There can be no denial of the fact that the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by the famous author, Mark Haddon, is one of the best literary works to be adapted in the cinematic form of expression. Indeed, the story in context has enormous scope of quintessential and aesthetic portrayal of the events, emotions, frictions, and mystery. The young teenager of the narrative, Christopher, is the hero of this story in context. The way he is portrayed in the literary narrative truly impresses the readers, and it provides ample scope for catapulting the affective appeal of the cinematic adaptation as well. This boy in context is slightly autistic in nature, but he braves all the impediments in his idiosyncratic manner to emerge a much stronger individual and emotionally secure person as well by the end of the narrative of the story. The literary narrative documents the emotions and interpersonal relationships of the various major characters of the story.
The key scene in the film that I wish to portray is the emotionally significant scene that shows the confrontation between Christopher and his father. The scene shows that Christopher’s father has come back home and has come to realize what has happened. All this while, his son had been reading the letters from his mother. His father’s lies have now been exposed. On finding out that the lies have been exposed, Christopher’s father breaks down in tears. The camera would be focused to show the close up shot of the character in context so as to portray the emotions at this point of time in the course of the filmic narrative. It needs to be comprehended that his father gives an explanation to his son as he is broken from inside emotionally. He goes on to apologize for his lies to his son. As he explains the reason for his lies, the camera would cut to the facial expressions of the character of Christopher to show his immediate reactions to the explications by his father. Here, the young lad is already feeling betrayed and broken as he has been kept totally in dark about such important details for so long in his life. Thus, a montage of shots showing the character of the father and that of the hero of the filmic narrative would be constructed to bring out the affective charm of this key part of the narrative. The character of the father goes on to explicate that all he wished was to protect his son from the knowledge of the fact that his mother has abandoned the family to live with someone else in a different city. It has to be reckoned that all these years, Christopher had thought that his mother has met with her demise. The tension of the scene would also be accentuated with the inclusion of the background score where the confrontation takes place between the two major characters of the narrative. It goes beyond doubt that the revelation goes on to have enormous effect on the psyche and perspective of Christopher- something that is also conspicuous in the future course of events that unravel in the narrative. Christopher’s father also goes on to confess about killing the dog named Wellington after he had an argument with the dog’s owner and his lover, Mrs. Shears.
This is a major turning point in the filmic narrative as well. The story had started with the hero endeavoring to solve the mystery behind the death of the dog named Wellington. It also shows how the story has delved deeper into grave issues encompassing the hero’s life, rather than an arbitrary endeavor to solve the death of a pet. Christopher comes to know of the mysteries of his own life and identity as in this part of the film in context. Hence, it should be said that the discussed part has huge significance for the entire narrative of the film and the events that are to follow in the hero’s life as well. The revelations terrify Christopher to the utmost degree as she realizes that he cannot trust his father anymore. The close up shots establishes the emotions of the character in context while the lighting is used to portray the duality of his father’s nature. Half of the face of Christopher’s father is shown in light, while the other half is left in darkness or shadow, thereby showing the dark side of his nature that has led him to lie to his own son and even kill an innocent pet dog as he had a feud with his lover.
The cinematic techniques used in the adaptation would only work to accentuate the effect of the interpersonal frictions, the emotions of the characters, the mystery and the process of self-discovery of the male protagonist. Thus, after the key scene of revelation and confrontation in the narrative, the story takes a different turn altogether as the mystery of the demise of Wellington is solved. The story now takes a turn to focus on the life of the protagonist sans any mystery as he prepares for the exam to go to college. Indeed, by the end of the narrative the protagonist opines that mystery and the process of self-discovery have come to make him a much better and stronger individual. The male protagonist hogs the limelight with his innocence, intelligence and intellectual genius as an individual.
The liberty of using substantial cinematic techniques works to accentuate the appeal of the story for sure. The key sequence that has been discussed can be taken to be the very basic essence of the film. The film can be described as a journey of a young mind as the person goes stronger and more emotionally secure with the varied experiences of his life. As such, the story attains universality and shows the immense potential to reach out to the audience from all over the world who can surely relate to the male protagonist and his emotions.
References
Haddon, Mark. (2012). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. London:
Vintage Books.
(n.d.). “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Sparknotes.
Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/context.html
Singh, Anita. (2015). “Mark Haddon - don't use Curious Incident as an autism
"textbook".” The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9311242/Mark-Haddon-dont-use-Curious-Incident-as-an-autism-textbook.html
