I decided to read the short story first before looking at the film. The story is well made and is very descriptive of the area around Farquhar. There were moments where the author would describe the river and specifically a piece of drift wood. The short film takes away a lot of the describing that the text did. It went a lot faster than it seems it went in the story. Also in the text there was a whole section on Farquhar’s backstory that wasn’t present in the film. This may be a creative choice done by the director to give a vague background so that viewers can fill it in. Also in the film there is a scene where one of the soldiers takes the mans watch away. Reading back through the text I cannot find where this happens.
I think the film did a great job transitioning the ideas of the text into a visual setting. The silence and barely any dialog portrays the thoughts of Farquhar very well. It is like everything is flashing before his eyes and there is nothing he can do about it. Its a silence, but it is a sad silence because of the juxtaposed situation. I also think the use of imagery was wonderful. The black and white nature of this film makes it seem more tragic and gives it a darker tone. I don’t think this film would have had the same effect if it was in color instead of black and white Overall, I think the short film sums up the reading in a neat little package, but viewers should still read the source material as well.