io9 
Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #unfilmablebooks more → 
Is There Such A Thing As A Gloriously Unfilmable Book?
San Francisco, 6:56 PM
Fri Dec 11
30 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
Editor-in-Chief:
Annalee Newitz |
News Editor:
Charlie Jane Anders |
Associate Editor:
Meredith Woerner |
Assistant Editor:
Lauren Davis |
Weekend Editor:
Graeme McMillan |
Contributors:
Joshua Glenn
Stephen Goldmeier |
Ed Grabianowski |
Austin Grossman
Paul Hogan |
Lauren Davis |
Chris Hsiang |
Lynn Peril |
Ann VanderMeer
Alasdair Wilkins |
Graphic Designer:
Stephanie Fox |
Interns:
Tim Barribeau |
Julia Carusillo |
Alex Eichler |
Cyriaque Lamar |
Caitlin Petrakovitz |
Mary Ratliff |
Josh Snyder |
| posts about #unfilmablebooks more → |
Is There Such A Thing As A Gloriously Unfilmable Book? |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
07/24/09
"The Godfather," for example, is considered by many to be the greatest film ever made. I found that, but for a subplot or two, the book was almost identical the to the movie. I wouldn't call the book the greatest book ever, but it was quite enjoyable. I don't believe anything was lost in the adaptation. In this case, it seems to me that the adaptation was so successful that it superseded the novel. I suppose the same could be said for "Gone With the Wind." I've never seen the movie or read the book, but I imagine I could just watch the movie to save time and not miss anything from the novel.
Similar to "The Godfather," I saw "Fight Club" before reading the book. Once again, but for some minor details, I found that they were quite similar. So similar, in fact, that after some time had passed, I found I couldn't remember the differences anymore.
Which reminds of the main problem I have with film adaptations: after seeing one, it seems to erase the way I had imagined the book version. Put a gun to my head right now and I wouldn't be able to tell you how main battle of The Two Towers played out in the book. The only difference I remember in "Contact" is that more than one person went on the interplanetary subway. The only versions of Dexter, Frankenstein, Interview With the Vampire, Catch-22, A Scanner Darkly and several others that I remember are the filmed versions. It's for this reason that I refuse to watch the Harry Potter movies: for fear of losing the books as imagined in my head. Thus is the power of the visual medium.
This brings me back to my main point: good adaptations seem to take the essence of a book and the most important points and make them work. I think this is why I forget the little details that have been excised from the filmed versions. The films that I can clearly differentiate in my memory are the ones that had serious departures from the original work: the end of "A Clockwork Orange," the completely different "I Am Legend," "Jumper,"etc.
So, if I had to give advice to someone trying to adapt a book, I would give these pointers:
1. Understand the essence of the source material.
2. Be careful to keep the main points intact.
3. Don't significantly change things!
(As long as this post is, it only scratches the surface of what makes a good adaptation work. I should mention that I saw the first Harry Potter film and was utterly bored by it. Perhaps because it was more a literal translation instead of an adaptation.)
07/24/09
One book I'd like to see re-made into a movie is Naked Lunch, only do it low budget, independent, and preferably made in a country that has a lenient attitude towards obscenity. I actually liked the version that was made but it felt like a surreal take on the real life story of the writing of the book. I'd be happier with something that does justice to the fucked up humor of the book and a bit of the shit-eating ickiness of it. And the bits that offend Muslims - no ethnicity on teh planet should ever be beyond ridicule. Ever. Someone should suggest it to Peter Jackson.
07/24/09
I am glad you mentioned -- even passing -- David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which is one of my favourite books, somewhere in my top five, and which is technically a science fiction novel. It does have a very idiosyncratic approach to its narrative. But even as I was reading it, I kept thinking how I'd adapt it for film or TV.
I think it'd make a great twelve-part HBO series, actually. I reckon you could do it.
Likewise, some people here have mentioned House of Leaves. Obviously, you could film it, but you'd have to find a way to express what the book says in a way that exploits the visual in the way that the book exploits the textual.
If you know what I mean.
07/24/09
I am a fan of Enders game, and I just finished listening to the new Audio book and card does a great 40 minute recap of the, How Enders Game came to be and where it is going, discussing specifically how he writes, Enders game becoming a movie, and how the first few screen plays he wrote failed, but after writing Enders Shadow, he was able to rewrite a screenplay for Enders that he liked and sold the rights for, to movie people he trusted and felt understood the actor, had to be young and had to act... something he struggled with while dealing with movie studios ... It was a great synopsis by Card and is worth the listening to, very informative on his style process and history of the story.
07/23/09
The question is how close a work in one medium (film) can maintain the spirit of a work from another medium (literature), without stinking of its own accord.
That being said I'd like to see some poor soul attempt a treatment of Greg Egan's "Diaspora". Unless the screenwriter had a Math or Physics doctorate (maybe both), I'd expect their head to explode.
07/23/09
And they're going to try at it again. I wonder if they'll actually leave all the different stories.
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
So, some books may not submit to projection onto the screen in the manner of Jackson's Lord of the Rings cycle, but a great 'unfilmable' book could still serve as a subject for a great filmmaker, with many things lost and many things gained in translation. Naked Lunch is another great film in this mode.
07/23/09
The sky over the Chiabatsu was the colour of television tuned to a dead channel.
It's a perfect metaphor for the entire story.
Film makes use of visual metaphors, it's true, but it always seemed to me that you couldn't recreate that literary metaphor without either seeming cheesy or bizarre (as with a voice-over or a visual effect), or losing the image entirely.
Neuromancer is filled with poetry like that, which can only be communicated in words. How about this one?
His mouth filled with an aching taste of blue. His eyes were eggs of unstable crystal, vibrating with a frequency whose name was rain and the sound of trains, suddenly sprouting a humming forest of hair-fine glass spines...
I am not sure how "his mouth filled with an aching taste of blue" can be properly translated into film, but I guess we'll see how this new movie turns out... Maybe I'm too attached to Gibson's prose--but damn if it isn't great prose!
07/23/09
I think you could make a movie following the basic story of Neuromancer, sure, but feel like it would definitely be lacking something in mood and tone. Plus, I bet it would look just like Blade Runner visually.
07/23/09
It'll probably make for a decent film, but I doubt that it can really come close to the book. I suppose it's cliche to say that, but in this case it seems like the book and the film will be entirely different experiences.
07/23/09
Jonas Akerlund did some interesting shots in "Spun" to visually depict the effects of crystal meth on the protagonist. A movie of Neuromancer would be heightened if it could translate some of those metaphors and synesthetic effects to film. Why not show him pop the speed tablet, followed by his eyes turning to crystal and his spine turning into a steel rod?
07/23/09
07/23/09
I always thought Snow Crash would work quite well as a movie. It's already very "action-movie" cinematic with it's sword fights, motorcycle chases and BFG.
The only tough part would be the librarian's ancient history info dumps, but the right director could make it work.
07/23/09
Snow Crash could work, but the Metaverse is a bit too close to Second Life now to be cutting-edge.
Now, how's about The Baroque Trilogy?:)
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
the only way to keep this story honourable to the past, is to have a sprawling 3 part epic movie. This epic movie would be coupled with mini-cutaway shortfilms splintered throughout, in 'Arrested Development/Family Guy'-esque format.
in other words, no one should touch this novel.
07/23/09
On second thought though, you'd have to give some scenes really short shrift, which would be unfortunate. A television mini-series is probably the best format for putting "Jonathon Strange" on the screen.
07/23/09
07/23/09
Dhalgren would be my serious choice.
07/23/09
jf
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09