The tragedy is typically characterized as a form of drama that involves human suffering, fatal flaws, and death. The plays Hamlet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Closer and the short story “Brokeback Mountain” all include tragic elements that mostly revolve around the dysfunctional relationships portrayed in each work. Their film adaptations, which all share the same name, have changed the endings of the works in different ways, but each ending seems to be more positive than their written counterparts. I want to argue that by changing the dynamic of particular relationships in the film adaptations, the endings are also affected in positive ways.
William Shakespeare is one of the most frequently adapted playwrights in any language, with over 400 feature length and made-for-TV films (Class Discussion). There are two approaches to Shakespeare that directors typically use when trying to create a Shakespeare adaptation: Purist and Modernist (Class Discussion). The Purists attempt to create faithful adaptations, keeping the settings, plot, characters, and language the same. These adaptations can end up being boring or very long, which is why Modernist adaptations change the setting, plot, and characters to be more relatable to modern audiences, but have been known to keep the language the same. One of Shakespeare’s more famous tragedies Hamlet is the tale of Prince Hamlet’s dutiful revenge for his murdered father. The play ends with the fencing scene between Hamlet and Laertes. The fencing challenge is Laertes’ way of attempting to get revenge on Hamlet for killing his father, and Claudius’ way of killing Hamlet in a discreet way, in order to avoid being discovered for murdering the late King Hamlet. The basic premise is kept in the film adaptation, but there are some changes. Hamlet (Michael Almereyda, 2000), originally titled Hamlet: 2000, is set in 2000s New York City. Claudius’ (Kyle MacLachlan) threat of exposure and Laertes’ (Liev Schreiber) revenge still trigger a match off between Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) and Laertes, but in the end, Laertes does not kill Hamlet with the poisoned rapier, but shoots him with a gun, then he is shot. Hamlet then shoots Claudius instead of stabbing him, and also does not force him to drink the poisoned wine as in the play. These changes were obviously made to fit in with the modernized plot and setting, but there is a big change in the film adaptation that is actually a very small moment in the play version, but ultimately changes the meaning of the ending drastically. In the play, Hamlet’s relationship with his mother, Gertrude, is a complicated one, with some critics interpreting the relationship with incestual undertones. The film does not use these undertones but still the tension and hatred is obvious on Hamlet’s part. In the end of the play, Gertrude seems to accidentally drink the poisoned wine intended for Hamlet, which causes her death. In the film adaptation, Gertrude (Diane Venora) purposefully drinks the wine, making the act a statement in front of Claudius, that she not only knows the truth about her late husband, but as an act of choosing her son over Claudius. The audience now has more clarity on the death of Gertrude as in the film, Hamlet watches his mother's sacrifice where in the play her death seems to be overlooked and unimportant. This change not only changes the dynamic between Hamlet and his mother, but by sacrificing herself for her son, the film ending allows for a more positive view on women, who are not seen very positively in the play.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is one of Tennessee Williams’ best known works and a Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama in 1955. The play is a drama with tragic elements that focuses on the dysfunctional relationships of a Southern family dealing with greed, terminal illness, sexual frustration and repression, and death. There are three main endings to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: the original, the Broadway, and the film adaptation. The changes occur mostly after Margaret, commonly called Maggie, has announced her “pregnancy” and the relationship between Brick and Maggie changes between each version. In the original, Maggie seems to have trapped Brick in the room with her and implies that he will give her a child. For the Broadway version, Elia Kazan, the director wanted three major changes to the final act: the return of Big Daddy, Brick to have a more significant realization, and for Maggie to be a more likeable character. By changing Maggie’s (Barbara Bel Geddes) personality, and the audience’s ability to sympathize with her, the relationship between Brick (Ben Gazzara) and Maggie at the end is also changed. The Broadway version leaves out the famous ending lines of the original:
MARGARET: I do love you, Brick, I do!
BRICK: Wouldn’t it be funny if that was true?
Instead, it ends with a short, hopeful speech by Maggie, in which, the audience can leave the play feeling a little more hopeful about the future outcome of the characters. The film version, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks, 1958), amplifies that hopeful ending with a sensual final scene in which Brick (Paul Newman) throws the pillow he has been using on the couch back onto the bed and he and Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) share a passionate kiss, leaving the audience with the impression that the two will make love and make truthful the lie about Maggie’s pregnancy. This almost happy ending in the film version is a complete opposite of what happens in the original, where is seems as though Maggie is going to force Brick to make love to her out of greed, whereas the film makes Maggie’s motivation love for Brick. By changing Brick and Maggie’s dysfunctional relationship, each time the new endings feel more hopeful.
Closer is a melodramatic play by Patrick Marber that focuses on the interrelationships of four individuals, Anna, Alice, Dan, and Larry. The play deals with topics of truth, hate, revenge, love, sex, and relationships, while also intermingling tragic elements of death and suffering. In the play’s ending, all of the characters are separated from each other: Larry is with a new woman with whom he is blatantly miserable, Anna lives alone with a dog, and Dan is also alone. They meet in the final act in Postman’s Park because of the news that Alice has died. Her death parallels back to the beginning of the play: when Dan first meets her she has been hit by a car, and this is how she ultimately dies in the end. The ending leaves the audience with a bleak view of relationships and love, and the question of did any of these character’s actually care about one another? In the film version, Closer (Mike Nichols, 2004), the director purposefully makes Alice’s character a more likeable, less vengeful and secretive version of her play counterpart. He did this mostly for the reason of personally liking the character so much (Class Discussion) Nichols does change the dynamic of the relationships in the film, but does not lessen the general message that the play intended, but emphasizes it. Instead of them all being separated in the end, Larry (Clive Owen) and an obviously depressed Anna are together in bed, which makes Larry, the manipulative, vengeful creep, the “winner” of the love triangle. Anna rolls to her side after turning off the bedroom lamps and the scene ends with a close up on her face, a blank, teary-eyed stare. This change in the relationship dynamic leaves the audience feeling even more bleak about relationships; is it better to be alone, as in the play, or be with someone who doesn’t make you happy? The way this scene is shot makes it seem as though the cycle may keep going and Anna might return to Dan (Jude Law) again. The scene then shifts to a moment with Alice (Natalie Portman), then shifts to a moment with Dan. In both scenes, the audience learns that Alice has been lying about her name and potentially about her entire identity. The moment of realization is seen in the play as well, in a similar way, but what changes in the film version is that Alice does not die in the end. The scene of Dan in Postman’s Park seeing the name “ALICE AYERS” on the side of the building shifts to the final scene of Alice walking through New York City. Her hair has grown out and her clothing style has changed, suggesting another shift in her identity. The camera floats above her until she is out of view, ending with a shot of a “do not walk” red-hand symbol flashing on a street sign. This ending implies that Alice will either come full circle as in the play and die in a car accident while crossing the street, or that she will start another life with a new man that may be better than her relationship with Dan. Either way, the ending is slightly more hopeful than that of the play in the way that at least one of the characters, Alice, who has already been made more of victim and sympathetic by Nichols, has gotten away from the poisonous, dysfunctional love triangle and of Anna, Dan, and Larry.
Annie Proulx is an American author who wrote the short story “Brokeback Mountain” that inspired the romantic-drama film by the same name, Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005), starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as Ennis and Jack, respectively. The film stays very faithful to the short story, using an Interweaving strategy by keeping most of the original elements of the short story and interweaving new, invented elements into the plot. The short story focuses mostly on Ennis’ character with Jack being the supplementary character. The film makes both Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal) main characters, sharing equal amounts of screen time and plot line. By allowing the audience to see more of Jack’s life in depth, instead of as brief comments like in the story, the level of dysfunction in the relationship between Ennis and Jack is intensified. The film’s climax remains the same as the story, with Ennis finding out about Jack’s death from his wife Lureen (Anne Hathaway) and making his own assumptions about it (that Jack was really killed in a hate crime). The resolution does end differently, however. Ennis still travels to Jack’s parent’s home in order to inquire about Jack’s ashes and finds the shirts in Jack’s bedroom, as he does in the story. However, instead of ending the story with Ennis searching for a postcard of Brokeback Mountain, pinning it next to the two shirts, and dreaming about Jack, the end is changed to a scene with Ennis and his daughter. The relationship between Ennis and his family was very dysfunctional as he was distant for most of his daughters’ childhood, and eventually causing Alma (Michelle Williams) to divorce him over his “fishing trips” with Jack. We get to see more of this in the film because through the interweaving technique, there were a couple added moments between Ennis and first born daughter, Alma Jr. (Kate Mara). The final scene of the film ends with a heartfelt moment between Alma Jr. and Ennis in which she asks him to be a part of her wedding. When he accepts, she seems overjoyed, emphasizing what the audience already knows about his distant relationship with her. After she leaves, the moment were Ennis looks at the shirts and postcards and says the line “Jack, I swear—” (Proulx 285) is still in the film, but the audience is still left with a more hopeful ending. In the short story it seems as though Ennis will never recover from his relationship with Jack, implied by the final line: “There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it” (Proulx 285). In the film, it is implied that now Ennis does have something to live for and a reason to be happy: his newfound closeness with his daughter.
Although each play, Hamlet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Closer, and the short story “Brokeback Mountain” all can be called tragedies in their own way, each of their film adaptations end with more positive elements. The happier endings could exist for a variety of reasons, but the most obvious answer would most likely be audience appeal. It is a widely held opinion that general audiences enjoy films with positive endings than negative endings. This is mostly because going to the theater to see a film is, and has been since the beginning of film, a way to immerse oneself in another world to escape the reality of one’s own. If a movie is negative the entire time and also ends negatively, the average movie-goer will not only be disappointed but maybe even dislike the film, and a huge point in making a film is not to drive audiences away. Even though each of the films discussed changes their endings to have more positive elements when it comes to the dysfunctional relationships portrayed in each story, when interweaved with the tragic elements, it does not drastically alter the themes of the originals too much, but subtly allows the audience to feel slightly more hopeful, which will ultimately lead to more viewers in time.
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