Reinterpretations in Golden Demon Movie

Comparing the Konjiki Yasha novel and the movie, one can see that there are some re-interpretations of several scenes. Due to production costs and practical reasons, melodramatic films are unable to provide audiences with the same level of details as the novel. Therefore, they could only capture the essence of the novel and in that aspect, strip away the other unimportant details. 

Take the card scene, for example. While the book depicted it as a cramped, rowdy and barbaric place, the movie presented it in a more mellow manner which strangely didn't make as much of an impact as it did for the book. In the book, Tomiyama was "savagely torn and trampled" by his opponents, and his sorry state made the readers empathize with Tomiyama. However, the movie only included some "mild slapping" of Tomiyama's hand and reaction shots of his embarassment. No connections had been made with Miya. 

For the "Shawl" scene, the book showed Miya and Kan'ichi sharing a shawl together, but the movie changed that by making Kan'ichi kiss Miya after she accidentally took a fall. This scene, contrasted with the previous scene with Tomiyama, reveals the filmmaker's intention. By sharing a kiss, both Miya and Kan'ichi share a connection that is transferred to the audience. By making that personal connection in the beginning, it builds grounds for the melodramatic build up when Miya ultimately leaves Kan'ichi for Tomiyama, someone whom the audience does not relate to at all. 

Elsaesser mentioned in Tales of Sound and Fury that when films condense melodramatic novels, a more violent graph is produced. The Konjiki Yasha movie demonstrates how filmmakers "condense" the novel by deliberating removing and adding certain parts to allow the story to fully realize its melodramatic effect.