Quote:
Originally Posted by BenG
For me Mickey Rooney as the Japanese gentleman upstairs tips the balance strongly toward the book.
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That and the fact the movie completely whitewashes the narrator's homosexuality and Golightly's fruit fly aspect. Blake Edwards' rather literal-minded political incorrectness can be wearily amusing in a Pink Panther flick, but
Tiffany's demanded a lighter touch and Edwards bludgeons his way to the ethereal. The only reason we think he accomplished the task is because Audrey Hepburn made it work.
Besides which, Capote's a gorgeous stylist when he's at his best, and
Tiffany's and
Music for Chameleons are probably his best.
And I can see Barty's point about
The Godfather in theory, but I can't sign off on Puzo's supposed mediocrity because I've never been interested in reading him.
It doesn't matter what others say about a book. What matters is the empirical.
Another example of that is Jules Dassin's
Rififi (a classic jewel heist flick that deserves a place alongside Melville's
Le Cercle Rouge), which is a completely rewritten film based on a garish novel by an equally garish gangster known for his conspicuous lack of literary talent. For all I know, even that novel might be good.