A Ring of Endless Light (film)

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
A Ring of Endless Light
Ring of Endless Light.jpg
Promotional poster
Based on A Ring of Endless Light
by Madeleine L'Engle
Written byMarita Giovanni
Bruce Graham
Directed by Greg Beeman
Starring
Theme music composerPhil Marshall
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
CinematographyRodney Charters
EditorTerry Stokes
Running time88 minutes
Original release
Network Disney Channel
ReleaseAugust 23, 2002 (2002-08-23)

A Ring of Endless Light is a 2002 American romantic drama film that was released as a Disney Channel Original Movie. It was based on the Madeleine L'Engle book of the same name filmed on location in Australia, and stars Mischa Barton in the main lead role. In the U.S., it was aired on August 23, 2002.

Contents

Plot

When 16-year-old Vicky Austin, her sister Suzy and little brother Rob visit their grandfather on Seven Bay Island, Vicky faces several unexpected challenges. Her beloved grandfather, the retired Reverend Eaton, seems to be seriously ill, but tries to pretend that nothing is wrong. Vicky met the rich but emotionally troubled Zachary Gray the previous summer, and he reappears to renew the acquaintance. Another boy, 17-year-old Adam Eddington, recruits Vicky to help him with a research project, working with a dolphin called Basil. Vicky discovers she can communicate telepathically with the dolphin and his mate – and possibly with Adam as well.

Vicky copes as best she can with the increasing stress placed on her by her grandfather's illness, especially once he admits to her that he is dying of leukemia. In turn, Reverend Eaton tries to encourage Vicky with his gentle wisdom and appreciation of her talents, especially her writing, in marked contrast to her parents' long distance expectations that she study science.

A rivalry develops between Zach and Adam, which becomes an uneasy alliance as the three teenagers seek to expose the illegal use of drift nets, which trap and kill dolphins, by a ship owned by Zach's father. Eventually they succeed, saving their dolphin friend (and Adam himself) from the deadly net just as Vicky's grandfather arrives with the Coast Guard. The excitement is too much for Reverend Eaton, however, who dies soon afterward. He leaves behind a new blank book for Vicky in which to write her poetry. Vicky decides to follow her heart and her talents rather than her parents' plans for her.

Cast

Comparison with the novel

The television adaptation is considerably "lighter" in tone than the novel A Ring of Endless Light . In the book, a family friend has just died while trying to save the life of Vicky's troubled friend Zachary Gray. Shortly thereafter, a baby dolphin dies, a marine biologist of Vicky's acquaintance is nearly killed in an accident, and a sick girl suffers a seizure and dies in Vicky's arms. In the film, Vicky's grandfather is dying and some dolphins are threatened by illegal fishing nets, but that is about the extent of the death and impending death Vicky sees around her. The fishing nets storyline, which does not appear in the novel, is standard Disney fare in that it involves young characters behaving heroically in an adventure setting. Its climax, in which one of the major characters is tangled in a net and nearly drowns, echoes a similar scene in the Disney Channel movie The Thirteenth Year .

Vicky's on-screen love life is also substantially different from what appears in the book. In the film, Zachary does not try to commit suicide, and his negative behavior has been toned down. Instead the film shows Zach involved in positive activities, most notably joining forces with Adam to expose the illegal fishing methods. In the book, the character Leo Rodney competes with Zachary Gray for Vicky's attention, while Adam tries to avoid forming a romantic attachment with her because of a negative experience the previous summer. In the film, Adam and Zachary are rivals, and Leo does not appear.

Family relationships in the film have been similarly changed and streamlined. Vicky's parents are absent for most of the film, whereas they are very much present in the novel. In the film, Vicky's parents expect her to study science, while in the book, they encourage Vicky to choose her own path. Vicky's older brother John is not mentioned, and his interest in astronomy is given to Suzy instead. In the novel, Vicky's grandfather is completely honest about his illness and from the beginning, Vicky understands that her grandfather will not be alive at the end of the summer. In the film the extent and nature of his illness is a secret that is only gradually revealed.

Reception

Laura Fries of Variety reviewed the film negatively, remarking "Writers Marita Giovanni and Bruce Graham take the poignant and thought-provoking notions of life and death found in the Madeline L’Engle teen novel and turn it into Gidget meets Flipper drivel..." [1] Lynne Heffley of Los Angeles Times was more complimentary, lauding the performances, highlighting "...Mischa Barton's luminous presence as Vicky and the venerable James Whitmore as her tender and wise grandfather." [2]

Award and nomination

The film's director, Greg Beeman, was nominated for the 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs for A Ring of Endless Light. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine L'Engle</span> American writer (1918–2007)

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mischa Barton</span> British-American actress (born 1986)

Mischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American film, television, and stage actress. She began her career on the stage, appearing in Tony Kushner's Slavs! and took the lead in James Lapine's Twelve Dreams at New York City's Lincoln Center. She made her screen debut with a guest appearance on the American soap opera All My Children (1995), and voicing Betty Ann Bongo on the Nickelodeon cartoon series KaBlam! (1996–97). Her first major film role was as the protagonist of Lawn Dogs (1997), a drama co-starring Sam Rockwell. She appeared in major pictures such as the romantic comedy Notting Hill (1999) and M. Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller The Sixth Sense (1999). She also starred in the indie crime drama Pups (1999).

<i>A Wrinkle in Time</i> 1962 science fantasy novel by Madeleine LEngle

A Wrinkle in Time is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The main characters – Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O'Keefe – embark on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they endeavor to rescue the Murrys' father and fight The Black Thing that has intruded into several worlds.

<i>A Ring of Endless Light</i> 1980 book by Madeleine LEngle

A Ring of Endless Light is a 1980 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book tells of teenager Vicky Austin and her struggle to understand life and significance in the universe as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding true romantic love. The title originates from a phrase in the seventeenth-century Welsh poet Henry Vaughan's poem "The World".

<i>The Arm of the Starfish</i> 1965 novel by Madeleine LEngle

The Arm of the Starfish is a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1965. It is the first novel featuring Poly O'Keefe and the O'Keefe family, a generation after the events of A Wrinkle in Time (1962). The plot concerning advanced regeneration research puts this novel in the science fiction genre, but it could also be described as a mystery thriller.

<i>So Long at the Fair</i> 1950 film

So Long at the Fair is a 1950 British thriller film directed by Terence Fisher and Antony Darnborough, and starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde. It was adapted from the 1947 novel of the same name by Anthony Thorne.

<i>The Witch of Blackbird Pond</i> 1958 novel by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a children's novel by American author Elizabeth George Speare, published in 1958. The story takes place in late 17th-century New England. It won the Newbery Medal in 1959.

<i>An Acceptable Time</i> 1989 book by Madeleine LEngle

An Acceptable Time is a 1989 young adult science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the last of her books to feature Polyhymnia O'Keefe, better known as Poly or Polly. Marketed as part of the author's Time Quintet, An Acceptable Time connects Polly's adventures with those of her parents, Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe, which take place a generation earlier. The book's title is taken from Psalm 69:13, "But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable time."

<i>Meet the Austins</i> 1960 novel by Madeleine LEngle

Meet the Austins is the title of a 1960 novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the first of her books about the Austin family. It introduces the characters Vicky Austin and her three siblings, and Maggy Hamilton, an orphan.

<i>A House Like a Lotus</i> 1984 young adult novel by Madeleine LEngle

A House Like a Lotus (ISBN 0-374-33385-8) is a 1984 young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Its protagonist is sixteen-year-old Polly O'Keefe, whose friend and mentor, Maximiliana Horne, has sent her on a trip to Greece and Cyprus. As she travels, Polly must come to terms with a recent traumatic event involving Max. The history of Polly's relationship with Max is told in flashback over the course of the novel. The use of double quotes distinguishes the present, whereas single quotes indicate flashbacks from the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Eddington</span> Fictional character

Adam Eddington III is a major character in three young adult novels by Madeleine L'Engle. A marine biology student, he is the protagonist of The Arm of the Starfish (1965), and a reluctant romantic love interest for Vicky Austin in A Ring of Endless Light (1980), a romantic relationship that continues in Troubling a Star (1994). He is one of three characters to have major appearances in both L'Engle's O'Keefe family series of books and her Austin family series.

Victoria "Vicky" Austin is one of Madeleine L'Engle's frequently used fictional characters, appearing in eight books and referred to in at least one more. She is the protagonist of the Austin family series of books being the first person narrator of Meet the Austins, The Moon by Night, A Ring of Endless Light, Troubling a Star, and the picture book The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas. A developing poet and writer, Vicky observes the everyday events in her large family, dates several boys, communicates with dolphins, faces the occasional mortal danger, and reflects on important issues about life and death, faith and family as she gradually comes of age.

<i>The Moon by Night</i> 1963 young adult novel by Madeleine LEngle

The Moon by Night (ISBN 0-374-35049-3) is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Published in 1963, it is the second novel about Vicky Austin and her family, taking place between the events of Meet the Austins (1960) and The Young Unicorns (1968), and more or less concurrently with the O'Keefe family novel The Arm of the Starfish. The book marks the first appearance of the character Zachary Gray, who dates first Vicky and then Polly O'Keefe. Although Vicky will later appear in three novels that have fantasy and/or science fiction themes, there are no such elements in The Moon By Night.

<i>The Young Unicorns</i> 1968 novel by Madeleine LEngle

The Young Unicorns (1968), ISBN 0-374-38778-8) is the title of a young adult suspense novel by American writer Madeleine L'Engle. It is the third novel about the Austin family, taking place between the events of The Moon by Night (1963) and A Ring of Endless Light (1980). Unlike those two novels and Meet the Austins (1960), it does not center on Vicky Austin specifically, but on a family friend, Josiah "Dave" Davidson.

<i>The Small Rain</i> Book by Madeleine LEngle

The Small Rain is a semi-autobiographical novel by Madeleine L'Engle, about the many difficulties in the life of talented pianist Katherine Forrester between the ages of 10 and 19. Published in 1945 by the Vanguard Press, it was the first of L'Engle's long list of books, and was reprinted in 1984. L'Engle began work on it in college, and completed it while an actress in New York.

<i>A Severed Wasp</i> 1982 novel by Madeleine LEngle

A Severed Wasp (1982) is a novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It continues the story of a pianist, Katherine Forrester, who was first seen in The Small Rain. Now a widow in her seventies, Katherine Forrester Vigneras returns to New York City in retirement from concert touring in Europe. There she encounters Felix Bodeway, an old friend from her Greenwich Village days, who is now the retired Episcopal Bishop of New York. He asks Katherine to give a benefit concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It turns out to be an unexpected challenge, full of new friends and mysterious dangers.

Madeleine L'Engle, an American novelist, diarist and poet, produced over twenty novels, beginning with The Small Rain (1945), and continuing into the 1990s with A Live Coal in the Sea (1996). Many of her fictional characters appeared in more than one novel, sometimes in more than one series of novels. Other major characters are the protagonists of a single title. This article provides information about L'Engle's most notable characters.

<i>Time Quintet</i> Five young adult science fantasy novels by Madeleine LEngle

The Time Quintet is a fantasy/science fiction series of five young adult novels written by Madeleine L'Engle.

Madeleine L'Engle has published more than fifty books, including twenty-three novels, virtually all of them interconnected by recurring characters and locales. In particular, L'Engle's three major series have a consistent geography, including a number of significant fictional locations. These generally fall into two categories:

<i>Troubling a Star</i> 1994 novel by Madeleine LEngle

Troubling a Star (ISBN 0-374-37783-9) is the last full-length novel in the Austin family series by Madeleine L'Engle. The young adult suspense thriller, published in 1994, reunites L'Engle's most frequent protagonist, Vicky Austin, with Adam Eddington, both of whom become enmeshed in international intrigue as they travel separately to Antarctica. The story takes place several months after the end of A Ring of Endless Light, the novel in which Vicky and Adam first met.

References

  1. Laura Fries (August 20, 2002). "Review: 'A Ring of Endless Light'". Variety . Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  2. Lynne Heffley (August 23, 2002). "A Girl, a Granddad and a Dolphin". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  3. "DGA Announces 2002 Nominees for Daytime Serials and Children's Programs". Directors Guild of America. February 10, 2003. Retrieved 2017-06-03.