Mario Cordina on Film Literary Adaptations Part 1

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1 Facts 
Film adaptations include novels, autobiographies, journalism, comic books, scriptures, plays and even other films. Between 1994 -2013 58% films were film book adaptations. Other film adaptations are based on plays, musicals, theatre performances, documentaries, T.V. shows and even video games.
The Harry Potter Series and Lord of the Rings trilogy are amongst the most successful films of the past decade. Some adaptations have lasted throughout from the very birth of cinema till today. These include the many adaptations of Frankenstein, Dracula, Shakespeare's Plays, James Bond etc.

There have been instances of novelists who have worked from their own screenplays to create novels at nearly the same time as a film. Both Arthur C. Clarke, with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Graham Greene, with The Third Man, have worked from their own film ideas to a novel form (although the novel version of The Third Man was written more to aid in the development of the screenplay than for the purposes of being released as a novel). Both John Sayles and Ingmar Bergman write their film ideas as novels before they begin producing them as films, although neither director has allowed these prose treatments to be published. "Wikipedia."

2 Differences. 

Visualisation
The major difference between books and film is that visual images stimulate our perceptions directly, while written words can do this indirectly. Reading the word chair requires a kind of mental "translation" that viewing a picture of a chair does not. Film is a more sensory experience than reading -besides verbal language there is also colour, movement, and sound.

Yet film is also limited because a book is text where we have to construct all images, characters and events in our minds. A film is the director’s interpretation of all images, characters and events. A book stimulates a reader to create these images, characters and events according to his individual background.

This is the original description of a character: an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it "barely disguised the workings of the arteries and muscles underneath"; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth.

Try to picture this character for some time.

Think of an 8 foot tall creation - ugly and hideous - yellow skin so thin that one can see all the veins, arteries and muscles. A lot of black hair, black lips, watery glowing eyes and prominent white teeth.
Got the picture?

Now here's the film version of the character:

 The above description comes from Mary Shelley's classic novel "Frankenstein." The picture on the left is from James Whale's film adaptation of the book 1931, featuring Boris Karloff as the monster. Below left is Peter Boyle in Mel Brook's "Young Frankenstein"1974. Below is Robert De Niro in Kenneth Brannagh's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" 1994. What has happened to the monster's long black hair? Where are the prominent white teeth? The truth is that a director’s interpretation is taken for granted and is often not faithful to the text. How many viewers who have never read the novel actually realize that Frankenstein is not the monster, but his creator, the doctor Victor Frankenstein? How many viewers will grapple with the infinite questions the monster gives about creation and man's condition on earth?

This does not only happen in film, but it also occurs when we allow an image to become the true face of the character involved. All Catholic Holy pictures portray Jesus Christ as a long haired bearded blonde, a pale skinned blue eyed young man. Almost a hippie or a viking. How often has one considered the fact that he came from an region where most men are dark haired, brown eyed and dark skinned?The same can be said for each and every element in the film. This includes locations, settings, costumes, props, furniture, surroundings, behavior etc.

The Essence of the book in Film.
The meaning or essence, of a novel is controlled by only one person - the one and only author,  while the meaning we get from a film is the result of a collaborative effort by a large number of people. Film also does not allow us the same freedom that novel does. It does not allow us to interact with the plot or characters by imagining them in our minds. For some viewers, this is often the most frustrating aspect of turning a novel into a film.

Descriptions. 
A book needs more time to describe character, appearance, locations, architecture, settings, events, action than a film and a film often offers us a clearer vivid image. Character description is often built step by step, filling up our picture little by little, often lending to a richer experience than a film's immediate 100% shot of a character. However film can also work like a book in this way, for example by keeping certain aspects of a character's appearance hidden from the camera. Imagine a crime film, where the murderer is seen at work, but his face remains off camera, till the detective solves the mystery.

3 Limitations.

The film is a movie – a talkie: The film medium implies the use of images, action, shots, motion. When compared to the literary medium there are some limitations which a filmmaker has to tackle. All media forms have their limitations and it is a master of the craft that successfully overcomes these limitations that are discussed below,

Time.
A book has no time limit. The book can be as long as the author wishes it to be and the reader can read it for as long as he needs it to be. The film, on the other hand is bound by a time limit. Most films come around the 90 minute mark. The longest films can run for 3 hours or cut into series or parts. The first literary adaptation that comes to mind takes us to 1924 when Erich Von Stroheim's film "Greed" (a faithful rendering of Frank Norris' novel 'McTeague') ran for 8 hours. Greed was edited against von Stroheim's wishes to about two-and-a-half hours. Only twelve people have watched the full-length 42-reel version, now lost. Since then filmmakers have adapted the motto that 'Elision is mandatory."

A book is time consuming whereas a film is about 90min. One’s experience with a book is a longer and deeper experience than that of a film but a film is a faster medium, sometimes more effective, does not demand literary knowledge, is more direct, more vivid and can afford a deeper insight or a different point of view.

Speech
Books often make use of long dialogues and monologues, which is not often appreciated by film directors. Dialogues involve more acting and an actor's involvement with learning the lines instead of focusing on action. They are also often impractical. Imagine a scene where an actor has to give a soliloquy whilst various buildings are being blown off in the background, and the whole scene has to be repeated because the actor missed out on a line. Dialogue can also prove to be monotone in a film. Dialogues in books tend to meander away from the main plot, they may talk about past experiences, about dreams, wishes, ambitions, regrets etc. Film as a medium uses other means of communicating such details through flashbacks and other montage techniques.

Space
The concept of space in a book is fluid, fictional and only evoked in a reader's mind. A film is restricted to the space that is offered by the studio, the set or location. Modern techniques allow the filmmaker to create space offscreen through the use of computer graphics and green or blue box techniques. Still the actors are confined to the space within camera range, a space they can never escape. Space in a film is like a theatrical stage, only with a wider area. A book has no limit or dimensions of space within its cover.

Audience.
Both books and film are limited by their audience. Both books and films are made with the end user in mind. The consumer market puts pressure on both literary and film publishers to offer the market what it craves. If it is adventure and thrilling crime stories, then that is what they will tell their authors and directors to produce. However both authors and film directors often gamble their career with the audience and produce works which go against the current. Some of these very same artists often develop a love hate relationship with the audience and within the industry. Charles Dickens was asked to give what we may call a Hollywood good ending to his novel 'Great Expectations,' but he flatly refused. His compromise, his ending line has earned critical praise for its ambiguity and is widely considered as a stroke of genius.

"We are friends,” said I, rising and bending over her…..
“And will continue friends apart, ” said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her."

Budget.
Films are costly to make. The Bollywood record budget for a film is at 35 million dollars, 'Robot'a 2010 Indian science fiction action film, co-written and directed by Shankar. Spiderman 3 is probably the world's most expensive film at 258 million dollars. A book merely needs some paper and a pen, or a computer and word processing program.

Cast.
Films are dependent on the cast that they feature. It is obvious that a celebrity or star should be given a more prominent role in the film. Such an actor or actress will help the box office hits to rise and their talent should give more life to the film. This means that directors tend to blow up, extend, expand, even invent roles for the more attractive members of their cast. This can be illustrated through Hector Babenco's Ironweed 1987, based on the Purltzer Prize winning book of the same title, by author William Kennedy. It featured Meryl Streep as Helen, Jack Nicholson and Tom Waits. The film is basically an account of one Francis Phelan. Once a talented major league baseball player, husband, and father of three, he has fallen so far from grace that his home for the past twenty-two years has been the street. Babenco turned Helen, Phelan's wife into the main character, including a scene with Meryl Streep singing "He's Me Pal."



Technology
Technology obviously has changed the way films are filmed and edited. It offers new possibilities and will continue to evolve. One may argue that technology has also influenced books both in the subject matter and manner of their presentation. E-books, audio books, more imagery, more interactivity is now possible. However books rely on the creative writing skills and expression of an author with technology only used as an aid to illustrate or share print in electronic, audio visual formats. Technology has completely revolutionized filmmaking and seems to have a stronger impact on the end result.
The Lost World is the first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam. Here is Harry O. Hoyt's 1925 silent film.  




This lost world of dinosaurs screened in 1925 can be compared to Steven Spielberg's 1993 film "Jurassic Park" based on Michael Cichton's 1990 novel. After paying 1.5million for authorship rights. The dinosaurs were created through groundbreaking computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic in conjunction with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston's team. To showcase the film's sound design, which included a mixture of various animal noises for the dinosaur roars, Spielberg invested in the creation of DTS, a company specializing in digital surround sound formats.


Reality
A film has to feel real and authentic. Even though it is a work of fiction, just like any good old novel, a film is subjected to the norms of public life. Akira Kurosawa was faced with many a problem of this type when he wanted to screen "Ran" his rendition of Skakespeare's 'King Lear.' In the original play the king split his kingdom between his three daughters. The samurai arena that Kurosawa used to portray the tale would not allow any property to be handed down to women, so his Ran saw the kingdom being split amongst three brothers.

CONTINUED in Part 2