Movie adaptations of books are hardly received well by bibliophiles. A movie might not always be as accurate to the source but it definitely brings a book a wider audience. When done well, the adaptation of books have produced some of the best cinema.
Here is a list of 10 movies that made book lovers fall in love with movies
Bibliophiles turned into Cinephiles!
Lord Of The Rings
JRR Tolkien is considered the father of fantasy-fiction because of his epic Middle-Earth saga. Peter Jackson did a commendable job of bringing Tolkien’s work to screen. The movies, shot in New Zealand, felt grand as it should have and claimed 17 Oscars in its run.
Gone With The Wind
Gone with the Wind is a Pulitzer-winning, best-selling novel that was made into an Oscar-winning movie that became the highest earning movie of the time. It is a historical romance with themes dealing with slavery, the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, class differences, racial issues. The movie is divided into two parts to fit in five different parts of the very thick novel, with a run time of nearly four hours and does justice to the book.
The Godfather
Mario Puzo’s crime-drama revolves around the Corleones, one of the five Mafia families of New York. Francis Ford Coppola’s movies saw heavyweights in Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro & Diane Keaton in the lead roles. The movies, just like the novels, were milestones in the crime genre and are still considered to be the best in the category.
Harry Potter
J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter was read by millions of kids and when it was made into a movie series, there was too much criticism for every time it moved slightly away from the book. Every minor detail was under the microscopic eyes of ‘Potterheads”. Despite all that the movies conveyed the major story amazingly well with the three kids playing their parts well all the way to the last installment.
Goodfellas
Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction narrative, Wiseguy, recounts the story of the Lucchese crime family through the eyes of Henry Hill and his cohorts. The movie was adapted by Martin Scorsese and retitled Goodfellas, it is centered around a young Hill, who gets caught up with a local mobster crew led by Jimmy and Paulie. The movie follows the book religiously other than when Joe Pesci improvises the iconic “I’m funny like a clown?” scene and became part of cinema history.
To Kill A Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer winning novel was made into a movie with Gregory Peck in the lead. The movie follows the novel strictly and focuses on the selfless lawyer Atticus Finch, who stands up for a black man, Tom Robinson, charged with rape of a white girl. The movie shows the prejudice of the classes and the blatant racism that is sadly still very prevalent in the world. Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch received praise from Harper Lee herself.
The Shining
One of Stephen King’s finest work, The Shining is a book about a family that is spending the winter at a haunted hotel by themselves. King could not have asked for a better actor-director duo than Jack Nicholson and Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick did tweak the movie from the book slightly but what he created is one of Hollywood’s most spine chilling movie.
The Shawshank Redemption
Stephen King’s second entry on the list might be the greatest movie ever made. The book is unlike most of King’s work that revolves mostly around the horror genre. The story of the power of hope was brought to screen magnificently by Frank Darabont.
Fight Club
Fight Club is about emasculating men by moving away from the consumer culture. The David Fincher directed movie is a sincere adaptation other than the ending. The movie has a more optimistic end compared to the book. The iconic last scene, supported by The Pixies soundtrack, shows the narrator hold hands with Darla to watch skyscrapers collapse.
Silence of the Lambs
Hannibal Lecter is one of the most interesting and popular antagonist across literature as well as cinema. However, of all the installments from the series, “The Silence of the Lambs” stood out as a movie as well as a book. Anthony Hopkins’ performance is so riveting that after watching the movie, it’s hard to read the book without seeing his face.
A book if treated well can do wonders on the big screen sadly it’s not always the case but these 10 definitely turned the literary gems into cinematic masterpieces.
