Classic book and period film ratings

[ambergold]

Music, moody food of us that trade in love. --William Shakespeare

Comments

[beautyisme]

How did you rate things? Like why is something 3.5 stars as opposed to 3.7?

[ambergold]

Well, I rated mostly on plot and performances, as well as costuming-for instance Lorna Doone is rated lower than The Inheritance because, while both have not the best acting, The Inheritance has a lovely plot and fabulous costuming, and is just a more enjoyable movie in general. That's really what I based them on-how good the movie was overall and how much I enjoyed it. This isn't a super-formal rating-it's my personal opinion.

[beautyisme]

I was just wondering based on a few places where the movie was rated better than the book and vise versa. But I assume in cases like there there was an element to the film like the acting, the costumes etc that you liked that the book lacked,

[ambergold]

Those are the cases in which the movie actually is better than the book-so much better that they're not even comparable. The books Last of the Mohicans and The Inheritance are not particularly good, only 3-star, whereas the movies are absolutely fabulous, adding so much to the rather threadbare plot(esp. Last of the Mohicans :) ) and making a good story out of a mediocre book.

[silken_shadow]

Jane Eyre - for an interesting film version, see if you can find the one with Timothy Dalton as Rochester and Zelah Clark as Jane. Excellent. Clark is the only actress I've seen in the part who actually looks the way Bronte described.

Little Women - my favorite film adaptation is the 1930s version with Katharine Hepburn as Jo. Talk about perfect physical casting!

I haven't seen Fiennes' Wuthering Heights but on your rating I'll give it a try. Must admit I love Ralph.

[ambergold]

Just remember that it's not that fabulous of a film in itself. I much enjoyed it, but only because I'd read the book, liked it but didn't absolutely love, so expected to feel the same way towards the movie. And I thought it was a marvelous adaptation of it, really faithful and really caught the atmosphere and characters and everything. I think what most people want is for it to be more romanticized-make Heathcliff more human, Catherine less selfish, etc., which normally I completely sympathize with, just not with my Gothic romances, in which the heroes are so compelling with all their flaws that I like them portrayed exactly as they are in the book. Ralph Fiennes in my opinion makes a brilliant Heathcliff. You should also know it's the only WH I've seen that includes both parts of the story-Catherine's daughter as well as Catherine(if I remember right, it was some time ago)

And yes, I know, I've had that JE recommended by several other people, I will definitely watch it-and I really like Katherine Hepburn so I'll give LW a try too.

[darksilvermoon]

:D i really liked how little women was done as well as the phantom of the opera with gerard butler ^_^ not to sure about the emma ones as i'm still not sure how i really feel about them. oh! but there is a bbc version of northanger abbey which i think was alright but the book was better in my opinion :) and sense & sensibility... probably my favorite right after colin firth's version of pride and prejudice xD

[rose_and_ivy]

The Inheritence, by Louisa May Alcott? I've not heard of it, and I've read her voraciously. Perhaps it is one of her early writings that are being published now?

[ambergold]

Yeah, I think it only got re-published a few years ago. The film is absolutely lovely, though it IS a TV movie and therefore limited, but the book was quite melodramatic and overdrawn, with the characters much less believable and enjoyable than usual. I think she wrote it when she was 16(I also have read her voraciously).Still, Louisa May Alcott can only be so bad so if you want to read it go ahead. What painting is your usericon from, by the way? It's lovely.