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Prof. Myrna Monllor English 124. The Adjustment Bureau (2011). Director: George Nolfi. A thriller without guns Used real-life personalities to give Credibility to the story. The Setting. Real-life personalities . The characters: David Norris. The Characters: David Norris.
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Prof. Myrna Monllor English 124
The Adjustment Bureau (2011) Director: George Nolfi A thriller without guns Used real-life personalities to give Credibility to the story
The Characters: David Norris What’s his flaw?
The character: David Norris The perfect shoe scuff: image versus reality
The characters: Elise How is Elise portrayed?
Themes A secret behind-the-scenes bureaucracy is manipulating human behavior so that everything goes “according to plan.”
Development of the story: The labyrinth of doors and door portals
Development of the story: Bureaucratic Metaphors Reference to King Vidor’s The Crowd
The Adjustment Bureau • have books that track people’s • lives • can use doors to teleport from • place to place • Can fall asleep, be punched, • outsmarted and have limited powers • Can only go through the doors • If they have their fedoras • can adjust the universe • can reset a person’s memory and • personality to a blank state
The Adjustment Team Has limited powers. Water impedes their detecting where persons are. They don’t follow everyone.
We actually tried Free Will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire we stepped back to see how you'd do on your own. You gave us the Dark Ages for five centuries... until finally we decided we should come back in. The Chairman thought maybe we just needed to do a better job of teaching you how to ride a bike before taking the training wheels off again. So we gave you the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution. For six hundred years we taught you to control your impulses with reason, then in 1910 we stepped back. Within fifty years, you'd brought us World War I, the Depression, Fascism, the Holocaust and capped it off by bringing the entire planet to the brink of destruction in the Cuban Missile Crisis. At that point a decision was taken to step back in again before you did something that even we couldn't fix. You don't have free will, David. You have the appearance of free will.
Most people live life on the path we set for them, too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while people like you come along who knock down all the obstacles we put in your way. People who realize freewill is a gift that you'll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that's the chairman's real plan. And maybe, one day, we won't write the plan. You will.
Clichés …any others?
Interesting Shots Notice the many doors foreshadowing the team’s portals
Interesting Shots Mirrors, symbolizing not duality in the characters, but in the world they inhabit.
Interesting Shots Many God’s eye view shots.
Interesting Shots also accentuates the idea of life and the city as a labyrinth Frames within frames to highlight the characters’ entrapment
"You would have to kill me and prop me up in the seat of my car with a smile printed on my face to get me to go near Hollywood." Philip Dick Dick did not expect much from Hollywood.
The Readjustment When Ed Fletcher accidentally interrupts the 'adjustment' his lifeless coworkers appear to be made of an ash-like substance. Making this a clear Biblical reference.
The Beginning • It was bright morning. The sun shone down on the damp lawns and sidewalks , reflecting off the sparkling parked cars. The Clerk came walking hurriedly, leafing through his instructions, flipping pages and frowning. He stopped in front of the small green stucco house for a moment, and then turned up the walk, entering the back yard.
In the story • when Ed Fletcher accidentally interrupts the 'adjustment' his lifeless coworkers appear to be made of an ash-like substance • Dick loved playing with reality, especially breaking down concepts of space and time • The existence of alternative worlds
The Chairman The Old Man waved his hand. Behind him in the shadows an immense map glowed into existence. Ed caught his breath. The edges of the map faded off in obscurity. He saw an infinite web of detailed sections, a network of squares and ruled lines. Each square was marked. Some glowed with a blue light. The lights altered constantly."The Sector Board," the Old Man said. He sighed wearily. "A staggering job. Sometimes we wonder how we can go on another period. But it must be done. For the good of all. For your good."
Why Adjust? • "Your office deals in real estate. The old Douglas was a shrewd man, but rapidly becoming infirm. His physical health was waning. In a few days Douglas will be offered a chance to purchase a large unimproved forest area in western Canada. It will require most of his assets. The older, less virile Douglas would have hesitated. It is imperative he not hesitate. He must purchase the area and clear the land at once. Only a younger man -- a younger Douglas -- would undertake this.
The Ending He gazed up, a look of gratitude on his face. "Thanks," he said softly. "I think we'll make it -- after all. Thanks a lot."
Similarities and Differences Novel Film Ed Fletcher is married. He gets to meet the Chairman. The ending leads us to believe that Ed prefers that his wife be adjusted. Humans are readjusted. An adjustment team controls the characters’ lives. Humans have to fight to obtain their free will. True love and sacrifice can save humans.
