A 1942 view of the Fine Arts.
Word is that James may be flying in for the The Sound and the Fury’s opening night from the the set of HBO’s The Deuce where when asked about the relevance and timing of the making of the film he laughed and said, “Well, I think any time is great to be interested in Faulkner. For me, it was interesting to do this at this time because the books “The Sound and the Fury” and “As I Lay Dying” were written over 80 years ago, and if they were made in that time, it would be very different because people made movies differently then. Nowadays movie audiences are pretty sophisticated. Music videos, reality TV, reality TV confessionals — all of these weird techniques have accustomed audiences to read film and video in new ways. I thought, “Faulkner’s books are so experimental, I can apply a lot of these contemporary approaches and techniques to Faulkner and actually achieve a closer stylistic adaptation of the novels by using these contemporary techniques.”
Set in Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century, “The Sound and the Fury” portrays the decline and fall of the Compsons, a once proud, aristocratic Southern family. Translating WilliamFaulkner’s famously challenging experimental prose into the language of cinema, “The Sound and the Fury” reveals the secrets and betrayals that have tarnished the family name and continue to haunt the Compson children.
Told in distinct chapters, the film juxtaposes the unique perspectives of the three Compson brothers: mute, man-child Benjy; sensitive, melancholic Quentin; and cold, calculating Jason. Meanwhile, the fate of the lone Compson sister, Caddy, gradually unfolds across all three narratives. “The Sound and the Fury” spans three decades in the lives of the Compsons and offers, through this single family’s history, a meditation on the relationship between time, memory and history.
After waiting for more than a year to find distribution, I am so excited to finally see this movie on the big screen this Saturday. Hope to see you there!
Engagingly yours, xoxoSabrina
ps. Check out this revealing interview with actor, director James Franco if you’re interested in learning more about the process of making the film!
