The Red Tent was made into a two-part series on Lifetime in 2014. Lily and I watched the first forty minutes of the second episode because that best corresponded with our most recent reading. (If you would like to read Lily's take on the show, please head over to her blog, The Red Tent Interpretations.)
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| Rebecca Ferguson as Dinah (thetimes.co.uk) |
The first scene I will be comparing is when Dinah returns to her family after the murder of her husband and confronts Jacob. To begin, this scene is different in the film version because it takes place over one afternoon, instead of in the book, where it takes place over an entire day and night.
Both the film and the novel do a great job in capturing the scene's emotional intensity. The film, however, ignores one of my favorite parts of the dialogue, when Dinah switches from addressing Jacob in second person to third person: "Jacob shall never know peace again. He will lose what he treasures and repudiate those he should embrace. He will never again find rest[...]" (Diamant, 206). This small detail does so much for Dinah. It gives her space from Jacob, and it also gives her power over him that can be likened to the power of the gods and goddesses they worship.
The other difference from this scene in the novel to the scene in the film version is Jacob's character. In the book, he doesn't speak once during the entire ordeal. He lets Dinah speak honestly and openly about him without interrupting and shows more fear instead of anger: "But I saw full understanding in his clouded eyes as he stood before me. I saw guilt before he had time to deny it" (Diamant, 206).
In the film, Jacob has the gall to claim that a true daughter would have waited for his consent before marrying Shalem. This addition helps to develop an idea of inequality between sons and daughters. One of the most famous lines in the film is Dinah exclaiming, "and I am only a daughter, which means I am nothing more than a piece of property." If you are interested in watching this scene for yourself, here is the link on Youtube.
Another inaccuracy that caught my attention was during a simple interaction between Dinah and her midwife friend, Meryt. In the film, we see Dinah and Meryt discussing how Dinah ended up--widowed--in Egypt, but in the novel, Dinah purposefully avoids the topic of her life before Egypt. Meryt makes many attempts to learn about Dinah, and when the results are not plentiful, she creates her own tales. Dinah says that she doesn't correct Meryt because she fears "that if I named my mothers or Inna the whole of my history would come pouring out of me and I would be thrown out of the house and my son cast out for bearing the blood of murderers in his veins" (Diamant, 236).
By choosing to ignore this detail, the film, in a way, neglects Dinah's independence and her transition to a new life. It may seem trivial, but Dinah's independence is a major element of the novel, and arguably, a reason why it was written. For example, part two of the novel begins just 75 pages in, and it is entitled: My Story. Dinah also interrupts her journey to Eygpt just to describe how her four mothers have perished, and how she is now truly alone.
One of the last differences that I noticed in the film was that they didn't introduce Dinah's new love interest, Benia, until after everything, more or less, was resolved. Whereas in the novel, Benia appears quickly after Dinah's son, Re-mose leaves for school. In spite of one of my favorite themes in the novel, feminism, perhaps Benia is meant to serve as something to fill the loss of male companionship for Dinah. (Since her brother Joseph was sold into slavery, her husband was murdered, and her son is all grown up).
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the film adaptation and hope to sometime finish it. Now, I'm excited to continue reading and see just where Dinah's new journey takes her.
Hi Clara,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great post! I really enjoyed being able to read your thoughts on how the differences affected how certain events, such as when Dinah confronts Jacob, are perceived. I didn't see it as Dinah being able to distance herself from Jacob, but now that you have pointed it out, I think that makes a lot of sense. Your interpretation has actually made me even more upset about that difference. Do you think that Anita Diamant would approve of this two-part series?
Lily,
DeleteThank you for your comments! I definitely think Anita Diamant would approve of this mini-series. Although we found many differences between the two mediums, I don't believe Diamant would have problems with any of them; the show was still able to accurately present the themes of the novel.
Clara, I appreciate your attention to detail in comparing the film to the book, especially how the changes impacted the main ideas of the novel. Nice job. (I might suggest making the font a bit larger for my old eyes).
ReplyDeleteMrs. LaClair,
DeleteI always like doing book to film comparisons; it is interesting to pay attention to the really small differences that other viewers might not notice and how those differences can really affect major elements, such as character. I'll try to remember to enlarge the text for my next post. Thank you for the suggestion!
Hi Clara! I really enjoyed reading this post, as I have been wondering about how the film and novel compare, but haven't gotten a chance to watch the film myself. I especially like your discussion of Jacob, and the way he is portrayed so differently (at least in some instances) in the film than he is in novel. I have been trying to pay attention to his character in recent readings, because I think he is more complex than I originally realized, and he's still significant, despite not being female like most of the characters. Did watching the film and seeing the difference in Jacob change your thoughts about him as a character at all?
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
DeleteThanks for reading my post! I think that I have spent so much time focusing on the female characters, that I haven't paid much attention to Jacob. He certainly is a complex character. At times, I think he appreciates Dinah in spite of her being female. Other times, I fear he is selfish and concerned only with the male members of his family. Overall, I trust Jacob, for he seems to care deeply about each of his four wives.