Sunday, February 16, 2014

On Books and Movies

I love books. Love them. I love losing myself in the written word, as my imagination brings to life the world and characters the author has created. I love the richness of texture and detail that only written language can create in the mind. 

I also love movies. Love them. I love losing myself in the beauty of the mise-en-scene, in the world and characters created by the writers, directors, actors, and all others that work together to create the art of each film. 

What I really love, I guess, is story. Give me a good story, and I'm happy. The medium matters in that each form brings with it a unique and beautiful method of storytelling, but story is what I love. 

Perhaps that is why book-to-movie adaptations never quite work for me. There are a few exceptions, of course. Certainly, I can think of a few of these movies that are beautiful in their own right, even if they aren't entirely true to the book. Some, I must admit, I have even preferred to the book - where a change in character or storyline seemed more satisfying than the original work. But more often than not, when a film is made from a novel, it seems to me a string of scenes woven together to create but a poor reflection of the original story.

It's only natural, I suppose, that these adaptations would be left wanting. After all, the author has had, in most cases, hundreds of pages to build their worlds, to create depth of character, and to enhance the  intensity of the story. As one experiences the book, the author's vision interacts with the reader's own imagination, building - together - the complex and vivid textual universe. On the other hand, directors can show you the scene, and a good director can add depth and beauty unrivalled, at times, in the best imagination, but in terms of character, scene, and story, they really only have a couple of hours to create what would have taken a reader much longer to experience. Nevertheless, I'm always excited to see the film version of a book I love - and I admit, a great movie adaptation will often drive me to read the book.

Because I love story. In all its glorious forms.