Released again on June 25, <Incendies> is Denis Villeneuve's breakout film, known for its bold narrative and solid structure, which has also been loved by Korean audiences through the <Dune> series, <Arrival>, and <Sicario: City of the Assassins>. Although it appears to be an original story reflecting the global situation due to its narrative on religious conflicts in the Middle East, it is actually based on a play. While adapting plays into films has been a common practice throughout film history, the number of adaptations has significantly decreased in the 2000s, despite a substantial increase in the number of works available for adaptation. Here are a few films from the 2000s that adapted original works, including <Incendies>.
<Incendies>
The reason it is difficult to recognize that <Incendies> is based on a play is primarily due to its title. The original title of this film, released in South Korea as <Incendies>, is ‘Incendies’, which means fire in French (Denis Villeneuve hails from Quebec, Canada, where French is spoken). The title of the original play is 「Fire」. Although it shares the same title in the original language, the significant difference in titles between the film and the play can easily be overlooked if one is not interested in either. Wajdi Mouawad, who wrote 「Fire」, was born in Lebanon but fled to Paris due to the Lebanese Civil War and later moved to Quebec due to issues with his residency in Paris. Naturally, he became interested in the Lebanese Civil War, which changed his life, and wrote several tragic stories set against the backdrop of war. 「Fire」 is a work inspired by the story of Souha Bechara, who was active in the resistance during the Lebanese Civil War. The publishing house, Actes Sud, published 「Fire」, 「Forest」, and 「Coastal Area」, which are part of Wajdi Mouawad's 'Tragedy Tetralogy'.
<The Father>
The 2021 film <The Father> is a rare case among the already uncommon 'film adaptations of plays'. This is because the original author directed the film himself. Florian Zeller, who directed and wrote <The Father> (published as Florian Zeller), is a playwright. Having written plays and novels since the early 2000s, he challenged himself as a film director with <The Father>, which adapted his own play 「The Father」. Prior to this, the only visual work he directed was a single TV documentary, but he received acclaim for perfectly framing his own work. The original play won the prestigious 'Molière Award for Best Play' in the French theatre scene when it premiered in France, and the film also won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. He immediately adapted another of his plays, 「Son」, into the film <The Son>. Unfortunately, the third part of the 'family trilogy', 「Mother」, has yet to be adapted into a film. Instead, he is currently working on a new original screenplay titled <The Bunker>. After the film's release, <The Father> was also performed in South Korea, with actor Jeon Mu-song delivering a powerful performance as André. The publishing house, Actes Sud, has published Zeller's plays 「Son」, 「Father」, 「Mother」, and 「Other」.
<Moonlight>
Is the original of <Moonlight> a play? One cannot help but be surprised. This is because the original of <Moonlight> has never been publicly disclosed. Directed by Barry Jenkins, <Moonlight> is adapted from an unpublished play written by Tarell Alvin McCraney. It may seem strange that an unpublished play can be the original, but the title of the original, 「In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue」, serves as the most important motif in the film and reflects McCraney's life, so it is undeniable that without the play, the film <Moonlight> could not have been born. The way this work reached Barry Jenkins is also quite dramatic, as it stemmed from McCraney's decision to abandon the performance of the original. McCraney realized that the completed play was not suitable for the stage and gave up on its theatrical adaptation, but he handed the unpublished play to Barry Jenkins at a film festival, leading to its adaptation into a film. Remarkably, Jenkins and McCraney did not know each other, but they grew up in the same neighborhood during their childhood, which seems to have influenced Jenkins's emotional response to the play reflecting McCraney's experiences. Since the original author abandoned the theatrical adaptation, there will be no future opportunities to encounter the original, but McCraney successfully won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with this work.
<Moments with You>
The 2017 film <Moments with You> is also based on a play. This film is also difficult to find the original play for, as it has not been officially published in South Korea and (like <Incendies>) the title differs significantly from the original. The title of the original work written by Jordan Harrison is 「Marjorie Prime」. It combines the protagonist, an 80-year-old woman with dementia named Marjorie, and the A.I. Prime that represents the identity of the deceased. The title becomes clear when one watches the work, but it can be perplexing for those who have not seen it. The interactions between Marjorie and Prime, who resembles her late husband Walter in his youth, as well as the surrounding characters remembering their loved ones through Prime, layer upon layer, raise questions about what memory is and how much we can expand our understanding of existence. Before the full arrival of the A.I. era, the literary and philosophical imagination towards A.I. was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
