Film and Movie Essay

“Tomorrow When the War Began” was written by John Marsden in 1993, and the film directed by Stuart Beattie in 2010. The film provided a much different view on the book. Stuart Beattie gave the film a much different look to the book because a film has to appeal to a teenage/adult age-span in order to get more views. Additionally they made the movie have a lot more suspense and action, as they’re the main factors that sell in a film industry. Though the film and the book are different, the main themes and character traits stay the same.

Compared to the book, Stuart Beattie changed many of the character’s personalities and looks. Ellie was originally portrayed as being practical and rough around the edges. However, Stuart Beattie portrayed Ellie as being a sensitive and attractive girl who always wore the latest fashion.
Stuart Beattie illustrated Robyn’s character differently to how John Marsden depicted her in the book. Originally Robyn was a gutsy, competitive girl who was really active and sporty; Stuart however didn’t give her any of these qualities. Stuart described her as being an innocent Christian girl who didn’t get out much. The changing of characters in the movie happens quite rapidly and their change is clearer than in the book. The characters accept that something horrible has happened and adapt to their new living conditions a lot sooner than they do in the book. The difference that stood out to me most was the original planning of their trip. The movie focuses in more on how the group came together and set off on their adventure. Packing for their outing was also a bigger issue in the movie as Fi packed all her girly accessories and not just the essentials like everybody else. Fi comes across more like a stereotypical girly girl in the movie. This helps the audience label the characters and remember them. I believe the movie gives more detail on their journey by having Ellie’s voice speaking aloud in the background explaining hers and the others feelings. Another thing is also being able to see the characters physical activity, knowing where they are, what they’re doing and who they’re with. You can also then see their facial expressions which are able to portray how the character is feeling. The characters differences are a lot clearer in the movie than in the book. The way the group acts around one another displays who is closer to who and who irritates who.

The plot in the movie better conveys the tragedies of war and the large amount of deaths caused by it. One of the things that occurred in the movie and not the book include the scene where Fi and Ellie are sitting in the truck, waiting for a signal to drive forwards. This added more drama to the task of blowing up the Wirrawee Bridge. The suspense to see whether they’d succeed in this had the audience on edge. The movie allows you to see the emotion on the characters faces creating more of a mood for the audience. The main difference between the book and movie was about the ‘hermit’. This was mentioned in the book, but not movie. This is perhaps the only thing that the book has over the movie. With the characters knowing about the hermit, finding things that led them to believe they were on the hermits track, they were already on edge. The readers are just waiting for something to happen. Negative opinions of war are created by watching the

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