Respond to these rapid questions in our Indignation quiz and we will tell you which Indignation character you are. Play it now.
“Indignation,” the first feature film to be directed by James Schamus, who has spent his career working in the independent film industry as a producer and executive, is a film that is so blatantly out of step with modern American cinema that it could almost be considered defiant. “Indignation,” which was adapted from a novel written by Philip Roth (his book of the same name, published in 2008, and his penultimate novel, if we are to believe that he is now finally done writing), is, like much of Roth’s later work, concerned with, or perhaps a better phrase is “consumed by” mortality and its inevitability. “Indignation” was adapted from a novel written in 2008.
Marcus Messner is a young man of great promise in Roth’s Newark, New Jersey—the author’s own Yoknapatawpha County, as it turned out. Marcus Messner is first seen, or at least presumably first seen, attending the funeral of one of his high-school buddies who has been killed in the early years of the Korean War. Roth’s Newark, New Jersey is based on the author’s own Yoknapatawpha County. The movie starts with a scene of a lone soldier fighting in another country, and the framings in this scene are reminiscent of Samuel Fuller’s work. In any case, the conflict in question is not something that Marcus needs to be concerned about at all. Marcus, the son of a butcher, has been given a scholarship to attend Winesburg College in Ohio and a postponement from the draft to go along with it. Marcus is a son who is devoted to his family and a brilliant student. He conducts himself in an ethical manner and holds himself to what he considers to be a high standard. His attachment to his intellectual independence and his pronounced disinclination to “go along to get along” are his only real issues, other than the fact that his father is becoming increasingly overprotective to the point of hysteria. That, in addition to his sexual naiveté, which is somewhat understandable. 1951 is the year that we are discussing.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Indignation quiz.
Indignation Quiz
At Winesburg (the allusion to Sherwood Anderson is deliberate, as is the depiction of the place as an ideal place from which to leave), Marcus hesitates to join a Jewish fraternity and fervently pursues his studies, but he becomes enamored of a coed named Olivia (Sarah Gadon), a beguiling and brilliant young woman who chastises Marcus by saying, “You are not a simple soul and you have no business being here.” She is unaware of how tragically correct her assessment will turn out to be. And not only with regard to Marcus. Marcus is thrown into a tizzy by an instance of amorous generosity on the part of Olivia, and his inability to process it sets in motion a series of events that… well, as Marcus himself informs the viewer in voice-over narration early on in the show, his own death will be the finish of them. Marcus’s own death will be the finish of them.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Indignation quiz.
About the quiz
Marcus is put in a position where he is forced to justify himself to everyone around him, including a pious sophist dean of students played by Tracy Letts. The title of this work, “Indignation,” not only refers to Marcus’ condition during this time, but it also refers to the attitude of the work itself. The measured prose of the novel conveys an underlying sense of absolute rage at the capricious and unfair nature of fate. Schamus, who is also responsible for writing the screenplay for this movie, is very concerned, or one could even say that she is consumed by the idea of bringing this to the screen. Therefore, he has adapted Roth’s book into a film in a manner that is measured to the point that it borders on being solemn. The movie moves very slowly. The majority of its action, which consists primarily of two or more people having an animated and ever-deepening conversation with one another, is depicted through the use of long takes and carefully composed medium shots. These shots allow the actors room to breathe and move, but they still place some restrictions on their performance. Schamus was a film scholar before he became a filmmaker, and he has written beautifully about the work of the Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. His method here harks back to the stark plainness of a work like “Ordet,” and it sometimes even recalls the overt theatricality of the director’s last film, “Gertrud.” Schamus meticulously ensures that each and every shot, as well as each and every gesture contained within that shot, matters by eliciting outstanding performances from each and every one of his actors. In the smallest of details, he gradually builds up irony after irony. The two Jewish upperclassmen Marcus first rooms with appear to be interesting enough fellows at first, each with their own ideas; eventually, they are shown to be conventional hypocrites, and as one of them reveals his true colors, the frame reveals, for the first time, a dinky little reproduction of Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” that the other roommate has taped to the wall by his bunk.
Also, you must try to play this Indignation quiz.
The potency of Schamus’ work can be attributed to his dedication to a particular style and to the subject matter. It is impossible to say enough good things about the cast. Even when Marcus is being purposefully annoying, Logan Lerman maintains a distinct and uncowed likeability as the character. Sarah Gadon gives a stunning performance as Olivia, portraying a young woman who is aware of her own thoughts but is unable to stop them from leading her to dreadfully disturbing places. Tracy Letts, who is both a playwright and an actor, demonstrates a masterful command of his role as the dean. Letts portrays a man who is truly intolerable in every way, but who is also a product of his time and responsible for everything that was terrible about his era. Schamus reveals one overt narrative trick he had up his sleeve the whole time as the movie draws to its inevitable conclusion. This trick is quite devastating if you’ve been paying attention to the rhythms of the movie, which you should have done by this point. It brings all of Roth’s work’s indignation home to the reader and adds some new fuel to the fire that he started.
For more personality quizzes check this: Midnight Special Quiz.
