Seven Terrific Films That Are Truly Poor Adaptations
Published May 13, 2008
It is certain that as long as new written works are being developed and released to the general public, there will continue to be a host of films that do not accurately reflect the material in the text. Yet in many cases this fact should not be enough reason to completely avoid these particular films. While there are certainly countless weak adaptations of books that are truly terrible films, there are also a considerable number of films that miss the point of the source and still succeed in being cinematic gems. We are told not to judge a book by its cover; perhaps we should also strive not to judge a film by its book.
- Seven Terrific Films That Are Truly Poor Adaptations
- Published: May 13, 2008
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: SF, Video: Horror, Video: Drama, Video: Comedy, Video: Classics, Video: Art House
- Writer: Michael Clayton
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Another good example is Children of Men, not even close to the novel but in many ways superior.
Good call on Children of Men; as for Clockwork Orange, yes the controversial final chapter was cut, but the majority of the film adapted the novel quite well; it very closely resembled what was on the page, and the main reason the whole meaning was even changed was because of the exclusion of that one chapter. His other adaptations, on the other hand, are extremely different from their film counterparts.
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"A Clockwork Orange...faithful adaptation."
Kubrick cut the last chapter and changed the whole meaning of Burgess' work. But it still worked for me.