Question: Film Better Than The Book?
I know that most of the time the book is *far* better than the film. A good example of this is the second version of Escape to Witch Mountain, or as I like to call it: The Purple Monstrosity. The book was *so* much better than that film. (The book was better than the first movie, too, but by a much smaller margin.) Other times, the book and the movie complement each other quite well, each showing their own strengths, in effect making them *as good as* (or nearly as good as) the book. I like to use The Princess Diaries as my example for this sort of thing. The book and the movie had many of the same elements, but they really end up being more like two different versions of a similar story. (Which really worked for me. I like that kind of story.) Return from Witch Mountain is a good example of a film that was *very* faithful to the book, and actually managed to keep the spirit of the book intact too. That’s actually a very difficult balance to maintain. Of course, the rarest of all is the film that was better than the book. Which brings me to today’s question. I’m curious. How many of you out there have encountered a filmed version of a book that you thought was better than the book itself? I can only think of one example off of the top of my head, and that’s Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Yes, I really didn’t like the book, but I *loved* the film. (I’m not that big a fan of the mini-series, though.) What about you?
Escape to Witch Mountain, The Princess Diaries, Return from Witch Mountain, Cold Comfort Farm
April 18th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Great topic! In my experience, the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. Funny you post this because tomorrow I am doing a post on the top ten gay and lesbian books to read. I also suggest a couple of other titles, including The Kite Runner. I hear they are turning this book into a movie and I say - read the book first!!!
April 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Joyce Maynard’s To Die For. MUCH better movie; the story really needed the visual medium, especially at the end.
April 18th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Thanks for the heads up, Lyndsey! If I get a chance I’ll link to your post.
Susan, glad to see that I’m not the only one who has encountered this phenomenon.