A comparative analysis of a literary work and its film adaptation as a means of understanding literature (based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel “The Great Gatsby”)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the issue of adapting literary works into films and the nature of their correlation. The history of studying the adaptation of literary works demonstrates a shift in approaches to this phenomenon. The article traces the transition from the application of the fidelity criticism principle in science, which was based on examining the degree of fidelity of the film adaptation to the literary work, to perceiving the film adaptation as a result of intersemiotic translation. The role of the film screenplay, which unites semiotic spaces of various arts, is noted. The idea is proposed that juxtaposing a literary work with its film adaptation can serve as a way to deepen literary analysis. This thesis is illustrated through a comparative analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" and its 2013 film adaptation. The reproduction of the ideological content of the novel through cinematic techniques such as shot composition, camera angle, and shot duration is examined. The article analyzes the role each of these elements plays in the film's concept. Special attention is paid to studying the symbolism of colors in the film and what role each of the colors plays in the film, how they help reveal the characters' images, and the degree of their correspondence to the content of the literary work. The article analyzes the imagery system of the literary work and the film. Emphasis is placed on the subordination of the construction of characters to the main idea of the work – the debunking of the American Dream. This idea is most vividly traced in the character of Gatsby, whose entire life is devoted to achieving this dream, personified and symbolized by Daisy in the novel. The role of each character in the ideological and artistic content of the work and the author's concept is defined. The correspondence of the characters in the novel to their embodiment in the film is traced. Conclusions are drawn regarding the scenes, roles, and images that underwent changes in the process of adaptation. It is noted that film adaptations play a significant role in the perception of the original work, and the use of comparative analysis between the literary work and its film version, especially moments where the director deviates from the canvas of the work, from the author's concept, allows for a deepening of literary analysis.