Bourne and Me

Saturday, February 18, 2012

WHEN one watches a movie, especially the one which is an adaptation from a book, he is advised to read the printed pages , either before or after watching the movie flick.

In my case, I believe in taking the first preference- reading first before watching the movie on silver screen.

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Such is my stance when I got hold of the 2004 paperback edition of The Bourne Legacy. The celebrated news the book is getting from the localized filming which the movie producers are doing in Manila is one of the reasons why I rave about the book.

So, when my friends Troy lent Eric the book, and Eric conceded that I should read the book first, then I made no howl about it. Second is the very fact that this is still part of the action-thriller Bourne series.

Third is the thesis-statement I made - I do read the book version first, before watching the film. The same thing I did with the first Ludlum’s trio: “Bourne Identity”, “Bourne Supremacy” and” Bourne Ultimatum”. I did so with Rowling’s and Tolkien’s, or even with Sparks’.

Why? Because the movie is the condensed version of the pages of action, adventure, fantasy, romance, and thrill. If we readers spend two or three nights or more grappling with all the characters, setting, twists and denouement of the book, all these burning-our-eyebrows sessions are captured in a two or a three-hour sit-and-concentrate assembly in front of the wide screen.

Practically, the scriptwriter who adapts the book to a movie does not include minute details of the character’s angst or stream of thought. A pan shot of the setting is already a shortened view of one or two pages of place and time descriptions. Or a crane shot establishing the plot can just be shown in a matter of minutes.

Moreover, to fit the line of actors and actress, some characters can just be removed, or doubled, or made up. The location or the set can even be tricked to look like the made–up version of the book. And sometimes, the ending could be twisted so as to satisfy the audience or the viewers’ expectations.

So if we Filipinos are fed with a lot of scoops on the filming of Eric Van Lustbader’s “Bourne Legacy”, then get ready for an action-filled narratives in the book. (And get ready for long nights to be spent in devouring the 464 pages of the book just to finish it; mind you, it’s one of those hard-to-put-down books).

Yet, unlike the typical Robert Ludlum’s creation, Van Lustbader created an introspective Bourne in his paper. David Webb has become of Jason. Typical academician of Georgetown University, Webb has bouts of amnesia which in a way lags the Bourne-self out of him.

Yet instinctively trained, the Jason self slowly came out when Jason’s friend Alex Conklin and psychiatrist Morris Panov were found killed by the main character. Thus starts the action-packed series of incidents of the story.

Our hero finds himself traversing the United States, France, Budapest and Iceland. Flashbacks of Bourne’s early war years in Vietnam would help us understand his anguish. And the introduction of the hired assassin Khan and his unresolved issues make us understand better the legacy which Jason Bourne will leave the readers.

Fine twists? Yes, there are plenty, which makes this book a typical thriller. So take note of details like what Annaka Vadas is doing every time she goes to the kitchen, or how the first Joshua Bourne re-surfaced into the story after having been declared MIA (missing in action).

One noteworthy thing about this Van Lustbader book is it tries to humanize the characters. Hard-core killers or terrorists they may be portrayed at first, but Lustbader gives them redeeming qualities, which make them feeling, and forgiving humans in the end. The Chechen terrorist leaders attained it; Janos and Annaka Vadas got their taste of it; and Jason Bourne and Khan achieved such in the end. Thus, gives the book a fulfilling, satisfying ending.

So if you ask me why part of the movie is filmed here in the Philippines, when the settings should have been the U.S., France, Hungary and Iceland , then I say my first option: read first the book, that you may understand better the movie when you watch it.

Meantime your date with the Ludlum-created character Jason Bourne would be one of those fantastic moments, death-defying moments. For me, Bourne is seemingly one real hero. For booklovers and bookworms, evenings with Bourne would be better than the so-so, tweetums Valentine’s Day rendezvous. I hope yours would be more exciting, too.

Here’s to a more significant week ahead of us. God bless.