White Oleander (film) - Differences Between Novel and Screenplay

Differences Between Novel and Screenplay

There are numerous differences between the book and movie.

• Astrid is twelve years old at the beginning of the novel; in the film, she is fifteen.
• Ingrid is a poet in the novel, but a photographer in the film.
• Ingrid is released from jail after winning her appeal in the novel; in the film she remains imprisoned. In both cases, she chooses to spare her daughter from testifying.
• In between living with Starr and Claire, Astrid experiences two more foster homes in the novel, staying with the Turlocks and Olivia Johnstone, and then with Amelia Ramos; in the film, these characters are eliminated, so Astrid is never attacked by dogs and does not live with scars on her arms and face, nor is she forcefully starved.
• In the novel, Ray is portrayed as being nearly fifty years old; in the film, he appears to be in his thirties.
• In the novel, Claire's husband is named Ron; in the movie he is renamed Mark.
• In the novel, Astrid becomes highly attached to Barry, to the extent that she dreams of Ingrid's marrying him and Barry's asking Astrid to call him "Dad". None of this is shown in the film; Ingrid's relationship with Barry is heavily condensed in the movie, and Astrid's emotional attachment to Barry is only hinted at when she tells Davey that she could have saved his life but didn't. The movie also condenses the extent and length of Ingrid's relationship with Barry, to the point that it seems they only ever had one date.
• In the novel, Astrid and Paul move to Berlin, Germany, while in the movie they move to New York.
• In the novel, Astrid has an affair with Rena's boyfriend, Sergei, while in the movie he is not even mentioned.
• In the novel, Astrid remembers Annie - her former babysitter - after taking acid with her friend Niki, while in the movie, Astrid remembers Annie on her own, and is often seen drawing her, which Yvonne comments on.
• In the novel, Astrid is sent to MacLaren Children's Center, while in the movie it is simply McKinney Hall.
• In the novel, Astrid tracks down her father, who is disappointingly ordinary despite his creative talents. The movie makes no mention of this.