From big screen to small, Stephen King continues to deliver
This seems like the year for Stephen King adaptations. It has broken all sorts of box office records, going down as one of the most successful horror films in history, and though some may quibble with a few adaptation choices, the film got the tone and casting absolutely correct, creating an enjoyable film for a wide audience.
It’s certainly not bad for a book that spans generations and over a thousand pages. At least at my school, there are several middle schoolers attempting to read the book after seeing the movie, which is always a positive in my mind.
On the other hand, The Dark Tower didn’t tell the story it needed to and will likely disappear into obscurity until it’s adapted in another medium. It’s unfortunate, as the cast for the film was strong. But the world will keep spinning and we’ll see The Dark Tower series somewhere else in the future.
These major releases might overshadow, however, other adaptations that have appeared on Netflix this month. Stephen King has always been more at home in short fiction than in sprawling novels. The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile are all based on short fiction by Stephen King.
The format forces King to self-edit, dig down into what he’s really trying to communicate, and tell a great story. Last month, Netflix released Gerald’s Game, a story of a sex game gone wrong, which has received very positive reviews. And now, just in time for Halloween, Netflix brings us 1922, the story of the man inside every man.
1922 is a more recent King short story, published in 2010. Wilfred James (Tom Jane) is a farmer with a beautiful wife and a young son. He owns eighty acres in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, land that has been in his family for years. He sees his life as idyllic, full of rich soil and open skies, the kind that provides everything a man might want. He believes that a man without land is no kind of man.
His wife Arlette (Molly Parker) was left 100 acres of good farm land that adjoins his own. Wilfred intends to leave this land, all 180 acres, to his son, Henry (Dylan Schmid). Arlette, however, has no taste for the farm life. She has spent all her life in one place and longs for something new.
Her father’s land gives her the opportunity to move to Omaha, where she wants to open a dress shop. She intends to take Henry with her. Wilfred and Arlette cannot come to an agreement.
It becomes clear that the land gives Arlette the power—something that Wilfred will not abide. He envies his neighbor for his agreeable wife, who answers every question with “whatever you think is best, dear.” Enlisting the help of his teenage son, who fears leaving the pretty, young girl farm girl next door, Wilfred plots to murder his wife and take her land. As with most secrets, however, they refuse to stay buried for long.
1922 is classic King. Many of his stories involve relational strife—it’s easily the most common and deadly source of conflict. Director Zak Hilditch pulls performances out of his actors to show the malice that bubbles just underneath the surface of the struggle for power between Arlette and Wilfred. Neither are especially evil—their plans are simply at odds.
Arlette has no cause expect the violence from the man she’s shared her life with. He does not seem violent. It’s just that each character is so intractable in their desires. There can be no middle ground. Wilfred, as was common in his time, sees Arlette as just another piece of this farm to manage. It allows him to distance himself from her, to see her as livestock rather than human.
Henry is young and in love. That it leads to matter-of-fact discussions of murder in the privacy of a cornfield is terrifying. Arlette never had a chance. The isolation of the farm is as dangerous as the man that occupies it.
Hilditch focuses on just how remote the farm is through dialogue and solid narrative choices. The isolation later becomes the enemy that ultimately defeats Wilfred and brings him to his terrifying conclusion.
1922 makes for another stellar entry into the club of Stephen King adaptations. It is well shot, well-paced, and well-acted. Given that King is one of the most prolific authors in the world, there are nearly endless stories to find. I look forward to the next gem.