Movies that are as good as or better than their literary source
Submitted by jenhowel on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:15
Tags:
- Howards End based on E.M. Forster novel
- A Room With a View based on E.M. Forster novel
- Fight Club based on Chuck (?) novel (the movie is actually BETTER. Whoever adapted this is a GENIUS. Cause everything that's dead on the page came alive on the screen.)
- Lolita ('97) (not quite as good, but how could you really match Nabokov, still near-perfect adaptation.)
- Pride and Prejudice by A & E (cast to perfection)
- Henry and June based on diary Henry and June by Anais Nin (a loose adaptation but adds little background touches not given in the text yet still historically accurate. Uses music mentioned by Nin in the diaries as soundtrack.)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (the closest translation and the most gorgeous over-the-top rendition. Oldman is the Dracula.)
- The Last of the Mohicans (I'm sure someone's going to get mad at this inclusion, but I'm sorry I read Henry James novels and I couldn't get through this book. I know they totally altered the story for the movie, but consider that a good thing!)
Author Comments:
I'm really looking forward to the movie "Adaptation" done by someone (can't remember who) affiliated with "Being John Malkovich". Probably the writers. It looks to be quite intriguing.
I agree 100%, except for #'s 2 & 3 which I haven't seen. I would have to add, although it's really mainstream, Fried Green Tomatoes.
Unfortunately I haven't read the book yet, but I do LOVE the movie. All the actresses are so cool. And they don't get enough work (for obvious reasons in Jessica Tandy's case). I'd like to see the day when Kathy Bates can get paid as much as Julia Roberts. But I fear that day shall not come.
Oh and you should DEFINITELY see Fight Club and A Room With a View. Very different but very good movies. Although I imagine Room will be more to your taste.
another "better than the book" movie is Contact, with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. The book was by Carl Sagan, and it trudging through his phrasing was an exercise in futility. Another great list, by the way!
That's Chuck Palahniuk who wrote Fight Club, and quite frankly, I'd have to disagree with you there. The movie was amazing, astounding, and brilliant, but the book was more so. And the book's ending was a lot better. I actually wondered why they remained so close to the book throughout the entire film and then drastically changed the ending. Odd. Another book that wasn't as good as the movie it was made into was How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto.
I'd agree about Henry and June. I haven't been able to handle wading through much of her writing, but LOVED that movie.
Fight Club was a fine film but a better book. I think the reverse is true of American Psycho, though. I liked the book when I read it but the ideas translate better on film.
i heard good things about henry and june. you've peeked my interest. could you give me t.v. guide synopsis about it? i did not care for fight club too much. I may be the only one who caught on half way through the movie who Tyler durden really is.
I don't read TV guide, but here's a try at a synopsis:
The true story of author Anais Nin's affair with Henry Miller and his wife June, which led to her sexual awakening and some of her best writing. It features Maria de Medeiros, Uma Thurman (at her best), Fred Ward, Richard E. Grant, and unexpectedly and interestingly, Kevin Spacey. A great movie if you want to arouse everyone in the room.
A cautionary note, however: this movie is not as rewarding if you've never read any Nin. I recommend an encounter with her erotica or diaries before trying to view it. I didn't truly appreciate this film until I realized how well it captured the spirit of her life and times.
Other notes - great costuming, phenomenal soundtrack (music was selected from diaries of Miller and Nin to reflect what they actually listened to), plenty of odd stuff going on (contortionists, bears, etc....)
Jen, this was the most appropriate spot I could find to talk to you about something. It's that books turned in to movies thing. Have you read this article? I want to know if atleast you can see my point. Not that you would agree, but just maybe see where I'm coming from.
Hello?
I had indeed read your article, but decided to re-read it as a refresher. In some ways I agree with your article. Movies certainly needn't copy the book word for word. I have a list of my own where I celebrate movies that improved the written word.
But, and I'm wondering if this is what you're referring to, in the case of "Lolita" (Kubrick's) it wasn't just a question of not exactly following the novel's plot, it was a question of the whole spirit of the thing being corrupted. Humbert was not that much of a comic figure, nor was Quilty that important. And Lolita was not at all innocent. Also she was way more central to the story. It took a book with incredible mood, tension, characterization and turned it into what in my opinion was a pile of steaming dreck.
So, while I don't expect movies to follow the book word for word, I become quite considerably distressed when they stomp all over the spirit of the work.
And even this is not always true. Kubrick's The Shining was a great film in its own right. Kubrick's Lolita was not. In both cases I read the book first.
The House of Mirth is an interesting recent case where sticking to the spirit wasn't enough, however. This adaptation decided to blend two characters (one you're meant to dislike and pity, the other you're meant to like a great deal and paralell to the protagonist.) What they were thinking is beyond me. Some liberties can crash a whole plot.
I'm beginning to think I should write my own treatise on this subject, for it is certainly one I have a lot of opinions on and experience with.
Just ran across this list. My goodness, I could not agree with you more where Last of Mohicans is concerned. The changes the story endured from page to screen were only for the good. A great, entertaining film from an over-rated source. Fun for all!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs