In his 1959 article for Films in Review, producer Jerry Wald, commented on the difficulties faced by screenwriters writing scripts based upon books like The Sound and the Fury. Wald commented, "Adapting a literary work to the screen...is primarily an attempt to capture in visual and dramatic terms the spirit, rather than the letter, of a work." Many critics of the 1959 film The Sound and the Fury argue that it completely ignores the message or even the spirit of Faulkner's 1929 novel. Indeed, the screenplay drastically altered several main themes: the tragic Quentin (called Howard in the film) does not commit suicide but returns home an alcoholic; Benjy and Quentin's sections of the novel are deleted and the characters of Dilsey and Jason are distorted; Caddy's daughter Quentin actually marries Jason in one of the most complicated twists of familial genealogy imaginable. But the most obvious change is that of the character of Jason himself, played by Yul Brenyer. Acknowledged by Faulkner to be "inhuman" and a "bastard in behavior," Jason is reformed in the film into someone acting in the best interests of the Compson family.

On display are two items relating to the film: the soundtrack for the film featuring music by Alex North and a reproduction of a Belgian poster for the film with its translated title, Le Bruit et la Fureur.   [go to page 6 >>]