Guardian Unlimited Film | News | Film of the book: top 50 adaptations revealed: "As anyone who has seen any version of Anna Karenina knows, a great book does not necessarily make a great film. And while The Godfather was a great movie, was it a great novel? Probably not.
These and other debates went into deciding a longlist of what are deemed the 50 best film adaptations of all time. Organised by the Guardian, a panel of experts has drawn up the list, which will be voted on by the public. The chains Waterstones and Borders are also involved and will promote the books in shops."
The Top 50 aren't in any particular order. There's one I've never heard of, and American Psycho is on the list. So what does that tell us?
11 comments:
KES is the one I haven't heard of, perhaps to my shame. What this list tells us, though, is that a Panel of Experts can come up with as arbitrary and arguable a list in a matter of taste as any individual crank. Certainly I'd put A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE on the list ahead of SIN CITY, for one obvious example.
I can understand American Psycho's inclusion. It's not one of my favorite movies, but it's a genuinely interesting one. The script by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner gets Bret Easton Ellis's book in a way that Ellis himself does not, and fleshes out ideas that Ellis only toys with. It's an adaptation in the best and truest senses of the word.
Day of the Triffids made the list? Hmmm.
I'm currently reading Sense and Sensibility and in this case I like the move better than the book. Well, except for the glitch in the tea scene when two people hand Emma Thompson a cup of tea. I mean how many tea cups can one woman hold at a time? Willoughby is such a hunk, but I digress.
Day of the Triffids?
Kes is the one I hadn't heard of, too, Todd. And I'll have to trust Vince on American Psycho. I'm with Lonnie of Day of the Triffids. That's a real puzzler.
Where's THE SEARCHERS? Or any other Western, for that matter?
It's a Brit list. They probably don't even know that The Searchers was based on a novel.
American Psycho is a much underrate film. I for one would rather watch it again that reread the book...
For some reason, westerns aren't usually regarded as a literary genre, i.e. the original texts aren't considered important. I don't know why this is.
They also missed PSYCHO.
KES is a great film (based on an equally great book), but it is incredibly British - more than that, incredibly NORTHERN and (which is probably why it's on the Guardian list) working-class.
I'd also put THE GRIFTERS in there, though...
Thanks, Ray. That Britishness might be why the film hasn't played in Alvin, Texas.
Thanks, Ray. That Britishness might be why the film hasn't played in Alvin, Texas.
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