On can only hope that this film servers some purpose by being used in Film 101 for film students to see all the possible attributes of definitive bad adaption. I have to say I enjoyed the novel. The novel *tries* to be original, self consciously so. One gets the sense the author had made a study of non-linear timeline work and threw in some Proust and painful immigration and old age stories. Still the novel is worth a read, it is complex, and average to above average work
But the film is a complete mess. Two thirds or more of the narrative complexity and intersections, which are precisely what makes the novel interesting, are lopped away. Amazingly the film still is disjointed and jarring, and instead of being easier to follow -- now simply full of narrative holes.
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