ADAPTING TRISTRAM SHANDY by Adria Young Submitted in ...

contention among the film's producers and financiers. The meta-commentary that such
scenes provide is whether the historical scenes are even convincing. While the cast and
crew watch the filmed battle scenes, Coogan says “Mel Gibson's not going to lose any
sleep” (a joke, since the scenes are not convincing). Brydon remarks, “I'm leading
literally tens of men.” And comments on the historical inaccuracy of the costumes, which
are “out of period, about 50 years out of date,” cause the costume designer to cry. Foley-
Dawson argues that the film “shuns any pretence of historical accuracy” (150) by
parodying the conventions of historical dramas and the concern for authenticity. David
Ingoldsby, played by Mark Williams, the low-paid “historical accuracy adviser” on the
film, satirizes the “obsession with 'superficial' historical accuracy” in adaptations (Foley-
Dawson 150). He is shown adjusting tricorn hats and commenting on the wardrobe.
Later, he cries out that, “We wouldn't be interested in participating in a pantomime.” And
yet, the film itself is a pantomime of these kinds of historical representations on film.
Coogan obsesses over the height of his shoes in relation to Brydon's shoes (since Coogan
should appear taller on screen as the “leading man”) but the costume designer is unable to
modify the wardrobe on account of historicity. And, because the financiers are concerned
about the film's overall marketability as an adaptation, the deliberation over whether to
film the expensive and elaborate battle scenes because they will come across as
“contrived and awkward” instead of accurate (Gow 10) mocks the entire premise of
historical re-enactment films at their core. What the film accomplishes through its
participation with these generic expectations are moments of hypermedial awareness: we
are watching an adaptation about an adaptation, and it is made to be trivial since
historical accuracy is of course impossible. In the end, the battle scenes wind up on the
72