I argue that it is through a judicious mix of fictional invention and a diligent study of evidence that a screenwriter can get closer to the historical subject. In writing Biswas’ biopic, I use the microhistorical research method, knowledge about biopic script-drafting processes, and Bhabha’s notion of ‘vernacular cosmopolitanism’ to present Biswas as a non-Western, non-elite 19th century cosmopolitan, thereby constructing a counter- narrative to the dominant discourse of cosmopolitanism as a matter of exclusive Western, elite privilege. Drawing on Rosenstone’s conceptual model for understanding how historical knowledge manifests in fictional narratives, it investigates the nature and function of fictional inventions in biopics and the ways in which screenplays make creative use of evidence. While more information has become available recently, this project examines the creative and critical issues associated with researching this figure, overcoming the problem of scant evidence and positioning him within a presentist context. The early biographies of Biswas, based on limited and unreliable evidence, pose a challenge to the screenwriter in terms of narrative reconstruction of his life as a biopic. The study concludes that biopic, representative of its genre, has specific conventions and the movie Lion (2016) successfully qualifies for biopic as a genre.Īs a creative practice research project, this thesis sets out to write a screenplay about Suresh Biswas (1861-1905), a little-known Bengali adventurer who was a wild-life trainer and circus-performer in Europe and later became a Captain in the Brazilian army. The present study also addresses Stam's (2000) criticism on strict fidelity to discuss medium specificity approach. The analysis of the study reveals that the movie qualifies for Giannetti's (2008) concept of faithful adaptation as well as Wagner's (1975) two modes of adaptation i.e. At the age of five, the unfortunate SarooBrierley got lost in a local train in India which caused him to face many dreadful realities of life in Calcutta before being formally adopted by an Australian couple through an orphanage. The book and the movie depict the incredible life history of SarooBrierley, a five years old child and now a young man who used modern technology "Google Earth" to rediscover himself including his childhood life and hometown in India. I had the pleasure of listening to Saroo Brierly give a keynote address at RootsTech 2019 and because it was recorded, you can watch it if you missed the live stream.The present study sets out to analyses a biopic-Lion (2016) which is adapted from Saroo Brierley's bestselling book "A Long Way Home (2013)". In our world of DNA helping adoptees find their birth parents, this theme is recurring daily throughout the world. it speaks to the importance of family and knowing who we are. The book tells of miracles that put Saroo into the home of loving adopted parents and of miracles that guided him back to his birth mother and siblings. He finally used a resource that we might have all used in our research, just not to this extent: Google Earth. He only had a few landmarks to go by and a childhood memory of a couple of place names that didn’t help him. I hadn’t watched “Lion” before I read the book and as a genealogist was curious how Saroo finally located his home. We’re reading Saroo’s story for our first quarter selection for the FamilyLocket Book Club on Goodreads and like so many instances, I found the book included details the movie could only hint at.
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