MovieVsBook-Is the Conversion Worth It?
As a part-time critic and lover of books, I found myself wanting very much to rip on the adapation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Yet while I sat in the movie theater--trying my best to nick pick the thing to death, I found that I absolutely enjoyed the movie. Yes, I love Rowling, and yes, I did read (and ahem, re-read) the "Goblet" several times, however, the movie did what Rowling couldn't do--shorten the damn thing to less than three hours. To read my entire review of the movie go here.
And now with the upcoming movie versions of The Da Vinci Code, and Memoirs of Geisha, which are generating Oscar buzz as well as comparisons between thebook and the movie versions, I am once again pondering the worthiness of taking a great book and putting it onto film. The process seems to have gotten better, as my list seems to prove, but there are upturned stones on the path to great movie making and book-to-movie-adaptions...
As a teacher I agree and promote to students that the book is almost always better, but when I read in Time about how the movie version of Geisha was light years better, than I must admit that I could be wrong.
Yes, I know it's a rarity....
Some of you who are long time readers of my blog already know about my best "out of your world" movie list. You can check out my list here and give your feedback. My point, though, is that most of the movies on that last are versions of great, classic books. For example, Lord of the Rings, and Blade Runner, which was Phillip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep--has to be one of my most all time favorite books.
So, perhaps a great book makes a great movie? Is it worth it to convert beloved classic tales into film?
Part of me doesn't want to go down this path of questioning for thorns such as the movie version of Battle Field Earth and The Island of Doctor Moreau, may crop up in my path, tear at me clothes and give me painful scratches that will serve as reminders of how dreadful movie making can be.
Thus, I'll try to stay on the straight and narrow.
I haven't ventured out to see "Chronicles" yet, but I will. I do know that my best friend fell asleep in the movie--for about twenty minutes. That doesn't really count for anything though, since he fell asleep in the "LOTR: Two Towers," too. So his opinion is ranking right around worthless.
But yours does matter, so leave me comments if you think that the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is even well represented in film. I already know that the book is way better, despite the argument I have presented here today.
