The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999)-An Exceptional Adaptation

Every now and then you come across an adaptation which just seems...perfect. The casting is spot on, the writing is solid and on the mark, and even the most minor details from the original story are included, which, to me, demonstrates a deep respect and knowledge of the source material. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, released in 1999 and staring Brent Carver as Ichabod Crane, contains not only all of these positives but something else as well that sets it apart to me; an extraordinary ability to fill in the blanks.

Allow me to explain; as I was rereading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I recognized that this film not only stayed close to the original source material from beginning to end, but it also purposely integrates another conflict between Ichabod and Katrina Van Tassel, the girl he wishes to wed, which falls in line ingeniously with exactly what happens in Irving's story.

Towards the end of Sleepy Hollow, it is revealed that Katrina Van Tassel, the object of Ichabod's affections, (in decent part because of her wealth, it should be mentioned,) rejects him, and it is never explained as to why she decides to do this. However, the film does a great job of creating a dynamic between Ichabod, Katrina, and Brom Bones, which all leads up to Katrina dumping Crane just like in the original story. In this version, Katrina Van Tassel is a girl who dreams of one day getting out of Sleepy Hollow and journeying the world; in particular she is keen on traveling to Amsterdam and seeing the great museums there. Brom Bones, played by Paul Lemelin, loves her very much but doesn't think too highly of her wanting to travel the world. This causes a rift between them, which causes her to notice Ichabod Crane, whose education and elegant manners attract her attention.

Brent Carver plays a particularly interesting version of Ichabod Crane, he is well-mannered, highly educated, and speaks eloquently. (Which is not hard to imagine given the eloquence of the author who created him.) Indeed I found the performance to be quite humorous just because of how much Ichabod's speech and manner contrasts with the ways of the simple country folk around him. We soon see however that Ichabod may be well educated, he is also selfish and dishonest. In one scene we see him tell Katrina that her ambitions are quite admirable, yet in another scene when he is speaking to her father about Katrina he assures him that once Katrina is married, her silly fantasies about leaving Sleepy Hollow will soon disappear. Katrina overhears this conversation, which infuriates her, and this is ultimately what leads her to reject Ichabod towards the end.

This scenario is exactly what I love to see in an adaptation; when the writing actually builds upon the story by using what is already there as a starting point. We know in the original that Ichabod is highly covetous of the Van Tassel estate, and that in the end is rejected by Katrina. This adaptation is able to 'fill in the blanks' so to speak about why this occurs without diverting too far from the source material in the process. In fact, the way the film pulls this off it actually helps build up Katrina's character, and it makes her discovery of Ichabod's dishonesty integral to the falling out between them. I love how this version decided to give Katrina an actual character; in the original we know very little about her aside from the fact that her father is rich and that she is initially quite fond of Ichabod. This is the case in the film as well, especially as Brom Bones continuously shrugs off her dreams of leaving Sleepy Hollow. But as the film progresses, we see that in actuality, Brom Bones is the one who truly cares about Katrina, despite his rough manner and limited education, and that Ichabod is the more unlikable one for being two-faced.

This marks yet another aspect of this adaptation I like; they could have made Brom Bones just a dumb bully-like character, similar to how he has been portrayed in other versions, just to make it clear that he is our antagonist. But instead, they keep true to the fact that he is courting Katrina, and that he a free-spirited trickster who although uneducated does have ambitions and a true desire to make his own way in the world. I like how they opted to flesh his character out to the extent that we see him more as a person than as an obvious antagonist. It diverts from the story a bit, where many passages were focused on the somewhat comical rivalry between Crane and Brom Bones, but ultimately, the character is still definately recognizable, and the changes that are made serve to make him more three-dimensional. This movie makes it clear that Brom truly cares about Katrina, a detail that was not really elaborated in the story, and his bitterness towards Ichabod comes not only as a rival, but from someone who genuinely believes that Ichabod does not truly love her the way he does. And the way the film plays out, we actually end up sympathizing with him moreso than Ichabod.

This adaptation is admirable to me because it does such a great job of creating a dynamic between the three main characters that manages to be believable and build upon the source material rather than rewriting it completely. The ending of the film is also done very well; it opts to go with both possibilities that the original story presents; Brom Bones does pretend to be the Horseman to scare Ichabod away, but upon the discovery of Brom's guise, Ichabod encounters the true headless Horseman and flees. Ultimately, like in the story, it is not certain what becomes of him.

Would I recommend this film? I think the answer is obvious. It is a remarkable adaptation and furthermore, a very well-written movie. Mind you, in the manner of Irving's tale, it is not very exciting until the very end, but the conflict that occurs between all three main players I feel is enough to keep an enthusiast of the story or just another movie goer invested. I find it interesting to see a movie where there aren't truly villains, but just people with very common vices and faults that make them not entirely good and not entirely bad. While Ichabod is definitely dishonest, I couldn't help but find him somewhat likable just due to how humorous the performance was. In the end, I think people with a knowledge of Irving's story will definitely appreciate this film, and people who haven't will still find it to be a lighthearted, enjoyable film.