Adam Resurrected: A Roundtable (Interesting Article)

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In [i]Adam Resurrected[/i], [color="#336703"]Paul Schra[/color][color="#336703"]der[/color]'s new film which premiered at [color="#336703"]Tellu[/color][color="#336703"]ride[/color] in September, a psychiatric institute for Holocaust survivors in the Negev Desert becomes a stage for the enactment of a painful tangle of memories. These walking (and crawling) wounded are anything but pious. The sanitarium is also the place for an encounter between a Jewish cabaret clown ([color="#336703"]Jeff[/color][color="#336703"] Goldblum[/color]) who survived Auschwitz while playing a dog for the camp boss ([color="#336703"]Willem [/color][color="#336703"]Dafoe[/color]) and a teenage boy, David ([url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2027342/"]Tudor Rapiteanu[/url]), who believes he is a dog.[/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]
The film is adapted from the 1968 Israeli novel by[url="http://www.ithl.org.il/author_info.asp?id=134"]Yoram Kaniuk[/url], which was received coldly in Israel for its seemingly irreverent treatment of the Holocaust with a cast of mad survivors and its examination of an odd case of a clown's compromise in the face of death. The book developed an international reputation after [url="http://www.susansontag.com/"]Susan Sontag[/url] gave it a glowing endorsement, which helped turn [url="http://www.powells.com/partner/28885/s?kw=Adam%20Resurrected"][i]Adam Resurrected[/i][/url] into a modern classic in the comic-grotesque strain of [url="http://www.greencine.com/webCatalog?id=2462"][i]The Tin Drum[/i][/url] and [url="http://www.greencine.com/webCatalog?id=2198"][i]Slaughterhouse-Five[/i][/url]. Filmmakers have been trying to put it on the screen ever since, among them [url="http://www.greencine.com/character?cid=424991"]Charlie Chaplin[/url] and [url="http://www.greencine.com/character?pid=7408"]Orson Welles[/url].[/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]
This adaptation, which still lacks a US distributor, is written by the young Israeli-trained screenwriter [url="http://nyjff08.blogspot.com/2008/01/interview-with-noah-stollman.html"]Noah Stollman[/url]. Critics, so far, have not been kind (including Israelis), although I am an exception - see my review in [url="http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=40714"][i]Screen[/i][/url]. You'll be hearing more about the novel, regardless of when the film finally gets a theatrical release. A new edition is due out soon.[/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]
What follows is a conversation about adaptation and its challenges among Paul Schrader, the novelist Yoram Kaniuk, producer [url="http://www.greencine.com/character?pid=267803"]Ehud Bleiberg[/url], and myself at the [url="http://www.haifaff.co.il/"]Haifa International Film Festival[/url] in Israel, where [i]Adam Resurrected[/i] saw its Israeli premiere.[/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]
[url="https://www.greencine.com/central/adamresurrected"]https://www.greencine.com/central/adamresurrected[/url][/size][/font][/color]