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The Lovely Bones

When I read the book years and years ago, I never thought that it could make it to the big screen. First of all, I thought that no one could probably visualize the story perfectly and turn it into a decent movie and even if they could find someone to do this, there’s no way anyone could tell the story as beautifully as it was written in the book. Clearly, I was wrong. Clearly I choose to forget about Peter Jackson. Actually when it comes to stunning visuals, he did come to mind but I was never quite sure that he could actually capture the essence of the story perfectly.

This is why when my friend told me about this movie I was quite reluctant to see it. I was afraid that it would be very much like the Time Traveler’s Wife, a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, The Time Traveler’s Wife was okay but I didn’t get the same feeling that I got when I was reading the book. When I was watching the movie I kept thinking how the book was ten times better at expressing the undercurrent emotions of the story. I kept thinking how it could have been better. I guess, some stories are only meant to be told in books which is probably why some great books are still not adapted into motion pictures.

Alice Sebold did a wonderful job writing the book. I never thought that a story of a gruesome murder could be told in such a way that it was less painful to read it. The story was beautifully written and was almost magical. I thought it would be hard to make a movie where the main character would be looking down from heaven to see how her family is coping with her death. Frankly speaking, I don’t know how one could visualize it perfectly without turning it into some ridiculous Hallmark type movies with glowing ghosts and floating angels. But Peter Jackson did it and not only did he nail down the visual effects department he also kept the story true to the book. The essence of loss, sorrow and forgiveness in the book was captured beautifully by the movie. I loved how they begin and end the movie with the opening lines of the book “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973 … I was here for a while and then I was gone”. I thought it was the perfect opening for the movie and was also the perfect closure.

Credits should also go to the cast. Saoirse Ronan did a brilliant job as Suzy Salmon. But much of the credits must go to Stanley Tucci’s for his chilling portrayal of Mr. Harvey. I had goosebumps every time he appeared on screen. That man could make a very convincing villain. Both Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg also gave good performances but nothing exceptional. I enjoyed Sarandon’s potrayal as the eccentric grandmother of Suzy Salmon, too bad for the brief screen time and I also didn’t get much from the two cast playing Suzy’s siblings.

I have to admit, I read the book five years ago. I didn’t remember the story very clearly but I do remember most of the important parts of the story. I remember thinking that the title of the book had something to do with Suzy’s missing body that was never found till the very end of the story. But after watching the movie I realized that the title of the book came from the very last chapter of the book:

These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life.

I came to understand the story even more after watching the movie and not many book adaptations could do that. By that I mean, give the story more depth. I am happy to say that enjoyed the movie as much as I enjoyed the book itself and admitting this is my way of complimenting the people who have made this movie possible. I hope more great books will be adapted into great motion pictures.

I am still waiting very patiently for Life Of Pi.

Posted in: Randomness

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 am and is filed under Randomness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.