The Film
Count Olaf was portrayed by actor Jim Carrey in the film adaptation of the books, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Handler states in the DVD commentary that Jim Carrey's physical appearance of Olaf was spot-on.
The darkest areas of Olaf's personality were toned down considerably for the film, in which most of the more violent and disturbing sequences of his character were often shared with comedic outbursts. Despite this, the character was still portrayed as an amoral schemer and murderer.
In the film there was a strong inference that Olaf had direct responsibility for the Baudelaire fire. At the climax of the film, a giant lens in the shape of an eye possessed by Count Olaf is pointed at the smoking ruins of the Baudelaire mansion, presumably through which it was set alight, thus implicating that the Baudelaires' parents were actually murdered by Olaf, rather than dying in an unexplained freak accident. Also, when Snicket listed some of the orphans' triumphs he states "solving the mystery of the Baudelaire fire", though there is no direct proof in the books that the mystery fire was set by Count Olaf.
Read more about this topic: Count Olaf
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“You should look straight at a film; that’s the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.”
—Werner Herzog (b. 1942)
“The motion picture is like a picture of a lady in a half- piece bathing suit. If she wore a few more clothes, you might be intrigued. If she wore no clothes at all, you might be shocked. But the way it is, you are occupied with noticing that her knees are too bony and that her toenails are too large. The modern film tries too hard to be real. Its techniques of illusion are so perfect that it requires no contribution from the audience but a mouthful of popcorn.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)