Last week I wrote about the fight to keep the film version of Brokeback Mountain as close to its Annie Proulx short-story source material as possible. Here’s some of what you had to say about literary adaptations.
Stephanie H. wrote: “I agree that Brokeback Mountain is a perfect adaptation. I think another one of the most successful screenplay adaptations is The Princess Bride, and I attribute that 100% to the fact that it was written by the author of the book, William Goldman. While the movie differs in a lot of ways from the book, the joy and comedy of it translate perfectly, and now I think of both as separate but equal pieces of media to enjoy - in fact, it's the only title in both my top-5 favorite books AND movies list. To quote Westley, ‘I've never seen its equal.’”
Linda C. wrote: “I cut my teeth on Proulx’s short stories and [Larry] McMurtry’s novels. Lonesome Dove and Brokeback Mountain are two titles that hit the [right] note on the page and on the screen. These two formats require different techniques and the results are not identical. Yet in most cases screenwriters who change dialogue in their adaptations lose meaning and character in the process. It takes a powerful writer to develop characters from words. Especially dialogue. Let them be heard.”
Taryn B. wrote: “One of my fav film adaptations is Stephen King’s The Mist from 2007. [Editor’s note: spoilers for The Mist ahead!] It’s a novella that was pretty spot on with the movie until the ending. The book ended with them just driving with no destination. The movie turned dark with the main character killing everyone (including his son) thinking he’s protecting them only to be rescued seconds later. It’s so disturbing, so painful, and so realistic. This is one time Hollywood got it right.”
See you next week!
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