Book or Movie?

The first movie I ever saw that was based on a book was “Der gestiefelte Kater.” That’s German for “Puss in Boots.” Not sure how old I was when I got the book, but the movie (black and white) was the first I’d ever seen, and the most memorable thing was that just before the end the film broke. Was the movie a good adaptation of the Grimm’s tale? I have no idea.

It’s difficult to find out the name of the first book that was ever adapted as a movie – so many early films are lost to us. But there was “Cinderella” adapted by Georges Melies in 1899. You can  find it on Youtube.

Another black and white movie based on a book that I saw much later was Dickens “Great Expectations.” My impressions from the time are that it was a fairly faithful representation of the book. I can still vividly remember the graveyard scene between Pip and the convict.

I recently watched “The Giver” and though I liked the movie well enough, the book was much more nuanced and detailed, as well as different in several instances. The movie portrayed the mother as very cold, but in the book she wasn’t so one dimensional. I also liked that in the book the ending could be taken for reality or for a dream of dying.

I saw the movie of “The Giver” first and then read the book. The same was true of “A Man Called Ove.” Again, although I liked the film well enough, the book had more details that rounded the characters.

Often, I’ve read a book before seeing a movie. “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy was one such. I had read and loved the books for many years, returning to them regularly. I saw the attempt in 1978 of a mixed animation film directed by Ralph Baksi that was pretty bad. So when Peter Jackson came along, I went to the first movie with trepidation. But I loved all three, despite that fact that some of my favourite things had to be left out (movies can’t go on forever). I was hugely disappointed and hated almost everything about Jackson’s attempt at “The Hobbit.” The only things I liked were the dwarves singing in Bilbo’s hobbit hole, and the dragon. I did not go to see the other movies in this series.

In the case of Michael Ondaatje’s “The English Patient,” I like the book and as always, was awed by Ondaatje’s writing. But it wasn’t until after I saw the lush and passionate movie directed by Anthony Minghella that I truly appreciated the book. I went back and reread it. Despite differences between the two media, I think that in this situation (which doesn’t often happen) the two complement each other in the best of all possible ways. You should always both read the book and see the film in this instance.

Another wonderful adaption for me was the “Anne of Green Gables” series with Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth, in 1986. When you get something this good it seems silly and useless to try to repeat with a different cast, etc.

And then there are the adaptions where the book(s) are quite bad and the films or tv series are much better: The Vampire Diaries, The 100, Jurassic Park (the book was terribly written, the film pretty good).

What other book movie adaptions have I liked? The Hunger Games, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone with the Wind, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Remains of the Day, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep/Blade Runner, The Grapes of Wrath, Little Women (1949 movie with June Allyson, Margaret O’Brian, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor).