Are descriptions of main characters always necessary?
Just been watching the film adaptation of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Yes, it's hardly new but it reminded me about the lukewarm reaction to the casting of Nicholas Cage in the title role.
Now, any adaptation can produce a range of subjective responses and Cage's work can certainly be hit & miss but I wonder if there isn't something else at work here too.
Any film version of a written text challenges the mental image readers have of that character. However, in the case of Corelli, one reason for the mixed reaction may well be that in Louis de Bernieres' massively-bestselling and much-loved book, there is no detailed physical description of Corelli. More than usual, each of us rerally do have a different picture in our heads of what he might look like. This begs the question, do we really need detailed physical descriptions of protagonists?
Now, any adaptation can produce a range of subjective responses and Cage's work can certainly be hit & miss but I wonder if there isn't something else at work here too.
Any film version of a written text challenges the mental image readers have of that character. However, in the case of Corelli, one reason for the mixed reaction may well be that in Louis de Bernieres' massively-bestselling and much-loved book, there is no detailed physical description of Corelli. More than usual, each of us rerally do have a different picture in our heads of what he might look like. This begs the question, do we really need detailed physical descriptions of protagonists?
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