Great Expectations*

Okay, so I bought the book because of the film...

Great books are often the building blocks for great films - all the precious plot twists and exhaustive details have already been thrashed out, written, re-written, scrutinised and critiqued for great literary acclaim – that’s award winning material for screenplay writers and directors to tweak. Further, a great book will already have a built-in fan base which means money in the bank for the producers. If done well, truly great stories defy genres, whether on print or on screen.

A few of these successful adaptations might include classics like Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings trilogy, or more recently, The English Patient by Michael Ondjaante, Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, About A Boy by Nick Hornby, and yes, even Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary - hey, it's classic chick-lit if there’s any such thing.

I could go on and on - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, The Age of Innocence, The Witches, American Psycho...

In many instances, the acclaim of these films by far outweighed the success of the original books, producing iconic movies.

Of course there are the few exceptions. You can’t justify a 7-hour film covering all the details in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, but you can for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (zzz). And honestly, how many people were disappointed that it was Tom Hanks and not Harrison Ford traipsing through Paris with Audrey Tautou?

Not all books translate well into celluloid, not every director gets it right, and for books with cult-like followings, pleasing an impassioned audience, ready to line up outside the movie theatres with pitchforks at hand, is a challenge many directors may not want to take on.

Anyhow, these are four adaptations coming soon to the theatres near you that I can’t wait to see in no particular order:

1. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – love love LOVE this book. The story centers around a love story that defies time and convention. Directed by Robert Schwentke, the movie will be starring one of my favorite actresses, Rachel McAdams (the chick from The Notebook) and the hunky Eric Bana. Though, in my head, the Wife in question was played by Alicia Witt (from Cybill) because of her pale skin and fiery hair. I cannot emphasise more on how much I adore this book and implore you to read it before the movie comes out.
   
   
2. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – a haunting novel about a young girl, after being brutally raped and murdered, goes to heaven only to watch over her family as they try to cope with her death over the years, and her killer. Interestingly, the director at the helm is no less than fantasy and visual effects wizard, Peter Jackson, which promises that the heaven and earth sequences in the movie will be quite stunning. The movie will star young Irish lass, Saoirse Ronan as the murdered Susie Salmon and Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling (the cute guy from The Notebook) as her mourning parents.
   
   
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan – am in the midst of reading this book but annoying things like work, errands, and sleep keep getting in the way, but so far it’s a good read, and am determined to finish it before watching the movie. The movie recently opened the Venice Film Festival and is being hailed as one of the strongest British films made in years, with its star, Keira Knightley tipped to win an Oscar nomination for her performance. Okay, so the real reason I want to watch this movie is because it co-stars James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland), new British It-Boy, whom I fell in love with after watching the first two seasons of Shameless.
   
   
4. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi – a very charming graphic novel that is actually a 2-book series about a young Iranian girl’s experience growing up in Tehran in the 70’s after the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq. Satrapi’s black and white illustrations marries wry humour with tragedy, resulting in a witty but bittersweet story of childhood and the effects of war and religious fundamentalism. After reading Persepolis 1 and 2, I went straight to Kinokinuya and bought 2 other books by Satrapi – Embroideries and Chicken with Plums, also highly recommended. The animated film is in French, with an English version in the making, and stars the voice of Catherine Deneuve.

I'll be in the crowd with a pitchfork at hand if the movies don't do loving justice to these excellent books.

What are some film adaptations you loved?

* So what if I enjoyed the thoroughly modern adaptation of Dicken’s novel with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke.