"True Grit"--More Ruminations

It has occured to me now that the previous entry makes it look like many of the scenes from both films do not follow the book. I apologize for this. Of course, in the book, LaBoeuf DOES say "Now we will see what tune you sing!" I called this scene wholly unbelievable, maybe leading some people to believe that the line was only spoken in the movie and not in the book. It was; but I found it then and still find it, wholly unbelievable. Probably because I disliked Glen Campbell as LaBouef and as I read the book after seeing the movie, I could only picture that particular man saying it. Ugh! I'm certainly glad the new version doesn't have that line in it. The new version works much better for me as a spanko. Also, in the book, when he gets her on the ground, he tries to pull her trouser leg up over the top of her boot so he has some bare skin to work with. He tells her "I'm going to strip your leg good!" Matt Damon says something similar in the new version. In those days, a girl (and one of that age to boot) would have received this type of punishment; a stick taken to the baclks of her legs. Of course, he begins by hand spanking her but quickly changes tactics.

Actually, in the book LaBouef tells her "If you do not go back now I am going to whip you!"

Maybe the Coen brothers felt the word "whip" would be far too strong a word and opted to use the word "spank" instead even though "whip" would have been more in keeping with language used at that time.

Many of the words used in both the book and both versions of the film are perplexing. Try fitting words like "hooraw", "waddie", "Texas brush-popper" or "jaybird" into a conversation today. More than likely you would get a look of confusion from the person you were talking to. Language was very different then. If you don't believe me, pick up a volume of Poe or Dickens or Thackery. People simply don't speak this way anymore. It's one of the most lovely things about the new movie--the Victorian language. Everyone uses it. Also you could tell there was attention to detail in almost everything, including the wardrobes of the people, the way the town looked, the warm and geneal atmosphere of the Monarch boarding house and the abandoned mine where the robbers are holed up. I love attention to detail.

OK, so enough about "True Grit" already. It has received 10 Oscar nominations so we'll see if it wins any in this era of computer generated fast action films.