BY ROY BUCHANAN
A film based on a book is the director’s interpretation. It will lack the literary quality of the author but that will be replaced by a visual offering which again is an interpretation. When one reads a book, the reader is constructing the scene in their minds-eye. This can be potent, disturbing, thought provoking even frightening so let us look at a few snap-shots to illustrate the discussion.
On a dark stormy night, I dare anyone to sit alone in the attic and read Edgar Allan Poe’s, Fall of the House of Usher. Watch the 1960 film, directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price, then choose. Did the dated melodrama of the film dilute the horror or did you scare yourself to death in the attic? I was only 19 when I read the book and spent many hours home alone so my answer is predictable.
Now, let me turn to my all-time favourite film, Doctor Zhivago. The sheer grandeur of the scenery and the sets accompanied by the acting quality of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie made the film very memorable. Although Boris Pasternak, the author of the book, got the Nobel Prize for Literature it was David Lean’s directing that I prefer. For this pretty even battle between book and film consider Gone With The Wind. The film is my second-best favourite but Margaret Mitchell’s book should not to be left on the shelf.
Let’s muddy the waters a bit more. Robert Redford’s directing of The Horse Whisperer was very disappointing, I felt sorry for the writer, Nicholas Evans, but don’t let that put you off reading the book, it’s one of the most touching stories I have read. This debate is rather enjoyable making it ideal for after-dinner dialogue.