Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

A detailed Summary of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has evolved into one of the most acclaimed pieces of literature in modern American society. One aspect of a continual spark of interest with the novel is motion pictures. Various directors through the years have interpreted the book through their own eyes and the following is a depiction of that. One might question Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's overwhelming success. Theme restaurants, Broadway shows and movies all have indicated a public interest in the classic. Americans especially have been fascinated with Stevenson's portrayal of the split personality Dr. Jekyll whom many can relate too.

The first movie that I decided to use for this examination is the 1932 restored version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by Rouben Mammoulian. I thought that Mammoulian's attempt to depict the novel was excellent. When reading the book, I saw many of the faucets of the novel that I would have expected to come up in a motion picture.

The separation between good and evil was done brilliantly through Mammoulian's use of lighting. The most evident example of this is through the eyes of Dr. Jekyll. When Jekyll is running through his daily routine, the sets are bright with adequate ligh

The only criticism that I would offer is the lack of narration. I felt like the movie had the ability to be just a little better with the addition of Mr. Utterson whom serves as the narrator in the novel did did. The picture could have been even more flowing with explanations and narration of some of the events of the movie. Not to say that it was necessary at all, it's just that it would have been something that I would have include if I was directing the film.

I thought that Mary Reilly was one of the more interesting portrayals of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that I have ever seen. I think that I appreciated the movie a lot more considering the notion that everything is better when you have background in the subject matter.

The final film that I viewed was entitled "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde". To be completely honest, this comedy, directed by David Price, is awful. The concept was "cute", however I felt that the movie was just released in the hopes that it would take in a good cut at the box office due to the title of the movie.

Mary Reilly was one of the best depictions that I have ever seen of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I was very impressed with director Stephen Frear's costume and dress use-I thought that it was excellent, therefore made the movie that more interesting. The movie itself started off very bloody. There was a lot of disgusting scenes with a lot of blood. In comparing it to the restored version of the film, there is an excessive amount of gore. In addition, I felt as if there was a drastic difference in violence when comparing the novel to the movie.

The conclusion of the movie is what established Mammoulian as a fantastic director. One of the more exquisite scenes of the movie is at the end when Mr. Hyde transforms into Dr. Jekyll as the police are searching the estate for Hyde. This scene was shot perfectly. It leaves the viewer with the impression that this is one of the craziest stories ever to surface. In addition, when I saw this final scene I thought that if I were a little child then the plot of the movie would terrify me. I think that this is what the goal of the movie was and it was achieved.

There really is little correlation between the novel and this particular motion picture. The plot behind "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde" is that aspiring scientist Dr. Richard Jax aquires his grandfather's scientific notebooks in his will. This leads to the aid of his own experiments, and consequentially he discovers the potion for his new "self". The only problem with the formula is that he includes a little too much estrogen which when swallowing the formula, transforms him into a woman. The rest of the movie is filled with entertaining scenes about how the newly invented "Ms. Hyde" is ruining Dr. Jax's life. I thought that the only common points that the movie shared with the novel was that the two personalities go to war with each other in the hopes to take over the body back to the respected forms.

It is, and always is interesting to see how different directors will develop and make their own adaptations based on the novel. To say the very least, their has not been a carbon copy of the novel that has been put onto the big screen. This is what makes the possibility that only more movies will charm us with the enjoyment that Stevenson intended to provide us with over a century a go.

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Approximate Word count = 2751
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English