A review of the film adapted from Michael Anthony's classic novel.

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:From Page to Screen
(A Review by Marguerite C. Anderson)
In 2017, when the public first learned that plans were underway for the release of a film
based on Michael Anthony’s classic novel, Green Days By The River, people all across the Caribbean
were abuzz with anticipation. Since then, with the movie trailer circulating on social media, the
piquant comments and discussions signaled that the novel is indeed a favourite for those who had,
at some point, studied it during their high-school tenure. Green Days By The River is a story of a
Trinidadian teenage boy, Shellie and his parents who have just relocated to a new home in Mayaro.
The boy becomes smitten by a dougla girl (half Indian and half Creole) and soon develops a closeness
with the girl's father, Mr. Gidharee, a wealthy plantation owner who becomes a surrogate parent to
Shellie at a time when Shellie’s father is declining in health. Shellie’s interest in the dougla girl,
Rosalie is unreciprocated and he, later on, turns his affections to Joan, whom he meets at the
Discovery Bay fair. Anthony’s novel explores the experiences of the adolescent boy who is ushered
from childhood into manhood, having to reconcile his actions and facing the consequences of those
actions.

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Some critics say that an adaptation is never as good as the original literary piece but,
having watched the film, I believe that both mediums have individual merit. The film has skillfully
retained most of the primary elements that have made the novel well-loved over the decades. An
enjoyment of the film is indeed heightened if the viewer has read the original story first. The film is
as intriguing as I had anticipated. The novel’s characters are beautifully captured in the meticulously
hand-picked actors, the portrayal of Trinidad & Tobago’s vibrant farming culture and the rural
seating of Mayaro are equally captured as on the pages of the text. Having studied the novel in the
1980s in preparation to sit my CXC Literature external examination, and later on, spending many
years of my career teaching the text to my students, I know the text inside out. A major appeal for
my pupils is in the imaginative travel to the places captured. The film took its viewers on that cursory
tour where police officers ride on horseback and viewers glimpse the edifices of Trinidad & Tobago’s
capital perched in their ornate beauty. However, the movie could have done more to satisfy my
imaginative journey in and around the streets of Port-of-Spain. I do understand, however, that film
directors have limitations that impact on the end product.
At the very start of the film, I was transfixed in the familiar rhythmic Caribbean music with
its distinctive feature-the use of drums. The film’s use of music, sometimes interspersed with vocal
chanting helps to gauge and shift the emotions of the viewers. The song, ‘Drifting On a River’
remains with me even now- its slow rhythmic pace teeming with the passion and pride of farmers
like Gidharee who tells Shellie, “I love this land too bad boy, I believe in land, I believe in land and
planting the land”. I felt as if Gidharee , along with the film’s sensory appeals through sight and
sound, succeeded in inculcating the same passion for the land, in me as it did in Shellie. Shell’s love
for the land is evidenced when at the Discovery Day fair, Joan enquired of Shell what his plans are
for summer. He responds, “I planting land, girl. I love planting land”
The heavy drumming at the start of the film served to heighten my anticipation of this
timeless story about to unfold. The element of music is continually injected throughout the film,
reminding us of our distinctive identity and of how music is always alive like the pulsating heart of
our Caribbean people. Music alerts both the positive and the negative: The brief but ominous
drumming when Gidharee cuts the neck of the alligator [iguana] is a perfect depiction which
foreshadows Gidharee’s power and the reason he should be dreaded. Although the story is set in
1952, the themes explored in the novel (and film) are relatable to our current period.
The movie producers made a few changes to the story and some viewers hold the opinion
that these changes add as well as detract from the plot points when compared to the original book
version. One change which I particularly liked is the way Mr. Gidharee found out about Shell and
Joan’s relationship after the letter fell from Shell’s pocket while Shell and Gidharee are out into the
bush.

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Vital to the text is the scene when Shell hits the ripe cashew from the tree- a scene which
foreshadows Shell’s sexual encounter with Rosalie who is likened to the ripe cashew. It is Shell who
secretly gets the sweet fruit which has been the object of the desires of the teenage boys seen
pelting earlier in the film. The producer’s omission of the cashew tree is one element which
somewhat shifted the dynamics, in the film. The symbolism of Shell’s action is not emphasized in the
film. In the original story, Shell pelts the ripe cashew and it falls and bursts onto the ground, causing
the fruit to instantly lose its appeal. The film’s omission of this episode provides no alert to the
viewers of Shell’s sexual encounter with Rosalie-an action that is implicitly given in the text and even
more concealed in the film, itself. I particularly loved that a mango tree was substituted in the screen
version of the story. however, I desired to have seen the textual symbolism retained by the
filmmakers.
Another difference in the film is in the depiction of Shell’s maturity- a major theme
explored in the original literary piece. Instead of the feeling that Shell has come into his maturity
when he chooses to marry Rosalie, it appears that the chief factor fueling Shell’s decision is his fear
of Mr. Gidharee. This, for me, made the film end on a very sad note, instead of on the redemptive
note that the novel itself evokes. I felt sorry for Shell as I looked at his final image on the screen –
the newlywed Shell and Rosalie in their Hindu wedding garb, while standing in the background is Mr.
Gidharee – emanating his ominous persona of power and control. In this image, Shell seems more
like Mr. Gidharee’s victim of circumstance. The screen version met my expectation in the way
Gidharee’s power and dread were captured. After the brutal attack of the dogs, as Shell lies asleep in
bed, recuperating, he is under the watchful eyes of Gidharee – perhaps this time with a measure of
regret for resorting to extreme measures to teach Shell a lesson.
Another point of interest is the images of birds in the movie. In Literature, birds
symbolize the presence of a higher being, having an insightful perspective on the world, and
conveying the idea of achieving success in a relationship or career. While I am not concluding that
the producers intended a significance in the image of the three birds flying in the sky, I find it
interesting that the image of the newlywed, Shell and Rosalie, with the brooding figure of Gidharee
immediately appears following the bird image. I believe the filmmakers have so aptly depicted this

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spiritual completion through the inclusion of the three birds. In an earlier scene, Shell tells his father
that the friendlier Rosalie gets, it’s the nicer Mr. Gidharee is to him. The bird image, therefore,
reinforces Shell's entrapment and seems to falsify Shell’s initial statement when he tells his father,
“Marrying Rosalie is not like if I’m marrying him”. After journeying from page to screen, my mind is
imbued with the plush vegetation and the beauty of rural Trinidad& Tobago.
To those who have not yet seen the film, wait no further! Watch it on Vimeo at a super affordable
cost and let snippets of Michael' Anthony's life bind you in its realism.
Photo Gallery
(All photos are images captured from the film)

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