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Re: mysterious island 1973 mini series

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 20:59:02 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

You can also read my take on LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD in my JV
Ency., written as well from the perspective of the pirate sub-genre, since
I also wrote a book on historical adventure.

The most faithful feature of L'Ile mysterieuse is probably the 1941
Russian version, not only in plot but visuals: the design and
camerawork is partly inspired by
the engravings. Fortunately this version is becoming more widely seen.

But there is more than fidelity to consider. Certainly the least faithful
version is the 1929 version, which was nonetheless tremendously
influential in setting the pattern for the whole cycle of 1950s JV movies
and beyond.

The 1929 film was the product of a 4-year-effort, while the Harryhausen
film had begun scripting some 10 years earlier (long before Harryhausen
became involved), explaining some of the divergent strands.

Then, of course, there's the 1951 serial .... ;-) the one with Nemo
saving Earth from invaders from Mercury.

Has anyone discovered the reasons for the wide discrepancies in versions
of the 1973 miniseries and feature? It seems to go well beyond the scope
of what might happen with a coproduction.

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005, thomas mccormick wrote:

> Dear Gamt de Vries and Jean-Pierre Boutin,
>
> The television version of Mysterious Island of which you speak (with Omar
> Sharif) is available dubbed in German and French, but was originally
> Spanish. I have been told that there is an English dubbed version also, but
> I have not confirmed that.
>
> It is correct to say that this version is more faithful to the book than was
> the 1961 film (with Herbert Lom as Nemo) or the other TV version that is now
> in production (with Patrick Stewart in the same role). But to be more
> faithful than either of those two is no achievement, since those two hardly
> follow Verne's story at all and introduce fantastic elements that have
> nothing to do with Verne's conception. These elements include giant insects
> created by Nemo! Needless to say, whoever made these versions was not
> interested in Verne.
>
> As for the version you are discussing, its major divergences from the book
> occur toward its conclusion. Its authors are interested in the theme of
> survival on a deserted island, and they explore this theme rather well, but
> they seem to have very little notion what to do with Nemo, and little
> understanding of why Verne put him in the story to begin with.
>
> As for the film "Light at the Edge of the Wolrld", it features Kirk Douglas
> and Yul Brynner, and you can read reviews of it by accessing the Intrernet
> Movie Database (search for IMDb). I haven't read the reviews, but I suppose
> Douglas and Brynner are cast as Vasquez and Kongre respectively. I don't
> believe Burt Lancaster is in this film.
>
> Tom McCormick
>
> >From: Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>
> >Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
> >To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
> >Subject: Re: mysterious island 1973 mini series
> >Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 11:09:55 +0200 (CEST)
> >
> >On Thu, 21 Jul 2005, Jean-Pierre Boutin wrote:
> >
> >>I also bought it but not receive it yet. The fact that there is no English
> >>version is a real problem and restricts the diffusion to French speaking
> >>people (my opinion is that you are such Garmt).
> >
> >Yes, it's a shame. There's a difference between talking to francophone
> >people, when you can ask to speak a bit more slowly, and watching a movie
> >with background music, fast-speaking characters, etc.
> >
> >I had the Decourt Strogoff miniseries on video, taped from TV5. Now TV5 has
> >the useful habit of subtitling, in French, their films that are spoken in
> >French. Later I bought the DVD set, which didn't include subtitles. So,
> >even if DVD has the advantage of better image and sound quality, and easy
> >scene selection, in this case it did have one drawback as compared to the
> >video tape.
> >
> >Do you know that series of animated Voyages Extraordinaires? You can choose
> >French, English or Italian language, and they have subtitles in French and
> >in English. These animations are quite well done, by the way, and include
> >some less famous stories like Etoile du Sud and Jangada.
> >
> >>About the "Ile Mystérieuse" mini series, it's a very reliable adaptation
> >>of the JV novel but some comments say that it is somewhat tedious...
> >
> >I'm looking forward to having a lot of free time (yeah right... as if that
> >will ever happen), so I can watch it...
> >
> >>The same editor re-published also a movie from “Le phare du bout du Monde”
> >>featuring Burt Lancaster etc. There are 2 DVD, one with the French
> >>version, the other with the original (English) version.,”The light of the
> >>edge of the world”.
> >
> >Yes, I saw it at amazon. How silly can you be, making two separate discs
> >with the same movie, only in a different language? Very strange...
> >
> >But, despite all these shortcomings, we can be happy that a couple of
> >movies are now commercially available.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Garmt.
>
Received on Fri 22 Jul 2005 - 03:59:10 IDT

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