Shane (my adaptation of "The Drunkard")

Plot
The plot of The Drunkard was pretty much focused on the drinking problem of the father. He starts drinking only small amount at one point and then it escalates into a big problem. I liked how the son played into the situation and I would definitely keep this part almost exactly the same in the film. Although instead of the film being about only this one incident, I would expand the rest of the story and have this scene be like a flashback and an important part in the main character's life. The movie will be about specific events of the character's life and how it shaped it into the man he is in the present day in the film. Each scene in the present time of the film will be accompanied with a corresponding flashback explaining the character's actions in the present. So with this specific incident, the view will get a view of the character's family and how he started drinking in the first place and turned into a troubled individual.

Point of View
In the story, the plot is expressed through the point of view of the main character. Since the film is about his life and how he makes it in the world after a rocky start, he will remain the narrator of the film at certain parts. With film, not everything has to be narrated; therefore, some of the events will be express through the dialogue between characters. As expressed in my blogs about "The Shawshank Redemption", I feel like some of the meaning of written work is losses with addition of new elements or changing other elements. I want the meaning of "The Drunkard" to remain the same in the scene with his father in the bar, but since a lot of things will be added to the film (because the story was only about this one incident), some will be changed. My goal would be to keep the scene as close to the story as possible.

Characterization
Shane- Matt Damond. Just about the whole time I was thinking about the plot of this story, I was thinking about "Good Will Hunting" and how Matt Damond would be perfect for this role. He plays the "over coming adversity" role well and would do great in this film as well.
The other characters I haven't really thought about specific actors. (but that's not really the point of this section) The characters will be characterized through the narration of Shane and through their actions. The father, for example, will be characterized by a man who has an internal problem with his life. He wants to be a man to provide for his family, but he just feels so much pressure from his home life, his job, and other sources that the only way for him to escape is for him to drink. Specific scenes like this will shed some light on what the characters are like.

Setting
First the setting will have to establish the point at which the character, Shane, finds himself. It will sort of be like the first scene in "The Shawshank Redemption" only Shane will not be in court for murder. He will be in a bar with his buddies or somewhere like that. The setting will change throughout the film because it will consist of numerous flashbacks and events that add to the plot of the story. The scene portrayed in "The Drunkard" will be almost exactly the same as described in the short story. I really like how the author introduces the father's drinking problem and uses the funeral as an excuse to get out of the house and drink. Once they get to the bar, I want to make it like a traditional Irish bar that is relatable to life in Ireland. I want this film to be as real as possible.

Theme
This is the only element what will significantly change. The theme in the short story is caring about other's opinions. The mother though it bad that her husband went out and drank at night and she had to go to work in his place since he was hungover the next morning. She cared about what the other people thought of her husband and his drinking problem. Then, when Shane gets drunk from drinking his father's pint, his father tries to get him home quickly before the people on his street find out what happened to his son. By the time they get home, his mother already knows what happened. Shane's father was ashamed for what happened to his son. In the movie, the theme will be about overcoming obstacles and winning in the end. Shane will have a rough life in his young adult years but will eventually realize that he can't always live the same way he's living. In the end, he will fight his adversity and come out on top.