A Raisin in the Sun Compare/Contrast Play/Film Essay

Lorraine Hansberry’s play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† was a radically new representation of black life, resolutely authentic, fiercely unsentimental, and unflinching in its vision of what happens to people whose dreams are constantly deferred. I compared Act One, Scene 2, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is on a Saturday morning, and house cleaning is in process at the Youngers. In the film, the setting is the same as play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is when Mrs. Younger gets the insurance check of $10,000. In the film, the plot is the same, but includes music not mentioned in the play. The dialogue in the film has some deletions from the original text, with new dialogue added throughout the scene. Some film techniques used are: the film cuts back and forth to different characters, the room is well lit with the sunshine coming in through the window, and music is added throughout some parts of this scene. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene involves dialogue. Much of the dialogue is deleted, however, new dialogue is added through some parts of this scene. Also, in the play, the mailman comes up to their apartment and rings the door bell unlike the film, Travis runs up to him outside the building and gets the mail from him right away and runs back to give it to Mrs. Younger (his grandma). I also compared Act Two, Scene 1, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is later, that same day at the Youngers. In the film, the setting is the same as play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is when Mama, Mrs. Younger, buys Travis a new house for when he gets older to be a man. In the film, the plot is the same as play with music added to parts of this scene. The dialogue in the film has some lines rephrased and also has some deletions from the original text; new dialogue is added throughout parts of this scene. Some film techniques used in this scene are: the room is brightly lit with lamps and other light fixtures, the film cuts back and forth to different characters and the camera seems to move alone with the characters as they did, and music is added throughout parts of this scene. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene involves dialogue. Much of the dialogue is rephrased and not said as the author has written it in the play. And also, some of the dialogue from the original text is deleted, however, new dialogue is added. And also, unlike the film, a lot of the actions the author has described in the play did not happen in the film. Such as, on page 91 as Ruth says â€Å"Praise God! † the author describes that she raises both arms classically, and as she tells Walter Lee to be glad, the author describes she has laid her hands on his shoulders, but he shakes himself free of her roughly, without turning to face her, these actions did not happen in the film. I also had compared Act Two, Scene 3, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is on a Saturday, moving day, one week later. In the film, the setting is the same as the play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is Linder tries to buy back the house from the Younger family. In the film, the plot is the same as the play. The dialogue in the film has some deletions from play; new dialogue is added in replacement of the deleted dialogue. Some film techniques used in this scene are: the film cuts back and forth to different characters, and the room is well lit with the sunshine coming in through the window. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene also involves dialogue. The dialogue in this scene is mostly faithful to the play but has some deletions. On the other hand, new dialogue was added in replacement of the deleted lines from the original text.