Although the screenplay for this period piece was written by Joseph Opatoshu’s son David, it bears only a vague similarity to the original novella. Use the poster to help students think about the key elements of Opatoshu’s novella.

Suggested Activity: Before showing students the movie poster, have them imagine what elements they would include if they were designing a poster for the novella. Are there any scenes they’d want to depict? Would they include any quotes on the poster? If time permits, have students draw their own posters or covers for the novella. 

Then show students the 1971 movie poster. What elements do students see on the poster (words, images, colors)? How similar is the movie poster to the posters or covers they designed for the novella? Discuss: what message is the poster trying to convey? How would you describe the tone? What aspects do you recognize from the literary text? What elements seem different? Based on the poster, how closely do students think the film would follow the original text? Do students think the target audience for the film is the same as the audience for the novella? How would the audience be similar or different? You can broaden the discussion by asking students how they would adapt the literary text into a film.