The Pedestrian Movie And Book Comparison

The PBS article on film adaptation discusses the challenge of adopting a novel into film and the changes filmmakers must make. Lots of novels and stories have been turned into movies. The PBS article on film adaptation points out that “A narrator meditates the meaning of what we can see through his or her points of view.” (PBS article Paragraph 2) The narrator is a key part of a story or novel but in films the narrator doesn’t appear. When you read a book, you can start to imagine things that’s going on in the book like imagining someone sitting on a chair or running through a field, but watching a film shows the audience what the filmmakers want them to see. Most films even makes the author have less freedom than books. The PBS article discusses

“Film is a visual brevity, if the novel is a poem, the film is a telegram.” (PBS article paragraph 7) Most likely what it means is novels and films have their own unique structures, one is visual, the other one is hearing. The PBS article points out that some filmmakers sometimes make minor or major changes in films that might not show up like the book did and most people can tell the difference. While most books let the readers have the freedom to imagine what happens in the book, most films show the audience what happens directly. “The Pedestrian,” created by Ray Bradbury and directed by Maximilian Schell. shows some similar theme for both short story and film.

On “The Pedestrian” created by Ray Bradbury, they both show some similarities that happened in both the film and short story.

The first similarity is Leonard Mead wears black shoes in both the film and novel. In the novel, the author quotes, “He had wisely changed sneakers when strolling at night because the dogs would intermittent and bark if he had loud shoes’. (49 Bradberry) Mead doesn’t want to cause any sounds and disturb the dogs when he walks near them. The second similarity is he was arrested in the short story and film. In the novel, the author points out “He put his hand to the door and peered into the back seat which was a little cell, a little black jail with bars. (51 Bradberry) Mead feels like he doesn’t have the freedom to walk freely outside. Ray Bradbury and Maximilian Schell has some similarities in both versions of the

story.

Ray Bradbury, the creator of “The Pedestrian” short story, and Maximilian Schell, the director of the film, both have different things happening in both versions of the story.

One of the first differences is there is one character in the short story but in the film, there are two characters. When Mead was alone in the short story, he felt like he hasn’t seen anyone walking in a long time, but in the film, he walked around with someone to show them walking isn’t all bad. In the film, Leonard doesn’t feel as alone when he has someone to talk to. In the film, he feels hopeful that his friend might continue walking and share with others about what good things Leonard said, but in the short story, Leonard is alone when he was arrested and feels hopeless that he might not see anyone walking around again. The second difference is in the short story, Leonard was arrested in a car but in the film, he was arrested in the helicopter. In the short story, Leonard saw the cop car turn the corner of the street he was on but in the film, the helicopter was searching him and his friend. In the film, when the helicopter came, Leonard and Bob hid in the bushes.When Leonard was arrested in the short story, he asked why he was in trouble and hesitated to get in the car but in the film, he didn’t hesitate and walked in the helicopter as if the bright light pulled him in. It seemed like Leonard was curious. In the short story and film, Brad and Maximilian both have different stories and endings

that can make people think what will happen to Leonard Mead.
The Story “Pedestrian” in the film and short story both show different scenarios and endings that can either let Leonard believe that he has hope or is hopeless that no one will walk again. Most films don’t have the freedom to recreate stories in novels or short stories that the author has made him/herself. Authors have the most freedom to create whatever the desire to make. Most things are taken out of the film from books due to many reasons like the scene might be too long or it might be a bit much for audiences. The film “Pedestrian” showed Bradbury that it looked a lot better than his own story because the film added a bit more detail to the story like what and how the character acted or sounded like. Or most things in the film had a bit more in it than the story.
What the reader should learn in both film and short story is how did the author and director change the story, like how the character acted or if there should be someone with him throughout the story or how long each story is. I feel like the film and short story worked because it had the same theme and setting and had the character almost act the same and mostly ended almost the same way, except the film had Leonard arrested in the helicopter. The Pedestrian is a great story for both film and short story and hopefully can solve what happened to Leonard Mead.