It seems we have a knack for finding a film in just about anything. Novels are infamous for it, especially recently as bestselling books are almost sure-fire hits with the public when they are later released as films.
Adapting novels into feature-length films has always been a tricky business. Which plotlines take precedence? How is it going to be shot? Who's going to play this beloved character, and whose interpretation is it? So many hands and minds go into filmmaking that it's easy for the whole thing to go off-track. (Just look at the Harry Potter franchise -- by film four it was already onto its third director!) So how can novels be adapted to film without offending anybody?
US Author John Green (of vlogbrothers YouTube fame) recently released a book called Paper Towns - which was quickly picked up by Mandate Pictures - the studio that brought us Juno. The author himself was assigned the task of adapting his novel into a screenplay; however his thoughts on book-to-film adaptations differ slightly from the norm.
Green has been keeping his fans up-to-date via YouTube, Twitter, and his blog, on the progress of his screenplay, all the while apologising for his lack of adherence to the original book. Clearly, the thoughts of his fans are on his mind, yet he is sticking to his guns.
"You guys are gonna hate me if they ever make this. But at least you'll hate me instead of some vague corporate master."
"Obviously this is just a draft, but there are only about six lines of dialogue from the book in this script. SORRY!!!!!!"
While it may seem unorthodox, I stand by Green in his decision to take the screenplay into his own hands and write it the way that he wants it to be seen. Currently, books line the shelves and specials tables at Borders and Waterstones bearing photographic covers from their new movie counterparts. For film- and book-lovers alike, this can be disheartening. How many times can we consume the same stories on different media? How many more times can we hear, "Oh, it was okay, but the book was MUCH better"? When will we cease to avoid seeing films, in fear that it won't live up to our expectations?
Surely John Green is onto something here. Why recycle the same, well-known plots when it is perfectly possible to take the story somewhere new? The important thing is to maintain the integrity of the ideas expressed within the book, rather than holding true to the events within it. Although technically this may invite poaching, let’s assume that the necessary protection of intellectual properties is in place. Our perceptions of films based on novels become an interpretation of an interpretation while the medium of film could have the same resonance as reading a book for oneself and taking our own interpretations from the original text.
What do you think?
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