Looking at Antigone the play, it is a play that originates from ancient Greece. The play however has themes that are really applicable to our day to day lives. In this play, the broad themes include state control, natural law and contemporary legal institutions, civil disobedience, citizenship, fidelity, portrayal of the gods and lastly, there is love and family. If then all this themes are applied in a movie, it will attract attention and curiosity from the viewers. With the current issues, it will shed light on the inhuman political leaders we have in the world. It will then demonstrate that each individual has a right to respect nature and its creator failure to which the wrath of the gods will come striking. It will also demonstrate the sacrifice that the current generation has to fulfill in respect to love and care to every other human being, treating them like brother and sister just like Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice of Thebes.
Replacing but Maintaining the Role of the Chorus
Theme Songs, Background Music and Creon’s Advisor
Having understood the role of the Chorus and identifying the need to redesign the play into a movie, it is then critical to understand that a theme song and an advisor to Creon will be critical in this movie. In this case, there is ultimate need for background music, sounds and themes that will be critical in demonstrating emotions. This music for instance will narrate to the viewer about the war between Eteocles and Polyneices. It will magnify the magnitude of the mythical reason that Creon has to shame the dead body of Polyneices by failing to bury it. The background sounds will play the role of adding suspense and bringing about sensitive emotions in response to the pattern of the play. For example in the case where Antigone hangs herself and on the realization of her suicide, Haemon stabs himself, the background music should be slow, it should be calm and it should demonstrate love, sadness and hopelessness.
At the point where a loyal advisor to Creon should be included, it is in order to expound to the viewer’s understanding on the reasoning behind the decisions made by Creon. It is the advisor who will demonstrate fear and respect. It will be an elderly Theban man who will be by the side of Creon, the one who will advise the lowly thinking King that he should take the advice from the blind prophet Tiresias to avoid angering the gods any further.
Replacing Narrations with Real Events Unfolding
One other inclusion will be to give viewers a chance to watch what really happens than hearing a narration. This follows the fact that, in the play, it is a Messenger who brings to the sad news to King Creon that his son Haemon has committed suicide after seeing the dead body of Antigone. The viewers should experience excitement and enjoy watching the blind Prophet, Tiresias, delivering a warning and stating that if this ruthless king does not take action, the angered gods will ultimately cause the death of his son. At this point, a viewer will be keen to watch what unfolds after the warning.
The messenger should then run and inform the King. As the King of Thebes is carried away, the theme and background music of guilt and sadness should play along. Since there are others plays that come after Antigone that have also been written by Sophocles, it should be concluded with the statement, “to be continued.”
Maintaining the Characters and the Context of the Antigone Plays
With the current trends, films with the ancient context have received great viewership going by statistics from Hollywood. In this case therefore, the context should remain the same, an ancient Greece, an Athens that is yet to benefit from massive developments either politically or socially. This will demonstrate that less reasonable, selfish and inconsiderate leaders are something that began decades ago even though it is still exist in modern day life.
The characters in the play will be maintained as it is in the play. The blind Prophet, Tiresias for instance will be included to magnify that even though he is blind, he has the capacity to think and act better than the King who has two eyes. The blind has respect for the gods. Antigone as a character will be very critical bearing not forgetting that despite being in a society that men are feared and respected, she is ready to endure any consequences that would follow her burying his brother even though he had engaged in an acceptable event.
In conclusion, Antigone expresses that she can stand for the gods, she can fight for family and can fight for love against the leadership of men. All the other characters such as Ismene should all be included in the film as it will demonstrate clearly the theme of the play as well as add longevity to the film.
Works Cited
Buckley, Annie. Making movies. Chanhassen, MN: Ancient's World, 2007. Print.
