As I Lay Dying is a 2013 American drama film directed and co-written by and starring James Franco, based on William Faulkner's 1930 novel of the same name. The film stars Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Danny McBride, Logan Marshall-Green, Ahna O'Reilly, Jim Parrack, Beth Grant, and Brady Permenter.
| As I Lay Dying | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Franco |
| Written by | James Franco Matthew Rager |
| Based on | As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner |
| Produced by | Caroline Aragon Lee Caplin Vince Jolivette Avi Lerner Miles Levy Matthew O'Toole Robert Van Norden |
| Starring | James Franco Logan Marshall-Green Danny McBride Tim Blake Nelson |
| Cinematography | Christina Voros |
| Edited by | Ian Olds |
| Music by | Tim O'Keefe |
Production companies | RabbitBandini Productions Picture Entertainment |
| Distributed by | iTunes |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard Section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[1][2]
Premise
editThe story is based on the loss of a mother and the struggles the family endure by going the distance to her burial ground in her home town.[3]
Cast
edit- James Franco as Darl Bundren
- Logan Marshall-Green as Jewel Bundren
- Danny McBride as Vernon Tull
- Tim Blake Nelson as Anse Bundren
- Ahna O'Reilly as Dewey Dell Bundren
- Beth Grant as Addie Bundren
- Jim Parrack as Cash Bundren
- Jesse Heiman as Jody
- Scott Haze as Skeet MacGowan
- Brady Permenter as Vardaman Bundren
Production
editJames Franco decided to write a screenplay of the novel with fellow Yale graduate student Matt Rager. The novel As I Lay Dying was described as a story impossible to be transformed into a film due to the multi-narrative voices within it.[4] Franco saw this as a challenge and chose to depict the many voices through choices of styling, through camera edits. Faulkner told the story in a chorus of voices: 15 narrators in the 59 chapters.[4] To locate an equivalent for the novel’s polyphonal scheme, Franco employed the use of narrative expressed through dialogue and voice overs.[3]
Release
editThe film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on September 27, 2013 but Millennium Films scrapped the plans. It was released on October 22, 2013 to iTunes and November 5, 2013 to DVD/VOD platforms.
Reception
editThe film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise and criticism focused on Franco's methods of presenting Faulkner's complex narrative. It holds a 38% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus states: "As I Lay Dying finds director, star, and co-writer James Franco attempting to adapt one of William Faulkner's weightier works, with disappointingly muddled results".[5] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times said, "But in rushing in where wise men might fear to tread, Mr. Franco has accomplished something serious and worthwhile. His As I Lay Dying is certainly ambitious, but it is also admirably modest. The script, written by Mr. Franco with Matt Rager, tries to pare Faulkner's multivoiced narrative to a manageable essence."[7]
References
edit- ^ "2013 Official Selection". Cannes Film Festival. April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
- ^ Lodge, Guy (August 28, 2013). "How has James Franco saturated the festival circuit?". Hitfix. Uproxx. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ a b Scott, A. O. (October 11, 2013). "A Life Ravels Out, and a Brooding Family Sets Forth". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ a b Entin, Joseph (November 13, 2013). "Filming Faulkner's Modernism: James Franco's "As I Lay Dying"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. September 27, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ Scott, A. O. (October 10, 2013). "James Franco Directs and Stars in 'As I Lay Dying'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2017.