Some great books have been made into wonderful films. Some have suffered greatly in the transition from page to screen. Here’s my take in no particular order, what’s yours?
Great book, great film
- The English Patient. Michael Ondaatje’s gorgeous prose was translated into vividly haunting imagery, and all the actors were excellent.
- Pride and Prejudice. The BBC TV series with Colin Firth as Darcy, of course.
- Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Jennifer Lawrence stars in the film by Debra Granik.
- The Wife. Book by Meg Wolitzer. The film’s plot is a bit simplified from the book, but Glenn Close carries the film.
- Brokeback Mountain. Deeply atmospheric story by Annie Proulx, gorgeous film by Ang Lee.
- A Flight of Pigeons/Junoon The Ruskin Bond book made into a film by Shyam Benegal
- The Last Picture Show — the film captured the ethos of Larry McMurtry’s smalltown Texas very well, and launched the careers of several actors.
- Atonement? I need to reread the book to be sure, but the movie had some memorable scenes.
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – with Alec Guiness as George Smiley.
- Holes. Louis Sachar’s book is one of the best young-adult adventure stories out there, and the film was spot on.
- Slow Horses Mick Herron’s books and the TV series are both such fun.
- All the President’s Men Even if the story was compressed in the movie, it captured the thrill of the Watergate affair and made typewriters seem exciting. And for once, the good guys came out ahead.
- Stand by Me. Short story by Stephen King made into a lovely coming-of-age film.
Great book -> Disastrous film/TV
- All the Light We Cannot See. A complex and nuanced Pulitzer-winning book about a German soldier and a blind French girl in WWII was converted into a ludicrously simplistic Netflix TV drama with cartoonishly evil Nazis and nobly brave Frenchpeople. Set in a small town on the French coast, everyone spoke English in the film (made in 2024!). At least the Germans had German accents, while the ‘French’ spoke in a hilariously inconsistent mix of propah British and American accents.
- The Hobbit. Tolkien’s delightful short prologue to the Lord of the Rings saga, made into an endless tedious (3 long movies!) saga. Pretty but pointless, even with Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Self-indulgence by the director Peter Jackson.
Terrible book -> good film
An unlikely category on the face of it, but I guess it’s a testament to scriptwriters!
- The Bourne Identity. I challenge anyone to make it all the way through the turgid prose of the book, but the film pulled some actual plot from that mess, and is taut and well acted.
- The Devil Wears Prada but only because Meryl Streep ruled the film from that first entrance stepping off the elevator.
- The Godfather? The prose is kind of plodding and full of uninteresting tangents, but the Coppola movie is very good.
Agree? Disagree?
This was interesting, though I don’t know as many films as you do! Of the few I know…yes, Hobbit was a disappointment on film – the stringing it out over 3 movies made no sense. Guess it was not about making sense, it was about making money. Peter Jackson disappointed here. Oh I remember reading Mario Puzo’s Godfather as a child – it made a big impression on me! But maybe it does not have as much literary merit, I can’t remember…. Yes, Ang Lee is a great director! I look forward to watching Slow Horses, having loved the book series. One of the British series which had good books and super series is Yes Minister, and Yes Prime Minister!
I remember your mentioning Brooklyn being a good read and a good movie – I agree with the good read, haven’t seen the movie yet. What about the Chet series? We loved the books, but I have some fleeting memory you said the TV series was not so great- or did I hallucinate that? 🙂 Also, you mentioned the Jackson Brodie series – again, we both loved the books! – was also good on film. Now this one, I am pretty sure you said this to me!
BTW, have you watched the recent release of Conclave? I missed it when it was on in the cinema, will have to catch up later. The Robert Harris book was okay, not bad, not scintillating, but fascinating because of the topic.
Overall, maybe not surprising your list of good books and good films is longest – either because you remember more of those, or logically, good books set up good plots and scripts – though not all books can be made into films, nor are they all intended to be! It is sad when good books are made into disastrous films. And surprising when the opposite happens – I guess sometimes what doesn’t work as a book so well, has great visuals and potential on screen. All goes to show there are multiple forms a narrative can take, some work best visually, some textually, some can be done well in both forms.
This was a fun one, Susan.
I agree with The English Patient aand All the President’s Men (gosh, it’s been decades since I read that one) – both the books and movies were wonderful. For me, the film edges out the book in the case of The English Patient.
The Godfather – I liked the book and the movie. Read the book after movie and then watched the movie again.
When I tried to think about book>movie, I had to go way back.
In the ‘Great book and film’ category:
Tess (1979) and Tess of the D’urbervilles by Thomas Hardy – read the book in jr. high; the movie several years later brought it to life.
Out of Africa – both were wondeful but, if I remember correctly, I thought the book was a little better – the movie probably had to leave some things out.
Gone With the Wind – liked both, with the movie edging out the book (perhaps that’s sacrilege but…Clark Gable).
Pygmalion – Loved ‘My Fair Lady’ as a kid, before I knew it was ‘Pygmalion’ – read the book many times in my teens and 20s. Laugh out loud funny.
‘Movie better than book’:
Slumdog Millionaire – I thought the book was going to be better but…it wasn’t.
The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman, 1967) – I read the book (c.1963) in my teen years. Bo-ring. The movie was awesome, of course.
Great Expectations – Dickens was required reading in school; can’t say this one moved me but, in 1974 there was a made-for-TV film with Michael York – I still remember a couple scenes from it.
Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland – when you watch the movie annually as a child and then, as an adult, finally read the books….the films keep getting in the way of the book.
‘Book way better than movie’:
The Exorcist – I wasn’t permitted to see the movie when it came out so I read the book (which somehow was okay with my parents – go figure). I couldn’t put the book down-finished it in one weekend. Years later I tried watching the movie and couldn’t – so fake and not at all unnerving.
‘Wish I’d never seen the movie’:
Carrie (Stephen King) – ‘Everyone’ in high school was reading this and then went to see the film when it released. I guess one could say the movie was ‘very’ good, given it left me with nightmares.
great story -> sensational movie
Lust, Caution (Eileen Chang, Ang Le)
Full enjoyment of original unfortunately marred by my lack of Mandarin
Ah, Lust Caution is on my Amazon list, thanks for the reminder.
Reeta, I too loved Out of Africa at the time, Meryl Streep and all. But now, it’s just a bit too colonialist-fantasy for me… one more novel where the small personal problems of the white protagonists are in the foreground with the massive complex issues of the colonized continent and its non-white ‘natives’ in the background.
Lisa, I didn’t know the Yes Minister series were from books! The TV series is hilarious.
Same for The Graduate — it’s a book? Love the movie and the music.
Can’t comment on the horror genre — I’m far too chicken to watch or read those! (Even the poster of Alien, with Sigourney Weaver and that snake thing dripping venom, gives me unpleasant goosebumps)