MovieChat Forums > As I Lay Dying (2013) Discussion > So....

So....

posted 11 years ago by cooch-master
8 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone seen it? And what's your opinion on it?

[–] bhbonds 10 years ago

I watched it tonight in Oxford. I am still thinking about it. Franco, for better or worse, translated exactly the experience of reading the book. I wasn't a fan of the split-screen style, but he managed to not only preserve, but to underscore the disjunction of the novel and the symbolism of man inherent in that. I felt that some of the accents were extremely thick and hard to understand (which is surprising to me as I'm a native northeast Mississippian). I'm iffy on the soundtrack. On the whole, though, I think it was a successful work.

[–] Hammer1528 10 years ago

I watched in Oxford and had the same concerns about the accents. However, I saw it again at Malco in Madison and the sound and visualls where much much better. The venue in Oxford just didn't compare to a real theater.

[–] thejungleisneutral 10 years ago

I walked out ten minutes in. Split-screen is a pet hate of mine and in my opinion it doesn't belong in a period literary drama. I might try it again after the BluRay release.

[–] faaus72 10 years ago

I certainly agree that the split-screen effect was badly overused.

Anytime any effect distracts from one's focus on the story is a bad thing.

[–] r-taylor13-848-416837 10 years ago

The split screen was Franco's way of channeling Faulkner's narrative style; the novel's many perspective shifts.

[–] theyfoughtforska 8 years ago

Yeah, i thought exactly that and i've never even read this book. Only heard of it..

I could follow along pretty easily; the split screen did not bug me one bit. found it refreshing and unique.

[–] dlbearcave-2 8 years ago

The heavy accent struck me more as WV. Having most of my "people" from WV/KY made it easy to get used to. The movie kept me interested.

[–] Plain-view 8 years ago

Three years later: I LOVED this movie. I had the privilege of taking a graduate-level Faulkner class and, of all the works we read, this was probably my favorite.

When I heard Franco was making a movie, I was worried. He's eccentric and could've made a disaster in the worst way. As soon as the movie opened and we saw the split screen, my hand was over the panic button. Luckily, it was just slightly overused. Accents were a tiny bit heavy, but these are supposed to be backwoods people. Most of them have never been to a "town" in their lives.

This movie was very accurate to the book, especially considering the source material's difficulty. I cannot imagine a better translation. That being said, I'll probably watch it a 2nd or 3rd time and be done with it for awhile. I got it in the $5 movie bin a year after it came out and am shocked it has such a low rating. But I guess 1) the split-screen isn't for everyone, and 2) the chaos on the screen isn't nearly as chaotic as the book, so if you don't know Faulkner this probably isn't for you.

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