Films Vs. Books (Faith Westlake)

I was hoping to get this posted last week but wanted to post my box office review while it was still current. Consider this article a homage to Stephen’s “Can Games Surpass films?” (Worth reading by the way) So I pose the question Can film adaptations surpass the books their based on?

One of the few things that equal my love of films is my love of books. 99.9% of the time when I decide to watch film adaptations of my favourite books I’m one of those annoying people who comes out of the cinema with a whole list of things they’ve done wrong but when making criticism it has to be remembered that literature and film are two extremely different art forms. A scene that is subtle but vital in a novel can be lost in a film adaption as it doesn’t have the same cinematic qualities needed for a big screen adaption. Film makers have been drawing inspiration from books for decades. In fact Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” is regarded as the first real blockbuster when it was shown in 1939. I love films, I love books but when the two mediums collide is it just a recipe for disaster?
Let’s start with a good adaption….


Anybody who has spoken to me for more than five minutes should know how much I love Stephen King. God only knows how awful some on Stephen King’s adaptations can be (Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror anyone?) but two of the novellas from the “Different Seasons” collection, dare I say it, are better films that books. I would go with Rob Reiner’s “Stand by Me” as adapted from the novella “The Body” but that adaption is so faithful with most of the dialogue kept exactly the same that they are too similar really to point out the differences which improve that film so I’m going for one of the best films ever made: The Shawshank Redemption.

Frank Darabount knows his Stephen King. His first major break was his adaption of King’s short story “The Woman in the Room” into a short film. Stephen King has always supported aspiring young film makers and famously sold Darabount the rights to his “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” novella for just $1. Darabount has gone on to direct such other King based classics as “The Green Mile” and the more recent “The Mist”. Although I touched upon the differences in the presentation of the wardens in my “Top 5 Movie Villains”, a change for the better by the way, there are other essential changes that were made from page to screen.

If I had to pick the quintessential scene in this film it just has to be the record scene. A beautifully scripted, acted and directed scene which really sets the tone for the movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se8TM696HRY) but yet this classic piece of modern cinema was never included in the book but on screen it is perfection. If you were to read about Andy defying the warden with classic opera it just wouldn’t have the same effect as hearing the song and seeing the defiant look in his eyes as he turns up the record player.

In the novel the character of Red is a red-haired Irishman but Darabount was sure from the start that he wanted Morgan Freeman for the role. If I’m honest I can’t understand how he could have read the novella and thought Morgan Freeman should play this guy but the choice was truly inspired and now there’s no other Red in my mind. *SPOILERS* Another change is that in the film Tommy (the man who knows the truth about Andy) is ordered to be shot by the Warden but in the film he is just transferred. Although the shooting shows those who are watching the film that Andy’s false conviction is absolute and also reinforces how evil the warden really is. Great change, great scene, great movie. The Shawshank Redemption still rates #1 on IMDB’s Top 250 and rightly so. If you haven’t seen this film then DO as it’s great. If you haven’t read the novella…well maybe if you’re a Stephen King fan but other than that no worries. I could talk about this film for ages but really if you’ve seen it and if you haven’t then get busy.


Now a bad adaptation…




In February 2002 after great critical and financial success with Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema decided “Hmm what book trilogy can we slaughter, gut and market as good ole family fun” and they stumbled upon Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy. The Dark Materials is one of the more interesting and intelligent children’s series written in modern times and has a massive fan base. The film adaptation resulted in the truly awful “Golden Compass”. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this film is “Academy Award Winning” as it’s for the Best Special Effects which really should have gone to Transformers…

So why do I hate this film so much, well number one is drains all the good elements of the books and leaves a naked, soulless film and number two I am a gigantic film snob. So who is there to blame for this monstrosity? Northern Lights is primarily a philosophical novel and the Magisterium is a representation of organised religion, regarded to be the equivalent to the Catholic Church that has strayed far from its roots. So in order to increase revenue from America’s religious communities the whole debate between philosophy and religion is glanced over at best but really what was the point? The Catholic League called for a boycott of the film anyway and said it doesn’t matter that the film has been cut as it will encourage children to read the books?!? Oh well that’s cool, I mean reading a child’s series of books will obviously cause me to renounce God, better send round the book burning mobile. Let’s watch the Chronicles of Narnia instead… Obviously this doesn’t represent the view of all Catholics and I’m sure there weren’t objections for the everyday believer although some religious groups have a tendency to complain about films they haven’t even seem *ahem* Angels and Demons *ahem*. Also the revenue from the USA was disappointing anyway so these changes just seem completely ill-advised.

The acting in this film is perfectly fine. It doesn’t lower the film in any way although Jason Isaacs as Lord Ariel would have been very fun… So acting isn’t a problem. Well what about direction? Well Chris Weitz (soon to be of New Moon fame) directed About a Boy and that’s a good film and this film is well shot. So direction seems all good… Ok so screenplay. I have already mentioned that I think diluting the themes from the book is just ridiculous this film was made purely for a quick buck which is all well and good but couldn’t you have settled for a nice commercial action thriller New Line rather that pillaging this series? Although despite the screenplay the thing that really gets me going has to be the editing. The book has a perfect cliff hanger ending *SPOILERS* Lord Asriel cuts the bond between Roger and his dæmon creating a portal to other worlds. The novel ends with Lyra walks through not knowing what awaits her on the other side. Dramatic huh? Oh well not according to New Line who end the thing with Lyra and Roger in a hot air balloon bigging up Lord Asriel. Oh well that be great at the start of the next film when he kills you in the first 10 minutes eh Roger? Chris Weitz says that some areas of development had been “an awful experience” due to the editing that the studio insisted on and in fact Weitz did shot the original ending but the scenes will be used at the beginning of The Subtle Knife (if it ever gets made) despite that making no sense.

I mean its all well and good “alluding” to certain aspects of the novel but these books only get deeper as they go on so good luck there. At the moment there are no plans set in stone to adapt the rest of the series although rumours all flying around. I'm sure some people enjoyed this movie and it didn't do badly at the world box office, maybe my views are jaded because of the love I have for the books but it can not be desputed that "The Golden Compass", whatever you think of the film, isn't a good adaptation of the book.

So on an ending note, in my opinion film adaptions struggle to be better than the books but there are some fine example of film out there which rival or beat the novel they're based on (Bladerunner, American Pyscho, Fight Club)

I think I’ll end this there before it turns into any more of a rant but if you’d like to defend or recommend any film or just post general feedback I’d love to hear from you at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk. Just whack “Faith” in the subject. Enjoy.