UK poster for 2011 Jane Eyre movie
The question:
Do you like movies made from books? Which ones do you think have been done well — kept mostly to the plot of the book, etc?
Well, I never like the movie as much as I did the book. As you know if you love to read, you have a mental image in your mind of what's going on in the book--what a certain character looks like, etc. My vision of what the book "looks like" rarely matches the movie.
Also, having to squeeze a story into two hours of film time means much of the book gets omitted. Which is why I often enjoy the BBC mini-series of books more than movies made from them.
What really bothers me is if the movie takes major liberties with the plot, or even changes the author's philosophy or views. For example, although I enjoy seeing the Narnia books brought to life, C.S. Lewis's Christian worldview seems diluted or put on the back burner to me.
I thought the recent Jane Eyre movie did a very good job of condensing the book into a film while still being as true to the book as possible. Mia Wasikowska is my favorite movie Jane yet. As I've said before, she managed to be plain while still radiating a certain beauty.
Gone With the Wind was probably one of the best movies made from a book. It did an amazing job of capturing the book on film...and I did read the book before seeing the movie.
Below are some pictures from movies made from books. And if you're interested, you can go here for a list of the Top 100 Movies Based from Books.
I'm not a Harry Potter of Twilight fan, but it seems to me most fans are happy with the way the books translated to film.
How about you? Do you have a favorite movie made from a book?
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