Books as Movies: Taking it to a New Level

In a previous post I wrote about books as movies. This weekend I took that to a new level. I went with Neal to see a live performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That happens to be one of his favorite stories. He has read the book by Ian Fleming twice; he’s seen the movie a minimum of 25 times (the title song was the first he ever attempted to sing once he started hearing); and he’s seen the live stage version. Now, I’m wondering more than what books others liked as movies, or which they would like to see as a movie. I’m wondering why people want to experience the same story in so many different ways in the first place.

I think for Neal, it’s a simple matter of loving the story and not being able to get enough of it. I thought about it, and for me, it seems to be based on a desire to test human abilities. I want to see what people can do with a story. I want to know if someone can make Katniss in The Hunger Games look like a girl on fire. I want to see how close a car can come to looking like it’s flying on stage. When I read Fight Club long after seeing the movie, I wanted to see for myself how the author managed to keep the reader in the dark about the reality of the two main characters’ identities. Those are just a few examples, but the more I think about it, the more I’m sure that for me, the reason to experience the same thing in many different ways is because I’m curious about human capabilities, not because I can’t get enough of a story. How about you?

Books as Movies: Picture It

Being a self absorbed American, I have to assume that everyone is the same as I am. That means, everyone who reads a book constantly pictures it as a movie. Every once in a while, I read a book after seeing the movie, or when I already know a movie is in the process of being made from it, which adds a different spin to it, but most of the time, I can’t stop analyzing how good the book I’m reading would or would not play as a movie. Often I get anxious for someone to make the book into a movie so that I can compare how others picture the characters or settings to how I have, or see what someone else thought were the most important parts of the story line, etc. Sometimes a movie is made, and sometimes it turns out just how I pictured it. Other times I wonder if the person who adapted the story even read the book. Below are a few examples of books gone right and books gone wrong as movies in my opinion, as well as the book I want most to see made into a movie right now and why. Please follow up with your own experiences: What book adaptations have lived up to your expectations? Which were the worst? What story are you waiting to be made into a movie right now?

An example of a book that was adapted beautifully to me is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of course there were some things in the movie that didn’t follow exactly with what was written in the book, but overall, the feeling of magic and strength translated well on film. Prince Caspian was less impressive to me, but still decent as a movie. I hope that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader does in fact make it to the theater because, of all of the Chronicles of Narnia books, it is the one I most see as a big cinematic experience.

A book that was butchered at the theater recently was The City of Ember. When my kids and I first heard that a movie was being made of that book, we were so excited. It is one of their favorites and seemed like it would be pretty easy to adapt without losing its substance. When I found out Bill Murray was playing the mayor though, I knew it was in trouble. Not because I have anything against Bill Murray, but because they were obviously making a big deal out of the wrong character from the book. I knew it was a sign that it was being taken in the wrong direction, and after seeing the movie, I know now that that was just the tip of the iceberg. Adding a big huge sewer creature to the story? Come on.

The book I have most recently read and would love to see as a movie is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Do you see a theme here with me reading a lot of young adult fiction to my kids?). As I was reading this book to my son, I actually stopped at one point and said, “I hope this gets made into a movie because I really want to see how they envision Katniss’s dress.” If I were to make a prediction, it would be that any movie producer who reads this book will snap it up. I think it’s got many timely themes packed into it: War and poverty, and the affects they have on kids; Government as oppressor; Reality TV and the dangers of going too far with it, etc. I can just picture it…