Ethan Frome: Comparison Between Book And Movie

Modeled after Edith Wharton's novella of the same name, the 1993 adaptation of Ethan Frome does a pleasant job in retelling the original story. In the film, as in the novella, Ethan Frome depicts the story of a scandalous love triangle between Ethan (Liam Neeson), a farmer, Zeena (Joan Allen), Ethan’s sickly wife, and Mattie (Patricia Arquette), Zeena’s caretaker set in a dull New England town. These three characters, all with very different in personalities, trapped in a claustrophobic farmhouse in the dead of winter, make for an interesting story to watch unfold. The director, John Madden did a great job in capturing all of the emotions and drama Wharton set out to display in her work. Every line and action of the movie felt as if i was reading it right from the novella. The actors actresses of the film did an riveting job in portraying the tension Wharton aimed to set after. Most notably of the actors, Liam Neeson, before being a household name, put on an amazing performance of capturing the passion between Ethan and Mattie; and it displays why he has become one of the most recognizable actors today. …show more content…
One thing that could have been better was the narrator's point of view and their part as an outside looking in. In the beginning it took me a while to understand what was going on and why the reverend (Tate Donovan) was there. At the end of the day, he wasn’t that important and the director, John Madden, could have cut down some of his storyline. Another issue I had with the plot was at sometimes in the film it was rather gloomy and it casted a shadow on the fiery passion between Ethan and Mattie. I’m assuming the gloominess was supposed to represent Zeena’s character and her dislike for Ethan and Mattie's relationship, but it just took away from the