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There have been a lot of great film adaptations over the years, including ones like The Godfather where the movie is vastly better than the book, and ones like Jurassic Park where it’s a tough call which one is better.
But which adaptation most captured the spirit of the underlying book? Which one felt most faithful to the vision of the novel?
There are so many contenders, but I think I’d go with Never Let Me Go.
What’s your pick?
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I think about this a lot. Surprisingly ANNIHILATION does a good job despite only bearing a resemblance to the plot of the original book it’s adapted from. It works because film functions differently from novels and by changing to plot to a more condensed and streamlined story Garland’s able to concentrate on the atmosphere and themes that make the book compelling.
And of course there’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN where the Coen Brothers might have well just used the book as the screenplay, and trusting themselves and their audience to be drawn into the quiet parts like a reader savors McCarthy’s prose.
The Princess Bride totally captures the spirit of the book *even though* they totally changed the frame (for the better, honestly).
In general, I try to see a movie adaptation before I read the book.
Since the film is almost always inferior to the book, if I read the book first I tend to be very disappointed in the movie. But if I see the movie first and like it, it doesn’t spoil the book for me because it actually helps by putting faces on each of the characters and bringing the settings to life, even if the film is ultimately not what I consider a good adaptation.
I’m gonna go with The Hours — three distinct characters whose stories, though separated by decades and continents, are seamlessly knit. The book feels un-filmable, since its dramatic tension is so introspective. Yet, on the strength of an incredible screenplay that’s brought to life by a legendary performance from Nicole Kidman, the movie stays true to Cunningham’s novel and Woolf’s theme that people can be intimately connected by external events even if they never meet.
Apple TV’s adaptation of Foundation is excellent. It was considered an unadaptable project, and it works very well as a TV show. The show tries to be true to the spirit of the book(s) while creating strong characters to follow.
Lucifer was one of my favorite shows when it was on, especially when it was picked up by Netflix and switched to shorter seasons, which served the overarching plot arcs better than a longer season on network TV. The character development over the series was fantastic, and it’s one of the few shows that nailed the ending. I prefer it to the comic books.
Sandman is a faithful adaptation, and as the comic creator—Neil Gaiman—is also in charge of it, it’s clearly true to his vision. While the middle episodes meandered a bit, the final three episodes of the first season of Sandman were fantastic.
Jane Eyre has been adapted well over the years. Maybe not the very early film, but certainly from the 90’s on.
Dickens and Jane Austen’s work, too.
Of all the adaptations I’ve seen, To Kill A Mockingbird is my winner, hands down.
For me, the films where Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot is played by David Suchet are the best adaptation of a character. Poirot looms so large in the story that not getting him right negatively affects all of it.
I found American Fiction an entertaining film but the book it was based on, Erasure by Percival Everett, grittier, deeper, and more thought-provoking. American Fiction hit the surface, Erasure hit the core with humor, accessible narrative, and literary asides.
Once again, an excellent question, Mr. (former) Agent Man.
Sorry for the late reply.
For me, the answer is simple if not a little controversial, and an opinion I’ve held since the movie adaptation I hold in such high opinion came out: “The Razor’s Edge.”
W. Somerset Maugham’s classic, “The Razor’s Edge,” is set in a time not so different, even now, from our own, about a century ago: the 1920s.
Bill Murray – yes, THAT Bill Murray, the Saturday Night Live alum and pal of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd (another, in my opinion, seriously underrated actor) – who portrayed Maugham’s protagonist, in essence, a ‘holy’ man trying to remain ‘holy’ while in the world – should have won an Oscar for the performance. He didn’t, because he “wasn’t funny enough.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087980/
The movie adaptation I think better, even, than the book, with Murray, came out in 1984. Nearly 40 years after it was written, and about a time 60 years before. And probably around a year after, browsing a flea market in Texas, I came upon a copy of the book my first literary agent – Ray Puechner – said my work-in-progress, at the time, reminded him of (Published in 2013 as ‘Kashi.’) Inside the First Edition copy of the book was pressed in wax a four-leafed clover.
Before debating me on this, I recommend your readers read Maugham’s seminal work, and watch the movie version with Murray in it.
(It also stars Denholm Elliott, cast perfectly as “Elliott Templeton,” reminiscent of Edith Wharton’s actual love, Walter Van Rensellaer Berry, a diplomat who spent most of his life in France, and Theresa Russell and Catherine Hicks).
For a recent pick, I loved the adaptation of “Lessons in Chemistry.” They truly captured the spirit of the times.
Slough House series by Mick Herron and the tv adaptation:
a tie. Seldom will you see a witty house of characters so adeptly and accurately portrayed on the screen (although the book series begins to dribble lightly by the 8th book).
Sometimes in my writing workshops I invite the opposite: I remember becomes I don’t remember, for example.
I think of this in pondering how to answer “Which adaptation best captured the spirit of the book?”
I think the series on Apple TV, “Lessons in Chemistry” captures the spirit of the book. But, there are so many changes . . . it’s the same story, but with very different details.
Both the book and the series were good. If I had to say which was better: I’d say the book.