Men will literally write slaughterhouse-five instead of going to therapy
Directed by George Roy Hill
A critically acclaimed, bleak drama.
Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.
Slaughterhouse-Five is showing in 1 cinema in London - next screening Thursday 15 October at 17:40 at Finsbury Park Picturehouse.
Next screenings: Thursday 15 October.
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Men will literally write slaughterhouse-five instead of going to therapy
Kurt Vonnegut himself remarked that George Roy Hill's adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five was a "flawless translation." I'd pretty much agree - and that's why this is one of the better examples of how some stories are better suited to the written word. There is a depth of emotion and energy in Vonnegut's novel that somehow does not translate to the film. The deep, dark, manic black humor in his words and sentences does its best to wind its way onto the screen, and I have come to settle on the fact that it's just impossible to duplicate Vonnegut's wit outside of pieces of dialogue and the overarching plot.I don't mean to say that Slaughterhouse-Five is a bad film by any means - the story itself is wonderfully unique and manages to meld the war and sci-fi aspects very well (especially in the last act). The time-skip transitions are seamless and the score by Glenn Gould is, for the most part, appropriate and non-intrusive. I wasn't wowed by Michael Sacks' Billy Pilgrim, but most of the secondary players did a fine job, with special mention of Sharon Gans as Billy's wife.This is a film that, for me at least, is very difficult to grade without being biased towards its source material. Attempting to put myself in an alternate universe where this was an original screenplay, I'd have to say that it is would be a fairly confusing plot that comes together fairly neatly at the end, with unexceptional direction and acting. While the suggestion of a psyche fractured by the horrors of war is an personally intriguing one, I'd have to say that Slaughterhouse-Five is best served as an addendum to the novel as opposed to an introduction.
hot take.....i just........don't think u can translate......the essence of sir vonnegut....................to the screen
A World War II veteran becomes mysteriously unstuck in time, involuntarily shifting between his childhood, captivity in wartime Dresden, and existence on a distant planet.
George Roy Hill directed the 1972 film adaptation of the classic satirical novel.
Yes, the film won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the inaugural Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.
