Compare the book and the movie of all the kings men - Essay Example

Movie had in it not only a strong and finest cast but a bit of philosophy, narration, great American prose and most excellent dialogues. Whenever a popular novel is converted into a movie, that too with a huge star cast the expectations of people with the movie rise and with that it is a popular phenomena that people compare novel and the movie. Where words and the feel of the novel attract readers, huge star cast with great dialogues attracts audience in the cinema. Where the novel “All the King’s men” is not a linear novel, reader can easily get confused at various points as the nature of the novel is anti-chronological.

Time Travelling is an important factor in the novel and it often confuses the reader regarding realizing which time period they are in (New York Times,2006). The novel start with the setup in year 1936 where protagonist, Jack Burden remembering a road trip in the year 1933 to Mason city with Willie Stark, Tom Stark who is Willie’s son and Willie’s wife Lucy Stark. They talk about political pressure which Jack’s mentor Judge Irwin was facing. In the novel the conflict between Jack, Willie holds importance as it is the initial stage of the novel and the readers are in good grip of the characters.

The readers can now well judge the shady elements in the characters. Judge Irwin is old so the readers can symthatise with him as well. The question which comes in the minds is why all this is happening because they are good friends and they share such a close relationship, what went wrong. The novel is very impactful at this stage and leaves the reader with a question of why this is happening. Movie captures the scene well too but the words expressed in the novel and the feelings which are expressed are more effective in the novel compared to the book.

Jack goes in the year 1922, there is a lot of time travelling in the novel which sometimes confuses the reader as well. The Film however is set during early 1950s in Louisiana except for the flashbacks, where the well dressed and popular amongst all and also witty Willie Start is made the governor through the support given to him by the lower social classess.( Movie: All the King’s men) His supporters are his bodyguard friend Sugar boy, the journalist Jack Burden, Tiny Duffy and Stark’s mistress Sadie Burke who will help him against the upper class.

Apart from the time setup in the novel and the movie there are some other prominent differences in both as well, from the character development of the Sugar boy who in the book is totally following Willie’s every move however in the movie he plays a silent bodyguard. (Empire Magazine,2006). Another important factor or the dissimilarity is the character development of Jack. Jack’s character in the book is a very complex. He is cynic and indifferent towards life. Jack’s excessive love towards character of Anna Stanton is clearly seen in the book, also Jack’s anger in the book is far more impactful when he figured out that Willie has taken Anne as a mistress.

The movie however was just partially successful in capturing the emotional side of Jack’s character. Particularly, his philosophical discussion in the novel about what he calls "The Great Twitch" is missing in the film. In keeping with the era of the 1930s, Jack is also fairly racist by standards of a later era, an aspect that is not portrayed in the film.  One major setback of the movie was removing Tom Stark’