Short Story to Film Adaptation

Small Avalanches

1

One of the biggest challenges for Munro was simply getting the rights to the story to make the film. She called three times a week for 2 months to Oates’ literary agent and got nowhere. Finally, she just went to where Oates was teaching at Princeton, waited outside her office, and spoke to her in person and that is how she got permission to use the story for her film.

2

It seems that Munro was successful, although it is not quite how I pictured it in my head. That is always the problem with reading a story first and then watching someone’s interpretation of it on screen. It is never like what you imagined it to be when you read it. It also takes some shortcuts: for instance, it starts off with the girl already at her uncle’s and it doesn’t really get to the heart of her character and her boredom at being in a small town and wanting to be somewhere else. It moves quickly through the major plot points but really it should have taken its time and shown the girl to be more afraid of big city dreams and real life than she realizes.

3

EXT. UNCLE’S AUTO SHOP – DAY

Teenage girl sits on hood of old used car. She hops down, walks to where her uncle is working underneath another car. The make and model suggest the year is sometime in the 1960s.

GIRL

Uncle Winfield, is Georgia at home?

UNCLE WINFIELD

(lying on the ground, half under the car)

No, went into town babysitting.

GIRL

Is that man coming today to take money out of the machines?

UNCLE WINFIELD

What you say?

GIRL

That man. Who takes care of the machines. Is he coming today?

UNCLE WINFIELD

(looking up, annoyed)

No—sometime next week.

(getting up)

You didn’t call Georgia last night, did you?

GIRL

No.

UNCLE WINFIELD

Somebody did.

(gives the girl a stern glare, turns back to the shed)

I catch her foolin’ around boy…

GIRL

(hopping down from her perch on the car)

Hey, can I have a dime?

UNCLE WINFIELD

I give you a dime, you gonna leave me alone for a while?

Uncle Winfield fishes a dime out of his shirt pocket, gives it to her.

The girl gets a coke from a vending machine and sits and drinks it. She spills some in the sand and it gets on her toes.

A white car pulls up. Uncle Winfield goes to tend to it. The girl makes faces in a car door mirror to pass the time. She turns to leave to head home and notices the man in the white car following her.

The girl becomes nervous when the car slows and the fat, middle-aged man driving it gets out to make small talk with her. She is suspicious.

MAN

(driving slowly in his convertible, talking to her)

Hey, you want a ride?

GIRL

No, I’m okay.

MAN

Your feet gonna get all torn up walkin’ like that. Watch out for that snake!

GIRL

Ha ha.

MAN

You got any rattlers out here?

The girl shakes her head no.

MAN

You sure you don’t want a ride?

She shakes her head no and moves on, but stops when she hears him pull over. She looks behind, unsure of what he is doing. He gets out, drops his keys in his pocket and joins her on her walk.

MAN

How come you walked away so fast? That man at the pump was mad you left your bottle.

GIRL

That’s just my uncle.

MAN

(bending over to get a look at her face)

You don’t look like him. Is your home nearby?

GIRL

Up ahead.

MAN

I don’t see anything up there.

GIRL

(she smiles)

You can’t see it from here.

MAN

You know, when you smile you’re a very pretty girl. You should smile all the time. You know you never did tell me your name.