Conference Contribution Details
Mandatory Fields
Conacher, J.E.
Process and Practice: Adaptation Considered as a Collaborative Art (UCC)
A collaborative cinematic project? Adapting Hein’s Willenbrock
University College Cork
National Refereed Conference Paper
2014
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Optional Fields
03-OCT-14
04-OCT-14
                      

A collaborative cinematic project? Adapting Hein’s Willenbrock

In discussing his first literary adaptation, Andreas Dresen, arguably one of Germany’s top film directors, alludes to tensions underlying the process of adapting literary work for the screen which have characterised adaptation studies since its inception[1]; in Leitch’s words, “the field is still haunted by the notion that adaptations ought to be faithful to their ostensible sourcetexts.”[2] Yet when the film in question, Willenbrock, is produced within four years of the novel of the same name, the book’s author, Christoph Hein, is one of the leading figures of contemporary literature and proves sufficiently interested to be present on set, and the leading actor, Axel Prahl, is a household name, not least through regular appearances in Tatort, the pressure to compare film and novel, on author, director and actor, let alone critic, is perhaps never greater.

Modern adaptation studies, however, lie intrinsically on the edge, resisting simplistic approaches which pit one version against the other or seek to prove which version is better, more authentic, aesthetically superior. In this act of resisting, they seek instead to highlight approaches which unlock the complementary and mutually challenging nature of different tellings of related, yet different, stories, to lay bare the unique techniques upon which alternative media can draw, and to reveal the complex network of genre and cultural tradition within which producers of both literary and cinematic works act.

Against this background, this paper explores to what extent key players (director, writer and actor) bring the experience of their individual crafts to a dynamic, collaborative process which may enable a new telling of the Willenbrock tale to emerge.



[1] Katharina Dockhorn, ‚Verdrängung ist lebenserhaltend‘‚ Interview mit Andreas Dresen, 12.03.05 filmecho-filmwoche Nr 10

[2] Thomas Leitch, 2008. ‘Adaptation Studies at a Crossroads’, Adaptation, 1/1, pp. 63-77, p. 64.

School of Modern Languages & Applied Linguistics, University of Limerick