Shamer adaptation opinions, vol 1

[flaksesomlys]

Okay so I the sequel to the Shamer's Daughter movie adaptation has just come out, and I'll be watching it in the cinema tomorrow, and I thought I'd write out my current adaptation opinions beforehand. Fair warning, it's super rambly.

• okay so first things first, the plays were both excellent. I still listen to the songs on a regular basis, and they started my current habit of showing up every time Østre Gasværk adapts a new book for the stage (Pelle Erobreren last fall was such a great!)
  • they changed the structure a lot, from being 100% from Dina's perspective to where you could almost say it had three protagonists: Dina, Nico and Rosa. And I am 1000% in favor of that decision, because it was so obviously the correct choice, it worked so much better on stage that way. It meant you got to have juxtaposition! And the Min Familie song! And you got to see Nico before all the murders, which, considering he's my favourite character, I obviously enjoyed getting to see that part of his life
  • (sidenote, Dina's part of Min Familie is a little weak, because she doesn't really have family problems like the two others - except then in the sequel she does, and she gets a reprise, and I just love the concept of, even though it was years later, they remembered what they did with the original and they noticed that they had the perfect opportunity here)
  • The sequel's also structured very differently from the books, because they wanted to take three books and turn them into one sequel. And they totally succeeded, using mostly the plot from the third book, with some plotlines lifted from the second, and changing a few things around so Drakan is available for stabbing at the end and the fourth book isn't necessary. Also they whole cloth invented a plotline for Rosa, because she doesn't really get a lot of those in the later books? (it worked really well, was a good contrast to Dina's, and ended in a really great sad song.) And the end result, like the first musical, was an adaptation that was still recognizably the same story, but was structured in a much more ensemble-y way, because that works better in a visual medium.
• the movie, on the other hand, kept the viewpoint squarely on Dina. But that's not to say they didn't make structural changes, because the bit where she's on the run played out super differently, it's just that that change didn't really seem to accomplish anything actually
  • just. why.
  • also it's sort of a really important plot point that Dina's mixed-race. The whole plot of the sequel is about her father. who is from a different country. But it's also relevant in the first book, which starts out with her being sad about not fitting in, not friendship-wise with the other kids in her village and not visually with her own family.
  • so of course they cast a white kid to play her in the movie.
  • The musical wasn't perfect in that regard, either, but it feels a little more defensible in that case, because it's more of a thing with plays that the actor doesn't always look quite like the character, that sometimes their age is 20 years off or they're a different race. (One funny example I've seen of this was at the Prince of Egypt stage play last summer, when Moses' bio brother was SE Asian as a child and then grew up to be white. But there's also the entirety of Hamilton, which did it deliberately for effect in a way a movie wouldn't.)
  • and the thing is, the kid they cast in the movie was genuinely really good, and it is really hard to find good child actors, so I can see why they picked her. But it's still not a great look.
  • (as a downstream consequence, I looked at the casting page and apparently her father's being played by a Eastern European.)
• New topic: Everything about how Nico was portrayed in the movie.
  • Okay so the first thing we saw there was this super effective opening scene, where you see some blood soooowly trickling out from this room, and then this maid walks in there without noticing it like she's just doing her normal maiding routine, and she screams, and then bam we swap to Dina's perspective. Was really well done.
  • Another neat thing I noticed was how, you know how most movies when they cast people to play relatives the family resemblance tends to start and stop at the hair color. Not here, Nico and Drakan had different hair colors but vaguely similar facial shape.
  • (not that that'll be the case for the sequel, since Drakan's been recast. But that's not really the director's fault.)
  • A casting decision I am less happy about is the aging up. Because it means that instead of having spent a few years in his late teens ignoring his problems and using party culture as a coping mechanism, he's been doing that for at least a decade. Which turns it from "suboptimal problemsolving, but in a relatable way" to just kind of sad and pathetic.
  • One place where my headcanon disagrees with both adaptations is with Nico/Adela. They both make it so Adela reciprocates those feelings and is unhappy about her marriage, which, why? It just turns her into a traditional damsel in distress, and it doesn't even get you anything, Nico being a pining dork with an awkward crush is adorable all on its own.
  • (in my personal headcanon she might not be marrying out of love, but she's still choosing it, because she's politically savvy and it's the smart choice. And also she's nicer to Nico than anyone else around, which is not a high bar, and therefore he gets a crush.)
  • But that's not the worst Nico decision. That one comes at the end of the movie.
  • So. Our heroes got away from danger, and in the process Drakan and Nico had a short duel. Drakan was obviously more skilled, but Rosa helps and Nico gets a really good opportunity. And hits Drakan with the flat side of the sword, because of course he does, because he's Nico and that's what his entire character is, is not wanting to kill anyone, and also he grew up with Drakan and he might be a killer but — he can't — and then that's what Nico's entire character arc in the later books is about, is getting to a point where he's able to do that, where he's able to push the can't aside and know that this needs to be done to save everyone else. He gets there eventually but it takes him literally years and is a pretty compelling character arc.
  • Meanwhile, at the end of the movie, Dina asks him about it. Asks if he'll use the sharp end of the sword next time, if there is a next time. And he says yes, without any uncertainty.

On that note, I hope the sequel movie turns out okay. That Dina's arc plays out nicely, and that her father's lullaby is in there being the turning point it was in the book, being the moment she starts to see him as just a person. I also hope they do Davin and Nico's storyline well, but that one might be less likely since clearly they don't really Get the things I like about Nico.

(crossposted to tumblr)