From Book to Film
64Adaptations
It's never easy to transpose a 500-page (or more) novel into a two hour cinematic experience. The art of adaptation is one easily dismissed by the general public. We'll just point out what the filmmakers left out of our favorite novels, because some of those works become very personal to us. How do you decide which piece is important enough to further the plot and which can be left on the editing room floor, without compromising the integrity of the characters?
In some cases the film might be better than the novel (THE GODFATHER, maybe), or even as good (GONE WITH THE WIND and THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy comes to mind, not to compare Mitchell to Tolkien, of course. Or TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD). Usually those versions tend to be longer anyway and whatever the producers/directors leave out doesn't matter.
But really we need to view these new chronicles as something different from the original. They should be judged on their own merit. For instance, I made the mistake of finishing THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO a few days before seeing the superb Swedish film of the same name. Great film, but I let myself get distracted by what was missing - important character points, to my mind. If I were to erase the memory of the popular novel from my mind, however, the movie would have greater impact and so I allowed myself to see the film as if the book didn't exist. And it helped. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big advocate of reading the book before seeing the movie (with the exception of that tiresome TWILIGHT series - why torture yourself when you don't have to?), but I also recommend allowing art forms to stand alone.
I can imagine that as a writer, it's tough to watch someone else's version of your work up on screen, thrilled as you might be by that enticing paycheck. But books aren't movies and they require different artists in different genres with very different skills. We all know how hard it is to be good, really, really good, at more than one thing. Just because a classic actor like Orson Welles could direct AND act, doesn't mean just anyone can. Not everyone is Bob Fosse. You're using a different part of your brain when you jump mediums. Novelist Stephen King never really took to Stanley Kubricks brilliant horror adaptation of his famous book THE SHINING, because he thinks like a novelist (as he should) and Kubrick thought like a director. Different art forms.
So I've resolved to enjoy something for what it is, and try not bring any baggage along for the ride. As long as it's good filmmaking, I'll be happy and will continue to stuff as many books into my tired brain as possible.
Which version do you prefer?
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Film is a whole other world. In theater, live drama is always better than reading the play because the playwright meant for the words to spoken and including stage directions, etc so its proper medium is the stage (like an older version of a screenplay). Since books are not movies, they have to converted to screenplays first.
the book often uses many levels of expression to make a point which lose their emphasis in the movie and hence lessen the impact.in a movie something maybe happening in the corner of the screen which you may just ignore- in the book it is a paragraph and you have to read it before you move further.
in a tv serial adaptation of Wodehouse the efficient Baxter just bends down and picks up a flower pot and bungs it at a window- the book takes three pages to describe hi face the way his eyebrow moves up and so on.The two just cannot compare.
I usually find the book is always better than the film - but that doesn't stop me from watching the film! :)
In my humble opinion, it is rare that a film is better than the book. Usually the powers that be want to show how much better they would have done if they had written the book themselves, and they mess it up. For example, of all the versions of Pride and prejudice, ONLY ONE was true to the book and it was the most successful s a result. The BBC version :-)
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Silver Poet Level 3 Commenter 8 months ago
I like Lord of the Rings as both a movie and a set of books, but I do what you do: I separate the two in my mind and enjoy them as different types of art. The books add many interesting and enjoyable details, but the movies are what got me to read the books in the first place, and the casting for the movies could not have been more perfectly done.