Pinteresque themes in Harold Printer’s adapted screenplays

Abstract

Harold Pinter’s screenplay writing has always remained in the shadow of his dramatic work; his contribution to the British drama in the second half of the 20th century has been thoroughly recognised, which is substantiated by his name entering the language as an adjective used to describe a particular atmosphere and environment in drama: “Pinteresque” (“The Nobel Prize in Literature 2005”). Pinter’s screenplays, however, have attracted relatively little critical attention despite the fact that he wrote twenty-two filmscripts and was frequently awarded for his achievements in this sphere (Gale 2003: 418). The prevalent dismissive attitude of both film and literature studies towards screenplay accounts for the limited interest in this segment of Pinter’s artistic activity. This study, therefore, has arisen from the need to ascribe Pinter’s screenplays the value they deserve and to put them on an equal footing with his plays, which, in my opinion, is the right attitude to take. Both types of Pinter’s work display creativity, novelty in handling the medium and a deep understanding of the medium’s requirements. In the case of plays the above-mentioned qualities are more conspicuous, as dramas are autonomous works; screenplays, however, are doubly bound. On the one hand, they depend on the novels on which they are based; on the other hand, they are restrained by the technical requirements of the films-to-be whose blueprints they constitute. The demands of the adapted screenplay genre result in the common perception of screenplay as a mere half-product devoid of any intrinsic value of its own. Nevertheless, Pinter’s screenplays glaringly contradict this perception: in virtually all cases they are works of art, with the potential to serve as the bases of outstanding films.