FROM THE NOVEL TO THE FILM: AN EXEMPLARY CASE: THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS BY GIORGIO BASSANI.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether a screenplay can remain faithful to the original literary text. The passage from a literary work to an audiovisual product always involves three authors: the writer, the screenwriter and the film director. There are, then, three different texts (literary work, screenplay and film), each with its own grammar and narrative techniques. As an example, we have chosen The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani. The analysis of the transition from text to film focuses on two aspects of the transition: changes of the narrative structure and the relationship between literary and cinematographic discourse. As regards the first point, it must be taken into account that it is impossible to achieve the exact reproduction of the narrative sequences; therefore, some of these will have to be excluded, others changed and others added to provide further information. The second point concerns the comparison of the novel's language, the screenplay and the film, analyzing some of the most emblematic scenes of the story. In conclusion, the screen adaptation of a literary work must be regarded as a process capable of transforming literary matter into filmic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]