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Post by Josefine on Jun 3, 2011 13:26:36 GMT -5
Personally, I think it depends a lot on whether you watch the movie before you read the book or the other way round. Obviously as literature students we SHOULD read the book first and THEN watch the movie, but I actually like watching the movie adaption and then read the book if I liked it. I love film almost as much as literature, but I think I'd always be biased towards the way books play in my head & therefore dislike most of the movie adaptations.
If I watch the movie before I read the book, that can't happen. Obviously I don't always watch the movie first, but sometimes it's actually quite nice to be inspired to read the original book after watching a movie... of course that doesn't always end well either.
I absolutely adore the movie A Single Man by Tom Ford, but when I bought the book I had to fight through every page to even finish reading it. It's really as if Tom Ford took the basic rough plot and made it into something so beautiful that the book will never keep up.
I haven't actually talked to anyone who's read the book and has seen the movie, but I really tried liking the novel & it kept knocking my good intentions over the head.
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Post by Boss Wolfbender on Jun 6, 2011 14:19:47 GMT -5
During my French lit class, we had to read an excerpt from Madame Bovary (most of what we read were either excerpts or short stories/poems because we covered many works). Later, we watched the movie.
I disliked the story, no matter what medium it was in, but I found the movie easier to stomach than what we had read, if only because I didn't have to think about translating French to English while I read it (the film had subtitles.)
It's just one of those books that's more about character exploration than anything else...which sucks if the character that's being explored is a huge bitch. So maybe it's not that I liked the movie better, but that I disliked the novel more?
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Post by pjthefey on Jun 7, 2011 20:41:46 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this belongs on this board, but since the e-reader discussion is I figured I'd stick this here. What do you guys think of film adaptations of literature? Personally, I have yet to find a movie I liked better than the book. Then again, I haven't watched that many movies. For me it depends on what order I experience them in. If I watch the movie and like it, it's a real treat to read the book because then I feel like I'm getting the inside story behind the character that I saw on the screen. If I read a book first, most of the time I am really disappointed by movies because they seem hollow. |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 7, 2011 22:12:50 GMT -5
I love modern chick-flicks based on classic literature. For example:
- Clueless is so much more wonderful knowing that it's based on Emma -- they're actually quite close, scene-by-scene-wise.
- Easy A made my diaphragm cry. Which is to say, I laughed until I was sobbing. And unfortunately I have not yet read The Scarlet Letter and so cannot intelligently compare them, but perhaps someone else can?
... there are more but my mind isn't remembering them now...
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 7, 2011 22:16:21 GMT -5
- Easy A made my diaphragm cry. Which is to say, I laughed until I was sobbing. And unfortunately I have not yet read The Scarlet Letter and so cannot intelligently compare them, but perhaps someone else can? Oh gods, I love that movie. Emma Stone is the best thing below the age of thirty to happen to film in a while. ETA:... PLUS IT HAS STANLEY TUCCI. STANLEY. TUCCI. |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 7, 2011 22:21:19 GMT -5
- Easy A made my diaphragm cry. Which is to say, I laughed until I was sobbing. And unfortunately I have not yet read The Scarlet Letter and so cannot intelligently compare them, but perhaps someone else can? Oh gods, I love that movie. Emma Stone is the best thing below the age of thirty to happen to film in a while. ETA:... PLUS IT HAS STANLEY TUCCI. STANLEY. TUCCI. YES. YES, IT DOES. |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 7, 2011 22:22:41 GMT -5
Oh gods, I love that movie. Emma Stone is the best thing below the age of thirty to happen to film in a while. ETA:... PLUS IT HAS STANLEY TUCCI. STANLEY. TUCCI. YES. YES, IT DOES. That man is amazing. I now go to movies he's in simply because of his existence. See: Burlesque. |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 7, 2011 22:25:31 GMT -5
That man is amazing. I now go to movies he's in simply because of his existence. See: Burlesque. Ah, that movie was so cute! He and Cher were adorable together. |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 7, 2011 22:34:33 GMT -5
That man is amazing. I now go to movies he's in simply because of his existence. See: Burlesque. Ah, that movie was so cute! He and Cher were adorable together. They were, but Cristina Aguleira's* terrible acting ruined it for me. The dancing was awesome, though. *If I spelled this incorrectly, I honestly don't care. |
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Post by serpentheart on Jun 8, 2011 0:17:03 GMT -5
Or 10 Things I Hate About You based on The Taming of the Shrew. That was great!
I think it depends on the film-makers, really. I read Memoirs of a Geisha before the film. I loved it but I actually enjoyed the film more. Possibly because I am a more visual person.
Also, LOTR was amazing on film but Jackson and the other writers took a lot of care translating and changing it to fit on film.
I also felt Watchmen was really well done. Things were changed to fit film, such as the nature of the ending, because seriously, a giant squid would look silly on screen!
On the other hand, if a reader has a vivid imagining of a book then any film, no matter how well it's made, won't be as good! ie. I didn't have a great picture of Geisha in my head when I read it so I accepted the film more than some others.
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 8, 2011 0:20:37 GMT -5
Or 10 Things I Hate About You based on The Taming of the Shrew. That was great! YES IT WAS. I think it depends on the film-makers, really. I read Memoirs of a Geisha before the film. I loved it but I actually enjoyed the film more. Possibly because I am a more visual person. ... ie. I didn't have a great picture of Geisha in my head when I read it so I accepted the film more than some others. That movie is gorgeous. Just... aesthetically amazing. I don't care that the actress is Chinese or that they cut out everything or that it's longer than the average attention span; it's beautiful. |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 9, 2011 17:37:01 GMT -5
Or 10 Things I Hate About You based on The Taming of the Shrew. That was great! YES IT WAS. *irrational sobbing* HEATH LEDGER I MISS YOU |
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Post by sandiek on Jun 9, 2011 19:00:41 GMT -5
I just finished Pillars of the Earth. While the movie in itself wasn't bad at all, there were several things that grated on me (though not necessarily dealing with the plot).
I would really like to watch Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, but I told myself I wouldn't til I've read them. That's going well. :\
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Post by KatjevanLoon on Jun 9, 2011 23:47:32 GMT -5
The only time I have ever liked a film more than the book it was based on: V for Vendetta. I read the graphic novel after I saw the film...and it bored me.  Then again, the film is a rather loose adaptation. In agreement. *SPOILER ALERT*I liked the graphic novel, but I didn't find it as exciting as the film -- Alan Moore had no idea about dramatic action, that's for sure. (Blow up Parliament first and then the Bailey? Really Alan?) The characters in the novel were also grittier, but I can see why they made the changes they did. I don't know; I sort of see the movie as the exciting story and the graphic novel almost like reading background history on that story. If that makes sense. |
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Post by KatjevanLoon on Jun 9, 2011 23:49:39 GMT -5
My magical trick to enjoy both the book and the movie as separate entities: watch the movie before reading the book. Granted, this only works for stories of which you have not yet read the book, but the important part is that it works. Not having anything to compare it to makes the movie untainted and enjoyable, and the book almost always still has plenty of tricks up its sleeve to keep you hooked. I should try that. I read City of Ember the other day and then watched the film...and it's a good film as a film -- but not that great a book adaptation. I wish I had watched it first, because having read the book first tainted my enjoyment of the movie. And made me scream at my computer. |
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Then again, the film is a rather loose adaptation.