Ryan McNeilI end off my top weekly top fives the same way every time – by asking for other people’s additions to the topic at hand, and a call to suggest another top five. Well, lo and behold after almost two years of blogging, someone has finally suggested a five. This one goes out to my good friend Special K (You might remember K as the hipster who suggested I watch BRICK a month or so back).
K is more than a little out of sorts after her recent experience watching MY SISTER’S KEEPER. Seems as though after she watched the film, thinking it was “alright”, she picked up the book and tore through it. What was once “alright” has now been dubbed “an abomination” since it is such a terrible adaptation.
This has led Special K to ask her friend The Hatter to compile a five of well executed book adaptations. Who am I to refuse?
So read on for my choices, but do remember that while I am an avid bookworm and movie geek, this list had me handcuffed by titles where I have both watched and read.
#5.Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard: JACKIE BROWN (1997)… Of all of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, this one is usually treated like the ugly cousin, possibly because it was the wickedly-hyped follow up to PULP FICTION. It was also railed for being Quentin’s attempt at Blacksploitation, a genre he probably should have steered clear of. However, it’s actually held up as a pretty damned good movie…because we get Elmore Leonard’s words put through Quentin Tarantino’s direction. If there has ever been a collaboration of two better writers of snappy dialogue, I’m yet to see it. If you haven’t seen it in a while, give it another look.
#4.Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: FIGHT CLUB (1999)… I’ll never forget reading this book for the first time, with the movie still a year or so from being released. A college classmate happened upon me reading it in the common area and noticed my quizzical expression. “This is getting really weird” I said. “Keep reading” was all he said, which goes without saying to be great advice. Palahniuk has found an amazing amount of success as a cult writing phenom, however none of his books have caught lightning in a bottle the way this first one did. Perhaps the trickiest thing about adapting his novels, is wondering where to draw the lines…what to leave in and what is clever, but needs to go. Of his ten novels, only two have made the jump to the big screen…here’s hoping the next one up is more FIGHT CLUB, and less CHOKE.
#3.To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD (1962)… Let’s face facts, there’s precious little I can write about this book or film that hasn’t been said a thousand different times a thousand ways better. What I will say is this – very few times in film history have a an actor and a character come together as wonderfully as what happened here.
#2.The Godfather by Mario Puzo: THE GODFATHER (1972)… I’m bending the rules a little on this one. I read this novel well after having watched the trilogy which it spawned. What I love about the adaptation most is its waste-not-want-not manner. About halfway through the book, we are given Vito Corleone’s back story…which of course was cut from the script of the movie it spawned. However, it was kept in mind and provided the backbone for the second movie, helping to make it one of the greatest sequels of all time. It takes some brass ones to make such a daring cut from such a well-crafted story…but true vision to see those cuttings for the basis of something bigger.
#1.The Silence of The Lambs by Thomas Harris: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)… If you’ve ever read this book, there’s one word that could easily describe it – “pulp”. It feels like it should live on a shelf, nestled between Sue Grafton and Stephen King. Hollywood even tried to make Hannibal Lecter into a monster with Michael Mann’s MANHUNTER. He wasn’t so much nightmare-inducing as he was bored braniac. It felt like it was adapted from pulp fiction.
Then came the second film.
Suddenly everything became darker, more blood curdling, and much more vicious. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Anthony Hopkins redefined the part in an unforeseeable way. What was once pulp was now cold and calculating, and a character that was once just a peripheral, was now an indelible presence in movie history. And of course, it went on to sweep The Oscars for Best Picture, director, screenplay, actor, and actress – one of only three movies to pull such a feat (and a trick no film has pulled off in the eighteen years since. For these reasons, for it’s effort to rise above what had already been, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS takes my spot as the best adaptation of all time.
Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments naming your favorite literary adaptations, along with suggestions for the next top five.
Great list! For my money, I'd also consider Lord of the Rings & Watchmen…I'm such a fanboy!
Random thoughts:
I know it's sacrilege to say this, but the very self-assured Jackie Brown is Tarantino's best film, and displayed a newfound maturityin the director. Too bad audiences didn't feel the same way, leading him to turn back to the type of mashups that gave him his cult following.
Mario Puzo once said, "If I had known, the movies would be so great, I would have written a better book." Part 1 captured the florid pulpiness of it all. Part 2 made the motivations behind each character scarier, more complex, and more tragic.
And I have to disagree with your characterization of Lecter in Manhunter as simply a "bored braniac." I found him to be much more realistic and less "heroic" than Hopkins' version. You see a romanticized Lecter in Silence that ends up becoming fully sympathetic in the sequel, Hannibal. He is a serial killer! Very irresponsible.
Rum Punch/Jackie Brown: Love the film not read the book.
Fight Club: Great book, the film is better.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Great book, great film.
The Godfather: Love the film not read the book.
The Silence of the Lambs: Good film (I prefer Manhunter) not read the book.
Not necessarily my top five but five good suggestions:
The English Patient
LA Confidential
Schindler’ List
The Shawshank Redemption (short story)
The Big Sleep
@ Tom… Loved "Watchmen" as a graphic. The film was good, but left a lot of the story's nuance out. Might have made for a better mini-series than a single film.
@ Tony… Not sacrelige to applaud JB at all, takes cojones to go against the grain like that! As for Lecter, I never found Hopkins' Hannibal heroic. he was always a monster, and someone I could never sympathize with. For me though, Hopkins' perfromance always painted a clearer picture of just why he'd been locked up and the key thrown away. I took him as a vicious monster…a polite one, but never anything less than a vicious monster.
@ Fandango… Like I say, I was handcuffed by what I'd read. So while some of your suggestions coulda made my list (SHAWSHANK and L.A. especially), I'll have to add their source material to my "to-read" list and consider them when I inevitably come back to this lit down the road. ENGLISH PATIENT is a good suggestion though, especially given the complexity of its narrative.
thats a pretty solid list – jackie brown bored me senseless when i caught it in the cinema, it could be time for a revisit
It was a shame that we lost some of Watchmen's subtlety, but it's hard to imagine a mini-series with any kind of budget…
and re fandangogroovers suggestion of Shawshank, there are actually a lot of good adaptations to Steven King Novels. Stand by Me, The Mist, The Shining (although it's not much of an adaptation)
Excellent list, everyone of those films are fantastic in different ways. I think To Kill A Mocking Bird is my favorite and the movie is simply amazing. Wonderful performances indeed and well worth that Oscar for Gregory Peck
@ Ross… Time has been kind to Jackie. Give it another look…perhaps as part of a QT-a-Thon in the days running up to INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.
@ Tom (again)… Hard to say what WATCHMEN could have been. Perhaps that's why it was long thought to be unfilmable. Oh, and I'm finally running low on books in the "to-read" pile..so thanks for suggesting some King short stories!
@ Farzan… Yeah, MOCKINGBIRD was the easiet inclusion on that list 🙂
Tom, I agree although The Shawshank Redemption is the only one I have read. I borrowed the book and only got around to reading the one story. I have read other Stephen King books but struggle to get into them, I like his stories but not his writing so would rather watch the films. To really stick my neck out I would even say The Running Man isn’t a bad film. When you strip away the action and the baggage Schwarzenegger brings to a movie it is a pretty solid satire on TV that predates the reality TV craze by more than Ten Years. Watch it in the same mindset as The Truman Show or Ed TV and not as a dumb action film!
I really enjoyed Watchmen. I read the Graphic Novel for the first time not long before the movie can out so it was fresh in my memory. They did have to miss a lot out and the film felt rushed. It should have been longer. I don’t know why they couldn’t have split it in two like Kill Bill or Che. Five hours should have been long enough to tell the story and two movies would be more cost effective than a mini series. Anyone who is interested this is what I thought of the film when I first saw it back in March.
http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/who-watches-the-watchmen/ It is out on DVD now so will probably see it again soon.
sorry Fandango, but if there is one thing Watchmen shouldnt have been it is longer. the first hour or so i thought was fantastic, i was really enjoying the ride.. and then it just fell apart. and dragged on and on. i realise there is a need to be faithful but i think there is also a need to keep your audience entertained. but when stuff like Sex and the City and Transformers 2 are two and half hours long, perhaps Synder can be forgiven. when im a hollywood studio boss, none of my movies will be over 1hr 45m. some modern movies merit being long (Zodiac, for example) but a lot do not
Holy crap, after two years I finally manage to get a back-and-forth conversation happening in my blog. It's like Christmas came early!
@ Fandango… I read Running Man a log time ago, but maybe I'll re-read it now that you mention it. haven't checked out your WATCHMEN piece just yet (though I will), but I agree…two or three films would have served the story far better than the one, and likewise worked better than a miniseries.
@ Ross… Fear not the long movie! I for one don't mind a little extra time for character exposition or subplots, so long as the whole thing keeps moving. Some of my favorite flicks (TRAFFIC, GODFATHER, HEAT) are well over 120 minutes, and I think WATCHMEN could have been well served in a longer format…but it would have taken a lot more forethought.
Ross, I think films should be as long as they need to be. Doctor Zhivago is perfectly suited to its over three hour running time. You shouldn’t let rubbish like transformers put you off longer films.
Hmm I'm afraid I've only read one of the books here! Oops! But I do agree: Fight Club is one of the best book-to-film adaptations. I also think Coraline was amazingly well-done, and actually improved on some points of the book. And when I was a kid I thought Matilda was the only movie that ever came close to being as good as a book source material.
Otherwise… The Princess Bride, No Country for Old Men, The Prestige, and (obviously!) the Pride and Prejudice A&E mini-series.
@ Fandango… I'm with ya. Fear not the long running time.
@ Alex… (First of all – welcome back!). NO COUNTRY made my short list, since it's pretty friggin' faithful, word-for-word. having never read THE PRESTIGE or CORALINE I find myself at a disadvantage…but given that my 'to-read' pile is sitting at essentially zero, methinks you've inspred a trip to the bookstore!
Amen on the "abomination" Tryuly truly awful.
can't believe I forgot To kill a mockingbird in my own post!
http://storiesthatreallymattered.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/book-to-screen/
Fight Club and The Godfather are great films but I haven't read the books. Maybe I'll get round to it one day. I can imagine Fight Club makes a pretty good read.