Treasure of the sierra madre book versus film

Treasure of the Sierra Madre Book versus Film Although the movie follows the book closely there are differences whichhave varied implications. The film is faithful to the novel but the book provides better and more explanation for the characters’ motivation. This leads to significant changes in the characters’ fate compared to the film. The interesting scenes are expanded in order to make the film more appealing and interesting to the viewers. An example of this is the encounter with the bandits at the camp. In the film there is more back ground provided about the bandits and the wise and clever ways that are dealt with the local people. This makes the storyline more interesting as it captures the viewers’ attention more. Many screen adaptations and ancillary elements are also culled for the movie (Huston). The elements which are regarded as the factors which led to the oppression of the native Mexicans, establishes and provides a persuasive and unifying theme that is more intense than it is in the novel. This gives an interesting and enriching counterpoint to the story of the main and central characters.
The novel depicts a more forceful, unpretentious and sophisticated political awareness than the film. This is because the film mainly focuses on the adventures and forgets about the finer details of the situation. The novel is also easier and more interesting because of Traven’s writing style. He is very straight forward and keen on giving details. This makes the novel to be more convincing and moving than the movie. The detailed portrayal of the Mexican society seemed to be accurate in the novel than in the movie. The parallel between the Mexican oil field workers and the gold prospectors gets shown more clearly in the book. Also in the book one gets an understanding how they came to exist.
In the movie’s train robbery scene, the bandits led by Hat, attack the train but they were fought off by the passengers including Howard, Curtin and Dobbs. In the book, Howard, Dobbs and Curtin never met Hat until where he said, “ I don’t have to show you any badges” (Traven 205). When McCormick cheated Curtin and Dobbs of their wages they confronted him. In the novel he pays them without a fight after he discovered that they had intentions to beat him up if he failed to pay up. In the movie they attacked and beat him up before taking the amount of money that he owed them (Huston). This proved that they were honest men as they could have taken whole the money that McCormick had. This scene was the one that made the movie more eventful and interesting. It revealed the true character of Curtin and Dobbs in a more creative way.
In the book, the Mexican bandits got to dig their own graves before they were shot and buried in the same graves. In the movie the bandits were shot as they tried to escape. This made the movie more eventful. Another difference was that in the movie there was no a leading lady. Women only appear in three scenes and they appear briefly. This makes the movie to be prejudiced.
Works Cited
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre . Dir. John Huston. Perf. Tim Holt Humphrey Bogart. 1948.
Traven, B. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. New York: Ishi Press International, 2011.