What factors influence directors as they prepare to adapt works of literature to the big screen? What do they keep in, cut out or add to the story, and why? What far-reaching consequences does this selective adaptation have for a medium that plays out on a global stage? Oberlin College professor Hsiu-Chuang Deppman asks her students these sorts of questions every day, sometimes using Jackie Chan films to introduce themes that typically dominate classical Chinese literature, and to show how these themes are translated from page to screen. In Re-imagining the Country: A Comparative Reading of Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Deppman discusses a book — about two city-bred friends who are sent to a backward mountainous region for Maoist re-education — and its subsequent 2002 film adaptation; a screening of the film follows. 6:30 p.m. Mon., Oct. 23, Miller Auditorium-Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-864-7979.
This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2006.