The Hours Movie

The Hours is a complex novel with not one but three storylines occurring at the same time. Because of the multifaceted nature of this novel, transforming it from a book to a movie would prove difficult. In addition, I know very little about producing or directing movies, but there’s always a first for everything.
Much of this novel is based on the three characters' thoughts instead of spoken words. So the director cannot rely on dialogue to get his or her point across. This leaves several options. The most obvious choice would be to utilize a narrator, or in this case three different narrators to capture the different thoughts of the three women. However utilizing too much narration (which would probably be the case for this movie) can prove tedious and boring for both actors and audience. Therefore the task of conveying the key points of this novel lay in the actions and mannerisms of the actors playing the characters.
For example, the actress playing Laura Brown has a very important “cake scene” that must be portrayed as both accurate and believable. Because Laura Brown does not voice her frustrations with the cake, the actress would have to convey them through actions. These actions might include furtive glances at the cake, wringing her hands with anxiety, and shaking her head out of both frustration and humiliation. All of these actions would of course have to be subtle because in the novel the characters never conveyed their discontent with those around them. But the actions would have to be enough in that the audience would know something was off about each character.
Music and color could also be utilized to convey certain moods and changes of scenery. Clarissa Dalloway is lively and lives in New York, a city she loves. The music could therefore be lively and the coloring bright and vibrant. Virginia on the other hand lives in fear of her illness in a suburb she hates. The music would be sorrowful and the scenery dismal and dreary.