Gone Girl — Book VS Film
Gone Girl was originally published as a novel in June 2012 by Gillian Flynn and was turned into a cinematic experience in 2014. Gillian Flynn adapted the book and had a huge involvement in the screenplay during the making of the film. Now as a lover of both book and film, I thought this blog would interest many literature and media fans. Today I am going to pick apart both movie and novel and highlight the differences.
My first point I would like to make is how the book portrays the two main characters compared to the film. After reading the book for the fourth time and comparing scenes to the film I can now say with confidence that both novel and movie portray the lead characters in different ways. For example, in the book, Amy is portrayed as the antagonist which is how Flynn wanted you to read the book. Nick, in the book, is therefore portrayed as the protagonist as although you hear things about him which are disturbing through the use of Amy’s diary, you get a sense throughout the book that Amy is bending the truth which in turn, makes you, as a reader, sympathise with Nick. However in the movie, the way Nick’s character is portrayed throughout, even when you find out in the movie that Amy has been setting Nick up, makes the audience have an instant dislike towards his character. His character is portrayed as being heartless and cruel when in the novel, his character is actually much more loving and gentle. In the novel there is a scene where a journalist interviews Nick in his bar and Nick says how ‘he loves Amy.’ The way he says these words in the book, helps you to sympathise more with his character and what he is going through, however, this scene was cut from the movie, again making Nick seem like the antagonist in the film. The way Amy’s character is portrayed in the movie is also very interesting. In the movie, Amy is made out to be the protagonist of the plot and many audiences leave the movie feeling sorry for Amy, and not for Nick. This is due, I believe to the casting of Amy’s character, as Rosamund Pike, the actress playing Amy, has a very angelic and innocent persona about her, which Flynn maybe intended, but for me, it doesn’t fit remotely with Amy’s character in the novel and how Flynn wanted to portray her overall.
The second difference I would like to touch upon is the missing clue from the treasure hunt. In the novel, Nick has to visit 3 places with three clues before he finds the wood shed. In the movie, there are only two places that he visits: his office, and his dads ‘little blue house.’ The third clue which has been cut from the film, is when Nick visits Hannibal, Missouri. This particular clue in the book is very interesting, as this is when Nick realises that Amy knows about him and his mistress, Andie. In the novel when Nick travels to Hannibal, he realises that this is a place he came to with both Amy and Andie which makes him feel as if Amy knew what was going on before her disappearance. Whilst in Hannibal, Nick discovers another clue and a note left by Amy which shower him with compliments and seductive phrases. The note left by Amy makes Nick feel guilty and he starts, in the novel, to develop feelings for Amy again through this love note. However, the book does not include the scene of Hannibal, nor does it reveal any love notes from Amy. Again, this makes Nick look more antagonistic in the movie as you see no feelings from him towards Amy.
Another difference between book and film is the proposal scene. In the movie, we see that Nick proposes to Amy at one of her parents ‘Amazing Amy’ book launches. This scene however, is never actually in the novel. Although you hear, through Amy’s diary, all about the first years of Amy and Nick and their ‘perfect marriage,’ you never read anything about how Nick proposed. I found this to be rather interesting in the movie as I felt as though the director was trying to fit both Amy and Nick’s love for each other and the impact of the ‘Amazing Amy’ books and what Amy’s parents expected of her into one short scene. Although I understand that a movie has to be condensed due to running time, the focus of the ‘Amazing Amy’ books and how Amy’s parents treated her growing up, I believed, was a very important factor in the book and shaped Amy’s character overall and this was very much overlooked within the movie.
Although there are many differences between the novel and movie, majority are rather significant and overall, Gillian Flynn did give the audience what they wanted from her book: suspense and mystery. But I would like to know what you all think of Gillian Flynn and her bestselling novel, and major movie picture, Gone Girl?
Please leave your comments below, feel free to disagree with any of my points!
