Slaughterhouse Five was a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1969. In 1972, its one and only movie adaptation was directed by George Roy Hill. Like most novels which were adapted into films, it is frustrating that some characters or scenes are either omitted or changed. Vonnegut, the narrator, was taken out from the movie. His phrase “so it goes” (Vonnegut 7) would have worked well as punctuation point for the scene breaks. However, the repeated close-up shots of “I have come unstuck in time” (Vonnegut 14) typewritten by Billy helped explain the constant change of scenes. Another inconsistency was the character of Paul Lazarro. The book described him as “tiny” (Vonnegut 40) but in the movie, he transformed into a camp bully who threatened everyone who got into contact with him (Hill, Slaughterhouse - Five).
The story is an account of Billy Pilgrim’s capture and imprisonment in Dresden during the latter part of World War II. Episodes of his present, past and future are interspersed in different episodes. Reading the book was like putting together a puzzle and comprehension of Billy’s struggles in life would only come after reading the whole novel.
The unconventional structure of the novel makes it difficult to put the story together, more so if one is just to watch the movie without reading the book. The constant shift in time presented a challenge towards understanding the story. Apart from the lack of time unity, it was also hard to keep track of where Billy was. The story revolved around three settings: the war in Germany, the planet of Trafalmadore where he was taken by aliens, and his present life as an optometrist in New York. At times, it became difficult to identify Billy’s location and the time he was operating, whether it be present, past or future. The change in time that occurs regularly also affects Billy’s location. However, what the movie lacks in vivid description of the settings that the novel has, it was compensated by the director’s use of “triggers” in order to link the scenes together. One example would be the seeming overlap of the applause and the beginning of the speech of Edgar Derby as the leader of the prisoners, and Billy’s as president of Ilium’s Lions Club (Hill, Slaughterhouse – Five).
After watching the movie, I was expecting to feel disappointed for the inconsistencies in details between the novel and the movie. At some point, I was left hanging when I was waiting for a certain scene that happened in the novel but did not occur in the movie. However, the changes and omission of scenes and characters in the movie worked well in simplifying the story. For a person who has not read the novel, the movie would do a better job of presenting the whole story despite its unconventional structure, especially so with the integration of music and colors to add depth to the scenes. On the other hand, if one wishes to experience the unabridged and unchanged story, reading the book would be a good idea. Personally, I prefer reading the book and deciphering the code that is Billy Pilgrim’s life.
Works Cited
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Slaughterhouse – Five or The Children’s Crusade (A Duty-dance with
Death). Hertfordshire: Panther Books Limited. 1972. Web.
Slaughterhouse – Five. Dir. George Roy Hill. Perfs. Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and
Eugene Roche. Online. 1972.
