Short stories written by Canadian writer Alice Munro are renowned for the in-depth analysis of human relationships from the point of view of everyday life. The main peculiarity of her style is that the author attaches significance to some small, at first glance, even minor details, but the writer does it in such an elaborate manner that each of these seemingly minor details serves its purpose. Due to this fact, many literary critiques believe that her writing style is to a certain degree similar to one of Chekhov.
If we attempt to discuss the peculiarities of her novel, “The Bear Came over the Mountain,” especially in contrast with its screen version, which is called “Away from her,” it is of crucial importance for us to take into consideration the key features of her writing style and the way it was reflected in the film.
The story “The Bear Came over the Mountain” explores the relationships of an elderly couple, Grant and Fiona. Fiona suffers from Alzheimers disease and gradually begins to lose her memory. Her husband Grant is compelled to place his wife in a mental hospital. She becomes very attached to another patient, Audrey. However, at the very end of the story, she temporarily recovers her memory, and these recollections reawaken her love for her husband.
If we try to analyze the similarities and distinctions between the screen adaptation and the book itself, we should mention the following. As far as the similarity is concerned, we should first of all Sarah Polley was very faithful in preserving the plot development of the book, which means that it underwent no significant changes and was not distorted. Moreover, it should be mentioned that both film and movie are chronologically split, which means that they have a nonlinear plot. Secondly, it should be mentioned that the creators of the movie did their best to render the atmosphere created by Alice Munro, which means that the setting and the description of the very were not changed. Thus, we may say that regarding this particular aspect, the movie and the book have some similar features.
As far as the distinctions between them are concerned, we should mention the following. First of all, Alice Munro always tries to remain as impartial and objective as possible, and she does not take sides with any of the characters at least explicitly, whereas the makers of the movie state their attitude to the characters quite clearly, especially in the scene where nurse Kristy reprimands Grant for being insensitive to his wife.
As for the distinctions, it is also worth mentioning that while reading the book, we perceive the story through the eyes of a third person, while in the movie, Grants perspective is dominant, and the relationships between him and his wife are presented from his point of view.
Thus it is quite possible for us to arrive at the conclusion that the film based on the book “The Bear Came over the Mountain ” has some similar features: the peculiarities of the plot and the distinctive ones: such as the aspect of impartiality.