Celluloid
Time for the Thursday meme…. Please come over to the Booking Through Thursday page to play along!
1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?
2. The worst?
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a
difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer
whichever I was introduced to first.)And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I’m
notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING.
So, feel free to list as many “good” or “bad” movie-from-books as you
like. (Heaven knows that’s what I’ll be doing….)
Last week, when we were talking about great books, “To Kill a Mockingbird” cropped up a lot–justifiably so. And it’s one of the rare instances I can think of where not only the book, but the movie made from it, are both fabulous–an how often does THAT ever happen?
So, let’s see. The best? Other than TKAM, of course . . . “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” with Daniel Day Lewis, based on the book by Milan Kundera. “The Lord of the Rings,” based on the books by JRR Tolkein (of course). “The Secret Garden” with Kate Maberly was absolutely wonderful. (Everything–the look, the acting, the soundtrack–and the modifications to the original quite within reason.) “Sense and Sensibility” as adapted by Emma Thomson was great. “The Age of Innocence” (also with Daniel Day Lewis) was pretty remarkable. “Big Fish,” based on Daniel Wallace’s book. I thought the “Little Women” with Susan Sarandon was pretty good, too. “Holes” was good, too…
The worst? Oh, where to start? The travesty of “The Little Princess” with Shirley Temple? (On which the one with Liesel Matthews was based–that one was beautiful to look at, but, why, oh why did they apparently not bother to read the book?) And then, it was such a shame about “Howl’s Moving Castle“–it was animated, of course, but what a mess they made of that story. Hmm . . . actually, the list of animated travesties could go on for quite a while. Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH.
As to the last–I believe that you should definitely read the book before you see a movie based on it–although not RIGHT before. I notice enough discrepancies as it is, but if I’ve JUST read the book, I see more of them. So I try to pace it a bit. But, knowing the source material is important, I think. On the rare occasions that I’ve read the book after, I’ve been known to like the movie better . . . Actually, that’s part of the reason I think you should experience the original first. Converting a book to a movie IS an act of translation, and there ARE things that need to change or be condensed. I accept that, but insist that the movie-makers stay true to the sense of the book. It’s one of the reasons that I put “Lord of the Rings” on the list–there were dramatic changes, but there’s really only one or two that I truly object to, and otherwise, it’s remarkably faithful to the FEEL of the story, to the heart of it. They completely changed the ending to The Firm, for reasons I’ve never understood, but since I saw the film before I ever read Grisham’s book, I thought it was a nice tidy ending. Had I read the book first, though, I probably would have been outraged. Go figure.
Click here to subscribe via RSS
Follow me on Twitter!
Tannenbaum.
House Calls
Funny, you mentioned many of the same… especially “The Firm”. Why did they change the ending in the movie?? The book’s was far superior.
I will admit that I haven’t read the book “The Little Princess”, but am now intrigued. That’s one of my DD’s favorite movies, but she’s also a big reader so I may have to share.
I think Gone With The Wind is one instance where the movie is better than the book. And Killer Angels is wonderful and the movie Gettysburg is just as wonderful, I think.
Doh! I totally forgot about TKAM. You’re right, though; it is a terrific movie.
I completely forgot about Gone With the Wind. Both were really good.
All the titles are so familiar and I have not watched any of them, save for LOTR. Shame on me!… I have read TKAM though and I love that book. It’s a definite must-reread for me. LOL. Happy BTT!
I completely agree with you about The Secret Garden, with Kate Maberly. That was just wonderful. I also like Alfonso Cuaron’s The Little Princess; they made plenty of changes from the book, but they worked to make a beautiful movie.
I agree with most of your comments. I actually thought of The Firm too!! In fact, a couple of John Grisham’s adaptations took a lot of liberties!! Still, the movies were good in their own right!
Happy Thursday!
they did that with eragon. the dragon didn’t start breathing fire til almost the very end in the book, and yet, she’s blowing flames all over the place in the movie! growl
You know, somehow I’ve neither seen nor read To Kill a Mockingbird. I really need to rectify that! I loved Little Women and LOTR, too.
I have not seen TKAM but I loved the book. I should rent it sometime.
Hm. There have been several times where I’ve read the book after I’ve seen the movie and I still think the book is better.
Did you ever read/see Oscar and Lucinda? This was one of the rare instances where I enjoyed the film so much more than the book–including the completely revised ending. It may have had something to do with Cate Blanchett, of course… but really, I think it had more to do with the original ending just being over the top in its cruelty to the characters.
Going through the comments now that I’ve written my post – I am amazed to see quite a few mentions of The Firm! I read the book first and I was so mad over the changed ending in the movie.
Love love love love TKAM, both versions. Did you know that in Monroeville where Harper Lee is from that every year, they put on the play in the courtroom. I have never been, but it is supposed to be fab.
I have seen Little Women and truly enjoy it. But haven’t read the book. I know that I will eventually
You made good point and I like the list you put here
Julia-Yen
I love the Lord of the Rings movies and the books. I didn’t include it on my list however because of the way I chose to interpret the question being asked. Otherwise, my list would be really really long in the favorites category! LOL The LOTR movies left a lot out–for obvious reasons, of course, and none of that hurt the movies at all–but it was a liberty taken in the translation, and so I decided not to list it.
Still, I’m glad to see that someone did because the movies are well worth mentioning! They are among my all time favorites.
I love Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM…….Actually, I could not remember the name of it but after reading the synopsis on amazon I realized that it was the movie that totally captivated me as a child. So I heartly disagree with that member of your list. The rest I can agree with it, but you left off Tim Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a great adaptation.
Generally, I’m willing to allow latitude for change of medium. For example, in the book LOTR the firing of the beacons is a brief paragraph, while the sequence in the movie is long, brilliant, and builds to a great crescendo. Jaws the movie achieves what Hitchcock called “pure cinema”; Jaws the book is trash. Conversely, I doubt a movie could ever capture the thrill of discovering the narrator of Wuthering Heights or Woolf’s amazing shifts of viewpoint and voice, so movie versions must emphasize other aspects of the novels.
I could have added “The Unbearable Lightness…” to my list. I also hesitated over “A Clockwork Orange.” But when push came to shove, I thought of many more good adaptations than bad ones – -despite what people always say about movies not living up to books.
Definitely TKAM and Gone With the Wind. I also think The Fight Club by Chuck Palahntuk was an excellent movie and book. Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane was an awesome book but ok movie. Good meme.
Oddly enough, I liked the animated “Howl’s Moving Castle”. Even though there was quite a lot of deviation on the part of Miyazaki, I still enjoyed it. My brother and I spent hours talking over the differences, and figured it was ok. I guess since I’m a Miyazaki fan, I’m used to seeing him adapt a book/manga and deviate from it. I still have to watch his son’s work with Ursula K. LeGuin’s “Earthsea” though.
Thanks for stopping by!
Yes, you’re right: The Secret Garden was a terrific adaptation!
I read and saw the Firm, but now I can’t remember the ending to either, it’s been so long.
I loved both the book and movie The Age of Innocence. Daniel Day Lewis was great in the movie. I love Edith Wharton books.