Adapting books into films often prompts book lovers to say the same thing ("The book was better!"), and most of the time they're not wrong. But they can become a little too defensive, acting as if the books have been desecrated in some way, forgetting that the books are still there to be enjoyed. The stories have been retold in a new medium, that's all. And people who haven't previously read the books that have been adapted to film tend to take the movies as they are (which, in my humble opinion, is what should happen anyway). I usually consider the movie version of a book to be a companion, not a replacement.
A Monster Calls (2016) is in a slightly different category. The screenplay is by Patrick Ness, who wrote the novel, based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd. Although a few details have been tweaked and added in the manner of all stories adapted for visual storytelling, you would be hard-pressed to say the movie isn't faithful to the book. Director J.A. Bayona has taken all the richness and complexity of the story and translated it into a beautiful, harrowing, moving, layered piece of filmmaking. And in young Lewis MacDougall, he found the perfect Conor O'Malley.
Conor lives in a small town somewhere in England. His mother (Felicity Jones) has passed on her talent for drawing and a love of movies, but she's dying of cancer (a word which is never spoken out loud at any time during the story). His grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) steps in to assist, much to Conor's annoyance because they don't get on very well. His father (Toby Kebbell) is remarried and living in America, which inexplicably leaves Conor with a feeling of abandonment. He knows the adults around him aren't telling him the whole truth about his mother's illness, and this only adds to his frustration and anxiety. And then, one night, a monster comes calling.
The monster, played by Liam Neeson, is an impressive achievement of design, animation, and puppetry combined with Neeson's motion-capture performance and brilliant voice acting. Bayona and his team have succeeded in creating a real being, with real weight and realistic movement, and surprisingly subtle facial expressions. As he visits Conor, always at 12:07 (the significance of which I will leave for you to discover), he promises to tell three tales. After the tales are told, he will require Conor to tell a fourth tale, which leaves the boy baffled.
While most adults overcompensate by treating Conor too delicately, he faces bullies at school. And having to put up with his strict, seemingly distant, grandmother doesn't alleviate any of the stress in his life. But his mother is a special presence in his life, his one source of sunshine, and he can't stand the thought of losing her. Felicity Jones does a wonderful job as a young mother trying to put on a brave face for her son, doing her best to give him the strength he'll need to get through such a bitter season in their lives.
When Conor's father does turn up, Toby Kebbell does that actor's trick of showing us a character whose dialogue says one thing, but his face and body language say another. We as an audience somehow understand the character's conflict, which is also a sign of good writing. Conor's dad loves his son, and still loves his ex-wife, but there is a weakness to him, one that he is aware of, and you wonder if he doubts himself too much to do anything about it. He wants to be a better, more present father, and we can easily comprehend why Conor is so excited to see him, and so quickly disappointed.
When the monster tells the first two tales, they are rendered with beautiful, storybook-like animation, featuring a strong watercolor aesthetic. The transitions are incredibly imaginative and effective. And the stories are contradictory in unanticipated ways. These are not simple stories of good versus evil, but stories that reflect the complexities of real life, where things can develop in unexpected ways. Life often isn't "happily ever after," as Conor's dad tells him. What we're left with is usually more bittersweet. I love stories like this. While I agree that our choices should, ideally, be more black and white, we have to sift through a lot of grey to get there. Stories that present a more idealized world are useful and enjoyable, but stories that show us how to face our own realities can be more reassuring.
Conor's grandmother is different from any character I've ever seen Sigourney Weaver play. She brings a different strength to this story than the kind she displays as Ripley in the Alien franchise. She lets us see her as an older, somewhat fussy woman, with toughness in her core while masking a true vulnerability. In due course we will see how much she really understands Conor, and just how much she loves him. The fate of her character in the story, though, is to be seen through Conor's eyes.
And then there's Lewis MacDougall. Only 12 years old while filming, he carries the entire movie. It’s not what we expect, especially considering the famous actors working alongside him, but he proves their equal in every way. This story is about the struggles of a young boy, and everything is seen from his point of view. Conor will "come of age" by the end of the story, forced to grow up too fast in a world too cruel to notice. Yet tenderness and pure love are shared along the way. He has hard lessons to learn as he goes, but he's never as alone as he feels. When the monster finally demands to hear Conor’s story, when he finally reveals his truth, it’s undeniably brave. Maybe what he’s going through won’t break him, after all, and he’ll grow in strength and wisdom.
This is a sad story, but not a bleak one. As the monster tells his tales, profound truths are spoken. (I love that the final words of the novel are spoken by the monster. And then Patrick Ness decided to give the movie one last little scene beyond the end of the novel. It provides a breathtaking moment that is open to interpretation. Is the monster a manifestation of Conor’s worries and dreams, or is he an actual creature from an ancient time? You get to decide.) We come to love and understand a boy who faces some tough realities, but by the time the movie ends and his journey to adulthood begins, he'll be okay. And so will we.
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