Why Make movies of your favourite book?

I hate movie versions
Now! Which is better?

Harry Potter. City of Ember. Inkheart. These are all some of my favorite books that have been translated onto the big screen. So many of my beloved stories that have impacted my life have been visually made for my enjoyment. You would think I’d be elated, except for the fact that I have spent most of my time scoffing at the butchering of my favorite stories. Movie producers should not have the right to alter main points in the plot of a movie based off a book. If someone is going to make a movie from a preconceived plot, such as from a book, they should stick as close to the original plot as possible.

I hate movie versions
Now! Which is better?

I understand the need to compress certain parts. Take the Harry Potter series for example. Those books are extremely long, and even though I may not mind a six-hour movie, not everyone feels this way, but not everyone feels this way. What I don’t understand is why they have to cut out characters or important character development scenes. If there really isn’t enough time to get in all the important elements of the novel, then break it up. Turn it into a couple of movies. Don’t make the movie at all if it causes the story to lose what made it special in the first place. I am sick and tired of my favorite parts sacrificed, weakening the movie because no one has any feelings for the character.

That is one of my biggest pet peeves. When I read a book that makes me fall in love with a character, I want to fall in love with them all over again when I see them on-screen. What usually ends up happening, though, is that all the characters in the movie become hollow shells of the characters from the book. I don’t feel for what happens to them in the movies as I did when they were placed in the same situations in the book.

Also, not only do the characters have no personality, but sometimes someone wouldn’t even know what was happening if they didn’t have the background information from reading the book. Because directors do have to gloss over so many scenes, not all the details are mentioned and some plot elements are left out, which can make the movie confusing and hard to follow.

Despite my complete trashing of movies based on books, I always get excited when I hear a book I like is being turned into a movie. No matter how many times I am disappointed, I take the movies individually. Even after so many disappointments, my expectations have never fallen.

 

6 Comments

  1. add to that list the horrendous Hollywood adaptation of Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and the under-development adaptation of SF giant Isaac Asimov’s magnum opus ‘Foundation’. I am keeping my fingers crossed on the latter…

    That said, I believe novel-to-screen adaptations can do wonders in able hands. Cases in point are Fight Club by David Fincher, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Lolita and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, and No Country for Old Men by the Coen Brothers.

  2. Completely agree..Also, the element of imagination is lost in a movie…you see the story as one particular person has interpreted it..The image that materialises in my mind as I read can never be replaced by something shown on the screen..

    • That’s exactly my point. I hate it when what I visualized when I read the book and the movie version are so vastly depicted! Case in point is the character of Dumbledore… I mean they got it perfect in the first movie, but then replaced the old man with someone who totally spoilt the experience in the later movies 🙁

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.