Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The majority of movies originate as books. It's probably easier to make a list of those that don't, rather than those that do.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDK1962
Much shorter and more interesting lists could be made of movies that actually improved upon the novels.
The Godfather is (IMHO) an example of a movie that far outstripped its source material. The Mario Puzo novel is, at best, a screen treatment, and at worst (which is most of the time) pretty dreadful pulp fiction.
About a Boy is another. I enjoyed the novel by Nick Hornby, but I thought the movie did a terrific job of capturing the spirit of book, retaining all its best scenes while improving the ending, which in Nick Hornby's novel tied the book to a very specific moment in time.
I'm currently reading P.D. James' The Children of Men, am over a third of the way through, and am so far thinking that the screenwriters did a pretty amazing job in taking the essence of the book and distilling it into something cinematic. So far, there hasn't been a single overlapped scene, but the filmmakers got it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Given the fundamental differences between the two media - print and film - I think personally that it's difficult to make direct comparisons. Film is a primarily visual medium; print is not. There are many books that just can't be meaningfully directly converted into films, because there's little or no "action".
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It would make for a much shorter list to select films adapted from books where the film was actually better or at least somewhere near as good as the book. The Godfather film does come to mind. Also Bladerunner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JDK1962
On the flip side of my posts above, it's also interesting to point out books where the filmmakers TOTALLY missed the flavor of the novel . . .
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I immediately thought of
The Scarlet Letter book versus the film of the same title. Taken as a period costume romance I suppose the film was not that bad. It should just have been title something like 'Hester's Unbridled Passion', and not in anyway associated with
The Scarlet Letter [book].