Mcteague

Synopsis

Neal Bell's Adaptation Of Frank Norris's Novel Tells The Story Of A Couple's Courtship And Marriage, And Their Subsequent Descent Into Poverty, Violence, And Finally Murder As The Result Of Jealousy And Greed. Frank Norris's Novel Mcteague Is A Panorama Of The U S At The Turn Of The Century: Cowboys, Gold Mines, The Immigrant Experience, The Advent Of Electricity And The Movies. At The Core Is A Gruesome Cautionary Tale, Aptly Retitled Greed By Erich Von Stroheim When He Made A Nine-hour Film Of It In 1923 ... In Adapting It Anew ... Neal Bell's Script [tells] A Story Of Downward Mobility, About A Miner Turned Dentist (sans Diploma) Who Winds Up Defrocked And Doomed In An Abandoned Mine. --william A Henry Iii, Time Bell Weaves A Thick, Dark Tapestry Of Themes From Mcteague's Epic Of Incidents. Socially, The Focus Is On The Helplessness Of A Rough Simpleton In A Rapidly Urbanizing And Professionalizing America -- And On The Determination Of Immigrants And Bootstrap-tuggers To Cling To The Middle Class Rather Than Fall Into The Victorian Abyss Of Want. Psychologically, It's On The Metamorphosis Of Mcteague's Innocent Ignorance Into Murderous Rage -- And Trina's Sensible Shift Into Masochistic Self-denial. Morally, It's On The Life-choking Consequences Of Treating Money As An End In Itself Rather Than A Means Toward Fulfilling Human Needs. Each Of These Levels Resonates Through The Adaptation's Writing. --scott Rosenberg, San Francisco Examiner