is making films from literature a DO or DONT? or both? and why?

Question

for example harry potter films and books...
thanks.

Answer 1

I think many books could make great films, trouble comes when the film maker misses the point of the book or mis-casts or chooses wrong book.
Example of that for me would be Gone With The Wind, classic book, classic film the only real weakness comes with the casting of Ashley Wilkes, mainly because he just appear too old and too foppish to have attracted someone as feisty as Scarlett.

The other danger when filming the book is in meeting the expectations of the audience where you know many of them will have read and loved the story and have their own vision of how it should be on film. Thank goodness that Peter Jackson got hold of the Lord of The Rings trilogy before Spielberg or even George Lucas got hold it, not because they aren't great film directors and makers but I dread to think what they would have turned out for this genre of film, Gollum would have been sweetened, you just know it.

Get the right people for the job and you get film heaven, get the wrong ones you end up with a really cheesed off audience, I mean someone presumably loved the film version of Stephen's Kings IT, but I've rarely been so disappointed.

So I guess I'm saying Do it, but make sure you do it well.

Kuta.

Answer 2

I don't know. Every time I see a film from a book I've read, I don't appreciate it entirely... (I didn't like the Harry Potter films, for example:too many cuts in the story), and many films are completely different from the book (just an example: "The Bone Collector". Book and film tell 2 different stories, eeven the murderer is different!!!!)
Sure, there are many good films from books (Lord of The Rings, for example) but there is always your immagination that interfere...

Answer 3

It depends on the book. A large amount of classic literature is too philosophical, relgious, or confusing for the general audience, and movie adaptations won't do justice to the original story. For instance, I heard that Dante's Divine Comedy will be made into a trilogy, which I think will likely be screwed up. On the other hand, if books have storylines that lend themselves to a film adaptation, and there aren't too many liberties taken with the story, the movie may be just fine.

Answer 4

You cannot generalise. Disney adaptations of books for movies were dreadful but children found then entertaining. If the author retains some control or is properly consulted it is probable a better movie wiil result, the Harry Potter movies and 'The English Patient' based on the book by Michael Ondaatje are examples. Some books are too long to be properly adapted for the screen so you end up with a decent movie but one which does not do justice to the author's work, e.g. Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago.

Answer 5

I was at a reading a couple of weeks ago, and Dennis Lehane was one of the authors there. He said the reason that he didn't write screenplays is because books are like apples and movies are like giraffes. What he was saying is that the two are very, very, distinct crafts. While an author can be a great screenwriter, that's not always the case. (John Irving for example). In other words, the two are very, very different.

Movies will always take their source from books, and that's okay. That has happened since movies were invented and will happen forever. The important thing to realize is that they are two different artforms.

Answer 6

HP.... seeing the film (first one) made me want to read the books

And there are some great films made from mediocre books

on the other hand, they have made some real rubbish films out of magnificent works of literature

Impossible to generalise, I'd say... It all depends on the individual film and book

Answer 7

harry potter isn't proper literature. it is just a book.
if the film is done respectfully then yes. if it deters people from reading the book then no

Answer 8

If film makers stay true to the book then I have no problem with it.

If they take the liberty of changing masive chunks of the tale, to the point it's barely recogniseable, then either call it something else or don't release it!

Answer 9

If the Author is okay with it and the movies stays true to the book. If it doesn't and the movies specifies it was LOOSELY based on the book then it's a Do
if the Author doesn't like it and they make it anyway, they claim it's THEIR work, or ruin the whole plot with cheep effects then it's a Don't

Answer 10

it depends on the book, if the book is really good and well written you should think carefully on wether or not you can meet readers expectations before making the movie. it also depends on who will be making the movie. even so, some books just don't make good movies.
look at eragon, an awesome book!!! but the movie sucked!!!