Comments on: Movies With A Literary Bent http://carversdog.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/movies-with-a-literary-bent/ Fiction and Musings From L.A.'s Most Far-Flung Suburb Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:11:04 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Rodger Jacobs http://carversdog.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/movies-with-a-literary-bent/#comment-1438 Rodger Jacobs Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:58:12 +0000 http://carversdog.wordpress.com/?p=164#comment-1438 I was hired to write a screenplay adaptation, many years ago, of Richard Brautigan's novel <i>The Hawkline Monster</i> but at the 11th hour there were rights issues with the Brautigan estate and the movie project was shelved. Cinema and literature are two entirely different mediums that rarely blend well. Stanley Kubrick was very good at the style you suggest, adapting movies from novels that are faithful only to the spirit of the book, but not necessarily to the plot nuances: <i>Lolita</i> <i>The Shining</i> <i>Barry Lyndon</i> <i>Clockwork Orange</i> I was hired to write a screenplay adaptation, many years ago, of Richard Brautigan’s novel The Hawkline Monster but at the 11th hour there were rights issues with the Brautigan estate and the movie project was shelved.

Cinema and literature are two entirely different mediums that rarely blend well. Stanley Kubrick was very good at the style you suggest, adapting movies from novels that are faithful only to the spirit of the book, but not necessarily to the plot nuances:

Lolita
The Shining
Barry Lyndon
Clockwork Orange

]]> By: Sandy http://carversdog.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/movies-with-a-literary-bent/#comment-1436 Sandy Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:45:13 +0000 http://carversdog.wordpress.com/?p=164#comment-1436 It's always fascinated - and frustrated! - me how some directors translate a book into film so faithfully that it only serves to produce an immense gulf. I'd rather the director take great liberties, using cinematic resources to reproduce the feel of the book. The target should be the spirit, not the letter of the law. The last Gatsby with Redford and Farrow (shudder) had everything right but it came out all wrong. Omigod, Rodger, you should be writing screen adaptations! It’s always fascinated – and frustrated! – me how some directors translate a book into film so faithfully that it only serves to produce an immense gulf. I’d rather the director take great liberties, using cinematic resources to reproduce the feel of the book. The target should be the spirit, not the letter of the law. The last Gatsby with Redford and Farrow (shudder) had everything right but it came out all wrong.

Omigod, Rodger, you should be writing screen adaptations!

]]> By: David N. Scott http://carversdog.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/movies-with-a-literary-bent/#comment-1430 David N. Scott Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:17:28 +0000 http://carversdog.wordpress.com/?p=164#comment-1430 Sure, hit me up! Sure, hit me up!

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