Study Point: Film Adaptations

1. Reading Point -

Have you ever read a book and thought, “That would make a great movie!”? (Exclamaţie: Ar fi un film minunat)
Novels and stories (romane şi nuvele) are often used as the jumping-off point for films (punctul de plecare pentru filme).

[en] novel = [ro] roman [en] story = [ro] nuvelă

jumping-off point for = punctul de plecare (pentru); Singing songs is a jumping-off point for a multitude of language-learning activities.

And if you think about it, turning a bestseller into a movie is a wise investment (investiţie înţeleaptă), since most of the people (cea mai mare parte a oamenilor) who read the book will be curious to see it on the big screen (pe marele ecran).

During our vacation, Shannon and I spent most of the time on the beach sunbathing. She spent most of the money on luxury items for herself

But film adaptations can also be risky (riscant).
If a book is really popular, then fans might get upset (a rămâne decepţionat; dezamăgit) if the movie is too different (diferă prea mult) from the original.

I get upset when I don’t understand something. What thing do you really get upset about?

Plus, books usually include a lot more detail than can be included in a film (cărţile includ mai multe detalii decât filmele), so the filmmakers have to decide which parts to keep (care fragmente să păstreze) and which parts to cut (la care fragmente să renunţe).
And then there are all the tough decisions (decizie fermă) to be made about which actors should play which characters (personaj).
Bad casting (distribuire a rolurilor) can ruin a great adaptation.

Dacă este vorba despre un roman, o piesă de teatru, un film character se traduce personaj, erou the main character – eroul principal, protagonistul The main character of the tragedy is an old king who one day decided to divide his kingdom among his daughters.

You wouldn’t want to see Harry Potter played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, would you?

2. Grammar Point – Gerunds vs. Infinitives: Infinitives after adjectives

Este, dese ori, greu de hotărât dacă este necesar de folosit gerunziu (laughing, walking) sau infinitiv (to run, to walk).
De exemplu,
It was hard for me to get behind Tom Hanks as the main character in The Da Vinci Code.
It’s important to read the book before you go see the movie.

Prin ce aceste două propoziţii se aseamănă?
Ambele folosesc infinitive după adjective (hard şi important).
Infinitivele dese ori se folosesc după anumite adjective, precum: hard, easy, fun, sad, happy, more.

Adjectivele rare ori sunt urmate de gerunziu.
De exemplu,
este corect, I’m happy to see you.
este incorect, I’m happy seeing you.

3. Quiz Point -

1. Which is correct?
a. I’m excited to see the new Harry Potter movie.
b. I’m excited seeing the new Harry Potter movie.

2. What do screenwriters write?
a. screens
b. books
c. movies
d. plays

3. I’m sad _ my country.
a. to leaving
b. to leave
c. for to leave
d. for left