Saturday 14 June 2014

The Fault in Our Stars Film Review

                

On Thursday the 12th of June, a few of my friends and I were lucky enough to attend the advanced fan   screening of the Fault in Our Stars film adaptation (where you received a lanyard, a poster a on screen Q&A with the cast afterwards and a deleted scene featuring John Green), which although was released in the 6th of June in USA isn't officially released until the 20th in the UK. TFIOS is one of my favourite novels so not only did I have high expectations, but I was also apprehensive that it wouldn't do the book justice. It has such a deep meaning, which I think is different for everyone. For me it's because I read it at a time when I had recently lost two of my grandparents to cancer and was struggling to deal with it. (SPOILER ALERT KIND OF, DONT READ TILL NEXT PARAGRAPH). The book not only shows how awful it is to lose someone but also that the hardest thing of all is to watch someone slowly dying, struggling and being in pain. It shows how dying from a terminal illness is not always a courageous battle, it's simply unfair and the majority of the time you just want it to be all over, quick and easier not slow and drawn out. Reading the Fault in Our Stars was something that really helped me, showed that other people understood. I was so worried that the film would take this away for me.
Fortunately it was amazing, perhaps the most faithful book-to-movie adaptation I have seen and I simply loved it, really loved it. It was great to go to the previewing as it meant that everyone there was a fan of the book, everyone there really understood the beauty and meaning this story holds. Everyone laughed at the same moments, cried at the same moments and recognised all the direct quotes from the book, of which there was many. Everyone just..got it.
Even though the film would still have been grand ( little TFIOS reference for you how could I miss the opportunity?) without having read the book, I definitely recommend reading it first as it made the film so much more meaningful and special. The direct quotes were noticed, the funny parts were funnier, the sad-  sadder. If you haven't read it yet get yourself to a bookshop, on amazon or to the library before you get yourself to the cinema!
                                    

There were so many hilarious moments, where the whole cinema were laughing. There were also so many sad, heart breaking moments, as expected, where the whole cinema were sniffling and rustiling tissues. I pretty much sobbed from five minutes in right up until the end (which annoyed my friends a lot...sorry) and I have to say that I was in a little bit of a state, tears running down my face, under my chin and down my neck, tears mingling with pieces of stray hair (little bit disgusting but I had no tissue, my discarded cardigan had to be used as a substitute). Let's just say that I can be a little over-emotional at times. I think that the best way to describe the emotions in this would be laugh-crying. One minute there would be a really emotional scene- meanwhile I would be trying my hardest not to wail- the next, one of the characters would say or do something funny and before you knew it the laughing would mix with the crying.
This film was beautifully produced with tasteful and wonderful settings, cinematography, scripting and overall put together and finishing touches. The acting in this film is fantastic and so natural. Ansel Elgort was hilarious and goofy as Augustus. Shailene Woodley was the perfect Hazel, with natural talent and raw emotion. Natt Wolf played a witty and humorous Isaac which seemed very fitting, and there were so many more great representations of the characters. 
*slight spoiler alert*
In my opinion, the only slight hamartia (another reference for you there) in this near perfect film was the very last line. Whereas in the book it ended with Hazels last words after finishing Gus's letter "I do Augustus, I do" , it ended with with "okay" instead, which while still meaningful, felt a lot more cliché and less deep than the ending in the book. However, aside from this, all the other changes made I felt were rightly judged and didn't change the meaning or the story. 
Overall, The Fault in Our Stars was a beautiful movie adaptation that somehow managed to capture the nature and essence of a story that means so much to so many. 
I hope you enjoyed this post, are you planning on going to see the movie? I definitely reccomend it but please read it first!


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