Book to Movie Critique

The Problem with Screenplay Adaptations...

Lately, my sister and I have been discussing what important factors are needed in a good movie adaptation of a book. We have both read quite a few books that have been adapted into movies and lately we have both reached the conclusion that these movies are just not worth watching. Most of the time movies must abandon proper character development to save the plot, and the movie goers looses the imaginary freedom that the reader has when they are reading.

1.       Character Development & Character Integrity

This is often the most important thing that is given up when adapting a book into a screenplay. Books have enough time to offer a reason to like the characters and truly understand what motivates them and how the characters reason. Many times my favorite movies (and my sister has concurred that her favorite too) are often times movies where the character relates to my own personality. These characters I can instantly relate to with very little character development because I can easily put myself into their position. Books I can relate to characters that have a personality that is very different from my own.

For instance, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We learn a lot about Lisbeth Salander and in the mean time several horrible things are happening around the character. If we take away all of the character development from the book we are simply left with a murder mystery, a rape, and a love affair that seems to make very little sense. Actually why each of the characters would even involve themselves in the murder investigation to begin with is a bit strange without any additional character development.  The plot of the book is not what the book is about, but that is what movies are about. So when we leave it to people who need to make a movie from a book, the most important elements are often left out.

In our discussions Danielle (my sister) and I have decided that it would almost be better to watch a movie where the adaptation did not directly follow the book. Taking liberties with the story will allow people to watch something new, with familiar characters without exactly trying to be the book.

A fine example can be seen in The Count of Monte Cristo. In the movie (the newest version) there are aspects of the movie that deviate extremely far from the book, some portions are even made up entirely. These changes, however, allow the story to keep the integrity of the characters and allow the viewer to understand the story in a new way.

2.       Imaginary Freedom

This is one of the most important aspects in books, which have no way of transferring to movies. It is simply a loss when we go to the movies. I think I mentioned this when I was discussing the Picture of Dorian Gray by one of the most interesting elements of the book was that I was able to imagine who the most handsome man alive was. I would discuss this with Danielle (as she was reading at the same time as me) and I could tell that her Dorian looked nothing like mine. The attic room where the picture was kept was not like mine, how he hid the picture was not the same either.

When books are adapted into movies we loose this freedom of imagination and we must conform to quality of set production, movie budges, and the creative eye of the cast and crew. This problem can be partially solved by changing the plot and keeping character integrity.

Having a character have the same personality and understanding the character’s mindset will not be subject to the imagination. Character development is rarely a given imaginary freedom in a book. It is the one thing that is set in stone. If a movie where to take this idea and make sure that the most important feature of the movie is the character development and not the plot (like the Count of Monte Cristo) then we don’t have to worry about loosing that imaginary freedom, because  the plot will not be the same, and the images in our mind from the book will not pertain to the images that we will see on the screen.