Monday, September 30, 2019

Casina vs. The Braggart Soldier: Which would be better for the big screen?

I would argue that The Braggart Soldier would be better for a modern movie adaption. One of the key factors in deciding how or if to adapt something for the big screen is how understandable the plot, conflict, and characters can be to an audience. Although this is not to suggest that Casina is too difficult for most people to understand, but it has a sharp contrast between it's games of wits between Lysidamus and Cleostrata and the matter at hand of Casina becoming essentially Lysidamus's sex slave that may be incredibly off-putting for a modern audience. The Braggart Soldier presents a clear-cut antagonist in Pyrgopolynices and clear-cut protagonists in Philocomasium and Pleusicles, and follows a plot that has a natural progression towards the ending, that being Pyrgopolynices being publicly humiliated. All of these characters work far better in a modern comedy setting, and thus would be better for a big screen adaption.

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree that the plot, conflict, and characters must be understandable to today's viewers. I'd say both plays would struggle here similarly because Philocomasium was abducted by Pyrgopolinices and is basically forced to be his sex slave as well.

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