Bridging Places, Media, and Traditions: Lasse Hallström’s Chronotopes

This chapter investigates the career of Swedish-born director Lasse Hallström, whose international breakthrough came with his 1985 adaptation of Reidar Jönsson’s novel Mitt liv som hund/My Life as a Dog. Not surprisingly, many of his American films have also been adaptations, including his remarkable The Cider House Rules and The Shipping News. This study considers several of Hallström’s adaptations from the points of view of the films’ common ground (the focus on the plight of the unwanted child) and the cultural differences or even clashes they represent. In contrast, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Hundred-Foot Journey seem at first to be fairy tales of cultural reconciliation, although they also raise questions about leadership, the culture of everyday life, and adaptation in every sense of the word. Hallström’s adaptations provide us with insights into our own cultures, as well as those of others, while also highlighting the limits of adaptation.