Love it or hate it, see it twice Was: Why books should not be movies

[Diana]

> Richard Gulplum said:
> >>> Am I *completely* unreasonable in my expectation that people 
> should be prepared to back up their "feelings" with some kind of 
> rationalisation beyond "it's not like the book"? <<<
> 
> Barbara said:
> >>> Yes <<<

Time Regan responded:
> And no.
> 
> On the one hand I find people's posts most interesting when they 
do 
> have tons of rational debate behind them. But insight can come 
> without reason. As Keat's wrote to his brother "I mean Negative 
> Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in 
> uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching 
> after fact and reason".

I, Diana L. would like to add:
Me too!  Reading WHY someone dislikes something is very interesting, 
which is why I'm responding to your well-thought-out post, Tim!  
Sometimes it's very difficult to put into words WHY I don't like a 
movie, but I always make an effort to try.  My husband and I are 
both huge movie buffs and we talk movies a lot.  There are movies he 
likes and I dislike and vice versa, so I have a lot of experience 
articulating why I don't like or do like a particular movie because 
we really talk about movies we disagree on, which are very few so 
far.  :)

Tim Regan again:
> I didn't like the film either. Though I've only seen it once and I 
> may change my mind when I can do a side by side comparison with 
the DVDs. I did enjoy the cinematography, which Richard and others 
have discussed. I could also join in with the analysis of the acting 
and the plot additions, inclusions, and omissions. But what I'm 
starting to realise, and this is just a feeling, is that I do not 
like the HP movies anymore. I really liked the first one, in fact 
watching that with my family on the insistence of my daughter turned 
me onto HP in the first place. But then I read the books. For me it 
is a very rare movie that can stand-up to any comparison with a book 
you already love.  <snip>
> 
> So I think my HP film watching is doomed, PS/SS aside they are 
just never going to live up to my readings of the books, and though 
this is clearly mad, each time I go to see them I expect them too.

I, Diana L., respond:
I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings about the movie the first time 
I saw it, too.  Admittedly, I came away from the movie the first 
time pretty disappointed in the changes in scenery and locations. 
And I missed the missing scenes, namely the Quidditch cup win for 
Gryffindor.  
But then I went and saw the movie a second time, and my entire 
perspective of this movie changed.  On the second viewing, I really 
enjoyed the pacing and visuals from the swooping bats that fly out 
of the Forbidden Forest to the image of Harry falling off his broom, 
and flipping over and over as he plummets, to the birds getting 
flicked out of existence by the Whomping Willow to the image of 
Harry causing all the lights to flicker off and on as he loses his 
temper and lets Aunt Marge get what she deserves.  I know that 
Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup in the book and I didn't let the 
fact that is wasn't shown in the movie bother me when I saw it 
again.  I let myself get past my images created from the book so I 
could see the movie for what it really is, which is a collaborative 
interpretation of the book, especially the unsettled, raging-teenage 
spirit growing at the heart of the book.  
I've seen it five times in the theater so far and I like the movie 
more with every viewing.  It doesn't mean I like the book less, just 
that I've accepted the movie as a compliment to the book, but not a 
replacment for the book.  
Not everyone is going to like this movie, and that's okay.  Movie 
tastes are very personal and some movies just don't do it for 
certain people, even it every critic and all of their friends loved 
the movie.  I would be very annoyed if everyone kept insisting that 
I should just have just loved "Saving Private Ryan", for example, 
when I didn't.
I would never stop watching movie adaptations of my favorite books, 
however, because it is intriguing to see how other people, from the 
scriptwriter to the director to the actors and set decorators 
interpret something so familiar to me.  I may be disappointed with 
their results or I may be nonplused or I may adore it to pieces, but 
I will always make an effort to see the film.   
Movie adaptations are very difficult to pull off successfully 
because the filmmakers must compete with that feeling of joyful 
discovery every person who's stumbled onto a favorite book feels 
upon reading the book the first (and second) time.  It's an 
impossible goal to achieve which is why most directors and 
scriptwriters rarely try to do it and, instead, go for an 
interpretation the book or the spirit of the book according to how 
the book made them feel personally.   
I will urge people on this list to see the movie at least twice, 
because it really made a difference for me with this movie.  It's 
much more enjoyable the second time.  No one is going to talk 
themselves into liking this movie if they just don't, so I'm not 
suggesting a second viewing for that reason.  I just know from own 
experience that seeing it again helped me get past my own view of 
what I thought the movie should be so that I could enjoy the movie 
for what it is.  


Tim Regan writes:
> Another disapointment with this is that I really had done all my 
> homework. I watched ad re-watched all Cuaron's films, and read A 
> Little Princess and Great Expectations so that I could get a sense 
> of how he approached adaptations. I would love to be able to step 
> back from the movie and just see, analyse, and talk of it as an 
> independent work. But I cannot, It was a disappointment.

I, Diana L., reply:
I had watched Cuaron's "A Little Princess" once a few years ago and 
I didn't like it because of the many changes from the book.  I 
haven't seen it since then, so I most likely will give it another 
chance and watch it again.  I'll probably be over the changes and 
able to actually enjoy the movie on my next viewing.  I haven't seen 
any of his other films yet, but plan to see a few when I get a 
chance.    

Diana L.