What's the best movie ever made from a book? The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. convened a panel of experts and came up with 50, in no particular order. It includes my favorite, the only movie I've seen after reading the book that I thought did the book justice and was entertaining on its own terms -- "To Kill a Mockingbird." But it also includes the one that most disappointed me -- "Catch 22." That's one of my favorite books of all time, and I'd already gone through it twice when I saw the movie. I could barely follow it and thought I would have been completely lost if I hadn't read the book first. Maybe now that I've read it five times, I ought to go back and give the movie another chance. Couldn't hurt. I hated "Fargo" the first time I saw it, but it grew on me with subsequent viewings, and now it's one of my favorite movies.
Books and movies are such different art forms that it's amazing any movie adaption ever works. Books have to spend pages and pages exploring a character's inner motivations or explaining the chronological narrative. Movies have to project the mood or underscore the context of something in a few seconds and then move on.
Comments
I recall a time when my Dad would grab the latest book, voraciously read through it...then perhaps several years later....go and watch the movie. He was usually disappointed, becasue he found the book BETTER (most of the time). Then he'd go back, re-read the book, and then state the book was STILL better...lol.
One novel I remember him speaking about was Arthur Hailey's AIRPORT. Dad was amazed they "left out" parts of the book.
In my experience, I saw SINK THE BISMARCK...and THEN I read a book by Ludovic Kennedy (PURSUIT) which detailed (even better than the movie) the hunt for the battleship. Now I'm waiting for another "remake"...(yeah, I'm spoiled).
Conversely, I read THE GODFATHER, then saw the movie....not a bad adaptation...the same with (Peter Maas') SERPICO...good translation to the big screen.
Another book (and movie) that held up well (for me) was Ernest K. Gann's FATE IS THE HUNTER...movie was early '60s starring Rod Taylor. Both were excellent and thought provoking.
I suppose it depends on one's love of reading, appreciation for good literature (and the guilty pleasures of James Bond...lol), as well as one's empathy with whatever character or scenario is presented, as well as the way IN WHICH it is presented. The mind's eye is the DEFINITIVE "F/X" studio.
Wow...that's got me thinking...time to dig out & dust off some "classics"...and give em all another read.
B.G.