Booking Through Thursday: Celluoid
1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie? (or mini-series)
Master and Commander is the best translation of a book - or a series, as it were, since as a book-to-movie translation it's impossibly inaccurate, but I really do think it's a fitting trailer for the entire series. I do excuse the casting inaccuracies here (Bonden would have wanted his pigtail, really!), but I suppose that actually casting a furiously obese captain and a hideously ugly doctor really wouldn't have worked for movie goers.
I also have to put in a word for my old favorite Gettysburg, which is probably still in my top five movies of all time. With the exception of making Lee appear too weak too early, it otherwise does a fantastic job at capturing the emotions which make The Killer Angels a great book.
2. The worst?
Hands down, the TV-version of Gaudy Night. There's no other way to put it, but they murdered the poor book. Not only do they give away the [not actually important] mystery in the first scene, they also ignore much of the romantic tension between Harriet and Peter by leaving out 'Mr. Jones of Jesus' and the adorable Lord St. George. What makes the book wonderful is the fact that it's good literature, rather than simply being a good mystery. AND, they leave out the ducks.
Now an odd one is Series of Unfortunate Events movie. Taking elements from the first three books, they managed to weave them together reasonably well. It did have a bit of a Jim Carey on crack feel, but though I know some people didn't like that as much, Count Olaf really is that crazy. But, it had a happy ending. Frankly, I do think the ending is cute and adorable and cuddly. But it doesn't in any way or form fit the books themselves. After all, Lemony Snicket says "If you are interested in stories with happy endings you would be better off reading some other book."
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)
I tried waiting to read The Far Side of the World before watching the movie, but I ran out of patience while waiting for the book to be returned (in fact it was worse: I had to skip over it completely as the person had lost the book, and didn't read it until two months later). Of course I had read everything up to that point, and I knew vaguely about the discrepancies before hand - but hadn't realized how many there would be! In a straight book vs. movie comparison, I think I prefer the movie (and the movie's version of Hollum and what is connected to him). It's hard to say though - as of course the entire Aubrey-Maturin series trumps pretty much anything else, and it's hard to disconnect one book from the series.
With Gettysburg and The Killer Angels, I hadn't read the book yet. I read it almost immediately afterwards - though why my parents had bought me that Civil War novel set otherwise I can't quite guess. I think having seen the movie did help me understand and appreciate the book more in this case. Reading the book however made it a lot easier for me to keep track of the characters during my next viewing (and explain them to whomever I'm watching with). I still love both, though.
At the point I rented the video, I had probably read Gaudy Night at least three times (maybe more). I can still say that even if I hadn't read the book first but had read the other Peter-Harriet novels anyway I still wouldn't have liked it.
For A Series of Unfortunate Events I actually hadn't read the book yet. I think I was then a little surprised how dark they were, and in turn they changed my thoughts about the movie.
Master and Commander is the best translation of a book - or a series, as it were, since as a book-to-movie translation it's impossibly inaccurate, but I really do think it's a fitting trailer for the entire series. I do excuse the casting inaccuracies here (Bonden would have wanted his pigtail, really!), but I suppose that actually casting a furiously obese captain and a hideously ugly doctor really wouldn't have worked for movie goers.
I also have to put in a word for my old favorite Gettysburg, which is probably still in my top five movies of all time. With the exception of making Lee appear too weak too early, it otherwise does a fantastic job at capturing the emotions which make The Killer Angels a great book.
2. The worst?
Hands down, the TV-version of Gaudy Night. There's no other way to put it, but they murdered the poor book. Not only do they give away the [not actually important] mystery in the first scene, they also ignore much of the romantic tension between Harriet and Peter by leaving out 'Mr. Jones of Jesus' and the adorable Lord St. George. What makes the book wonderful is the fact that it's good literature, rather than simply being a good mystery. AND, they leave out the ducks.
Now an odd one is Series of Unfortunate Events movie. Taking elements from the first three books, they managed to weave them together reasonably well. It did have a bit of a Jim Carey on crack feel, but though I know some people didn't like that as much, Count Olaf really is that crazy. But, it had a happy ending. Frankly, I do think the ending is cute and adorable and cuddly. But it doesn't in any way or form fit the books themselves. After all, Lemony Snicket says "If you are interested in stories with happy endings you would be better off reading some other book."
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)
I tried waiting to read The Far Side of the World before watching the movie, but I ran out of patience while waiting for the book to be returned (in fact it was worse: I had to skip over it completely as the person had lost the book, and didn't read it until two months later). Of course I had read everything up to that point, and I knew vaguely about the discrepancies before hand - but hadn't realized how many there would be! In a straight book vs. movie comparison, I think I prefer the movie (and the movie's version of Hollum and what is connected to him). It's hard to say though - as of course the entire Aubrey-Maturin series trumps pretty much anything else, and it's hard to disconnect one book from the series.
With Gettysburg and The Killer Angels, I hadn't read the book yet. I read it almost immediately afterwards - though why my parents had bought me that Civil War novel set otherwise I can't quite guess. I think having seen the movie did help me understand and appreciate the book more in this case. Reading the book however made it a lot easier for me to keep track of the characters during my next viewing (and explain them to whomever I'm watching with). I still love both, though.
At the point I rented the video, I had probably read Gaudy Night at least three times (maybe more). I can still say that even if I hadn't read the book first but had read the other Peter-Harriet novels anyway I still wouldn't have liked it.
For A Series of Unfortunate Events I actually hadn't read the book yet. I think I was then a little surprised how dark they were, and in turn they changed my thoughts about the movie.