Film adaptations done well

Dudess

As a counter to the "Disappointing movie adaptations" thread...

Nineteen Eighty Four (from the year 1984 - there was a version made in the '50s also) and Atonement for me. Thought Orwell's vision was captured excellently by Michael Radford, and John Hurt was perfect as Winston. O'Brien is a complex character and Richard Burton absolutely nailed it.

Atonement, in terms of the visual, is totally how I pictured it. Never rated Keira Knightley as an actress prior to it, but I thought she was absolutely superb in it and so suited to the role, as was the kid who played Briony.

CliffHuxtabel

'Music of Chance' based on the novel by Paul Auster.

The script doesnt really deviate from the book but the film is perfectly cast:
Spader as Jack, Mandy Patinkin as nash, M Emmet Walsh as Murks.

Both novel and film are highly recommended.

Corkfeen

You can't deny the shawshank redemption,granted its more of a novella. Same goes for stand by me.;)

Denerick

The film adaptation of Master and Commander grasped the relationship between Aubrey and Maturin pretty well. But then again it was more of a compilation so the director had a hell of a lot of leeway.

monkeyfudge

Not quite a film... but the mini series the BBC did based on the Crow Road was absolutely spot on. I actually get my memories of the book and the mini series mixed up in my head.

L1984

Bit of a bump here, but I can't sleep, so i'm snooping.

+1 for The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, and I'll add The Shining to that. Loved it, even if King himself didn't.

emmetcummins

"Lord of the Rings: The Trilogy" They were just amazing movies. They were works of art and cinematic history. The amount of time and hard work that went into it is huge and the end result was an epic movie that Tolkien would be proud of (probably)

Denerick

emmetcummins wrote: »

"Lord of the Rings: The Trilogy" They were just amazing movies. They were works of art and cinematic history. The amount of time and hard work that went into it is huge and the end result was an epic movie that Tolkien would be proud of (probably)

I've slowly come around to this opinion. For a long time I thought they were too flashy, and there are certainly flaws (Such as the elves arriving at Helms Deep, the ghosts at Pelannor Fields etc.) but overall they caught the emotion about right. I'd reccomend buying and watching the extended edition boxset with all the extras - it shows just how much work went into it.

Also, Gandalf 'the gay' was by far the best actor in the films. Amazing!

emmetcummins

Yeah I was actually writing this while watching part of the Fellowship Extended Edition Appendices thing. It really shows how much work went into making the film. It's the movie that inspired me into wanting to direct

mrsdewinter

CliffHuxtabel wrote: »

'Music of Chance' based on the novel by Paul Auster.

The script doesnt really deviate from the book but the film is perfectly cast:
Spader as Jack, Mandy Patinkin as nash, M Emmet Walsh as Murks.

Both novel and film are highly recommended.

Thanks for that tip! Love Auster & Spader so it's a natural choice...

sceptre

The Bridges of Madison County was undeniably better than the book.:)

Funglegunk

sceptre wrote: »

The Bridges of Madison County was undeniably better than the book.:)

As were Fight Club and Blade Runner. Both books pale in comparison IMHO, especially Blade Runner (or Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep).

V for Vendetta (I'm counting graphic novels as literature here) was also an excellent film.

Eoin

I'd definitely second Fight club. I read the book after seeing the film, and thought the film was much better. I thought Misery wasn't bad, considering some of the films made from Stephen King books.

monkeyfudge

Been hearing a lot of good things about The Road.

It's supposed to capture the book very well... although it makes you wonder what the point is then.. why not just read the book?

What's the purpose of an adaptation?

The Shining is an interesting example... it takes a lot of liberties with the source material but very much becomes a fantastic piece of cinema because of that.

Pushtrak

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Been hearing a lot of good things about The Road.

It's supposed to capture the book very well... although it makes you wonder what the point is then.. why not just read the book?

Consider how much of a panning foreign movies with subtitles get. There is a big market there that simply doesn't want to read. Never could understand it, but its the reality.

As for novel to the big screen, I think Perfume: The Story of a Murderer did a great job on the translation.

Eliot Rosewater

Denerick wrote: »

I've slowly come around to this opinion. For a long time I thought they were too flashy, and there are certainly flaws (Such as the elves arriving at Helms Deep, the ghosts at Pelannor Fields etc.) but overall they caught the emotion about right.

Exactly my thoughts. I wasn't too annoyed with the adaption, and I gave most of it (including the ghosts) the benefit of the doubt owing to the different artistic format. However the elves coming to Helms Deep was a travesty I could not forgive, nor never will. It wasn't needed at all. And it went in right in the face of one of the major themes in the Lord of the Rings: that the elves were finished with Middle-Earth and that the War was the Mens' war. The age after the ring was destroyed (the 4th) was loosely called the age of Men.

Chinafoot

To be fair there have been a few decent Stephen King adaptations.
The aforementioned Misery, Shawshank Redemption and The Shining.

I'd also throw in The Green Mile.

randomguy

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - great film, great use of camerawork to communicate an idea.
The French Lieutenant's Woman. Deals well with the post-modern novel ending. As does Atonement.
I'd also second the John Hurt version of 1984 - it really sucked me in and freaked me out as a youngster.
Empire of the Sun is also a good one (I haven't seen Crash yet, so can't comment on late JG Ballard adaptions).
Dangerous Liaisons is great (the John Malkovitch one anyway), especially when you remember that the original is an epistolary novel (made up entirely of letters) - hence those scenes with letters being written in bed on the backs of naked women.
I like the film of The Beach, thought it captured a compelling book well.
The Remains of the Day - not sure which ending I prefer, though, book or novel. Room with a View is another good Merchant Ivory adaptation.
Our Man in Havana - great comic tone to the film.
I really liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but it's so different from Bladerunner - the tone of the film is so dark in comparison.
Butcher Boy is a good attempt, given the book hangs on Francie-Boy's voice and language.
The Hours would be up there too, but A Home at the End of The World is a good book badly adapted.

As someone who has actually watched Sometimes They Come Back, I agree that there's quite a few crap Stephen King adaptions out there.

And I could be controversial and throw in the crazy Charlie Kaufmann version of a book about Orchids, Adaptation.

IronMan

No country for old men is a pretty flawless adaption from the Cormac McCarthy book.