Movie Review: City of Ember

Analytical Movie/Book Comparison: City of Ember

The City of Ember is a story of a crumbling underground city set in a dystopian future. It follows two early teens as they enter adulthood, realize what a dangerous and horrible situation their beloved city is in, and bravely set about trying to find a solution.

This story is an excellent book for young adults around the fifth or six grades, made so by the easy writing style of the author, and also by the author’s depiction of the main characters. The book is written in simple, descriptive sentences, with little in the way of confusing figurative language. This straightforward approach can be a relief for literal or struggling readers, and the story also grabs the attention and imagination of the reader. It is the main characters of Doon and Lina, however, that I believe are especially appreciated by early young adults. Doon and Lina are both twelve years old yet are graduating from their education and entering the adult workforce, and they maintain a level of maturity usually found (in Americans) at an age much older than twelve. This increased level of responsibility is something that modern Western society reserves for an older age, so it must be especially exciting for a pre-teen to see a character near to them in age in the role of an adult.

Interestingly, the movie version of this story chose to make Doon and Lina much older than twelve. Their ages are not specifically named but they appear to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, much closer to the modern perception of Western adults. I assume this to be a deliberate choice on the part of the movie producers to provide a more comfortable viewing experience for their viewers, rather than challenge subconscious social norms. The older-seeming characters take on additional responsibility and credit for moving along the plot, and rely less on their elders for assistance or advice.
My overall impression, having read both the book and viewed the movie, was that the movie managed to stay remarkably true to the book in terms of story. Unfortunately, as this is perhaps the first movie I have seen that did stay very close to the book, the movie felt disjointed and rushed to me, as if the scriptwriters had strung together a series of important scenes with only a few sentences of connecting dialogue. There were some interesting additions that appeared in the movie version to make for a more action-packed film and a more convenient plot cycle. The added explanation for the necessity of an underground city, for example, is the world “ending” in an enigmatic event. The resultant radiation of this unseen event results in enlarged versions of everyday creatures, like moths, pincher beetles, and hungry moles. These mutated creatures are additions to the story, but serve to move the plot along in convenient places and also to wrap it up neatly in a spot or two.
Something the movie alters from the book is the addition of a malevolent conspiracy among the power figures of the community. The book has mild themes of totalitarianism, which are present in force in the film, exaggerated into political suppression, a corrupt circle of politicians, an aggressive city guard force, a loose underground resistance group, and official discouragement of curiosity, freethinking and exploration. The bucking of authority and convention is more acceptable and justified to the audience’s sensibilities when those in authority are abusing their privileges.
The movie is an excellent follow-up for a classroom reading of the book, as it renders beautifully the descriptions of the book into a vibrant, living set. It shows what the book describes: a crumbling city literally falling apart and crumbling down around its inhabitants ears, and there seem to be few willing to admit that they are in danger, or brave enough to seek out change. The threat of getting caught by those in command, the threat of an attack by the previously mentioned large creatures, or the threat of someone getting hurt when something in the city breaks for the last time, creates an additional sense of urgency throughout the movie, as if to emphasize that if something is not done soon, something terrible will happen.
As I mentioned before I feel that the movie stayed fairly true to the book, to the detriment of the movie. The movie is disjointed and feels a little rushed, but I enjoyed being able to identify nearly every one of the scenes, in order, while there were just enough differences to make me wonder what would happen next. Watching the movie in class would make an excellent end to a class reading unit of the book.