The Grapes of Wrath (1940 film) review

I'll admit it: when I first saw this film I hadn't read the book. (I have now). Something about Steinbeck's meticulous descriptions of everything put me off the novel. Which is odd considering that East of Eden is one of my favourite novels ever written, and Steinbeck is one of my favourite. I'm not sure what this admittance does to my credibility. Never mind, I wasn't too reliable anyway.

That admittance fucked me up.

The film, like the book, follows the journey of a poverty stricken family of share croppers from Oklahoma, named the Joads, as they desperately try to make their way to California in search of work. Very few changes have been made to the plot of the first act of the film, save the occasional adaptation of imagery or dialogue in order to fit the cinéma. However, the second act of the film has been changed almost completely.

Having been exposed to the film first, I found no problems with this. It was still enjoyable (to the extent that a film about poverty can be enjoyable), and the final scene did leave me satisfied. After reading the novel, my view of the film changed entirely. I can understand that the changes have been made to leave the audience with a sense of hope, rather than desolation, as well as in an attempt to avoid any issues of censorship; however, that does not excuse them.

By avoiding the more controversial messages held in Steinbeck's novel, the film somewhat misses the point of the book. When compared to Steinbeck's novel, the ending seems far too corny, and cliché. Some of the characters aren't given the development they need to become almost real people, and the sense of tragedy is lost. Furthermore, the omission of the peach imagery changes them focus of the film from the relationship between mankind and land, to mankind's interaction with itself exclusively.

Besides these edits, the film is exceptionally well-made. The acting is superb, with each character bouncing off of the others perfectly in conversation. In fact, the simple act of making the character's all seem different for each other is hard enough when using the word, that the difference between the way each character is portrayed is nothing short of astounding. Sound is used in sporadic brilliance. Whilst I don't much think that the music chosen fits the film very well, the use of background noise against speech creates an unusual, and quite terrifying atmosphere of desolation and loneliness.

The cinématography is the best that I have ever seen in a black and white film. Shadow is used to outstanding effect, and as the film draws on the contrast between light and day becomes ever more striking. Some of the landscape shots used are so breath-taking that I had to re-watch them. It's that good.

Overall, The Grapes of Wrath is an extremely hard film to review. The good bits are amazing, but the difference between the book and the film will probably leave anyone who's ever read the novel with a sense that they've been cheated. Still, a must for lovers of cinéma, if only to look at the technical expertise.

8/10