This post was inspired by an aristocracy of excellence - Julie ...
Film is visual brevity.... If the novel is a poem, the film is a telegram.
-- Michael Hastings, screenwriter
A Movie Parable: Adaptation ...Much has been already written about the disappointing third act, but I found it to be a bold and brave statement. Kaufman makes a concession to his artistic integrity which fails in comparison to the rest of his film.
But by failing, it succeeds brilliantly. The irony will undoubtedly be lost on some but for those who get the joke, it will be impossible not to appreciate what Kaufman has done.As one of the characters says in the film, "Adaptation is a profound process," and indeed it is. The act of changing in order to thrive and prosper in the midst of one's environment is something that is commonplace in all of nature. It is no less necessary for us. As natural men and women, we become accustomed to a certain way of behavior. When we are filled with God's spirit and a new awareness and understanding is become known to us, we must learn to adapt or change if we are to thrive and prosper as spiritual men and women. Our "old man" or natural man ways will not cause us to succeed as God's people on this earth.
Someone once asked me what making a movie was like. I said it was like making a mosaic. Each setup is like a tiny tile. You color it, shape it, polish it as best you can. You'll do six or seven hundred of these, maybe a thousand. (There can easily be that many setups in a movie.) Then you literally paste them together and hope it's what you set out to do. But if you expect the final mosaic to look like anything, you'd better know what you're going for as you work on each tiny tile.
When we're sitting at rushes, watching yesterday's work, the greatest compliment we can give each other is, "Good work. We're all making the same movie." That's style.
- "Good style, to me, is unseen style. It is style that is felt." (Sidney Lumet in "Making Movies", 1995
Adaptation: From Cold River to Hot Blockbuster: In Reading the Movies, William Costanzo notes that it has been estimated that a third of all films ever made were adapted from novels
Opening shot: Book-to-Film Adaptations: The Wishlist by Jozef ImrichOde to Film Makers and Informers: They’re different beasts Serious Voices of Cinema: artist who paints with light Even Hollywood, bombarded by thousands of scripts weekly, complains incessantly of a shortage of material that is fresh in voice, vision, and point of view. "The ideal writer is the one that has a great concept, a great story and can execute it. Usually, you get one of those things," states Candy Monteiro (Producer, Monteiro Rose/Los Angeles). Good writers know it's not the idea, it's their voice
What people want to see is a script they haven't seen before. Ken Sherman points out that he looks for originality, passion, an individual voice, as well as someone who is a craftsman and is not afraid to be different. In truth, there's a shortage of powerful books that can be turned into movies
The movie effectively captures the novel by incorporating the very strong presence of the narrator. Part of its success derives from the fact the movie incorporates a lot of music, bringing it alive in a way the book cannot. Writers often dream of their novel being made into a successful film.
But a (a sad, little sinking feeling) overcame me the moment I heard the screenwriter wanted to set the film version of The Wives of Bath in the present.
• There is no possible way to review CCCold River if you are insecure or paranoid
Some books are merely important. Cold River is necessary [People quarrel with every incarnation of a book on film. And that's their privilege
Film directors don't always play by the book ; Thanks Julie: The Orchid Thief - Are we as an audience being tricked? Is Charlie Kaufman just messing with our heads or does he really believe what he writes? ... what he is writing is what we have been watching – and the film we are about to watch: The book is also about orchids themselves, their haunting beauty and ability to spark passion in people who lack the emotion. I don't want to cram in sex or guns or car chases. You know? Or characters learning profound life lessons.... I mean, the book isn't like that, and life isn't like that. It just isn't - "I wanted," she comes to feel, "to want something as much as people wanted these plants." (Adaptation is one of 2002’s freshest breaths of air. It is undoubtedly bizarre, and even, for a first-time viewer, somewhat confusing. But having been wowed by the film twice, I feel assured in saying something as quote whorish as…“has more layers than orchids have petals”)
Adaptation: Ouroboros is a snake eating its own tail ; Screenwriters Trying to Stay True: If ever a book-based film inspired questions of the original author, it is "Adaptation - To begin.. To begin... How to start?... I'm hungry... I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think... Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee... Coffee and a muffin...
Films Based on Books: The Shooting Script ]
• · Making an independent film takes talent, ambition, knowledge, salesmanship, persistence and a bit of luck.
Film Makers ; A Bit of Illusion, A Bit of Laughter: Why can’t modern Czech moviemakers succeed at home?
Exploring Czech Cinema ; Like all central European countries, the Czech and Slovak republics have been buffeted around by the whims of history, as borders have flown back and forth and regimes have come and gone. Any journey into these countries' cinematic cultures, then, is inevitably also an exploration of their complex histories and senses of identity
Czech and Slovak Cinema ;
Australian directors return home to develop adaptations ; Film Forum: Like The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence will remain a significant cinematic contribution to discussions of foreign policy, ethics, national identity, and human rights. Christopher Doyle's cinematography captures so much heat and dust, audiences are likely to use those free soda refill coupons
Two Elegant Adaptations by Director Phillip Noyce • · · Plastic: The bookshelves have long been a treasure-trove for frustrated film directors and ambitious TV producers
The Human Strain — On Your Suspension Of Disbelief; Yeah, but the Book Is Better
Adaptations from book to film are risky at best ; What wonderful adaptations of books do you know of?
Unadaptable: Your Future Nostalgia. Today; Why not sock the audiences early with the ‘fuck her in the ass’ line?
Film Adaptation of Literature ; Studio executives in Hollywood have a good deal in common with football managers. It's hard to know exactly what they do. They're inevitably fired. - Books are books; films neither improve them, nor are the contents of novel mysteriously changed by the alchemy of a movie adaptation
Hollywood and the Recycled Idea: To the Best of Our Knowledge • · · · On March 26, 1969, a young man named John Kennedy Toole connected a hose to his car's exhaust pipe, locked himself in and committed suicide. It is impossible to fathom why a person takes his or her own life, but this much is certain: Toole was despondent about his career as a writer, his unpublished novel had been rejected year in, year out, and the future seemed bleak -- which makes the subsequent success of "A Confederacy of Dunces" all the more dazzling.
Best-selling books can have a tortuous path to the big screen: Tales from the script ;
A Nerdy Day At the Movies, and The Three Laws of Adaptations • · · · · It's a real albatross to take on a well-known book, because you know people are going to be profoundly disappointed
Adaptation a labour of love: Everything is Illuminated ; Anthony Minghella has carved out his own significant directing niche-big-budgeted, glossy and nicely scaled, literate adaptations of great books-and no other director today seems to quite be playing so well in that field. Examining his last three films, "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and his latest, “Cold Mountain" may be the most bittersweet-or at least bitter-of the three
Cold Mountain: based-on-the-title-of-the-book ; Making a Good Script Great and Creating Unforgettable Charactes Writer-directors either work very well or fall in a heap
The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact And Fiction Into Film ; I asked about 15 colleague directors to do this film, because I loved the book. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Ephesians 4:22-23 (KJV)
The female face of moral concern • · · · · · This Is The Title Of This Story, Which Is Also Found Several Times In The Story Itself
Overcaffeinated: an argument between High and Low Art ; Richard Scarry’s Noah the Boa was the original snake on a plane. (Where there’s some lawsuit speculation. I just want an injunction against "motherf****** snakes on a motherf****** plane" chatter. Seriously, what the f***? And I’m sure people in Hollywood are already working on knockoffs. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on
the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves, and the debate over free silver.)
Noah the Boa and other book-to-film miscellany; The Weinstein Company sued Columbia Pictures last week over rights--including publishing rights--to the work of the late Wang Du Lee, author of books including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Dragon
