Critique

When I read A Clean Well-Lighted Place, I was expecting a way different setting from when I saw the short film. As the author described in the text, they made the cafe seem like a dark dreary place, in which no one would ever want to visit, whereas in the film the cafe looked like a nice family place in which people visit all the time. I think the author just needed to describe the setting in better description to make how the cafe looked more clear to the reader. Some setting things were portrayed differently between the text and film, in which some bugged me but some were fine.

One of the opening scenes was that the man was sitting in a shadow near a window, but when the filmed showed the location of the man, he was sitting in a perfectly lighted booth. This was one of the differences that really bugged me, because to me it really changed the whole vibe of the film. Another setting difference between what I pictured and what was shown in the film was where the waiters were viewing the old man from. I pictured them sitting at the bar watching the old man, but in the film they were sitting what looked like in the middle of a random hallway with chairs and a table. This didn't bug me as much because it didn't affect the vibe of the story, it just kind of confused me as to why they were just randomly sitting in the hall of the cafe.

Another difference between the text and the film was how some things were portrayed. Towards the end when the old man was walking away after he got kicked out of the cafe, I was honestly prepared for there to be a splash or for the man to get hit by a car. I know that sound terrible, but that is honestly how the film was portrayed for me. I like how the man walked into the darkness and when the scene faded away, a light was all that was left, but maybe they could tweak it just so it doesn't seem like something tragic is going to happen.