racing, and how a legendary race horse symbolized the resilient and unflinching spirit of those times. In comparison, the 2003 movie Seabiscuit happens to be a miniaturized human drama involving three shattered humans and an equally reclusive race horse, which somehow helps them come to terms with their hurt and loss. Yet, irrespective of the differences shown by these two works of art, going by the medium they subscribe to, to showcase an era and a sport, the movie Seabiscuit though compromising on facts, characters and details, does manage to retain the quintessential spirit and feel inherent in the book it is based on. When it comes to comparing and contrasting the film and the book it is based on, one does need to mention that they very names of the book and the movie do elaborate on as to how they differ in terms of their focus, appeal and the intended impact. The book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, by its very name does convey that it’s a non-fiction, biographical and historical work that conveys the feel of an era, a sport and a slice of history, by portraying a legendary race horse as an iconic figure that in more than one way enveloped the American ability to bounce back in the face of crisis (Tookey, 2003, p. 52). The book relies on exhaustive research, a religious sincerity to facts and details, and the inputs and facts facilitated by an array of concerned people and experts interviewed by Laura Hillenbrand, to elaborate on and analyze the intended topic with much veracity, credibility and historical accuracy. The book takes a legendary race horse and uses it as a hub to build on the attendant historical, social, economic and cultural details that signified the Great Depression and the unrelenting American attitude that tided over those tough times. Thereby, the canvass selected by the book is very expansive, vast and fact based. However, the same cannot be said of the movie Seabiscuit. The very name of the movie that is Seabiscuit, does not represent a historical era, but rather connotes a state of mind, an attitude towards life, and a knack for getting over adversities, in the face of all odds. Thereby, if in the book the horse Seabiscuit is representative of an era, in the movie it symbolizes a state of mind, an approach towards grappling with the pains and challenges posed by life. Hence, to be faithful to the cinematic mode of telling a story, the movie drops much of the characters, facts and details mentioned in the book, to focus on the trio comprising of businessman and horse owner Charles Howard, the enigmatic horse trainer Tom Smith and the belligerent jockey Red Pollard (Watkins, 2008, p. 52). As the name of the movie that is Seabiscuit conveys, its objective is to come out with a semi-fictionalized, screen version of the story presented in the book, by dropping the prosaic factual details and boiling down the narrative to its emotional and spiritual essence. Had the movie cared to bring in all the incidental and historical details present in the book version, it would have failed to contrive a cinematically effective and commercially viable masterpiece. Thereby, though the movie is placed in a specific time period, the message and feel it conveys is timeless and ever relevant (Watkins, 2008). It aims to influence the audience at multiple levels and to cater to the expectations of a diversified viewership. Hence, in the movie, the emotive flavor gains precedence over historical and factual credibility. As already mentioned that cinematic storey telling being a direct sensory experience, does need to be true to the imperatives of retaining an emotional and factual unity, to grab the human interest and to retain a dramatic feel and appeal. The movie exploits the race horse Seabiscuit as a narrative hook that links together the personality, dilemmas and fate of the three central human characters in the movie. These characters are the owner of Seabiscuit, millionaire Charles Howard, the secretive horse trainer Tom Smith who specializes in rehabilitating abused and ill treated horses and the unconventional and ill fated jockey, Red Pollard. Had the movie remained true to the plot presented in the book, it would have been next to impossible to come out with a screen version capable achieving a cinematic success within a limited time span of 150 minutes. Hence, the cinematic version of the book takes immense liberties with facts, incidents and characters. The three central characters in the movie are depicted as individuals belonging to different social strata, professions and personality types, who are united by one fact that each of them is emotionally or physically devastated in one way or other. To build on this sense of loss and hurt of these characters, the screen version does select and drop factual details in a liberal manner. For instance, the jockey, Red Pollard, who is depicted as a human character having immense influence on Seabiscuit, is presented as a teenager abandoned by his family, devastated by the Great Depression. As per the book, Red Pollard belonged to an affluent family that fell on bad times and he was never abandoned by his family, but they actually left him in the care of a guardian. The objective is to accentuate and highlight the isolation and emotional vulnerability of Red Pollard in the movie, by twisting and taking liberties with the facts. The same stands true of Charles Howard. In the movie Charles Howards is shown to be a rich man emotionally devastated by the death of his only son in an automobile accident. Besides, Charles is shown as taking to buying race horses to emotionally distract himself from his mental depression and pain. If one considers the facts presented in the book, one does learn that the real life Charles Howard did have a son who died in an accident, but he was one of his four children. Besides, Charles Howard did to take to buying race horses at a very early phase in his life, and he lost one of his sons to a car accident at a much later period in his life. The horse Seabiscuit in the movie predominantly comes out as a symbolic embodiment of the salient human characters in the film, so typified by his puny stature, physical and temperamental laziness, and unconventional racing style. The losses, setbacks, and accidents suffered by these human characters when presented in correlation to the similar challenges faced by unpromising Seabiscuit, do attract much human appreciation and emotional response. The one other big difference that one does notice in the book and the movie is that these two works rely on different strategies to contrive a sense of pace and expectation. The book uses abundance of facts and details, a realistic portrayal of the sport of horse racing and the lives of jockeys, horse owners and horse trainers during the Great Depression to win human interest and admiration. As is evident, the book does not pursue a linear narrative approach, but moves back and forth in time and space to give the readers a feel of those times. However, the movie Seabiscuit resorts to a linear approach towards storey telling, in which the major characters and Seabiscuit are shown to be systematically winning over their weaknesses and setbacks, to move on towards a much awaited climax represented by the match race between Seabiscuit and his monstrous, exotic and intimidating opponent War Admiral. While the book presents a detailed account of most of the races run by Seabiscuit, the movie narrows down to a handful of races to bring in a racy sense of pace, apprehension and forward mobility. The whole objective is to grab the attention of the viewers and to manage their emotional responses, scarcely allowing them a chance to get distracted by loading them with unnecessary facts, details and incidents. However, this does not mean that the movie gives up on the interest quotient related to historical appeal of the legendary Seabiscuit. To some extent, the movie does subscribe to a documentary format, to retain a sense of historicity. However, the scope of the historical details resorted to by it is very calculated, planned and limited. No wonder, this astuteness and craftsmanship on the part of the screenplay writer and director Gary Ross, did go a long way in making the movie Seabiscuit a commercial and cinematic success (Vineberg, 2003, p. 42). To put it in a few words, though the movie Seabiscuit and the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend do differ in a number of ways, to be true to the genre and format they affiliate to, yet both these works embody a common spirit and human appeal. The book being an expansive and lengthy work could rely on historical accuracy, factual details and realism to stimulate the readers’ interest and appreciation. But, cinema is a very different format and approach towards conveying stories. Here, the objective is to accentuate, highlight and fictionalize the dramatic elements at the cost of twisting and dropping facts. Hence, one can really appreciate and understand the incidental simplicity, narrative linearity and fictionalization of facts resorted to be the movie version of the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend. However, the movie does not play with and twist the facts, to the extent of totally altering and reinterpreting the essential historical relevance and appeal of the legendary Seabiscuit. References Watkins, G.J. (2008). Teaching Religion and Film. New York: Oxford University Press. Tookey, C. (2003, October 31). A Triumph against the Odds. Daily Mail (London), pp. 52. Vineberg, S. (2003, August 23). Three Men and a Horse. The Christian Century, pp. 42. Read More