The film Fences is an adaptation of August Wilson`s stage play film of the same name. The film positively feels like a play, as exhibitions are extremely adapted towards the stage. In spite of the fact that peppered with talks of race relations in the 1950s, the center of the story concentrates on the connections between individuals from the Maxson family. Inside this specific situation, Fences investigates the significance of obligation, the quality and risk of tyrannical identity, and the contention between making due with something and searching out your own particular yearnings in life. It is a little film yet packs a significant punch all through.
Fences, when adapted as a film from the original play, has a few different effects on an observer than when it is read. The characteristics that define each form of the media also define how they will appeal to the person interacting with said media. One of the most positive differences between a movie and a play is that we get to see a script breathe, move, and act. The scenes, characters, and actions are more than words with concepts, but rather real things in the eye of the beholder. Words become more intense, and the acting was excellent. Those viewers who cannot imagine the man named Troy or his wife Rose in the play are given what they look like in the movie, allowing them to use some of their imagination to instead explore the characters. Of course, there is a small drawback when a movie provides all of the information for the viewer, requiring them to only observe and removing all interaction, but Fences is not your typical film. Some conflict surrounding the characters, such as Troy´s interactions with Cory´s football coach, the hospital person who takes Gabriel, and his boss, are not shown on the screen and require some thinking on the viewer´s part, making the movie interactive, albeit not as interactive as the play itself.
That being said, some themes of the play may make more or less of an impact when the same play is turned into a movie. For example, the theme of the masculinity of a man is more present in the movie, where we get to see exactly how Troy holds himself, exactly how he strides around the set, and exactly how Cory tries to sort out the toxic masculinity from the model masculinity. While the play focuses around the idea of being a man, viewing the movie shows us the idea of being a man up close and personal, intensifying the impact the theme has on viewers. Morality as a theme comes into play more in the movie as well; the reader gets more interest out of Troy´s stories about the devil when he is telling them in character, and the reader feels the grey area produced when a character tries to sort through and justify their actions through a moral lense. Watching two names on a page center their conversation around a moral is something entirely different than two people using their beliefs to justify the life they live. These themes become more alive, more present in the reader as they watch the movie.
Not all themes are made more important, however. One of the drawbacks to the movie is that the dialogue moves so fast that the viewer must pay extremely close attention to what is being said in order to comprehend it, even then missing a detail or two without the book beside them. This can affect the theme of race, as the small comments regarding racism can be easily missed or misinterpreted. The presence of this theme, as a result, can seem spotty or inconsistently brought up, and because of this it doesn’t seem important or worth noting. Personally, if I had never read the play, I would have missed about a quarter of the lines spoken, much less the comments including race. Another drawback to simply watching a movie is that there is no text present to analyze. The weight of some lines, even though others were highlighted with spectacular acting, were lost on the audience, and their themes as a result. Especially when hopes, dreams, and plans were being discussed, it was easy for the viewer to miss a conflict or important detail, and thereby not fully comprehend how much those hopes, dreams, and plans meant to a character. While this was better than completely cutting the lines, it still left something to be had, as this was especially noticeable after reading the text out loud.
Overall, the movie was very impactful and emotionally charged. The viewer was immediately immersed in whatever scene came on screen, as the acting, the setting, the background, and the transitions were seamless. The conflicts were set up well so that we could feel exactly how the characters interacted with each other. All of the themes from the play transitioned into the movie, although as discussed above some did not go over as well as others. Reading the book made me feel like I had a leg up while watching the movie, due to the use of some phrases that were easy to miss or hard to understand, but someone who is expecting to have to concentrate ahead of time while watching this movie would be fine. Overall, I would say that this movie is not lighthearted in the slightest, especially with regards to the conflicts and themes, but it is worth watching simply for what it may teach the audience.
