Relationship between Cinema and Literature through Daisy Miller the Novella and the Adaptation Movie

Literature is one of the oldest and strongest art forms in the world. Since ancient times it has had the power to affect society. Although cinema is relevantly new to literature it is as much as important and popular as literature. Most of the time cinema shares the same purposes with literature. They both contribute to the evolution of culture, entertainment, and inform people about what is going on by appealing to their aesthetic tastes, and developing their perspective. Thus, it is true to claim that in essence Cinema and Literature are two similar art forms. Yet their similarities cannot hide the differences they share because those differences determine them as two different art forms. In this essay, I will explain the similarities and differences between cinema and literature through Henry James’s novella Daisy Miller and Peter Bogdanovich’s 1974 adaptation film of the same name.

Cinema and literature have various similarities. First of all, the first compatible side is narrative. In Brian McFarlane’s article “Reading Film and Literature,” he explains this compatible side with Roland Barthes’s taxonomy of narrative function. According to him, there are different narrative functions but every narrative can be reduced to a single simple function and this function can be found either in a book or in a movie. In origin, every literary work and every movie contains a sequence of events which is a story. In that sense, both the novella and Bogdanovich’s adaptation of it tell the story of a young American girl who acts genuinely as a result of the American culture which she lived on throughout her life. Thus she has difficulty in understanding the rules of European culture. Throughout the adaptation and the novella, the story unfolds around Daisy’s behaviors which create conflict between the rules of Europeans and her American self and consequently her tragic end.

The second compatible side of cinema and literature is that they both create worlds and lives. As a result of cinema’s and literature’s form, they give many different details to mirror the reality of the world which is created by writers and filmmakers. Thus, as readers and watchers, the expectation of the audience from novels and films is a sense of reality. In terms of nourishing this representational realism, filmmakers and writers try to keep the consumers’ imagination alive in the creating process. To achieve this, filmmakers and writers give important signs to the audiences. And the audiences follow these signs which are given to them in a fictional world and connect them. Thus, nothing random happens in the scenes of a movie or the chapters of literary texts. In the grand plan, everything has a purpose, and the connection between the scenes or chapters serves this plan. Both in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1974 film and Henry James’ novella a created world is given to the audience. And the audience follows the scenes, connecting them through their imagination to understand this fictional world. For example, in the movie camera angles allow watchers to understand whose point of view is displayed. In Bogdanovich’s adaptation, certain angles serve only for this purpose. At the beginning of the movie, the point of view belongs to Randolph. The audience sees the hotel and the garden from his eyes but then the camera starts to shoot from behind Winterbourne which indicates that the point of view is changed. In the novella, readers follow Winterbourne’s inner thoughts. By connecting his thoughts with events, readers try to conclude an outcome about Daisy’s innocence. In conclusion, both in the novella and in the movie, the audiences follow the signs which are given to them to create a fictional real world and connect these signs by using their imagination to understand the created world.

Another compatible side of cinema and literature is that they both are masters in rendering time and place. Both forms have this facility to change the time and the place easily. In that sense, they share mobility which allows them to move fluidly from one place to another. The novella begins in Vevey, Switzerland, and continues in Rome, Italy. So does in the movie. Changes in time and place happen very quickly.

The final compatible side of cinema and literature is that the two art forms share an interest in revealing lives. By revealing the lives of different characters both cinema and literature offer a position to the audience which enables the audience to criticize and understand what lies behind the text or the movie. Through characters’ words and actions, filmgoers and readers can deduce what writer or filmmaker wants to give as the main point. In that sense, the essence of the main point is hidden behind the actions and words and these are the features that reveal lives. To exemplify this, in the novella, Henry James reveals the lives of Frederick Winterbourne, Daisy Miller, and all the other characters’ through how they speak and act. The movie also serves the same purpose. The reveal of the characters’ life is given to the audience. Hence, the audience can observe the characters and criticize them about their actions and consequently understand the main point of the text or the movie. For example, both in the movie and in the novella the audience is able to observe the Miller family’s lively behaviors and all the other characters’ strictness. With a careful approach readers and viewers can deduce that the differences between the characters are used as metaphors. Through their differences, Henry James reveals the clash between European and American culture and shows how Europeanized Americans are removed from their culture that they started to not understand their own culture. In that sense, the contrast between characters serves as the main criticism of the novella and the movie.

On the contrary of all these compatible sides, cinema and literature have four important incompatible sides. To begin with, one of the secret hostility between them is the way of narrations. In the novella narration generally makes progress from Winterbourne’s inner thoughts and observations. Thus, it affects the opinion of the reader. For instance, in the novella, Winterbourne’s doubt about Daisy’s innocence bewilders the readers’ mind. But in the movie viewers are free from Winterbourne’s bias. They can observe characters and make their judgment about their position. In this way, audiences’ decisions will not get affected by anyone else’s beliefs and thoughts throughout the process of judgment. Hence, viewers can conclude that Daisy is innocent without having a second thought. Also, some narrative functions are easy to show in the movie but it is hard to show in the literary text. For example, in the novella, Henry James gives hints about Mrs. Walker’s jealousy towards Daisy. Yet, it is still difficult for the reader to grasp this. However, in Bogdanovich’s film, Mrs. Walker’s intention is obvious. Thanks to the body language of the actress, the character’s jealousy is clearly understood by the viewers. The second incompatible side between cinema and literature is the way of creating worlds and lives. Both forms have different rules and codes in the process of creating. In a literary text, writers use semiotic codes. This means that readers conceptualize the words which are given to them on the page. However, in a film filmmakers use a battery of codes. These codes are significant to understanding the movie. Thus, viewers should be careful about them, because through these codes filmmakers draw attention to the important points of the movie. The battery of codes is linguistic codes, non-linguistic codes, visual codes, and cultural codes. In Bogdanovich’s movie, linguistic codes are one of the decisive factors which show the difference between the Miller family and the other characters. Mrs. Miller and especially Daisy speak quite fast in the movie which indicates their uneducated side. Non-linguistic codes contain musical or other sound effects. In the movie, first Mr. Giovanelli then Daisy sings an American folklore song called Maggie. While Mr. Giovanelli is singing the song, Daisy plays the piano so fast that it is almost impossible for Giovanelli to catch the speed of the song. This scene is a metaphor that implies that Daisy is the one who leads the relationship between Giovanelli and her. Also shows that American culture is not suitable for Giovanelli. Moreover, when Daisy starts to sing, she directly sings her song to Winterbourne. It is a hint that she has feelings for him. The other code which is utilized in the movie is visual codes. If the audience interprets correctly, mise-en-scene has deep meanings. To clarify, at the beginning of the movie the first thing which the audience sees are the identical figures on each floor of the hotel. The regularity of the structure and the three crowns on the floor represent Europe’s feudal historical background and the society’s strictness about customs. Also, in the scene where Winterbourne reads the poem “The Prisoner of Chillon” to Daisy in the Chateau de Chillon, the sun blaze down on her which indicates that she is an open and honest person. She has a shining personality. While she is in light, her surroundings are in darkness. This scene implies that she is innocent yet European society is full of corruption. The last battery of code is cultural codes. The film is quite prosperous about cultural codes. Costumes and decors play an important role in the movie. To illustrate, Daisy always wears light colors, because the light is associated with purity. Filmmakers represent her innocence through her costumes. Decorations such as paintings on the walls, and statues in the rooms mirror the sophisticated side of Italy. Furthermore, cities have symbolic meanings. Rome is the center of the Catholic Church, so it represents formality, vanity, and rigid rules European people have. Rome’s historical background is also crucial. This city is the heritage of the Roman Empire which is the root of western civilization. Also, this city is the birthplace of the Renaissance, a magnificent culture that brought the downfall of a strong Empire. In that sense, Rome has been full of contrasts. And everything which is associated with Rome is in total contrast to Daisy. While she symbolizes honesty, innocence, youth, joy, ingenuity, and naivety Rome symbolizes corruption, civilization, strictness, and sophistication. The third incompatible side of cinema and literature is the distinction between times. In literature, novels are characteristically narrated in the past tense. But, in movies, actions always happen in the present. Even when filmmakers use flashbacks or flash forwards it is still in the same degree of presentness. For example, at the end of the movie in Daisy’s funeral scene, filmmakers gave a voice over the scene in which Winterbourne explains to his aunt that he was booked to make a mistake. In the novella, this conversation happened one year after Daisy’s death. But in the movie time is not specifically stressed. Viewers only hear Winterbourne’s and Mrs. Costello’s voice which indicates that when the conversation happened is not important because it is still in the same degree of presentness. The final incompatible side between cinema and literature is the way of revealing lives is different. In a literary text, descriptions are given to the reader through inner thoughts, dialogues, or authorial commentaries. In a film, however, directors must employ a variety of semiotically charged techniques. To make it clear, when readers see the word hotel on the page then every reader may imagine a different hotel than others, but in the movie, all people see the same. To illustrate, the description of the hotel given at the beginning of the book may cause everyone to imagine a different place. But in the movie, all of the audiences see the same place.

To sum up, literature and cinema are two similar and non-similar fields of art. They may seem similar to each other because they share similar aspects such as sharing a narrative, constructing worlds and lives, portraying time and location, and revealing lives. However, there are a few more distinctions that make these two creative genres antagonistic to one another. The style of storytelling, the technique of building worlds and lives, the distinction between time, and the use of semiotic codes are all examples of these contrasts.