And that's how we do that.
Got back from the Hunger Games movie. For the sake of those I know haven't yet gotten there, I'll restrict my out-of-cut comments to what I told Laura over the phone afterward. I approve.
I think we can all agree that book-to-movie adaptations tend to disappoint more than they satisfy. But I continue to support the practice and look forward with pleasure or at least curiosity to my favorites coming to the big screen because there are moments in every story that can have more impact in film format than they can in mere prose, no matter how well-written the book. By contrast, of course, some things are much better suited for the page, but I think my point stands. So I, the eternal optimist, always live on the hope that this one will be the one they get right. This one will be the one worthy of its source.
"This one" was The Hunger Games.
The Golden Rule: Let the author be integral to the adaptation process. The sooner that Hollywood lets this always happen, the better.
Because I'm too tired for any formal, essay-style review, I'm going to just randomly list the many facets of this film that I loved as they come to me.
(1) Jennifer Lawrence. I really don't have the words, except 'thank you' for Katniss.
(2) The rest of the cast. Peeta who stole my heart. Rue who really stole my heart. Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks who disappeared inside of Effie, Stanley Tucci (seriously, could that guy be any more awesome?), LENNY KRAVITZ and everyone in small roles who delivered just as well.
(3) The art and set direction. I just have this feeling that the costume and set designers worked really closely with Suzanne Collins, because the style and culture of the Capitol, in particular, felt like they just jumped right off the page into my lap. And what I said before, about some things having more impact visually? This was one of them. If anyone reading the books didn't clearly get the visual representation of how ridiculous and out-of-touch the Capitol's citizens were, they couldn't possibly miss here.
(4) All the little moments they just got right. Katniss admonishing her mother (in 30 seconds or less), Peeta making the crowd fall in love with him during his interview, Katniss shooting the apple, the people of District 12 saluting Katniss, the people of District 11 saluting Katniss, Gale not watching the opening of the games...there are many, many more.
(5) All the "new" scenes not in the book that only enriched the story. My personal favorite was the sequence of Haymitch wooing the sponsors on Katniss's behalf. It actually made my heart break a little-- his smiles and his handshakes and the knowledge, as you're watching it, of how much he hates these people, the realization of how much he has come to care about Katniss, and the dynamic demonstration of what he's sacrificing of himself to help her.
(6) The score. Memorable in the right moments. Subtle in the right places. And here I'm going to gush about one of my very very favorite things that probably most other people won't because they're not soundtrack nerds like me:
There was no score for the reaping, none at all until Peeta's name is drawn. Excepting the music of the propoganda video, which is source music, so that doesn't count. From the arrival in the square, all the way through Katniss talking into the microphone, the emotional resonance of the scene is entirely left in the care of the writers, actors, director, and cinematographer. There are moments that seem like they should call for BIG SCORE and this is one of them, but one of the handy things about score is that it can pick up a lot of emotional slack if some of those other players drop the ball in a scene. It was very, very bold choice on the part of the director and composer. If we were actually at the reaping, there wouldn't be sweeping, mournful strings. This is what everything would sound like in real life. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
*sigh* I feel like I could say more things, but really, I'm feeling overwhelmed right now (it was a good night for other reasons too, more on that later). I think I'll wrap it up with a general stamp of highly satisfied approval. I'm excited to see it again, though I'm going to try to wait until next weekend, so I can sort of "absorb" the first viewing properly, as it were.
I think we can all agree that book-to-movie adaptations tend to disappoint more than they satisfy. But I continue to support the practice and look forward with pleasure or at least curiosity to my favorites coming to the big screen because there are moments in every story that can have more impact in film format than they can in mere prose, no matter how well-written the book. By contrast, of course, some things are much better suited for the page, but I think my point stands. So I, the eternal optimist, always live on the hope that this one will be the one they get right. This one will be the one worthy of its source.
"This one" was The Hunger Games.
The Golden Rule: Let the author be integral to the adaptation process. The sooner that Hollywood lets this always happen, the better.
Because I'm too tired for any formal, essay-style review, I'm going to just randomly list the many facets of this film that I loved as they come to me.
(1) Jennifer Lawrence. I really don't have the words, except 'thank you' for Katniss.
(2) The rest of the cast. Peeta who stole my heart. Rue who really stole my heart. Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks who disappeared inside of Effie, Stanley Tucci (seriously, could that guy be any more awesome?), LENNY KRAVITZ and everyone in small roles who delivered just as well.
(3) The art and set direction. I just have this feeling that the costume and set designers worked really closely with Suzanne Collins, because the style and culture of the Capitol, in particular, felt like they just jumped right off the page into my lap. And what I said before, about some things having more impact visually? This was one of them. If anyone reading the books didn't clearly get the visual representation of how ridiculous and out-of-touch the Capitol's citizens were, they couldn't possibly miss here.
(4) All the little moments they just got right. Katniss admonishing her mother (in 30 seconds or less), Peeta making the crowd fall in love with him during his interview, Katniss shooting the apple, the people of District 12 saluting Katniss, the people of District 11 saluting Katniss, Gale not watching the opening of the games...there are many, many more.
(5) All the "new" scenes not in the book that only enriched the story. My personal favorite was the sequence of Haymitch wooing the sponsors on Katniss's behalf. It actually made my heart break a little-- his smiles and his handshakes and the knowledge, as you're watching it, of how much he hates these people, the realization of how much he has come to care about Katniss, and the dynamic demonstration of what he's sacrificing of himself to help her.
(6) The score. Memorable in the right moments. Subtle in the right places. And here I'm going to gush about one of my very very favorite things that probably most other people won't because they're not soundtrack nerds like me:
There was no score for the reaping, none at all until Peeta's name is drawn. Excepting the music of the propoganda video, which is source music, so that doesn't count. From the arrival in the square, all the way through Katniss talking into the microphone, the emotional resonance of the scene is entirely left in the care of the writers, actors, director, and cinematographer. There are moments that seem like they should call for BIG SCORE and this is one of them, but one of the handy things about score is that it can pick up a lot of emotional slack if some of those other players drop the ball in a scene. It was very, very bold choice on the part of the director and composer. If we were actually at the reaping, there wouldn't be sweeping, mournful strings. This is what everything would sound like in real life. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
*sigh* I feel like I could say more things, but really, I'm feeling overwhelmed right now (it was a good night for other reasons too, more on that later). I think I'll wrap it up with a general stamp of highly satisfied approval. I'm excited to see it again, though I'm going to try to wait until next weekend, so I can sort of "absorb" the first viewing properly, as it were.