Heather's thoughts on "Death and the Maiden"

            There were many similarities between the play and the film adaptation of Death and the Maiden. The play was open ended; the reader did not know what happened to any of the characters- if Roberto was guilty and Paulina was right all along. With the film, Polanski directed it so that the viewer did not leave asking many questions about the ending. For instance, in the play, Paulina and Gerardo go to the concert and Paulina “sees” Roberto, “He could be real or he could be an illusion in Paulina’s head” (67). In the film, we know that Roberto is at the orchestra because both Paulina and Gerardo look up and stare at Roberto.

            I enjoyed the play more than the film adaptation. I love endings that are pretty open and where the reader can decide how he or she wants the piece to end. With this film and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the endings and many of the scenes are changed or simply removed. This is because sometimes scenes from books just do not come across right in a film form, and films are obviously, well, usually time restricted. Also, the director is free to put his or her interpretation of a piece into the film, and no one has the same analysis for anything.