;my three favourite book-to-movie adaptations
On-screen adaptations tend to be a hit or miss with people. They either love them or they hate them. Sometimes they hate them before they even see the finished products.
Bookworms, after all, tend to be very passionate creatures. We hold books close to our hearts, and if what ends up on screen isn’t what we imagined, well, then, we’re going to talk about it. A lot.
I will admit, I tend to be very critical about adaptations. I can and will watch them! But you can bet that I will be nit-picky when I break down what was done right and wrong. I’m no expert, but I have Opinions, and I am not afraid to share them.
Of course, there are still adaptations that I adore. Some movies I can watch and remind myself that different medium mean approaching the story in a different way. Some movies I can take as a separate entity from the book it is inspired by.
Some movies I can watch over and over again because I adore them almost as much, if not as much as, I adore the book.
- First thing to admit? I have not read the book Stardust is based on. I want to, but I haven’t been able to find a copy at the library. I will admit that I adore the movie though I’ve heard it’s quite different from the book. There’s just something about the movie that makes me want to watch it over and over and over…
- I adored Matilda as a kid. Both the book and the movie and Matilda as a character. She resonated with me so much in how much she loved reading. My extended family never quite got my bookworm tendencies but Matilda, to some extent, was the one person who did. It was great to see a bookworm at the heart of such a story. I still quote this movie, and I am definitely adding both the book and movie to my shelves for my daughter.
- I watched The Princess Bride before I read it. I loved both versions of it. It is perhaps one of the most faithful adaptations I have ever seen. It is fun and not a little ridiculous, and more than a little timeless.
There are other adaptations I’ve enjoyed, for sure, but none so much as these. Maybe some day in the future there will be adaptations that I enjoy as much or more, but for now, these are my favourites.
Which adaptations have you enjoyed? Which ones do you wish you could scrub from your memory?
Ara
Iām Ara, a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. I love books and food and television and blogging and I get distracted and sidetracked easily.
14 Comments
ireadthatinabook
I like all those films. I haven’t read Stardust either but I prefer the move version of The Princess Bride to the book (which I found frequently annoying and a bit too full of itself). With Matilda it’s the other way around, I like the book better but the movie is good too.
Ara
I think The Princess Bride is a great satire, but you have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. It took me a little while to get into it myself, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I haven’t read Matilda in years, but I watch the movie so often and I adore it. Thanks for commenting!
ireadthatinabook
I enjoyed the story parts but I found the character who did the commentary to be obnoxious and I don’t need more obnoxious characters in my life, not even fictional ones š
Ara
Haha, that is super fair! I think I read it during a part of my life where I really enjoyed the obnoxious sarcasm of the commentary. A lot of my own writing at that time was also a little in that style.
Michael J. Miller
I loved both ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘The Reader,’ more than the novels in fact. For ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ the film had a narrower focus on Pat and Tiffany. I appreciated how this put a spotlight on their growth through relationships with everyone around them as opposed to all the other facets of Pat’s life. For ‘The Reader,’ I adored the novel but, given my cultural background, couldn’t fully appreciate what Schlink was illustrating with his characters. Seeing Hanna and Michael on screen presented the stark contrast between the coldness they experienced everywhere but with each other. A few I struggled with were ‘Atonement’ and ‘The Other Boleyn Girl.’ The only thing Hollywood’s worse at adapting than literature is history and they messed up both in ‘The Other Boleyn Girl.’ It was all there! Lust, affairs, power struggles, backstabbing…they just had to tell a faithful story. Bah. Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ is one of my all time favorite novels and, while Joe Wright did a loving and spot on adaptation in many respects (Cecilia’s green dress/the whole night of the party as well as Dunkirk in particular felt as if the novel itself literally came to life), but the novel was so anchored in the interior perspectives of the characters that *something* was missing from the narrative shift a film brings.
Ara
I haven’t read or watched any of these! But Hollywood definitely adapts dramatic things a little better than character driven, in my opinion. If they do character driven, they tend to miss things. Thanks for the comment!
Briana | Pages Unbound
Yes, the Matilda movie is pretty great! I’m always a black sheep on The Princess Bride, though, because I think it’s fine, but everyone else seems to absolutely love it.
Ara
I know a few people think TPB is very quotable, but don’t enjoy the movie itself much, but I LOVE the movie and love to quote it in real life, even when people don’t seem to get my references! Surprisingly same with Matilda, but that one at least my family gets my references. Haha. Thanks for commenting!
Krysta
The Princess Bride is classic! I like both the film and the book, but I agree that the film might actually be better than the book. I felt the same about Stardust. I didn’t like the book, but the film was better.
Matilda is great both ways, though.
Ara
Matilda is one of those movies that age well too, and when you go back to the book, you feel the exact same. I still have not read Stardust, but I want to, if only so I can compare the movie to it better. I do love watching the movie on days when I feel a little down. The Princess Bride is just fun and irreverent and so quotable!
Krysta
I just don’t seem to be a Neil Gaiman fan. His prose really annoys me as it often sounds overly important and is very repetitive in an effort to sound deep. I know he has a cult following, but I am not in it. :/
Ara
I have only read one Neil Gaiman thing, and that was in collaboration with someone else, so I enjoyed it. I’ll find out when I read something by just him if I actually enjoy his writing as much as I seem to enjoy his tweets! Lol.
Jackie B @ Death by Tsundoku
I don’t watch a lot of book to film adaptions — but I *love* The Princess Bride! It’s such a perfect adaption, probably because William Goldman is a screenwriter turned author. XD I have seen the Matilda musical — that’s SO good! I highly recommend seeing it if you have a chance someday.
My favorite adaption might be Love, Simon. I wasn’t a huge fan of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but the adaption was extremely well done. There are tons more I need to see someday, however…
Great post, Ara! I found this via The Sunday Exchange at Pages Unbound.
Ara
Yeah, it was a good adaptation. I’ve seen the Matilda musical! I had the opportunity to go for it during my honeymoon five years ago and I LOVED IT!!! It was so well-done, and it had parallels with the film as well.
I haven’t read Simon vs. or watched the film version, but I want to watch it someday because I do love some of the actors in it.
Thank you!