Netflix’sEast of Edenadaptation can fix the original film’s main problem. The 1955 film adapted John Steinbeck’s classic novel of the same name,with James Deanin the role of Caleb “Cal” Trask, for which he received a posthumous Academy Award nomination. Its story explores the Trask and Hamilton families over the course of multiple generations in an epic tale that serves as a retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel and as an exploration of the American Dream and free will.
In addition to Dean’s posthumous nomination, Elia Kazan received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and Jo Van Fleet, who played Cathy Ames, won for Best Supporting Actress. With that, there’s a lot of expectation for its modern retelling.East of Edenis now being adapted as a Netflix limited series starring Florence Pugh as Cathy, whilePoor Thingsstar Christopher Abbottis in talks to play Cal’s father, Adam Trask. Zoe Kazan is writing and executive producing the project and has an opportunity to improve upon her grandfather’s classic film.
The East Of Eden Movie Skipped Nearly Half Of The Book
Critical Context Is Missing From The Movie
TheEast of Edenfilm begins when Cal and his brother, Aron Trask (Richard Davalos), are already young adults, and Adam (Raymond Massey) is their stern father. This starting point already poses a significant problem as it skips nearly half of the novel. Earlier parts of the story focus on Adam, his brother Charles, his father Cyrus, and Cathy, who Adam marries, all before Cal and Aron are born, let alone become the young adults that they are at the start of the 1955 film.
This approach prevents viewers from understanding the character arcs of Adam and Cathy, who renames herself Kate.The dynamic between Cal and Aron mirrors the dynamic between Adam and Charles, with both relationships serving as a retelling of the story of Cain and Abel. While some of these important details about Adam and Cathy’s pasts are eventually revealed in the film, such as Cal learning the identity of his mother, this information does not hold the same weight given the extensive lack of context.
East Of Eden Was Missing Key Book Characters
It’s Not East Of Eden Without Lee And The Hamiltons
In addition to skipping much of the source material, theEast of Edenfilm is also missing several essential characters, particularly Lee, Samuel Hamilton, and all the members of his family, except for Will. The Hamilton family plays a major role in the novel and their absence from the film is not a change that benefits the story in any way.Sam and Lee provideEast of Eden’s wisdom and heart, much of which the film lacks without their presence and the beautiful friendship that forms between them.
Olive Hamilton
Mollie Hamilton
While Cathy is an embodiment of evil, and Cal and Aron are in their respective roles are its versions of Cain and Abel, Sam and Lee act as the moral center of the story. Lee is a Chinese-American individual who code-switches between acting like his true, deeply intelligent self and acting in an offensively stereotypical fashion based on who he is interacting with and the situations he finds himself in. This is part of the story’s exploration of the American Dream, as is Sam being an Irish immigrant, all of which was excised from the film.
A Limited Series Can Be More Faithful To The Source Material
Netflix’s East Of Eden Series Has More Time To Adapt The Full Novel
With a runtime of 117 minutes,East of Edennever had a chance of properly adapting Steinbeck’s approximately 600-page novel. With multiple episodes that can cover each section of the book, Netflix’s limited series has the opportunity to be a far more faithful and rewarding adaptation. The early episodes can begin when Adam and Cathy are younger and depict all the vital story beats before Cal and Aron are born, which will ultimately culminate in a more satisfying ending.
Lee’s story will need to be handled with sensitivity in Kazan’s script and in the chosen actor’s performance.
Based onPugh and Abbott’s previous filmsand television series, they are excellent choices to play Adam and Cathy, and can be made to look older as the series progresses.Missing characters like Sam, the rest of his family, and Lee can be included and explored in-depth, although Lee’s story will need to be handled with sensitivity in Kazan’s script and in the chosen actor’s performance. As such,East of Edenis an all-time great American novel, and while Dean’s movie is well-received, it will hopefully now have a worthy adaptation thanks to the upcoming Netflix project.
