Let’s review some books vs movies
The Hunger Games
isn’t one of my favorite books, but I got sucked in by the action and worldbuilding. The characters were compelling, and I loved the interaction between Katniss and Peeta.
And then – along came that movie. Holy miscasting!
Look, I love Jennifer Lawrence. Her talent blazes as brightly as that skirt in the talk show scene. However, I just did not picture Katniss looking like that.
And Peeta! Josh Hutcherson, again, is a good actor, but I pictured Peeta as a strapping, blond guy whose bravery and compassion overshadows the baker role society has dealt him, NOT as a worried-looking little kid who seems to be wondering where his iPod is.
Too bad he’s overshadowed so completely by the dark good looks of Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. What a shame.
Dear Directors: Pitiful casting, and you have to deal with it through two more movies. Let’s hope poor Josh grows up, and quickly.
Jane Eyre
My favorite book of all time is notoriously difficult to translate into a movie, although many directors have attempted it. And why is that?
I think those of us who love Jane have specific ideas of what Mr. Rochester looks like (NOT William Hurt, for example) as well as Jane herself, of course. Also, every director seems to ignore the fact of St. John’s male beauty and the voluptuous, dark-haired physique of Blanche Ingram.
Most of all, however, the dialog in the book is simply unusable. Who says, for example, “It will atone — it will atone. Have I not found her friendless, and cold, and comfortless? Will I not guard, and cherish, and solace her? Is there not love in my heart, and constancy in my resolves? It will expiate at God’s tribunal…”
Yeah, people just don’t talk like that, even in the 19th century, especially when “she” is in your arms and you are talking to your own conscience. It works in the book, when you’re inside that Gothic atmosphere, but in a movie – not so much.
For that reason, my favorite version of Jane Eyre is by good old PBS, since they took many necessary liberties with the language, and Jane’s own independent character shines forth as a result.
Dear Jane Eyre Directors: Instead please make movies of Wuthering Heights, which is presdestined for the screen with its brutal action and take-no-prisoners dialog.
The Great Gatsby
is luminous, incredible – when I taught American Lit, my students either loved or hated the book. Some of them fell in love with Jay. Others thought it was “stupid.”
All of them hated the original movie, and I can understand why. It was supremely miscast – I’m a big Robert Redford fan, but he was just wrong for the part. Mira Farrow couldn’t have been worse.
Now there is a new movie out. I like the director and the cast, although I would love to see a Daisy with black hair. How about it, Gatsby directors?
Dear Gatsby Directors: I still have hope.
Cloud Atlas
When I read the book later, I knew I had chosen the correct order of operations. If I had started with the novel, I would have been lost. The film gave me enough of a map, as though it were an actual atlas, to understand and fall in love with the story.
Dear directors: Great job.
And here are a few more open letters :
Dear Hobbit Directors: What happened?
Dear Narnia Directors: I’m afraid the kids have all grown up now, and it might be too late.
Dear Twilight Directors: I actually supported you up to the very last movie. Holy unintentionally funny adaptation.
Dear Harry Potter Directors: You rock… that is all.
Share your favorite adaptations or those directors that got it wrong in the comments.