From page to screen

 

14 August

Not so long ago I read and really loved The Book Thief.  So last night while we were searching the movie list and saw that the film when was on, we decided that we would watch it. The film is as good as the book and we totally loved it. A thought did come to me though, why does a film based in Germany but voiced in English, need to have that English need to have a Germany accent? Why it happens doesn’t affect the overall impression of the film though, it’s still a great film, and if you get the chance, give it a go.

Making a movie from novels can be difficult, after all, generally it’s the most popular novels are the ones that get chosen to film. Some decision has to be made about how much of the story to include and how much to leave out. With that in mind then, is it really any wonder that so many films fall short of fans expectations? I think not, simply because our old friend subjectivity comes into play again, as well as the old saying about pleasing everyone. We enjoyed The Book Thief and I enjoyed the book to too; my review of it can be read here … http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/book-reviews/markus-zusak-the-book-thief

Most complaints are about films are of the sort of ‘Not as good as the book,’ sort. An example perhaps The Lord of the Rings films. Again I love both film and book. The three films run-time is not far off nine hours as it is, but how do you compress over 1,000 pages into just three pages? The Hobbit is another but making one book of 350 pages into three films running for over two hours each. First rate books turned into good films, OK fine.

I am however disappointed in some of the Michel Creighton books, some of which have very weak endings. Take Jurassic Park for example. The first film was a great one, but the novel ended very poorly, for me that is. Therefore, in that case I can say that the film was better than the novel. The follow up films were OK I suppose, not really needed in my view. Another one I can’t judge though is, The Day After Tomorrow, and that is because I haven’t read the book it’s based on, but I did enjoy the film. One of the major moans I remember about the film is that it throws out all that science knew at that time. So what? The same can be said of so many other films, including JP. They are films of entertainment, not of learning.

A lot was made over the actress Emma Watson (she of the Potter films), in the film Noah, with some calling it career defining role. Actually, I didn’t think she did all that good in it, but that is going off subject a bit here. The story of Noah and his ark laid out in the Holy Bible, Genesis 6:9-7:27 (I had to look it up too seeing as I’d forgotten the reference.) That story is around 1,000 0 1500 words only. There is no description in the account of how the ark was built, how it was made sea worthy, how the animals were housed or fed. So the producers of the film made some of the details in the film. A lot of Christian became upset over it and called for a ban. Again, the forgot that the film was entertainment, not a sermon. Oh yes, the film was OK really.

We but fiction books and got to a cinema to be entertained, not to learn. If we want to learn about something we buy factual or non-fiction books, or we buy DVDs or watch TV documentary programmes. This perhaps a lesson here for us to remember; when we look at or watch or read something, we need to think about why it was made, who made it and who was made for, and when it was made. Of course, thinking about these things while do the reading, watching or whatever, might well get in the way of the enjoyment. But perhaps afterwards thinking these things through might help us decided why we liked, or dislike the item.

In today’s world however, we also have the cult-celebrity thing going on around us. Some fans will shout loudly if there is any criticism of their god-like celeb, not matter how good or bad that person might be. Such loyalty hides any faults while making excuses for mediocrity or poor performance.

Today’s photo then …

One of my not so tidy books cases.

Today’s funny …

What do you get if you cross a freeway with a skateboard?
Run over.