"The Sky is Gray" PBS Version

Hey, not bad. Could be worse, I guess. The adaptation of Ernest Gaines' "The Sky is Gray" was described by one classmate as lackluster, but I think I have to disagree. It's just... gray.

The film was produced by PBS sometime in the '80s, but don't let the time period/producers fool you: the acting and overall appearance of the film aren't that bad. In fact, I was impressed by the adaptation of the short story to film.

The film is a nearly one to one adaptation. The characters are all there, and nearly every piece of dialogue is there in the order in which it is presented in the story. Minor details of the story are even presented, such as the fact that the three white men in the hardware store are speaking French Creole. The people are portrayed in almost the same way as in the story, with some of the clothing being different, and the birds in the traps are not redbirds, either. The town name Bayonne I believe is not mentioned, and it isn't actively sleeting in the film. That pretty much covers all of the differences. This is truly a one to one adaptation, something I have really never experienced.

I have seen better acting, but this is pretty fair. The personalities that Gaines imbibes his characters with are well portrayed by the actors. In fact, the actress portraying James' mother made her even more imposing than in the story, with the way she holds herself, her mannerisms. James also, is done well in my opinion, though it would have been nice to have heard some of his internal dialogue.

I am having a hard time deciding which scenes I would deem my favorites. It is a three-way-draw between the bird scene, Monsieur Bayonne's Catholic Cure scene, and the dentist scene. I like the dentist scene in particular as it portrays not only the thoughts of African Americans of the day, but it also fits well in our own contemporary culture, in which close-mindedness has been rife and people have been trying to turn away from it.

This film isn't on my "Gotta Have It" list, but it's not a bad film by a long shot. In fact, it's really quite good.