From bestsellers to blockbusters

Film adaptations of books can be highly controversial, especially among readers. In most cases, we are used to hearing that ‘the book was better’ (and I’m usually inclined to agree), but what do we expect from our adaptations? It is difficult to condense a full novel into a one-to-two-hour film, with significantly less time to establish the audience’s connection to the characters. Yet we are still critical of film adaptations when they inevitably fail to include certain aspects of the plot. This then raises the question: do films need to be completely faithful to their original texts, or is it enough for them to capture the atmosphere of the novels they are adapting?

the film takes the book as a launchpad and makes it its own – securing the film as an addition to the book’s universe

As a reader, most of the films I do choose to watch are adaptations of books I’ve already read. Perhaps controversially, many of my favourite page-to-screen film adaptations are when the film takes the book as a launchpad and makes it its own – securing the film as an addition to the book’s universe rather than an attempt at a complete scene-by-scene version of the book. Greta Gerwig’s 2019 Little Women, for example, captures the charm of Louisa May Alcott’s original novel while also utilising time jumps to compress her novel into a complete and wholly satisfactory film. By disrupting the chronology of the original novels, Gerwig allows her film to fit into a two-hour run while still conveying the emotions of the book. An incredible cast and a beautiful soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat do justice to the characters and emotions of Alcott’s Little Women, even if other adaptations of the novels have been far more faithful.

The world of Sherlock Holmes has been adapted countless times, with the famous detective being the most portrayed human character of all time. The frequency with which this character is adapted forces creators to craft a unique version to satisfy both fans of the original stories and new viewers. The early 2010s provided us with numerous Sherlock Holmes adaptations (TV shows BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’s Elementary, to name just a couple), with each having a different take on the base text. Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes and its 2011 sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows put an adventurous, adrenaline-fuelled spin on the classic stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Ritchie’s films take the world of Holmes’ Victorian London and turn it into the setting of an action film: fast-paced and dramatic as opposed to the slower pace of other adaptations that pay more attention to Sherlock’s thought process. For me, this drifting from the original stories does not make me enjoy the film any less, as Ritchie is still able to create humorous and believable relationships between the characters on screen.

Similarly, some directors use atmosphere and soundtracks to evoke their original texts in a way that makes them incredibly cinematic, even if they are not necessarily faithful adaptations. For me, one standout adaptation that falls under this category is Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 The Great Gatsby. The use of music by present-day artists, including Lana Del Rey and Florence + The Machine, is still able to create an atmosphere that mirrors the feel of Gatsby’s parties.

If we were to go into a film not expecting a perfect adaptation but rather hoping to experience the emotions of the original novel, we are more likely to be satisfied

Do we thus perhaps love adaptations if they are able to evoke the same feelings as the books, no matter how far they drift from the original? For me, this seems to be the case. Adaptations such as Little Women and Sherlock Holmes are favourites of mine, not because they are completely accurate or comprehensive adaptations of their original texts, but because I enjoy the way they stray from the canon to make the world their own. Yet ultimately, personal expectations play an immense role. If we were to go into a film not expecting a perfect adaptation but rather hoping to experience the emotions of the original novel, we are more likely to be satisfied. Perhaps, as readers, we should reduce our expectations and acknowledge that films must accommodate a larger audience than just those of us who have read and enjoyed the original texts.