As yet another Academy Awards pass us by, we are reminded of just how meta our culture has become by the category of “Best Adapted Screenplay” existing in and of itself. It is now almost inevitable that real events ultimately blend into fiction, whether it be literary or up on the silver screen – what other explanation is there for Snooki’s new part-fictional, part-autobiographical novel? Walking around campus this week, I couldn’t help but find humor in the advertisements outside Kellogg boasting a talk with “Divya Narendra of ‘The Social Network.'” Because apparently referencing the real life event isn’t enough for the general public to realize who he is? Because art imitates life imitating life imitating art? I don’t know. But I digress; as we finish lauding last year’s best and brightest in film, I can’t help looking to the past to see which adaptations really are worth their salt and can even outshine their literary counterpart, or what DVDs are best left to rot in the sale bin while the original book rests faithfully on your shelf.
Watch ‘em and weep:
The Bonfire of the Vanities, written by Tom Wolfe and directed by Brian De Palma
While Brian De Palma is best known for directing Scarface (adapted itself from the 1932 original film), he should have known it would be impossible to direct a book that had no business being adapted into a film in the first place. De Palma loses any sense of tone and humor found in the novel, leaving us with an awkward film exacerbated by its terrible casting and even worse acting.
The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold and directed by Peter Jackson
Sebold’s fictionalized account of a girl that watches her family try and find her rapist and murderer mirrors her prior work “Lucky” in which she deals with her own experience of being raped. “The Lovely Bones” is a stunning and bold example of Sebold’s ability to work through this traumatic experience through writing, while the filmed version is … well, lots of CGI-created heaven and Saoirse Ronan skipping through fields. Yikes.
Doing both mediums justice:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey and directed by Milos Forman
While both mediums have been lauded on countless “Top” lists Jack Nicholson’s performance is especially notable, lending the same ache one feels reading the original.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon,) written by Jean-Dominique Bauby and directed by Julian Schnabel
A challenging memoir to tackle in a visual translation, Schnabel aptly does the text justice in his adaptation. Never too gruesome or too apologetic, he avoids cliches and gives Mathieu Amalric the perfect space to depict Jean-Dominique in a way that allows his character the same depth given to him in the text.
