Why I prefer the book over the adapted movies?
The first adapted movie I watched was Harry Potter. I must tell you, though I enjoyed the visuals, I didn’t enjoy the movie as much as I enjoyed the book. After that, I watched few more movies that were adapted from famous novels. Not a single movie gave me the kick that reading the original book gave.
I was talking to my friend the other day about the same. He is a filmmaker and he agreed with me. I guess reading the book gives me the freedom of imagination while the movie only lets me see what the director wants me to see. Each person has a different perspective about everything. So, when I read a book, my imagination runs me wild and the smart brain of mine paints beautiful images that no director can show me in a movie.
Also, my filmmaker friend told me that when a book is going to turn into a movie, it goes through a lot of changes. The screenplay changes a whole lot of the book to make it suitable for the making of the movie. I don’t think a 800 page novel can ever fit in a 90 minute movie. Don’t you agree? Imagine how much content is cut short to make it possible. And during this, the director might eliminate a scene because it seemed unimportant to him but it could be important to me.
The director might add plenty of commercial elements to make the movie a hit but it could ruin the basic essence of the story. I was reading Paulo Coelho’s The Aleph in which Paulo said he would never give the copyrights of his books to be made into a movie and he mentioned why. His views appeared a lot similar to mine.
A wise man said, “Never judge a book by its movie”. How true? I make it a point to read the book first and then watch the movie. I know it’s quite difficult in today’s busy world to read a book and that I believe is the major reason for the increasing number of movies adapted from books.
Personally, I will pick a book over a movie of its adaptation. Your views might vary. Please feel free to share them with me. Tell me what’s the movie you think did 100% justice to the original book.