A Separate Peace

Plot synopsis:
The film opens at Devon School. Gene Forester and his roommate Finny are in their room one night, Finny sleeping, Gene reading, when Brinker Haldey and several other boys take them out of their room. Somebody from down the hall watches the entire thing. The boys are delivered to a mock trial. Finny complains stating that there's nothing to investigate.Flashback to several months earlier. Gene arrives at the prestigious Devon Prep school and contemplates how he arrived on the same level as these rich kids. He meets his roommate, Finny, a good looking athlete, and his friends Brinker, the top of the class, and Leper, who shows Gene his snail collection and snail house.The boys make up a game called Blitz Ball, in which there are no rules and Finny makes it up as he goes along. They arrive at a tree, where seniors are practicing jumping out of enemy troopships under the aid of the ancient Fitzwinkler. The seniors leave and Finny decides to jump from the tree like the seniors. He coaxes Gene into following suit and tells him that rules are made to be broken.Gene soon discovers through his teachers that his grades are not up to the Devon standards, and so, pushes harder to study. One night, Finny decides to put the radio on, distracting Gene. Brinker and Leper appear dressed like Nazis, Leper like Adolf Hitler, and they dance and make fun of the Germans.At a headmaster tea, Gene watches Finny show off his outlandish pink shirt and tie which he used as a belt to the headmaster. He gets away with it, and the two go to jump some more from the tree. They decide to make a "suicidal" society where the students all jump out of the tree. Gene pulls his grades up.Finny invites Gene to go swimming with him and he beats the school record for the 100m dash. Only problem: Gene was the only person to see it. He tries to convince Finny to do it again with the timekeepers and the coach there, but Finny states he did it because he wanted to. They then go to the beach and camp out. Unfortunately, Gene has missed studying and the instruction for a math test that next morning, and fails. Finny states it's a mere fluke and that Gene will always pull through. He guesses that Gene wants to beat Brinker as top of the class. Gene suddenly begins to suspect that Finny secretly wants him to fail - Finny is a D student.The day comes when they convince Leper to jump from the tree. Finny tries to get Gene to come, but Gene insists he needs to study. Finny doesn't understand, thinking that things come naturally to Gene like they do to him. Gene states that Finny wouldn't understand, and he and Finny leave for the tree. Leper isn't there, and so the two decide to do a side-by-side double jump. Finny steps out first, and in a moment of rage, Gene shakes the tree limb. Finny loses his balance and falls. Suddenly, Gene regrets what he did.Finny will be OK, says Brinker, quoting the doctor. Finny's leg is shattered and sports are done for him. Gene states that's not fair, because it's what Finny lived for. Nobody suspects that Gene was to blame. Gene visits Finny and tries to tell him what really happened, but the doctor interrupts stating that Finny needs rest and that he's being sent home.Three weeks later, the fall session ends, and Gene visits Finny at his house - mansion is more like it. He tries once again to tell Finny what actually happened in the tree, but Finny won't believe it stating he'd "kill" Gene if he didn't shut up. Gene leaves shortly after.Leper, Brinker, and Gene go apple picking to help out a local farmer who states that his youngest son came home and he buried him under his favorite tree. He gives Leper his youngest son's army cap. Finny calls long distance and Gene and he talk. Finny states that if he can't do sports, Gene needs to do them for him and take part in the Devon Winter Olympics. Brinker becomes suspicious of the accident and Gene hears him discussing the mystery with the other boys.It begins snowing, and the students are sent to help shovel snow on the railroad tracks. Leper, meanwhile, is touring on skis to find a beaver dam. Brinker then announces to Gene that he's going to enlist for the army, and wonders if Gene will come along too. Gene agrees and Finny arrives back. The day of enlistment comes, but with Finny's return, Gene changes his mind, making Brinker more curious about Gene's character. Finny begins training Gene for the school Olympics, stating that he once had aspirations to be in the real Olympics.The students watch a movie about the Ski Troops in the war, and Leper is the first one to enlist upon seeing. He gives each of his friends a present. For Finny: the snail house. For Gene: a new alarm clock. For Brinker: His deer stalker cap. He then leaves. The students read the headlines on the war and wonder what Leper could be doing. Finny then states his dislike for the war.Shortly after, Gene witnesses a raggedy Leper creeping through the school courtyards. He gives chase and finds Leper living in a small shelter made from sticks and leaves. Leper states he was kicked out of the army and he could never go back. He said he was seeing things and that he needs a friend, but then goes on to state in Gene's face that Gene is incapable of friendship. In rage, Gene hits him and tells him to shut up. Leper knows the truth. Gene then leaves Leper alone.Later on, Gene and Finny return to their dorm to see the snail house destroyed. Whilst cleaning it, Gene discovers letters from people in the army addressed to Finny. Finny announces that he always wanted to go to the army, but his leg prevented him from doing so, and he tried to pretend that the war never existed.We then return to the beginning of the film. Gene and Finny are taken from their room, and we see the figure watching them. It is Leper. Brinker interrogates Gene and Finny about the incident in the tree, but Finny denies Gene ever doing anything, and Gene agrees, but Leper appears and states that he was at the bottom of the tree. They didn't see him. One moved up and the other moved down, like a piston, and Finny fell. Finny declares that it's nonsense and storms out, only to trip on the marble stares and falling, breaking the same leg.He's taken to the infirmary, and Gene tries to see him, but Finny declines him. The next day, Gene visits him and tells him the truth. Finny states that it wasn't Gene, but a dark side of him. No grudge or hate towards him, just madness. They make up, and the doctor states to Gene that he'll be moving and fixing Finny's bone - a cleaner cut this time - and he can come back around five.Gene goes swimming again and thinks about all that Finny had told him. When he returns the doctor announces that the cut was so clean that anybody could have mended it. He says that some bone marrow must have gone straight to Finny's heart, which in turn, killed him. Gene is taken over with guilt.He and Brinker are the only two by the end, and Gene announces that he is going to enlist. Proud of his pluck, Brinker shakes his hand and wishes him luck. Gene packs up and looks at his room. Whilst leaving, he states that Finny taught him how not to be at war with himself and to move on. His last line is: "And so I will, Fin."
And the movie ends.

Tags: insanity, romantic, flashback

Review:
So of course, I have some bias against any attempt at adapting it for a feature film or television movie.
The original version from the early 1970s, though shot at Phillips Exeter Academy where the book's author attended school, and though it stayed as faithful as it could to the book, lacked any real depth of feeling and failed to capture the essence of the characters.
Reading the trivia about the movie, you discover that it was cast mostly with non-actors.
Thus, the original has an amateurish feel to it and it ultimately fails.This new version, though I will grant that it captures the look of the period better than the original, seems to have thrown the book out all together.
The whole movie falls flat and fails miserably.If you are a high school or college student assigned to read this book and you are thinking of skimping and just watching the movie...don't even think about it.
This film will be of no help to you.Alas, we shall have to wait even longer before a version of this story comes to the screen that truly does it justice..
By the end, Gene makes peace with Finny and finally finds peace within.
Important scenes are brought to life beautifully, but we never really get inside Gene's head, so we can't understand how or why he achieves a 'separate peace.'The writers also decided to omit the other key theme of the book: Finny as a representation of peace in world at war.
While Finny talks like he was rearing to go to war, he in fact is unable to do so - because of his leg, but also because it is not possible for him to hate (as Gene describes in the final 'you'd be terrible in a war, Finny!' dialogue).
Alas, none of it makes it into the film.All in all, it was great to see a terrific performance by Moore as Finny, as well as some great scenes from the book brought to life (The Headmaster's Tea, The Winter Olympics, The Trial).
I saw this DVD on sale and bought it without a second thought, despite not even having known it was out since this is one of my favorite books of all time.
While it is true that this film is somewhat based on the book, the similarities end there.
The characters are changed (ie Finny seems more a pompous jerk than anything else whereas Gene seems to be somewhat of a hillbilly), scenes are misplaced or altogether changed (ie.
It is the depth of character and feeling that makes the book such a classic and this movie takes those things and utterly destroys them in its rewriting..
Having read the book 2x in school, I remember the story fondly.
It made me go look for my book and i ended up buying a new copy and reading it in one sitting.
Things they coudld've done better: Reading the book, i was enthralled at its depth and complexity.
since gene narrated the book, it is of course different on screen.
having read the book, i knew all of this and on screen i felt it but i know if i hadn't i would probably not get it.good:the actors for all the major character, esp gene and phineas did a great job.
the scenes with the two of them were magnetic and you could feel the friendship and the tension (of gene in the beginning of the movie) between them.
To see it finally resolved between them only for "it" (the ending of the movie, i do not want to spoil) to happen, i felt very emotion and felt the loss as if it were my own and because of that i recommend the moviebut i highly suggest getting the book first then watching.
John Knowles modern masterpiece, A Separate Peace, are one of many subtle, and subtly is the watch word, themes of love, hate, jealously, denial and regret.
The 1972 version does attempt to address this style and what the book is - A love story with war looming in the background.
In the novel and 1972 film version there are sexual undertones everywhere in the writings and dialog.In the 2004 Showtime film version these tensions were omitted and the actors were in there late twenties playing teenagers which caused for mature acting taking away from any tenderness or hesitation of innocence in youth.I did not like this remake for more reasons.
John Knowles did that intentionally.Though I accept the 1972 version the acting was at times a little amateurish, so what, it attempted to be sincere to the novel by shooting on location at Phillips Exeter Academy that The Devon Acedemy was based on; which also the writer John Knowles attended as a student.The directors and producers took all teenage Exeter students, with exception of Parker Stevenson whom attended The Brooks School, to play in a Paramount Film!
Class act by preppies compared to this Canadian College shot, played with adult actors, politically correct, platonic version.
The 1972 film version with John Heyl and Parker Stevenson was the real deal for A Separate Peace on the screen.
I really like this type of film, as it reminds me of French movies where it's more about the characters and their environment.
After watching the film, a bitter felling comes from what is friendship, after all.
Regardless the merits of the book, which I didn't read, one comes to the real hatred that can develops from one side of a friendship otherwise quite strong, coming in our terms to a bro bond, where sex isn't involved, but a real link can be developed between friends.
We can't see inner motivations that make Finny (Toby Moore) behaves as he does, and Gene(J Burtons) is perhaps a little too innocent is his movements.
There can be no other reason.I mention the ambiguity, because that is why the book works; you never really know for sure what happened on that tree.Alas, but TeeVee movies do not like ambiguity because they find their own market niche.
There were a characters like these (in the movie).
I was blown away by that film with Parker Stevenson playing Gene and John Heyl as Finney.
In my mind, sometimes I intertwine the pair of remakes, and while I preferred the original version, I didn't think this one was that bad the second time I viewed it.
I recommend watching both films and just decide for yourself which one you prefer - no sin in liking both of them.
I was even more convinced that this was a 70s film when it occurred to me (almost every five seconds) that the one thing that was missing between Gene and Finney was an intense hug, a loaded stare, a passionate kiss.I'm sorry, although John Knowles himself has indicated that this was not a homosexual relationship, it is painfully obvious that yes, that's exactly what it was.
I never connected to either of the boys, for the very reason their relationship was not truly honest.People want to live in a fantasy and think that because this took place in the 1940s that these boys couldn't have had these sexual feelings for each other.
But I say they did -- at least in the book they did, and in this movie, Finney had them, almost painfully, for Gene.
The director didn't beat you over the head with it, but the signs were pretty obviously there--or at least it was obvious to me.Not being familiar with the novel it's based on, I can't say how well this film stuck to that story.
I fell in love with the characters (particularly Finny) and re-read the book three times (naturally I aced my exam) and I'd been wanting to see the movie for a long time.
After calling every rental store in my town I finally came across it and happily rented it and just finished viewing it.As with all book-to-film movies, this naturally wasn't a play-by-play.
But this was a generally good film, and goes hand-in-hand with the book, granted that you read the original first.The acting was superb; to my delight, Finny was exactly as I wanted him to be, and I was pleasantly surprised with Brinker and Leper, who I hadn't thought too much of at first.
Gene was very good too, could've been better (but the cute accent was a nice touch!) All in all it was great.As I said, this could've been a better adaptation, mostly because Gene's descriptive narrations aren't heard in the movie.
Read the book, then watch the movie.
There's just too much going on in Gene's head to explain in a movie, especially to someone unfamiliar with the book.
Perhaps the good thing about the book is you can make the Gene/Phineas relationship what you wish..
He seemed more sinister in the movie than the real leper was in the book.
there is a scene in this movie where a kid dresses up as Hitler, actual Hitler and after that they just cut back to the next day like it was nothing..
Although I did notice when an event in the movie did not line up perfectly, it really didn't bother me that much, such as Brinker telling Gene that Phineas wanted to see him, and also telling him that he had a phone call, instead of it being Mr. Ludsbury.
Here I guess it's better to have read the book, because just watching the movie without reading it, it would be much harder to pick up all of the workings of Gene's mind and heart.
To me, seeing it portrayed on-screen accentuated the emotion and personalities of the characters in a positive way--Phineas' energy, Leper's peculiarity, Brinker's always-in-charge demeanor,Gene's inner self masked by his outward demeanor, which flashed unexpectedly at times.
I think that Gene was casted and played brilliantly, outwardly soft-spoken and innocent, inwardly driven and insecure, allowing the viewer to see what he was capable of doing deep inside, and then to some degree seeing his guilt and shock of realizing what he had done to Phineas.
All in all, I did like the movie, although it did take a little (and sometimes a lot) of liberty with the original book, and admittedly it didn't carry out all the underlying themes of the book.
But as far as portraying the relational and interpersonal themes, between the central characters of the book, and in the portrayal of those characters, I believe it did a good job.
To me it didn't ruin the book at all, I think it will make reading it better..
And to grab viewers' attention, the film begins with a scene of black robed and hooded boys bursting into Finny and Gene's room, with Brinker telling his cohorts to haul out Finny and Gene.
Thus, the film can register no impact; it didn't draw me in.Toby Moore is totally miscast as Finny.
For "A Separate Peace" to work, Finny must have charisma, magnetism, innocence, a quality that makes him irresistible to others, even when he's cajoling them to do something they don't want to.
If one doesn't warm to Finny, there is no film.J. Carton plays Gene, who was directed to give the role a heavy Southern accent, which comes and goes throughout the film.
In one horrendous scene, Leper actually impersonates Hitler and comes along with Brinker into Finny and Gene's room to do a little dance.
Instead, at one point, we get "Hold that Tiger," which must go back to the 20s at least.The very important scene between Gene and Finny at the beach is treated inconsequently.
And since I'd not been drawn into Gene's character any more than I'd been drawn into Finny's, I couldn't care much for what Gene did or what happened to Finny.When Gene goes to see Finny in the hospital after the fall, Finny is far too hale and healthy, not like someone who's just had a serious accident and had his leg set and put into a cast.There is a scene here where the students go apple picking in nearby orchards because the usual harvesters are off at war.
This scene makes explicit the implications that are in the much finer scene of the '72 version where the boys are shoveling snow off the railroad tracks and face the young soldiers in the train, who are a mirror for their future.The best moment in this dismal remake occurs when Gene spots Leper on campus and follows him to his makeshift hideout in the woods.
Gene is enlisting, and Brinker, if you can believe this, is going off into the woods wearing Leper's old cap hoping to find the beaver damn that Leper was earlier looking for in the winter.
Gene has a voice-over at the end that mouths platitudes like, "Just be yourself; just go on." My God!
This pallid film version reflects attenuation of the book and isn't going to build enthusiasm for the book or reveal what makes the novel such a fine one..
Here are my thoughts:The High Points: Overall, the film was presented in as normal a way as possible, without big screen stars and fancy CGI to pretty it up.
Some key points were missing, like Gene taking off the layers of clothing when Finny returns, and the encounter with Quackenbush, but still, the acting was excellent.
I also liked the soundtrack, everything from moody piano to "Hold that Tiger." Pity the soundtrack isn't released on CD.The Low Points: The missing points which I mentioned earlier, plus the fact that Gene's narrations only occur at the beginning and the end.
I think Gene should have narrated throughout, to convey his thoughts about Finny.
When I watched the movie with my family, my grandmother was confused as to why Gene knocked Finny out of the tree.
The other big change which I didn't like was Gene's confrontation with Leper, which rather than taking place at his house, occurs in a little survival hut built by the insane Leper in the woods.
Leper is very straightforward there about his feelings which showed the actor's talent, but not so much the Leper from the book.If you get this movie, do not judge it by the other reviews.
I found watching this frustrating since I felt that there is material enough in Knowles' book to make a great movie, but this effort falls decidedly short.On the surface the story is simple: two boys meet as roommates at a prestigious northeastern prep school and become close friends, then a life-changing singular event occurs and its effects are described.The two boys are Gene and Phineous (affectionatly known as "Finny").
Gene is reserved and studious whereas Finny is an outgoing athlete who likes to buck the rules--he is the most popular guy on campus.
Given that, latent homosexuality would make sense to me, but the chemistry of strong attachments is always a bit of a mystery, so answering the question about the sexual content of the relationship is not essential.The question of what happened in the tree is central and the movie leaves little doubt that the act was willful, rather than impulsive, on Gene's part.
The reason for Gene's act remains open to question, even in the movie.
Or maybe it was the reason that Gene postulates toward the end of the book, "It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that's all it was." I want to think that it was some evil atavistic impulse that lies deep in the DNA of man--a small act that paralleled the evil of WWII that served as the backdrop to the story.The opening scene that has fellow students pulling Gene and Phineous out of their sleep to be marched to an auditorium when they would be the subjects of an inquiry into what happened in the tree is a mistake.
I assume that the idea was to provide a hook to interest you in how the situation evolved to that scene, but it takes away any surprise that scene has at the end--a scene that we then have to watch again in its entirety.Neither J Barton (as Gene) nor Toby Moore (as Finny) seems to be a natural actor.
"A Separate Peace" is an American 90-minute movie from 2004, so this is already over 10 years old.
It is a small screen production and television was far from the quality we have today, so it is a bit sad to see that's where Yates' films landed at that point.
Their performances felt really almost interchangeable because neither is making a difference at all with their characters and it seems that most of the time they aren't even trying.
I read a few negative comments from other viewers, I actually think that this is a very good TV show which I rated it a ten.
I also have read the book and seen the old movie.
I love the book and think the four young men in the principle roles did an outstanding job.
She confirmed that Gene purposefully knocked Finny out of the tree, where the book, leaves that determination to the reader.
The scene with Leper and Gene in the woods, after Leper deserted, is worth making this movie a "must see" by itself.
This is a far superior production than the previous, 1972 version, and I think a movie everyone should see..
okay....i haven't seen the movie yet (were watching it in English this Monday) but i just read the book.....awesome book....but the only thing is that GENE DRIVES ME UP THE WALL AND ONTO THE CEILING!!!!!!
finny is so cool...and gene is just obnoxious....maybe he wasn't like that when he came back to devon 15 years later....but when he went to devon school he was so annoying....i just thought that i would say that...........this book is really great though....even though gene didn't cry when finny died i did