For those who don't know, Waiting for Godot follows the philosophical Vladimir and weary Estragon as they wait for another person named Godot. The play consists of two acts in which they try and pass the time as they wait, while they meet three other characters: a silent, baggage-burdened slave named Lucky; his imperious master, Pozzo; and a boy who claims to be relaying a message from Godot.
I...wasn't keen. It's difficult for a play like that to keep people interested for two acts. Anyway, I began thinking about Clerks, because that's what I'd prefer to see. It was then that I realised that Clerks could be considered an adaptation of (or at least influenced by) Waiting for Godot.
Clerks follows a day in the life of Dante Hicks, a put-upon convenience store clerk working on his day off (which he'll remind you of constantly). Also present is his best friend Randall Graves, an irresponsible slacker who works at the neighbouring video rental but spends most of his time hanging around the convenience store with Dante. The film has the pair discussing various topics to pass the time while dealing with a variety of customers.
Now we've got the set-up, we can compare them. Dante is similar to Estragon, while Randall is Vladimir. There plenty of minor characters, but Pozzo and Lucky could be represented by Jay and Silent Bob, a pair of drug dealers who loiter outside the video store. Jay is obnoxious and wisecracking, while Silent Bob lives up to his name and doesn't say anything.
Dante's unseen boss would represent Godot, who never appears. The film opens with Dante being called by his boss to cover a sick employee's morning shift. Dante agrees, but later discovers that his boss has gone away on a trip, meaning he has to tend the store until closing time. A parallel can be drawn with Godot; near the end of the first act, a boy tells Estragon and Vladimir that Godot will meet them tomorrow, and he never shows up.
Clerks also expands on Waiting for Godot by incorporating more substance into the story. One overarching element is Dante's love triangle with his ex-girlfriend Caitlin Bree and his current girlfriend Veronica Loughran. While love triangles don't always make the best stories, it shows how an adaptation can also serve as an expansion.
I think I'll wrap things up there, because I'm rambling again, but I'll be more than happy to discuss things further. I probably would have done this as an essay in last year's Adaptation module if I'd looked at it back then.
