This essay will identify, compare, contrast and briefly analyse film adaptations of novels and biographies . It also outlines the techniques used in audio visual adaptation. This will be illustrated with the identification, comparison and analysis of a wide range of films, adapted from sources’ that differ in tone, writing style, genre and length .The length of a novel or biography is a significant factor when writing the screenplay that will form the foundation of an eventual film adaptation. It will also explore the possibility of film adaptations being faithful to the original material.
As a result of there being a variety of different writing styles and total page numbers in novels there are always going to be difficulties when adapting for the screen, as stated in (Boggs and Petrie 2008:430). (When we see a film adaptation of a favourite book or show, we may expect the film or show to duplicate the experience we had when we read or saw the original work this of course is impossible). As shall be discovered later in many cases of film adaption, a large amount of the novel has to be left out. Lord of the Rings will be analysed from this perspective later, also Boy in the Striped Pyjamas these are two hugely contrasting adaptations as shall be illustrated later. When they are analysed in more detail and compared to each other and there original sources.
As stated by Sarah Street in her book British National Cinema (2009) film adaptation of plays and novels goes back as far as 1911. This coincided with a revival of the British film industry. This revival ran until the year 1914. (ibid), so Audio visual adaptation has a long history. The most notable Author to have his work, adapted for the screen in the 1910s was Charles Dickens (Street 2009:44).
The film adaptations that the essay will compare and briefly analyse are Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Lord of the Rings, Control, Atonement and Alfred Hitchcock’s the Thirty Nine Steps.
The film Boy in the Striped pyjamas is an adaptation, of John Boyne’s novel of the same title. The novel is written from the point of view of the central character a young German boy, named Bruno. This style of writing is extremely effective as the story unfolds. This is as a result of the hidden location and setting. The novel is able to hide the fact that it is set in Auschwitz and the fact that the boy’s father is the Commandant of the camp. Because the film is visual it is very difficult to hide SS uniforms and Nazi solutes. The camera makes no secret of the fact that it’s Nazi Germany; the opening shot sequence explicitly displays a swastika flag and SS men sitting in coffee shops, in casual conversation reading newspapers etc. having read the book before seeing the film. You would think that there would be a lot of voiceovers used from Bruno’s point of view, this is not the case. Although the film doses not conceal the setting or use voiceovers, it still manages to play out the narrative from Bruno’s perspective. Although not explicitly in terms of the camera shot composition and editing but more through the amount of screen time Bruno has compared to other central characters. This allows the audience to form a bond with Bruno.
While the film fails to keep the location secret, it prospers in other areas. Through developing other characters, such as his mother who as the narrative progresses, begins to question what she is doing married to a man who casually commits mass murder of millions in gas chambers. Whilst playing the role of caring family man. The mother and father characters have a significantly less prominent role in the book; the tone of the novel in terms of the language is very childish, to emphasis the fact that the protagonist is a child. It replaces the significant words such as Auschwitz with OUT-WITH and Fhurer with FURY. The film does not employ this technique; if it did and Bruno spoke these words in the film, it could add a comic element to the film. Given the ending of the film and setting it could be seen as distasteful by some audiences.
The film is as close as it is going to get to being true to the book. As with all adaptations things have to be done differently. Other fundamental differences from the book are the fact that Hitler does not appear in the film. In the book he comes round for dinner with the character known to the reader as father. There is one significant name change in the film Sergeant Hoffsneider is known as Lieutenant Mienberg. This change was probably made to this characters name to make it easier for the English actor to pronounce.
This Sequence also points the viewer or reader towards Bruno’s naivety. He is board and is looking for something to amuse himself with. Bruno has no friends at his new home. So he decides to make a swing and he wonders around in search of a tire. (Boyne 2007:72-73.) Eventually he comes across his older sister, Gretel who is having a conversation with Lieutenant Kotler. The following is an excerpt from the book this section was not very different in the film although it was not identical
(Lieutenant Kotler was in deep conversation with Gretel and whatever he was saying must be terribly funny because she was laughing loudly and twirling her hair around her fingers into ringlets. “Hello” said Bruno as he approached them, and Gretel looked at him irritably. What do you want? She asked. I don’t want anything, snapped Bruno,
Glaring at her “I just came over to say hello”. “You’ll have to forgive my younger brother Kurt “said Gretel to Lieutenant Kotler.” he’s only nine ,you know” “Good morning, little man” said Kotler, reaching out and-quite appallingly –ruffling his hand through Bruno’s hair, a gesture that made Bruno want to push him to the ground and jump up and down on his head.” And what are you doing up and about so early on a Saturday morning”? “It’s hardly early” said Bruno “it’s almost ten o’clock”. Lieutenant Kotler shrugged his shoulders. “When I was your age my mother could not get me out of bed till lunchtime” She said I would never grow up to be big and strong if I slept my life away.” “Well she was quite wrong there wasn’t she whispered Gretel. Bruno glared at her with distaste. She was putting on a silly voice that made her sound as if she hadn’t a thought in her head. There was nothing more Bruno wanted to do than walk away from the two of them and have nothing to do with whatever they were discussing. But he had no choice but to put his interests first and ask Lieutenant Kotler for the unthinkable. A favour. “I wondered if I could ask you a favour” said Bruno.” You can ask” said Lieutenant Kotler, which made Gretel laugh again even though it was not particularly funny.” I wondered if there were any spare tires around” Bruno continued “from one of the jeeps perhaps. Or a truck. One that you’re not using. “The only tire I have seen around here belongs to Sergeant Hoffschnieder, and he caries it around his waist” said Lieutenant Kotler ,his lips forming something like a smile. This didn’t make any sense at all to Bruno, but it entertained Gretel so much that she appeared to start dancing on the spot. “Well is he using it”? Asked Bruno “sergeant Hoffschnieder? Asked Lieutenant Kotler.”Yes im afraid so, his very attached to his spare tyre.
(ibid)
The film was relatively short. In comparison to the next film adaptation to be analysed (The Boy in the striped Pajamas novel consisted of only 216 pages.) The film version has a running time of ninety minuets. So with those statistics in mind the majority of the events portrayed in the novel should survive in the film version, with some adjustments in terms of the dialogue and lengths of scenes/chapters.
Between (2001-2004) Peter Jackson adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel Lord of the Rings for the big screen. In many ways this novel is more suitable for a feature film adaptation than the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. But it is not ideal for adaptation, due to its length and depth. The vast detail was a major problem when Jackson began work on the screenplay. Many Chapters of this book were cut from the early drafts of the script. One thing that had already been done was the sectionalisation of the story into three parts. So it was just down to the small matter of adapting the three very large books. This essay will mainly concentrate on part three the Return of the King. This particular part of the three books consists of 397 pages, and is the shortest of the three books. Originally Tolkien intended the three instalments to be released as one book.As he always stated that Lord of the Rings was one story and the three segments were agreed after disputes’ with publishers Allen and Unwin(Carpenter 1977). Considering the length of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and the length of Lord of the rings; Return of the king. It would be understandable to believe that Return of the king would be three hours long, on the big screen. In fact it was three hours and twenty minutes long. Boggs and Petrie state that fans of the book must accept that even a film of this length must leave out large chunks of the novel.(2008:430) they also state that (a films scope is limited by screen time)(ibid)
There were many alterations in terms of characters’ and events. One notable difference was the inclusion of the famous Shelobs lair Chapter in Return of the King. In the novel it’s in the TwoTowers. Not only did this add more drama to the film it brought the timing of events into perspective. In the books Tolkien separates the individual storylines of the main characters. In the film Jackson wisely chose to intercut between the various characters stories.
The scene/chapter to be analysed is the Paths of the Dead sequence in the film.This will be compared with its equivalent chapter in the book The Passing of the Grey Company (Tolkien 2002 film tie-in edition: 41-62.). This sequence was altered considerably from the chapter it corresponds to in the novel. In the book Aragorn is joined by his Dunadain Rangers, and also the sons of Elrond before entering the Paths of the Dead, (ibid: 43-44) this does not happen in the film version. This is not the only variation in the film. It is in this sequence in the film, that Aragorn receives the sward of the king. In the book he has it in his possession at all times. He receives it from Elrond in the final film, before entering the The Paths of the Dead. This contributes to the films already high sense of emotion and drama. If the film Return of the King was the same as the book not, only would it have been extremely longer than it already is the narrative would have stumbled and stuttered.
Films are made to move so any event shown on the screen should assist in the progression of the narrative, so with that in mind. Aragorn enters the Paths of the Dead with his two companions Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the Elf. The audience at this stage in the three film story has become accustomed to the dynamics of the trio. Introducing new characters at this stage would probably confuse and baffle the audience. Another difference was the fact that the character the king of the dead featured significantly in the film; there is a confrontation between him and Aragorn. In the book the king of the dead is only briefly mentioned (ibid 61).in the film it would seem odd if there was no confrontation between Aragorn and the oath braking king of the dead.
The reason for taking the paths of the dead differ in both film and novel. In the novel it is part of Aragorn’s quest to become king (he must summon the men whom his ancestor cursed after swearing an oath of allegiance and then ignored it. it is slightly different in the film, the main reason in the film is to summon an army of undying dead to defeat the evil armies who have attacked Gondor. So this reason drives the narrative of the film onward. There are many departures from the original story and many events that have been altered to suite the medium of film. The following is an excerpt from the book.
“Rohan, Rohan did you say”? That is a glad word we seek that land in haste from afar.” “You have found it” said Eomer.”When you crossed the fords yonder you entered it. But it is the realm of Théoden the King. None ride here save by his leave. Who are you and what is your haste.”? “Halbarad Dunadan Ranger of the north I am” cried the man “we seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard he was in Rohan” “And you have found him also” Cried Aragorn. Giving his reins to Merry, He ran forward and embraced the newcomer. “Halbarad” he said of all joys this is least expected!” (Tolkien 2002 Film tie-in edition: 42)
As illustrated by this sample of the book the Dunadain Rangers arrive before Aragorn entered the Paths of the Dead, they do not appear in the film. The possible reasons are outlined in the previous paragraph. The next paragraph analysis a film adapted from a biography.
This section will analyse the feature film Control adapted from the Ian Curtis biography written by his widow. The biography was entitled Touching from a Distance. The change in title could have had a number of motives,
Or reasons. Touching from a Distance is a line from one of Ian’s lyrics Transmition (Curtis D 1995:166,) But it also reflects the view point of the author, with regards to her experience of the events that she is recounting to the reader. The film isn’t really told from any characters point of view although it focuses on Ian and uses voiceover. Anton Corbajans film is a window into the life of the members of the band and the people who encountered Ian Curtis. Control in some ways is an artistic reconstruction with the director opting to convert it to black and white after shooting it in colour.
One major difference between the book and the film apart from the title is the book is presenting the reader with events that have happened. Whereas in the, film the narrative of Ian’s Life from the end of school to his suicide unfolds before the viewers’ eyes as if it were in the present tens. Although the film is not in real time, it has a sense of now and lays out everything before the audience in an unbroken narrative. The biography contains quotes from the other band members. These quotes in some instances contradict each other and the reader is able to form there own opinions. It may be better to see Control before reading Touching from a distance. As stated by Boggs and Petrie (2008:449).Going a step or two further than that, it may be better if the audience has no knowledge of Ian Curtis at all. If this was the case the film would have a grater impact on the viewer when it reaches its emotionally upsetting conclusion, as it ends in a state of disequilibrium.
In general there is very little that is different between book and film here, in terms of the order of events included in the narrative of the film. The main difference is the style in which the story is told through the two mediums. The subsequent paragraph will compare a specific scene from the film with its corresponding chapter in the Debra Curtis book.
Selecting a specific scene from the film, to compare with a chapter of the book proved more difficult, than with the previous two film adaptations. This was as a result of the writing style of the book. There is very little dialogue in the Biography, all the events described in the book that, were included in the film, were converted into live action scenes. Touching from a Distance has a greater feeling of history, in its writing style than a novel like Boy in the striped pyjamas. If Control was completely like the book it would not be a scripted drama but a documentary. Nevertheless a section of both book and film will be compared in the following paragraph.
The sequence that has been selected for analysis and comparison with its corresponding chapter in Touching from a Distance. is the sequence involving the incident with Tony Wilson. Host of the TV show Granada Reports including its What’s on– spot. Ian intended Joy Division to get a place on the show, after having a negotiation with Tony Wilson (Curtis, D 1995, 2001:60-61).This was in the early years of Joy Division before they were signed to a record label. The incident that is referred to is described in the following exert from the book.
As Tony sat on one of the banquet seats near the pool table, Ian was just a short distance away writing the most abusive letter he could muster. I was amazed that he thought he could get a TV spot by using such foul language. I blushed for him as he walked over and waited for the explosion when he had handed over the letter. Instead he sat down next to Tony, obviously trying to summon up the courage to speak to him.
Being ill mannered didn’t come naturally to Ian, but he forced himself. “You’re a fucking cunt you are, you’re a bastard. “Oh yeah” said Tony “whys that” “cause you haven’t put us on television”. Tony reciprocated , by telling him that Joy Division would be the next band he would put on.
(ibid)
This sequence was brilliantly transferred to the screen. One thing that was altered in the scene was the dialogue. The word (F####g) is not used in the abuse that is directed at Tony Wilson by Ian. The fact that it was hard for Ian to be ill mannered as stated by Debra Curtis was displayed by an exceptional acting performance from Sam Reily, displaying a reluctance to speak in an abusive tone.
In the film Ian (Sam Reily) does not sit down instead he leans over and disrupts Tony’s conversation. Tony’s response in the film is “well darling yours will be the next band that I put on”. The viewer understands that Tony is impressed by Ian’s arrogance. So as with this example, some parts of the story of Ian’s life the film adds meat to the bones with the possible dialogue that might have been exchanged. So it replaces the lines that describe the situation with dialogue, using the screenwriter’s artistic licence. As illustrated by this example this sometimes is the case, in others the film compresses events to prevent the narrative of the film from stalling.
The next film to be discussed is Atonement (2007). adapted for the screen by Joe Wright, from Ian McEwen’s novel. A US/ UK/French co- Production (Working title) (Street 2009:133), generally the film is an adaptation of the book in the purest sense of the word. The book is about four hundred pages long. As a result of the length and depth of the novel a considerable amount of the story does not survive into the film.
Although all the events in the book are not transferred to the film, it’s more dramatic. It could be argued that the story is improved when it is transferred to the film, some audiences may disagree with this. The film which runs for just under two hours, does not really leave time for the characters to develop; the main focus of the film is suspense and tension, based on Brionys misconception of the love between her sister Cecelia (Kiera Knightly) and Robbie (James Mcavoy).She believes that Robbie raped her friend Lola as a result of reading a rather offensive love letter, that Robbie gives to her to deliver to Cecelia. He did not intend for this note to be sent. The intended version of the letter was a more formal love letter. Briony believes that Robbie is a sex maniac. (ibid).it is later revealed to the audience that it was Lola’s rich uncle that raped her.
The film succeeds here were the book fails in delivering drama through a series of significant pieces of cinematography. A book has to rely on in –depth and precise description as it is not a visual thing in the same way that a film is. The film also uses point of view editing repeating in a significant scene from Robbie and Cecelia’s perspective and then from Brionys perspective. The book also does this but as it is spread over a number of pages the reader does not get the same sense of drama that the viewer gets from the film. The ending of the film is practically the same as the novel. In the fact that it is revealed to the audience that the scene/chapter involving Briony visiting the couple during the second world war was fiction within the world of the story. As they both died in the war. (ibid) So Briony decides to give Robbie and Cecelia the ending they deserved. The ending she prevented them from having, by sending an innocent man (Robbie) to prison for a rape he did not commit. The book that Briony writes within the film/novel is a method for Briony to achieve Atonement.
The main omission from the story in the film as far as the ending goes is the reception an aged Briony receives for her birthday/book publication. The ending in the film has a greater effect on the audience, because it ends with a scene with Robbie and Cecelia reunited living together in a cottage situated by the see. This as stated by Briony in the story never happened as they are both dead. It is after this sequence that the credits role. So it could be argued that this is a better ending than the book, some audiences may disagree, with this theory. It is a very cleaver way to end the film it could have seemed odd to the audience if the film had ended with Bryony’s party. After she had destroyed two lovers lives because she jumped to an incorrect conclusion. (McEwen 2002)
The final film adaptation to be looked at is Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of John Buchams the Thirty Nine Steps. This is a film staring Robert Donat. The film differs greatly from the novel. The novel is only 137 pages long so there was little need to leave things out of the film. What Hitchcock managed to do was add a great deal of suspense to the story using deliberate editing and shot composition, along with the actor’s facial expressions and silences.
The main difference in the film from the book. Is the fact that Hannay (the main character) spends the majority of the film on the run from the police with a female accomplice; There is no female accomplice in the book. (Bucham1914) the film ends in a theatre not on a beach. The leader of the thirty nine steps in the film has one of his fingers missing; this is how he is identified by Hannay, as the narrative speeds towards its climax in true Hitchcock style. As briefly stated here there are many differences between the book and the film Thirty Nine Steps. The original novel and the film adaptation should be seen as two completely different works. (Boggs and Petrie 2009 448). Hitchcock put his own stamp on the original story.
The word adaptation means something re- produced by modification. So by the nature of the word adaptation a film version of (a novel in particular), will never be the same as the book as stated by William Goldman.
(When people say, “is it like the book” the answer is “there has never in the history of the world been a movie that’s really been like the book. Everybody says haw faithful Gone with the wind was. Well, Gone with the wind was a three and a half hour movie, which means you are talking about maybe a two hundred page screenplay of a nine hundred page novel in which the novel has, say five hundred words per page, and the screenplay has maybe forty maybe sixty, depending on what’s on screen, maybe one hundred and fifty words per page. But you’re talking a little, teeny slice, your just extracting little, teeny essences of scenes. All you can ever be in an adaptation is faithful in spirit)
(William Goldman Cited in Boggs and Petrie 2008:441)
In the not too distant future the film adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s the Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson. As announced on the One Ring.net.Will not be true to the novel as a result of the announcement, that the original novel will be split into two films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again the first due for release December 14th 2012. (Ibid). There are several reasons for adapting this book into two films. The reasons for this will be explored in another essay by the author of this essay.
From what was stated by William Goldman (Boggs and Pierte2009:441), it is extremely unlikely that there will be a film that is identical to its original source. A film adaptation of a novel or biography, can only be a film makers interpretation of the original text.
Bibliography
Film and Television Books
Baillieu, B. & Goodchild, J. (2002) The British Film Business, London: John Wiley & Sons,
Biggs,J (2004) the Art of Watching Films, new York McGraw-hill
Bignell, J. (2008) An Introduction to Television Studies (2nd
Edition), London: Routledge.
Bordwel,D, Thompson,K(2004) film art an introduction McGraw Hill
Buscombe, E. (2001) British Television – A Reader, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.
Gillespie, M. & J.Toynbee (2006) Analysing Media Texts, London: Open University Press.
Hill,j,Gibson,P,(1998) The Oxford Guide to FilmStudiesOxfordUniversity Press
Oxford
Street, S. (2009) British National Cinema, London. Routledge,
2ND EDITION
Novels/Biographies
Boyne ,J (2007) the Boy in the Striped PyjamasLondon.Definitions edition
Bucham,J,(1963) The Thirty Nine StepsLondon. Cox and Wyman LTD
Curtis,D Touching from a Distance London. Faber and Faber
Faulks,S, (1999) Charlotte Grey London, New South WalesAuckland. Vintage
Guevara,E (2009edition) Reminiscences of the Cuban revolutionary war London Harper perennial
Hardy,T, (2008 ) Tes of the d’Urbervilles BBC books :London TV series tie-in edition
Lawrence, D, H, Lady Chatterley’s lover London. Wordsworth editions (2005)
McEwen,I (2002)Atonement London, Auckland, New South Wales, Houghton.
Vintage
Paolini,C(2006) Eragon London, Sydney, Auckland, New Dheli, Houghton Random House Children’s books
Salinger JD (1951) The Catcher in the Rye. England. Penguin Books
Schlink, B(2008) The ReaderLondon. Phoenix /Orion
Tolkien,J.R..R (2002) Lord of the rings; Fellowship of the Ring Suffolk. London Harper Collins film-tie in edition.
Tolkien,J.R..R (2002) Lord of the rings; the TwoTowersSuffolk. London Harper Collins film tie-in edition.
Tolkien,J.R..R (2002) Lord of the rings; Return of the king Suffolk. London Harper Collins .film tie-in edition.
Tolkien,J.R..R (1995) The HobbitGlasgow. Harper Collins
Waugh E (2008) Brideshead Revisited London,New York, Toronto, Dublin, Victoria, New Dheli, North Shore, Johannesburg. Penguin Books
Magazines
Empire August 2009
Empire September 2009
Internet
www.onering.net –Date visited-17/8/09
www.imdb.com –Date visited -16/8/09
www.bbc.co.uk- Date visited- 14/8/09
Film Adaptations
The Reader
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
CHE Part-1
Marley and Me
Control
Atonement
Defiance
Schindlers list
Brideshead Revisited
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Perfume
Lady Chatterley
The 39 Steps
The Other Boleyn Girl
Girl with a Pearl Earning
The English Patient
Eragon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Da Vinci Code
Angela’s Ashes
Memoirs’ of a Geishas
Emma
MansfieldPark
Bridget Joneses Diary
East is East (adapted from a play)
History of Violence
Tomb Raider –The Cradle of life (2003)
Perfect storm
Secret Window
The Constant Gardener
The Good German
The Duchess
Sleuth
Sideways
Memento
No Country for Old Men
The Prince of Persia (2009)
The Time Travellers Wife (2009)
Charlotte Grey
Television Programs (Adaptations)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
The 39 steps
Brideshead Revisited
Little Doritt
The Old Curiosity Shop
David Copperfield
Poirot
The Other Boleyn Girl
Liam Whetstone 