ULYSSES On Film

This is good news, I saw the 1965 version at the NGA and was amazed.

The year after I saw Ulysses on film (1968) I saw Finnegan's Wake at a theater in Kansas City. This is the one Joyce work I have not been bold enough or intellectually aspiring enough to read; so, the film gave a pretty good inkling of what the novel's about. It is the only English language film I ever saw that also had English language subtitles. Only thing, the spoken English did not always jibe with the written English. I have been trying to locate a copy of this movie for about three years. To my knowledge it is not on VHS or DVD.

Are you ready? Can you take it?

I'm ready, I can take it, I think!

I had posted it here because I thought book lovers would have been more interested in it than film buffs. After all, it's a classic. I hate to see it associated with The Absent Minded Professor.

That's okay, edharblythe, I don't think anyone will mix the two up!
It is in good company considering some of the better titles we've discussed. I think Joyce is basically so literate that it is unfilmable, much like F. Scott Fitzgerald who has been turned into mostly mumbo-jumbo soap opera. The production team looks encouraging, however, so we will see (literally) what we will see! Thanks for the link -- will be following it closely until the release of the film.

Actually, I'd be tempted to post a discussion of Joyce in books and refer to this thread.

I believe June 16th is Bloom's Day. That is the day the film is scheduled to be released.

Be there early to get a seat. I can envision lines out the door, around the building.

Have to agree with Lightwizard. I don't think any of Joyce's work (except maybe some of the short stories in The Dubliners) is filmable. I saw the 1968 (?) version and, while it was quite a good and interesting movie, it certainly wasn't Joyce and it wasn't Ulysses.

At least we can get much of the gist of it from the older film. I believe it would have been very good by the way if they had made it at least epic in length so that many loose ends could be tied up. As an instance, toward the end, the scene at the taxi stand cannot be overlooked or the bonding of the two men is not much in evidence. The film makers were too modest in their reach, but, I am sure lack of funding played a part.
I have never attempted to read Finnegan's Wake, because I simply cannot put in the time required, but, a film of it made in the 60s was helpful, I believe in relieving some of my curiosity.

ULYSSES is unfilmable. Period. Why do people persist in these pointless projects?

As a footnote, one of Joyce's jobs in Dublin before he self-exiled from Ireland was working as a projectionist in a movie theater.

EdgarBlythe -- I have been shamed into trying to read Finnegan's Wake again by Here Comes Everybody. Met HCE in NYC last October and he has me convinced the book can't be that hard to master. So I'm going to try real hard. Ulysses. by comparison, was a walk in the park.

I know. That's why I never read it. It would be much too time consuming. If I were a young scholar or something other than what I am I would love to tackle it. At my age, in my life circumstances, it ain't possible.

The one section of ULYSSES that is just conceivably filmable is the Nighttown chapter (Circe)...Bloom and Dedalus in the brothel. It is even written in dramatic format. If I were going to film Joyce, a quixotic venture if ever there were one, I would limit myself to that one chunk of the novel. It was done years ago in New York on stage as "Ulysses in Nighttown" starring Zero Mostel as Bloom.

Larry, Ulysses in Nighttown has been done a number of times by repertory theaters. I saw it many years ago at a venue in Boston (Cambridge, MA, actually).

I am an optimist. I know that no film will ever capture Joyce exactly as it appears in the novel. but, I love the fact the effort is made. I am eager to view the results.

It's also been said that Proust is unfilmable but "Time Regained," the last book in "Rememberance of Things Past" was successfully filmed in my estimation with Catherine Denueve in a pivotal role.

It will be astounding to see at least an honest attempt that conveys the essence of the book. I've read it so many years ago, it could compel me to read it again.

I still read portions at random - the language is so rich - I feel like an imbecile by comparison when I write.