Monday, October 24, 2011

Ichabod Crane- Open to Interpretation....

The character of Ichabod Crane of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow differed in many ways from the original short story to the cinematic interpretation. Firstly, in the story he came to the Hollow to be a school teacher, whereas, in the movie he was simply a detective and the murders of the famed 'Headless Horseman' brought him to the small village. In the book he is depicted as a very exuberant fellow; he is affable and always singing. In the movie, however, he is brooding and dark and far less humourous. He is also described as a hard-worker, helping the farmers, who provide him with room and board, with tending to their crops and livestock. The movie interpretation of Ichabod Crane would do no such thing: he is a city-slicker terrified of even a mere spider. Now, some of the darkness we associate with the cinematic version of this quirky figure may be attributed to Tim Burton, who directed the film. Burton has a dark, sinister air that pervades through all of his work. Either way, the Ichabod Crane of the story and the Ichabod Crane of the film are decidedly very different characters, indeed.

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