The Hours, Film-ified

Certain movie adaptations are decent – entertaining but forgettable, hardly a rival to the book version. However, with an interpretation of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, the novel is so complex and subtle that a movie based on it should be done either by the best or not at all. Now, I don’t claim to be the best, or even have any knowledge of filmmaking whatsoever, but I have a few ideas on how my movie version would appear.

Lighting is important in any movie, but especially in a drama that focuses more on character build-up than plot movement. The Hours should have low, soft lighting rather than a harsh glare. This would also be a way to represent the fact that the women are not fully present in their realities; the vitality of Virginia, Clarissa, and Laura is also less intense.

The movie’s camera angles would also need special attention. Shots would have to be more complex and artistic to fit the multifaceted nature of the novel. Obviously, a large portion of them would be close-ups, because a huge part of Cunningham’s novel is bad on the characters’ personalities and inner struggles. I would also use very fluid camera movement, possibly incorporating it into transitions between one time period and another.

Because the women in the novel have so much depth, high caliber actresses would be needed. The appearance of the women cast would have to come second to their ability to silently convey thoughts and feelings. It could be difficult to find the right women for the parts, but if they were cast and a high-quality movie was created, it has the possibility of living up to the novel’s standards.