In the year 1983, the great Canadian novel “The Wars”,
written by Timothy Findley, was released to the public in the form of a movie.
Brent Carver was cast as Robert Ross, William Hutt as Mr. Ross, Martha Henry as
Mrs. Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald as Rowena Ross, Richard McMillian as Harris,
Domini Blythe as Barbara D’Orsey, and Abigail Seaton as Juliet D’Orsey. It was
Timothy Findley who adapted his novel for the screen, and the characters of the
film were put to life by director Robin Phillips. With a budget of 4 100 000
and a runtime of 120 minutes, this movie was initially reviewed as a high
quality piece of cinema. In fact, The New York Times, one of the more well-known
newspapers, gave this Canadian film a rating of four point five out of five. Sadly
though, the movie version of “The Wars” differs in numerous ways to the novel.
In the book, Rowena Ross, the beloved and disabled sister of the main character
Robert Ross, dies tragically when she falls from her wheel chair while playing
with her ten rabbits on the cement floor of her family’s barn. On the other
hand, in the movie adaptation, Rowena Ross dies in a car accident. After his
sister’s death in the book version of this story, the loss of his greatest
companion causes Robert to enlist in the army and fight over seas in WWI.
Whilst in the movie version, Robert enlists in the arm due to frequent fights
with his family over the death of his sister, and their decision to slaughter
Rowena’s ten rabbits. Thankfully though, in all other aspects of “The Wars”
plot, the movie didn’t change too much else. But this lack of numerous changes
didn’t change the fact that later in time, “The Wars” movie would be viewed in
poor taste. Viewers from a younger generation than those of the 80’s, who
originally viewed the film, saw the many flaws apparent in this film. Even
though the film had a budget of 4 100 000 Canadian dollars, everything about it
seemed cheap and poorly done except for the acting. I truly wish this movie
could have done this great Canadian novel even an ounce of justice, but it
simply fell short.
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