Review of The Sound and the Fury (1959) by Kevin M. W — 16 Nov 2015

All film adaptations of novels present difficulties since they usually present more story than you can tell in 120 minutes. What is the core of the novel? What story best reflects that core? What essentials must stay? What do you have to leave out?

The Sound and the Fury is an utterly unadaptable novel, and it's a fool's errand to try. It's hard enough to figure out what the story even is from Faulkner's stream of consciousness. Now try and figure out a story from that thing in Hollywood in the 1950s that will look like a movie and will survive the Hays Office censorship and become a commercial success. Jeez, why try? Do yourself a favor and option a Zane Grey novel.

In memory of my old Honors English teacher Miss Lucas, I gave Martin Ritt's The Sound and the Fury a shot.

You can approach a film adaptation of a novel one of two ways - how does it serve the source material, and how does it stand on its own? You'd better choose #2 on this one, because I'll tell you right now, this film has as much resemblance to Faulkner's novel as it has to Green Eggs and Ham. Separating this particular novel from its impenetrable style will probably always deprive it of its oxygen; the style IS the substance. Without the dense impossible prose, it's just a story of a messed-up family. If you can't spend time in Benjy's head or Quentin's head or Jason's head, then it's not The Sound and the Fury.

So then you're left with yet another movie about the decaying and decadent South, with nattering women and brooding men, all deep in their own shame and lust. The film concentrates on Caddy's daughter Quentin and her struggle of wills with her Uncle Jason (a step-uncle here so the Hays Office will let them kiss). The script knits together a viable narrative, not terribly plausible and impossibly distant from the novel. Jason and Quentin discover newfound respect for each other and live happily ever after? Are you freakin' kidding me???

At least you have a couple of first-rate performances here from Joanne Woodward and Ethel Waters as Quentin and Dilsey, respectively. Joanne Woodward was 28 at the time, playing a 16-ish girl. Her talent is jaw-dropping. Just watching her absently walk 15 feet puts you straight into her mindset - bored, angry, curious, aimless, unsure, impatient for what life has waiting for her.

Ethel Waters played the standard role just about every middle-aged black woman played back then - housemaid to white people. Her every moment is pain - physical pain, emotional pain, memory pain. Happily, the screenwriters spared her most of the bossy Mammy-type dialogue this role usually gets and gave her dialogue that was short, succinct and cut right to the character's truth. She bore the pain of all the years with this horrible family her every moment on screen.

Yul Brynner carries all the appropriate power and anger you'd want from a Jason, but it's sadly impossible to ignore his Russian accent. Did they really think we'd think his accent was Cajun? Sheesh.