A traveling circus in the Depression era is the setting, a passionate love triangle is the story's engine, an elephant that understands commands in Polish is the most endearing character: These are the main ingredients in the historical novel "Water for Elephants" (2007), which found its way to the big screen last Friday.
The readers of Sara Gruen's bestseller are excited to watch the movie adaptation, while motion picture fans will consider buying a paperback copy to delve into the missing details. Although telling the same story, the book and the movie "Water for Elephants" have different emphases, leading the audience to a different, but by all means unforgettable, experience.
Right from their opening scenes, the novel and the movie set up two contrasting moods. Readers are presented with the day of a circus disaster and Jacob Jankowski admitting he kept the secret of a murder for 70 years. Alternating between the nursing home and his memories from 1931, the old Jankowski reveals how he became involved with the menagerie of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
In contrast, the first minutes of the movie are rather slow, as an elderly man stares at a circus ticket booth in the rain. Going inside the manager's office, he begins reminiscing about his experiences at an infamous circus during the times when this was the preferred type of entertainment. Maybe in order to please the younger viewers, the narrator's voice switches to the young Jacob, who learns during his last veterinary medicine exam at Cornell that his parents have died in a car accident. For the rest of the movie, the narrating velvet voice of Robert Pattinson in the background engages us in a more immature, but often refreshing, viewpoint on the happenings.
The plot speeds up significantly when Jacob hops on a random train at night, only to discover it is actually a mediocre traveling circus in desperate need of a vet and a central show act. While staying in the workers' car, he develops a network of friendships. Whereas many of the supporting characters present in the book might blend into one in the film version, Jacob retains his standing as a just and compassionate companion.
The movie decides to give priority to the protagonist's romantic relationship with the equestrian star Marlena, played by Reese Witherspoon. In an attempt to make this romantic drama a box office hit, director Francis Lawrence misses the point. Not only does Jacob's attraction to the married woman become obvious far too quickly, but Pattinson and Witherspoon lack the necessary chemistry on screen. The love spark is terribly lost in the age difference between the actors, their mechanical acting and some awkward dialogue.
Luckily, Christoph Waltz shines with a villainous brightness as Marlena's charming and dangerous husband, August. Initially, he takes Jacob under his wing and together they train the new elephant Rosie to become the show's star animal performer. However, August has his moments of unwarranted rage and excessive violence, which make him a character of extremes. With his inscrutable smile and confident posture, Waltz portrays this schizophrenic behavior very well.
Moving away from the character development to the setting, the book's vivid descriptions of the atmosphere on the trains and during the Depression already sets a high bar for the movie's interpretation. Gruen delivers believable insight into the period's problems, such as perilous alcohol abuse, unemployment and mistreatment of workers. Through the depictions of the performers' complex movements in the various acts, she brings the circus' magic to life.
The movie also excels at building a setting that is truthful to the novel. Some of the most breathtaking scenes involve dozens of men erecting the giant circus tent and exotic animals completing artistic tasks. The time period becomes even more realistic on the big screen with the addition of various accents and slang expressions in almost every character's speech.
While the novel is a page-turner and the movie is definitely above average, both pieces have several shortcomings. On one hand, some of the dialogue in the book remains predictable, and there is room for deeper symbolism and more metaphoric language. On the other hand, the motion picture employs a disturbing amount of animal violence and fails to evoke the audience's sympathy for Jacob.
Overall, one needs to both read the novel and watch the movie in order to understand all nuances in "Water for Elephants." The presence of the elephant Rosie might make this holistic experience especially enjoyable for Tufts Jumbos: With her intelligence and sensitivity, Rosie is undoubtedly one of the most memorable characters for book readers and movie fans alike.
