Click for Source Image By Samantha Payne
Film adaptations, the phrase now fills me with dread. Why? It all began with the announcement of the first Harry Potter movie. The little excited nine year old that was me, waited with eager anticipation with her big brother; who by the way was the one who read the first book to her. She watched the movie with wide eyes, feeling the thrill when she recognised scenes from her beloved book. She and her brother discussed, at length, the merits of the film; only discovering a few minor things left out but it was otherwise an excellent film. Slightly older now, she went to see the second film and was much the same impressed by its accurate portrayal of the story. It was the third film that her disappointment in the film series began. The changes and story elements that were missing were starting to become more glaringly obvious to her and she found herself not being able to enjoy the movie because of them. This disappointment grew as the series progressed. She loved the actors who played the familiar characters but it was the distorted way in which the story was told that disturbed her. This experience is why I no longer trust a film adaptation of a book to be anything compared to the book itself.
Film adaptations, the phrase now fills me with dread. Why? It all began with the announcement of the first Harry Potter movie. The little excited nine year old that was me, waited with eager anticipation with her big brother; who by the way was the one who read the first book to her. She watched the movie with wide eyes, feeling the thrill when she recognised scenes from her beloved book. She and her brother discussed, at length, the merits of the film; only discovering a few minor things left out but it was otherwise an excellent film. Slightly older now, she went to see the second film and was much the same impressed by its accurate portrayal of the story. It was the third film that her disappointment in the film series began. The changes and story elements that were missing were starting to become more glaringly obvious to her and she found herself not being able to enjoy the movie because of them. This disappointment grew as the series progressed. She loved the actors who played the familiar characters but it was the distorted way in which the story was told that disturbed her. This experience is why I no longer trust a film adaptation of a book to be anything compared to the book itself.
Click for Source Image In my opinion the only the film adaptations that were marginally successful were the ones directed by the great Peter Jackson. As he is well known for being a perfectionist and his attention to detail, he was the perfect choice for a film being made from such a detailed, incredibly well-written master piece as The Lord of the Rings by the much loved J.R.R. Tolkien. They were the only film adaptations that I could watch without crying out in anger from the inaccuracies that seem to plague the Harry Potter movies. I believe this was so because I read the books after I had seen the movies; the best way to enjoy film adaptations in my opinion.
Now don’t get me wrong, the movies were a great success and I don’t think they could have chosen better actors for the roles; but I cannot watch a single movie without feeling the anguish that they could have been so much better. They changed and missed out so many little things. I mean, for goodness sake, they completely left out Peeves! I know he isn’t an essential character but he offered equal comic relief and annoyances in the books that would have made him great in a movie role. With my rant over, I will say that on their own, they are amazing films but being an avid fan of the book series I cannot watch the movies without seeing Rowling as a sell-out. I couldn’t stand back and watch as film makers essentially picked over my work like a flock of vultures, discarding what they didn’t want and just using ‘movie’ material. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Rowling, I just wished she had been more involved with the making of what was essentially her movies.
With that I move on to another two film adaptations that I personally found disappointing; Dan Brown’s controversial novels The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. I have loved all the novels that have featured Robert Langdon and have read them all, with the exception of Inferno, more than once. Tom Hanks was the best choice for the humble Harvard University professor, bringing sophistication to the role that I don’t think any other actor could or should. I will also note that though Sir Ian McKellen’s character looks nothing like the character in the book, I found his portrayal of him more to my taste. That might just be because I adore the man as an actor. I digress. It is the film Angels & Demons that disappointed me most. If it wasn’t for the fact that the makers of said film changed such an intrinsic part of the story, I would have found it much more enjoyable. I will not say what part that is as I don’t believe in giving away spoilers no matter how long a film or book has been available to experience. All I will say is watch the movies first if you want to enjoy them as they are or read the books first to not ruin the thrill of plot twists that are rife in any of Dan Brown’s books.
Now don’t get me wrong, the movies were a great success and I don’t think they could have chosen better actors for the roles; but I cannot watch a single movie without feeling the anguish that they could have been so much better. They changed and missed out so many little things. I mean, for goodness sake, they completely left out Peeves! I know he isn’t an essential character but he offered equal comic relief and annoyances in the books that would have made him great in a movie role. With my rant over, I will say that on their own, they are amazing films but being an avid fan of the book series I cannot watch the movies without seeing Rowling as a sell-out. I couldn’t stand back and watch as film makers essentially picked over my work like a flock of vultures, discarding what they didn’t want and just using ‘movie’ material. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Rowling, I just wished she had been more involved with the making of what was essentially her movies.
With that I move on to another two film adaptations that I personally found disappointing; Dan Brown’s controversial novels The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. I have loved all the novels that have featured Robert Langdon and have read them all, with the exception of Inferno, more than once. Tom Hanks was the best choice for the humble Harvard University professor, bringing sophistication to the role that I don’t think any other actor could or should. I will also note that though Sir Ian McKellen’s character looks nothing like the character in the book, I found his portrayal of him more to my taste. That might just be because I adore the man as an actor. I digress. It is the film Angels & Demons that disappointed me most. If it wasn’t for the fact that the makers of said film changed such an intrinsic part of the story, I would have found it much more enjoyable. I will not say what part that is as I don’t believe in giving away spoilers no matter how long a film or book has been available to experience. All I will say is watch the movies first if you want to enjoy them as they are or read the books first to not ruin the thrill of plot twists that are rife in any of Dan Brown’s books.
Click for Source Image I will now introduce what I found to be the most disappointing of all the film adaptations I have watched: Eragon. I was naively excited when I heard the news that one of my much loved books was going to appear on the big screen. I remember thinking to myself that they couldn’t possibly mess it up; one of the main characters is a freakin’ dragon. Oh how wrong I was. My lip now turns into a disgusted sneer whenever I see or hear the movie mentioned. So many unnecessary story elements were changed, such as Arya having ginger hair?!? I mean seriously, the elves in the books are described as only ever having silver or black hair; so where the heck did ginger come from? The main creature enemies look nothing to what their described as in the books, just burly-looking Vikings with face paint. The only thing I liked about the movie was how Saphira appeared; she looked beautiful and majestic; just how I imagined her. Other than that, the movie is a terrible representative to what I found to be a fantastic book regardless of what the book critics say. It was Paolini’s Eragon that first inspired me to seriously start writing fantasy, so that author will always hold a special place in my heart with the inspiration he gave me.
To sum up, I believe that if a book is to be made into a film, it should follow the story exactly. It’s okay to miss out unimportant scenes as long as it doesn’t affect the flow of the narrative. To completely change a storyline, like they did in Eragon, is maddening for me and I’m sure a lot of readers will agree. I know many people will argue and say that the films are only based on the book. I will try and counter that argument by saying as someone who has read the book it’s based on, I still expect the film to resemble the book in its narrative and the characters to be portrayed as they are described (excluding Sir Ian McKellan’s portrayal of Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code, just saying!) In future adaptations, I hope the movie producers are little more sensitive towards the community of readers behind the book and more importantly that the authors themselves are more involved with its creation.
To sum up, I believe that if a book is to be made into a film, it should follow the story exactly. It’s okay to miss out unimportant scenes as long as it doesn’t affect the flow of the narrative. To completely change a storyline, like they did in Eragon, is maddening for me and I’m sure a lot of readers will agree. I know many people will argue and say that the films are only based on the book. I will try and counter that argument by saying as someone who has read the book it’s based on, I still expect the film to resemble the book in its narrative and the characters to be portrayed as they are described (excluding Sir Ian McKellan’s portrayal of Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code, just saying!) In future adaptations, I hope the movie producers are little more sensitive towards the community of readers behind the book and more importantly that the authors themselves are more involved with its creation.
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