Every great filmmaker will tell you that the art of filmmaking is the art of storytelling. The images you see on the screen, and the lines you hear the characters say, are all tools used to carry out the narrative. So it's no surprise that so many great filmmakers – and the films themselves – come from great literary stories.
From Gone with the Wind to Harry Potter, we have classics to contemporary examples to explore, as film history and adaptations of literary masterpieces are inextricably intertwined. However, beyond the overall good narrative, the key lies in how the filmmakers make these adaptations great on the big (or small) screen.
We take a look at seven of the best film adaptations of all time and learn Xi lessons from these classics about adaptation and filmmaking.
Seven. "No Country for Old Men".（no country for old men，2007）
This film is considered by many to be the finest film ever made by the duo of the best directors. Based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 book of the same name**, Ethan and Joel Coen's film was a huge commercial and word-of-mouth success — and also won the Coen brothers an Academy Award for Best Picture.
It's also an excellent first lesson in film adaptation, because this film is a great example of how a film can be faithfully adapted while focusing on finding new, cinematic ways to tell a story that still feels very real and literary. The Coen brothers focus on their characters, developing their core and the harmonious and distinct relationships between the characters – often quite violent.
No Country for Old Man is great fodder for filmmaking lessons and inspiration. Still, for those looking to adapt genre films based on their favorite book genres, this one is a great example of how to pick and extract themes as faithfully as possible.
Six. Little Women（little women，2019）
Since Louisa May Alcott's original book was published in 1868, Little Women has been adapted into film seven times, but it still resonates as much as it did in the 19th century. While the 1933 and 1994 adaptations have their merits, the 2019 film version, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep, may be the best to date.
If you'd like to do exhaustive research on how to adapt a movie, maybe reading each adaptation is a good way to see how filmmakers take many different approaches and make many other choices when it comes to bringing books to the screen.
Although the film was not nominated for Best Director, Gerwig's author-directed style gave the story a personal touch that many adaptations didn't, as the best elements of the story in Little Women felt authentic, personal, and empathetic — all key to a good adaptation.
Five. The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
While the 1994 film is a novella adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" rather than a feature, it is one of the rare examples of success in which a film outperforms (at least more than the original).
Since the original book is also shorter, this version directed by Frank Darabont, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is free to expand the boundaries of his film's narrative, giving the characters in the film more room to grow and develop with each other.
In addition, while "The Shawshank Redemption" was well-received by critics upon release, it was not a huge commercial success. However, with the rise of VHS rentals and TV reruns, the film has built recognition after years of release largely by word of mouth and its own excellent popularity. The Shawshank Redemption has also topped IMDB's Best Movies list for many years in a row, making it an undeniable choice on our list of outstanding film adaptations.
Four. The Shining (1980).
Another adaptation based on the highly regarded horror writer Stephen King's ** (Stephen King himself has made a career adapting books into movies over the years) is the movie The Shining. The Shining is perhaps the best example of how far the original book can be expanded and adapted to develop new themes and give cinema greater vitality.
The 1980 film based on King's 1977** film is perhaps the most perfect horror film ever created by Stanley Kubrick. While the film does follow many elements of the original story, Kubrick's masterful filmmaking reveals many deeper meanings, connotations, and excellent cinematography that make the film a genre and adaptation classic to this day.
Three. Jurassic Park (1993).
In fact, we can consider a number of fantastic film adaptations for this list of the best films, including many by filmmaker Steven Spielberg based on Michael Crichton's famous worksHowever, few literary film adaptations have reached the heights of 1993's Jurassic Park, Spielberg's adaptation of Clayton's sci-fi adventure of the same name**.
The film also raises some interesting questions about how a film can choose to bring more fantastical and crazy content to the screen. After all, a movie about giant dinosaurs roaming through a sci-fi amusement park isn't a good fit for live-action filmmaking — at least until the new computer-generated graphics (CGI) technology was developed in the '90s.
Two. The Lord of the Rings series
It would be a remiss to take any inventory or inspiration for any good** film adaptation without including the ambitious and incredibly successful Lord of the Rings franchise directed by Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings series was developed by Jr.r.J.R. Tolkienr.r.Tolkien's adaptation of the same name, written in the 50s of the 20th century, is still regarded as an excellent literary adaptation of a high standard.
They also show how difficult and expensive it is to make many high-concept adventures** into real movie versions, as film series require a significant investment of budget, set crew, time, and resources to complete.
From a filmmaking standpoint, even in the face of CGI monsters and plenty of fight sequences, Jackson's filmmaking was in full swing, bringing fantastical creatures to life that resonated with fans and newcomers to the series alike.
One. The Godfather (1972).
Many people think that The Godfather may be the best movie of all time, but it's easy to forget that The Godfather was a hugely popular bestseller before it became a masterpiece in film history. Still, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to The Godfather for about $80,000 before it became a hit, one of the most savvy commercial moves of all time, and it's a good reminder of the power of quality footage.
The 1972 film adaptation, which took the world by storm, was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Francis and Mario Puzo. The film showcases masterful scriptwriting, directing, soundtrack, and acting, bringing iconic roles from their careers to stars such as Al Pacino, James Kean, Richard Castelno, and Marlon Brando. "The Godfather" is also a great example of how watching a movie can bring the same feeling as reading a good book if adapted properly, with a focus on narrative plot, character development, and great dialogue.