Below is my sketch of some differences between the draft version of the
script and the final version that appears in the film
| Draft |
Final film version |
| Begins right away with Witt being imprisoned for hitting an
officer after losing a card game. |
Begins with Witt living a heavenly AWOL life in paradise with
the islanders. |
| The number of voiceovers is very minimal and are spoken by
Bell about his love for his wife. |
Witt, Tall, Bell, Doll, Dale, Welsh, Marty Bell and the dead
Japanese soldier all have voice overs. |
| Nature's appearance is minimal and is analogised by Bell to
his wife. |
The fertility of Marty is no longer linked with
nature, but is only erotic. Nature is elevated into a
higher, or so it seems, relationship with Witt. |
| Witt and the script both declare that Witt loves his company;
yet he fights with Fife, Doll and Dale. He is a violent, short-tempered
man, an excellent marksman and an efficient killer. |
Witt fights with no one, except for his quiet resistance to
Welsh. Witt represents love (agape)--he loves the islanders, his company,
his enemy after the moment of combat is over. Witt is the good soldier in
combat but his kills are briefly flashed onscreen; and he is a good and
humane caretaker of the suffering. |
| The draft doesn't solve the film's mystery about Witt's
sacrifice. Witt makes up his mind to die for his company by the third
scene (Scene 42)in which he appears, but since he
fights with everyone he comes in contact with, it's not clear WHY he
chooses to die. |
It seems that Witt chooses to die after he
realises he is exiled from paradise (after he visits the
village on Guadalcanal and is rejected)--much later in the
film. |
| Sex, unlike the novel, has been excised here,
except for a few orgasmic looks Witt and Doll have after
killing solders. Sex is confined to the heterosexual
relationship between Jack and Marty Bell as Fife's and
Bead's relationship is purged. |
Sex is confined to the heterosexual relationship between Jack
and Marty Bell. |
| Virtually no islanders appear. |
Islanders appear in a small supporting role
whose home is invaded by imperial powers. |
| The Japanese soldiers are represented
stereotypically (see SCENE 42 above)--they say "Cly," not
"Cry," and are "bandy-legged." |
Japanese soldiers are represented as the Same. |