Abstract
Adapting a novel into a film is not a simple question of translating the narrative plot from one medium to another, it also deals with the cultural competence of the reader / spectator and the meanings and discourses articulated in the interpretation of the texts. Music is present in both novels and films, and so it participates in the process of creating meanings, even when it does not take part in the formal structure of the text. This article develops the analysis of popular music in The Commitments and High Fidelity, two films based on two novels where the ideology of rock music influences both characters and spaces. Songs, musicians and instruments are present in prose, dialogues, sound and image, both in the novels by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby, respectively, and in the films directed by Alan Parker and Stephen Frears, thus demonstrating the multimedia condition of music and its capability to interact with the narrative structure of the texts in the articulation of several discourses.
Highlights
Adapting a novel into a film is not a simple question of translating the narrative plot from one medium to another, it deals with the cultural competence of the reader / spectator and the meanings and discourses articulated in the interpretation of the texts
it also deals with the cultural competence of the reader
Music is present in both novels and films
Summary
La música es un lenguaje autónomo que cuenta con una serie de parámetros formales (timbre, altura, tonalidad, etc.) que, combinados de diferentes formas, transmiten mensajes que han de ser descodificados y “significados” por el oyente. La música, en su naturaleza sonora, forma parte del lenguaje audiovisual que utiliza el cine; sin embargo, su presencia se multiplica y se diversifica cuando entendemos la música como un lenguaje cuya presencia excede los límites sonoros y se manifiesta en medios a priori mudos, como la literatura. El caso de Alta Fidelidad es diferente, las referencias a la música en la novela son, en su mayor parte, a través de discos (no música en directo) que suenan mientras Rob, el protagonista, reflexiona sobre su vida, lo que permite el desarrollo de una narrativa audiovisual diferente, con la música sonando de fondo mientras este personaje intercala los monólogos a cámara y las reflexiones en voz over. No sucede así en la película; en uno de los monólogos a cámara Rob se cuestiona cómo actuaría Bruce Springsteen en su lugar, un contraplano del cantante ofrece una respuesta a Rob; así, Springsteen aparece en el film como actor y como personaje, participando en una inverosímil conversación con el protagonista
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