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Journey and Journey 2

From: aevans2 tds.net <aevans2~at~tds.net>
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:10:51 -0500
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Dear Vernian friends,

This weekend I went to see the film *Journey 2: The Mysterious Island* with
Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and the young actor named Josh Hutcherson who
appeared in *Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D* with Brendan
Fraser. It was mildly entertaining but, of course, has nothing to do with
Verne (although the volcano spitting out gold reminded me of *The Golden
Volcano*).

One important feature shared by both films, however, is the notion that the
events in Verne's novels *really happened* and were not just fiction. This
is the supposed secret shared by most "Vernians" around the world. So the
films' protagonists (ironically) follow in the footsteps of Lidenbrock,
Axel, Cyrus Smith, Nemo et al. and, during the course of their many
adventures, confirm the real existence of these original Vernian
characters.

In one way, this notion is a useful gimmick to avoid direct comparisons
between the films and Verne's novels (which would be very unflattering to
the films). But I also found it fascinating as a verisimilitude-building
device. And I remember Verne doing exactly the same thing in _Le Sphinx
des glaces_ (The Ice Sphinx). In this novel Edgar Allan Poe's Arthur
Gordon Pym is treated as a *real* person whose adventures at the South Pole
*really happened* according to Captain Len Guy. Yet another irony.

Best,
Art
Received on Mon 20 Feb 2012 - 17:10:58 IST

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