Posted by Jock on July 04, 2014 at 04:31:21 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Swallows and Amazons film posted by Peter Ceresole on July 03, 2014 at 00:49:42:
In addition to the BBC's (1979) adaptations of Le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy already mentioned, and the sequel Smiley's People (1982), I can think of quite a few other examples of films or TV series made from books where the result is faithful to the spirit of the book and the script and plot development follows quite closely the original text.
For instance, take the BBC's many excellent serialisations of Dickens's novels. Bleak House (2005) and Our Mutual Friend (1998) are my personal favourites. The Losey/Pinter collaboration on The Go Between (1970) resulted in a great film which was breathtakingly faithful to L.P. Hartley's book.
All these can either be read first and then reappraised as films, or watched first and then read to fill in the gaps, with great enjoyment.
There are good examples in children's literature as well. Lionel Jeffries's The Railway Children (1970) was close in spirit to the original, as was the subsequent BBC remake as a mini series (2000) which included more of the original plot. Yorkshire Television's Flambards (1979) mini series and the BBC's adaptations of Phillip Pullman's The Ruby in The Smoke (2006) and The Shadow in the North (2007) were all spot on.
Of course, there are many more counter examples! In spite of the fast-paced text in the original books, the Harry Potter films frequently diverge from Rowling's text in spite of the author's involvement in the script writing. One ghastly example – Dudley's significant reconciliation with Harry at the end of the last book was actually filmed, but ended up on the cutting room floor!
Sadly, I suspect that fewer and fewer of today's producers are interested in creating work which is faithful in style and substance to the printed originals. With their eyes on TV ratings and export sales they tell their crews to deliver an adrenalin rush a minute. I am not optimistic about the new SA film.