Lost_in_Translation

What is gained and lost in the translation of Of Mice and Men from the novel to Gary Sinise’s film' The issues covered in both John Stenbeick’s novel “Of Mice and Men” which is based during the Great Depression years and its translation to film by Gary Sinise, which is based in the Californian Depression, are very much the same. However, through translation some aspects have been either lost or gained in conveying these issues which include Companionship, Innocence and Strength & Weakness. In his portrayal of the issue of Companionship, as in this film, Sinise was most successful. John Steinbeck’s novel focused on the dependence of Lennie and George. Companionship during the 1930’s Great Depression was an extremely rare case between migrant workers. As George and Lennie are shown to be close throughout the novel, Steinbeck explores their friendship to a deeper level. Steinbeck’s text reflects this with technique of an anecdote. “George’s voice was taking on the tone of confession…. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in.” Through this technique, Steinbeck has successfully conveyed to the audience the issue of companionship where Lennie’s idolization of the friendship between George and himself is shown. Men like George who migrate from farm to farm rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. As the story develops, Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all confess their deepest loneliness. Sinise creates a scene in which a distant shot of Curley and Curley’s wife is shown sitting down on a porch watching Curley. This conveys successfully to the audience that Curley’s wife is distant from Curley and longs for real companionship. Innocence has many different functions in Of Mice and Men and has been successfully translated to film by Gary Sinise. When the responder first meets Lennie in Steinbecks novel, he can be described as having childlike innocence. His attitude towards the world and others is tempered with a simplistic, juvenile and often warm view. Steinbeck explores the issue where Slim suggests to George that Lennie is “Jus’ like a child”, to which George replies “Yep, he’s jus’ like a child.” Through this dialogue, Steinbeck is able to convey the issue of innocence to the audience with a simple quote. Sinise has translated this part of the novella into a scene into his movie, which very successfully conveys the issue of Innocence. After the original scene in novel, Sinise has created an extra scene in which a close-up shot of Lennie and his pup are shown playing. Lennie is conveyed to be extremely childlike by his actions. Through this camera angle, Sinise has further emphasized on Steinbeck’s issue of Innocence. Strength and Weakness in Of Mice and Men is as diverse as all the characters. Gary Sinise has successfully taken this issue from Steinbeck’s novel and translated it to his film. In the 1930’s depression, it was a dog eat dog world. The migrant workers had to be strong to survive in their environment. Through dialogue, Steinbeck has successfully conveyed the issue of Strength and Weakness where Carlson propositions Candy to kill his dog. “Got no teeth, he’s all stiff with rheumatism. He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him Candy'” This quote conveys the idea that because Candy’s dog is weak, he is useless and should be disposed of. This was a common issue during this time. Sinise translated this particular scene into his film. He successfully conveys the issue where a mid-shot camera angle of Carlson is shot. Infront of Carlson is Slim and Whit having a conversation over the shot, however Slim and Whit are significantly blurred, with the camera being focused on Carlson searching around his pillow case for his hidden luger. This conveys to the responder that Sinise has emphasized this issue ontop of what else is occurring in the scene. Through the use of Camera angles and Techniques, Gary Sinise has successfully translated the issues of Innocence, Companionship and Strength & Weakness from John Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men to film.