"Heaven is for real," is a book that was authored by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent. A movie bearing the title of the book was released in the year 2014 after screen right was granted. The book tells a story of Burpo's family who go through a series of tough times such as emergency surgery, shattered leg, kidney stones, and a cancer scare. His son, Corton Burpo suffers from appendicitis aged three years and ten months. Todd Burno who is a pastor gets an add-on to his church income by installing garage doors. He suffers a leg break and battles with cancer for one year before Calton starts to show signs of illness. The son almost loses his life but ends up surviving after going through surgery and getting a glimpse of heaven. He tells a story that gives hope to many showing that there is a brighter day that precedes a dark night.
From the movie, Colton, his older sister Cassie, and his mother Sonja go for a vacation at Greeley, Colorado. They are scheduled to meet pastor Todd Burpo who has traveled earlier for a district board meeting for the Wesleyan church. They pay a visit to the Butterfly Pavilion. It is right after spending the day that the son's health condition changes all over sudden. The illness lands him in an operating room for surgery where he fights for his life. Several doctors evaluate him and realize that his appendix has a burst hence spilling toxins over his internal organs. Calton’s body is filled with infection after the operation, affecting his normal body functioning. He takes some time to recover, and as the family is driving to visit a member of their family, the son starts to narrate things about heaven and Jesus. He gives a narration a four-year-old child would not have known; this makes them begin believing his story for they doubted it in the first instance. He tells them how he met his sister who had a miscarriage. Colton also claims to have met his great-grandfather who died long before he was born. He gave right points of painting that a little girl had drawn about Jesus. The girl had dreams and visions about heaven ever since she was four years old (Burno, Lynn, and Dean 89). The accurate descriptions of his son that was close to a written text in the Bible left Todd astonished. Burpo's family ends up sharing the story for they perceive it to be of help to many people. Colton is currently eleven-years-old. He sometimes talks about heaven once in a while though his experience at three years old was one of a kind.
The adaptation of this book adds some stories, and in other stages, some scripts are removed hence distorting the flow of the story. An excellent adaptation should be faithful to the original story and should be expressive by giving the viewers the ability to participate in the process giving that story a chance on its terms. Todd Burpo is stated as a full-time pastor in the book while the movie points out that the family's primary source of income is the installation of garage door business which he operates. In addition to his daily work, he volunteers as a high school wrestling coach and fireman thereby helping to account for the time he is not in church. It also plays a rolein helping understand where he gets the money to cater for the needs and hospital bills of his family. In the Heaven is for Real book, the family is financially unstable, and they ask for help from friends, family, friends of friends and close acquaintances. The hospital staff do not expect Colton to live. The movie, however, reveals how a nurse gives a few words in private to his father explaining that the nurses and doctors expects his son to die. The doctors had directed nurses not to offer any form of encouragement to the family for their son was in a critical condition. The part is added to show how Calton swift recovery made them believe that a miracle must have happened for him to be alive. The viewers are given a sense of hope and acknowledge the power of prayer and believe in God.
Further, the movie tells about the presence of a technical flatline that make Colton's heart to stop beating; this part, however, has not been captured in the original story. The part helps Todd to explain how his son manages to visit Heaven without dying.like in the book; he remembers the Bible discussing John and Paul the apostle's who visited heaven without dying. The viewers get a touch of the story to relate with other miraculous deeds that are said to have happened before giving them insight and motivation to watch the scene. It is written that the father lashed out to a private room to talk to God while his son was in the operation room. The adaptation shows that he went to the hospital chapel, but the script shows he went to a pre-op place where they had left their stuff hence helping to buy time to show other scenes of the movie such as Todd Burno moving to the chapel. The choice of a holy ground is indicative of how he needs to connect with God for what he is going through despite being a pastor. The scene captures the viewer's attention showing how critical the illness was prompting the father to seek divine intervention.
The adaptation does not change the faithfulness of the original story, but it expresses the events told in a cynical manner which is easier for a viewer to understand within a short time. The music in the movie explains and represents a thousand words in a short while, therefore, capturing the attention and reducing boredom to viewers. Some claim that the film does not depict heaven as described by Colton and that it leaves viewers to decide if the boy is lying, hallucinating, dreaming or telling the truth. In my view, time was limited to extend the play. The part where Colton recognizes the painting of Jesus by Akine and his miscarried sister is not given in the adaptation as a result of the budget allocated, or the need to reduce time taken to make the movie. It is also hard to please every viewer since they may have different versions of how they want the events in the film to be.
Work cited
Burpo, Lynn Vincent, and Dean Gallagher. Heaven is for Real book. Oasis Audio, 2010.pg 59-95 Adaptation of “Heaven is for real” as a movie
